And there is not a creature unapparent before him; but all things [are] naked and laid bare to his eyes, with whom we have to do.
Read Full Chapter →Commentary for this Verse
Hebrews 4:12 has just described the searching power of God's Word. Verse 13 turns to God Himself and raises a plain question: how much of me does He see?
From the Book to its Author
The move from one to the other happens without a pause:
Have you ever noticed something about Hebrews 4:12? There we are told that the Word of God is living and powerful, searching us through and through. And it is followed by verse 13, which passes from the book to the Author, from the Scriptures to God Himself, as if the book and the Author were one and the same. Verse 13 speaks of all things being "naked and opened to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." We may deceive and fool our Christian parents, or our Christian brothers and sisters, but we cannot fool God.
These writers quote an older wording: "with whom we have to do." The ESV reads "to whom we must give account." Both say the same thing — we answer to Him.
Nothing Escapes
His sight reaches every place, seen and unseen:
No created thing is hidden from His sight. So I am aware of more than the discerning action of the Word. I am aware of the all-pervading, all-searching power of the Spirit and presence of God; for "all things are naked and opened to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Everything is open before Him — heaven and the place of the dead, as well as the deepest recesses of the human heart.
It also reaches what we hide from ourselves:
There is much that we can hide from one another, and even from ourselves; there is nothing that we can hide from God.
The Motives Behind What We Do
God's eye reaches past what we do to why we do it. He uses circumstances to bring the real motive to light.
This is exactly what unbelief hates and avoids at all cost. Unbelief will take anything rather than the presence of God, and anything rather than knowing that everything lies open before Him, undisguised and with nothing held back. How much there is that we fail to see within us! Self-love, self-will, haste and zeal constantly tend to blind us. He with whom we have to do acts in His absolute knowledge of everything, and uses circumstances to uncover the real motive or the hidden aim... What He does in us now is what standing revealed before Christ's judgment seat will do perfectly later. The effect is to keep us from settling into a rest of our own, so that we keep to our pilgrim path and labour of love, with our hearts set on His rest in glory to come.
The same searching also keeps us honest with ourselves:
We cannot deceive Him. By the action of His Word He would keep us from deceiving ourselves.
Dreaded or Welcomed
How this truth feels depends on what a person knows of God. To a heart that trusts Him, it brings relief, not fear.
No fine appearance, no mere profession, no outward show of godliness deceives Him. And the honest heart that knows His love would not want it any other way. It gives such a heart great comfort and rest that He knows and sees everything perfectly.
Who is doing the looking settles how we feel about it:
We may well welcome this eye rather than fear it: it is the eye of the physician and the friend, not of the judge or the accuser... So what holds us back from drawing near? Only the fear that the light of the throne, and the eye that sees everything, will lay bare something we would rather keep hidden — something we do not wish to see just as it is.
The Help That Follows
Verse 13 is not the end of the paragraph. Next comes the great High Priest, and the two meet different needs.
The word of God, we saw, judged the thoughts and intents of the heart, while the priesthood deals with all our weaknesses and failures... The word of God is the eye of God, judging everything in my soul that is not according to Himself. And then we have "a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God." When it is a time of need and difficulty, the High Priest is full of tenderness and mercy, "that we may find grace to help in time of need."
Summary
- Author — Verse 13 moves from the Word to the God who speaks it. The book and its Author look at you with one gaze, and no one fools Him.
- Exposure — He sees every created thing: heaven, the place of the dead, and the corners of the heart we hide from other people and from ourselves.
- Motives — He lays open why we act, not just what we do. He uses circumstances to bring the hidden aim to light, so that we stop deceiving ourselves.
- Response — Unbelief runs from that presence. The heart that knows His love rests in it, because the eye is a physician's, not an accuser's.
- Help — After the searching Word comes the High Priest: the Word judges what is of the flesh, and the priesthood supplies grace to help in time of need. So we press on toward His rest in glory instead of settling for a rest of our own.