“Nothing in all creation is
hidden from God’s sight. Everything is
uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
(Heb 4:13)
Neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in his sight - There is no being who is not wholly known
to God. All his thoughts, feelings, plans, are distinctly understood. Of the
truth of this there can be no doubt. The "design" of the remark here
is, to guard those to whom the apostle was writing from self-deception - since
they could conceal nothing from God.
All things are naked - Exposed;
uncovered. There is nothing that can be concealed from God; Psalm 139:11-12.
"The veil of night is no
disguise,
No screen from thy
all-searching eyes;
Thy hands can seize thy foes as
soon.
Thro' midnight shades as
blazing noon."
And opened -. The word used
here properly means:
(1) to lay bare the neck, or to
bend it back, so as to expose the throat to being cut;
(2) to expose; to lay open in
any way.
Why the word is used here has
been a matter of inquiry. Some have supposed that the phrase is derived from
offering sacrifice, and from the fact that the priest carefully examined the
victim to see whether it was sound, before it was offered. But this is
manifestly a forced exposition. Others have supposed that it is derived from
the custom of bending back the head of a criminal so as to look full in his
face, and recognize him so as not to be mistaken; but this is equally forced
and unnatural. This opinion was first proposed by Erasmus, and has been adopted
by Clarke and others. Bloomfield, following, as he says, the interpretation of
Chrysostom, Grotius (though this is not the sentiment of Grotius), Beza,
Atling, Hammond, and others, supposes the allusion to be to the custom of
cutting the animal down the back bone through the spinal marrow, and thus of
laying it open entirely.
This sense would well suit the
connection. Grotius supposes that it means to strip off the skin by dividing it
at the neck. and then removing it. This view is also adopted substantially by
Doddridge. These explanations are forced, and imply a departure more or less
from the proper meaning of the Greek word. The most simple and obvious meaning
is usually the best in explaining the Bible. The word which the apostle employs
relates to "the neck" - τράχηλος trachēlos - and not to the spinal
marrow, or the skin. The proper meaning of the verb is "to bend the neck
back" so as to expose it in front when an animal is slain - Passow. Then
it means to make bare; to remove everything like covering; to expose a thing
entirely - as the naked neck is for the knife. The allusion here is undoubtedly
to the "sword" which Paul had referred to in the previous verse, as
dividing the soul and spirit, and the joints and marrow; and the meaning is,
that in the hand of God, who held that sword, everything was exposed.
We are in relation to that,
like an animal whose neck is bent back, and laid bare, and ready for the
slaughter. Nothing "hinders" God from striking; there is nothing that
can prevent that sword from penetrating the heart - any more than when the neck
of the animal is bent back and laid bare, there is anything that can hinder the
sacrificing priest from thrusting the knife into the throat of the victim. If
this be the true interpretation, then what an affecting view does it give of
the power of God, and of the exposedness of man to destruction! All is bare,
naked, open. There is no concealment; no hindrance; no power of resistance. In
a moment God can strike, and his dreadful sentence shall fall on the sinner
like the knife on the exposed throat of the victim. What emotions should the
sinner have who feels that he is exposed each moment to the sentence of eternal
justice - to the sword of God - as the animal with bent-back neck is exposed to
the knife! And what solemn feelings should all have who remember that all is
naked and open before God! Were we "transparent" so that the world
could see all we are, who would dare go abroad?
Who would wish the world to
read all his thoughts and feelings for a single day? Who would wish his best
friends to look in upon his naked soul as we can look into a room through a
window? O what blushes and confusion; what a hanging down of the head, and what
an effort to escape from the gaze of people would there be, if every one knew
that all his secret feelings were seen by every person whom he met! Social
enjoyment would end; and the now frivolous and blithe multitudes in the streets
would become processions of downcast and blushing convicts. And yet all these
are known to God. He reads every thought; sees every feeling; looks through the
whole soul. How careful should we be to keep our hearts pure; how anxious that
there should be nothing in the soul that we are not willing to have known!
With whom we have to do -
Literally, "with whom is our account." Our account; our reckoning is
to be with him before whom all is naked and open. We cannot, therefore, impose
on him. We cannot pass off hypocrisy for sincerity. He will judge us according
to truth, not according to appearances; and his sentence, therefore, will be
just. A man who is to be tried by one "who knows all about him,"
should be a pure and holy man.
“....God is greater than our
hearts, and He knows everything.” (1Jn 3:20)
