Does God Hide His Face From Us When We Sin? (Isaiah 59:2)

Isaiah 59:2 says,

"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear."

Does this verse mean that God hides his face from us when we sin and will not hear our prayers?

Isaiah 59:2 is not written for us but was written to and for old covenant Israel under the law.

God hiding his face and not hearing prayers was for the people of Israel under the old covenant law.

Israel/Judah is the "your" of Isaiah 59:2.

When God hid his face from Israel (the northern kingdom of Israel) and Judah (the southern kingdom of Israel), it was because they violated the old covenant of law, resulting in the judgment of destruction.

God told Moses in Deuteronomy 31:16-17,

"They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them. And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will HIDE MY FACE FROM THEM (old covenant Israel), and they will be destroyed."

Three times in history God hid his face from Israel, resulting in the destruction of the nation.

The First Time (721 BC): God hid his face from the northern kingdom of Israel, resulting in the Assyrian armies destroying the nation.

The Second Time (586 BC): God hid his face from the southern kingdom of Judah, resulting in the Babylonian armies destroying the nation.

The Third and Final Time (AD 70): God hid his face from first-century old covenant Israel, resulting in the Roman armies destroying the nation.

God hiding his face because of sin was strictly for the Israelites during the old covenant law.

Today, we live in the new covenant of grace where God does not hid himself from us because of our sins.

In the new covenant, all of our sins were counted against Jesus.

We enter the new covenant through faith in Jesus and live in the eternal presence of God where his face is always turned toward us.

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