“And He said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith” (Deuteronomy 32:20).
There is a broad spectrum of faith exhibited today among men. Some have no faith in the true God at all (like the apostate Israelites mentioned in our text) to whom God finally would say: “Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee” (Deuteronomy 32:18). There are many such in our present “froward generation” as well, men and women who have forgotten their Creator.
There are some, however, like the woman “which was a sinner,” but who came to Jesus in tearful repentance, who receive a saving faith. To such as these, Jesus says: “Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace” (Luke 7:37,50).
Among those disciples who profess such saving faith but who still have little spiritual discernment or maturity, Christ’s rebuke was: “O ye of little faith!” (Matthew 16:8). Similarly, Paul speaks of the danger of being “weak in faith” (Romans 4:19).
How much better it is to be among those described by James: “Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith?” (James 2:5). Then there was Abraham who “was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform” (Romans 4:20,21). Similarly, Stephen was “a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 6:5).
How tragic it will be for those who have no faith to know eternally that God has hidden His face from them. For those who have only a weak faith or little faith, there may be salvation, but little more. How much better to have had Abraham’s strong faith or the full faith of Stephen, when we meet the Lord. HMM
