| Christian Life and Doctrine | December 1981 |
God Sees, Hears, and Cares
NO ONE has seen God at any time. Indeed, no one can see him and live. But while we do not know his appearance, his character is revealed to us through his beloved Son, Christ Jesus, and we know that these same qualities are possessed by our loving Creator.
In addition to this, the Bible helps us to grasp more fully the idea of our Heavenly Father’s love for his people by symbolic references to his eyes, his ears, and his arms. This does not mean that God possesses eyes, ears, and arms like ours, but by the use of these as symbols we are given a clearer concept of our Heavenly Father’s powers, and of his intimate love for us.
Just as we see with our eyes, and are aware of what is taking place within the range of our sight, so the Creator knows what is happening to his people, for they are always within range of his vision. He is never weary, never faint, and is always ready and willing to give strength to his people in their every time of need. Isaiah 40:28-31 reads:
“Hast thou not known, hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”
Our Heavenly Father said of his ancient people Israel—who typified spiritual Israel of the Gospel Age—that those who touched them to do them injury touched the apple of his eye. What an endearing symbol this is of how precious to our Father are his people!
The Bible tells us that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the earth. (II Chron. 16:9) This, also, is pictorial language, but how vividly it brings before us the idea of the Creator’s ability to know what is happening everywhere! In this instance the assurance is given that the Lord’s interest is to note the faithfulness of his own people, and to give them the necessary protection from their enemies, and the needed strength to serve him.
We are informed by the Scriptures that “the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” (Prov. 15:3) How vividly this language conveys the idea of God’s ability to see, or to know what is taking place everywhere; that nothing can be hid from his sight. Conscious of this discerning ability of his God, David prayed that his words and thoughts, even the meditations of his heart, might be acceptable in his sight.—Ps. 19:14
The human eye is limited in its vision. We can see only those things which are physical, or material, and then only within the range of our vision. But God’s eyes are not thus limited, for he can search our minds, and discern the thoughts and intents of our hearts. (Heb. 4:13) How careful we should be to keep our thoughts and motives pure!
Jesus will be the great Judge of the people during the world’s coming thousand-year judgment day, and we are told that he will not judge “after the sight of the eyes.” (Isa. 11:1-5) Thus we are reminded of the limitations of human eyesight, and that Jesus, who is now the express image of the Heavenly Father, will have the ability to see into the minds of the people, and will therefore know how to judge them correctly. How wonderful are our Heavenly Father and his beloved Son!
God’s loving interest in his people, and his care for them, are brought further to our attention by the Bible’s many references to his ability to hear when we cry to him for help, and that he bears us up in his everlasting arms. David wrote, “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.”—Ps. 34:17
God has not promised to hear favorably the prayers of his people if their requests are not in harmony with his will. God is abundantly able to grant us all the blessings for which we pray, and will do so if our requests are in keeping with the principles of his plan and laws. The Scriptures tell us that God has a mighty arm, and a strong hand, and that these will be used in keeping with justice, mercy, and truth.
During the present Gospel Age the Lord is dealing only with those whom he is preparing to live and reign with Christ in his coming kingdom. When that kingdom is established, and the knowledge of the Lord is filling the earth, all flesh will be lifting up their hearts in prayer to God, and he will hear. David wrote, “O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.”—Ps. 65:2
How the people will then rejoice that they have learned to know, to love, and to serve the true and living God, the loving Creator of the universe! Meanwhile, the Lord has not been indifferent to the sufferings of fallen mankind. The Scriptures represent him as looking down from heaven and seeing the evil conditions and hearing the groanings of the people, who are as prisoners of death. It is indicated that the Lord has pity on these prisoners, and will release them.
The psalmist wrote, “This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord: for he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth; to hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death.” (Ps. 102:18-20) The releasing of the prisoners of death will be the great work of Christ during his thousand-year reign, when his faithful followers, having been brought forth in the first resurrection will be reigning with him. It is a work that was planned by God’s wisdom, having been motivated by his love.
This loving future work of God, through Christ, is spoken of in the Scriptures as the opening of his hand to satisfy the desires of every living thing. David wrote, “Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them. The Lord preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.”—Ps. 145:16-20
When, in the kingdom of Christ, this promise is being fulfilled, the people will find that the Lord is very near to them. Those who truly reverence him will be rescued from death and all its evil associations and given an opportunity to live forever. The Prophet Isaiah wrote, “It shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain [kingdom], saith the Lord.”—Isa. 65:24,25
This blessed kingdom work of the future is prophesied as being accomplished by the arm of Jehovah, which is our Lord Jesus. This arm, the Prophet Isaiah states, is to be made bare so that all can see it. The text reads, “The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” (Isa. 52:10) No longer will the people wonder about God’s love, for it will be revealed to them that the blessings of that day are the result of the gift of his own dear Son to be their Redeemer and Savior.
Up to now Jehovah’s arm has been revealed only to a few, comparatively speaking. He was despised and rejected of men. Few indeed at Jesus’ first advent recognized that he had come as the gift of God’s love to save the people from their sin; so they persecuted him, and put him to death.
But we can rejoice that during Christ’s kingdom the situation will be vastly different. Then the people from all the ends of the earth will recognize him, and will rejoice in the salvation which he has provided for them. Thus, not only has God’s love and care been manifested toward his faithful people in the past, and at the present time, but eventually he will reveal himself to all mankind, awakening those who are asleep in death, that none may be left out. Those who then respond to his love in faithful devotion to him will also experience his love and care over them.
Who shall worship thee, O God, when thy righteous acts are made manifest?