Hear First And See Later

"Bind up the testimony; seal the teaching among my disciples. I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion." - Isaiah 8:16-18 ESV

"He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!" - Psalm 107:20-21 ESV

"And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified." - Acts 20:32 ESV

God hides His face but sends His word. Jacob was and is a deceiver. He lies to get by. He lies to others and to himself. God hides his face from Jacob and sends words.

Grace words heal. Grace word produce a place of honesty in an otherwise deceptive or foolish person that hides behind fiction and fanciful notions to survive in a harsh world.

God send His word to heal and wants to bind up that word in his disciples (learners associated with a specific teacher or teaching) so that they will become the signs and portents in their circles of influence. His disciples don't have to be perfect people. They are people that have teaching and apply that teaching. They function in humility, mercy and love. They survive hard times. They are generous. They talk about grace and do not condemn themselves... or at least not for very long because the teaching is bound to them and love constrains them.

God will hide His face from people. They will say, 'I don't see what you see.' and we can say, 'Well. I'll tell you what I heard that opened my eyes and if you listen these words of grace can heal your vision.'

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." - John 3:16-18 ESV

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