Did GOD Forsake Jesus?

עזב - “azab”

Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words To Forsake

to leave, forsake, abandon, leave behind, be left over, let go.

Verses Where GOD left (above word)...

Deuteronomy 31:17 NKJV

Then My anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’

Isaiah 49:14–15 NKJV

But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, And my Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, Yet I will not forget you.

Isaiah 54:7 NKJV

“For a mere moment I have forsaken you, But with great mercies I will gather you.

Ezekiel 9:9 NKJV

Then He said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of bloodshed, and the city full of perversity; for they say, ‘The Lord has forsaken the land, and the Lord does not see!’

2 Chronicles 32:31 NKJV

However, regarding the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, whom they sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land, God withdrew from him, in order to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.

39 times this word is used where GOD is the “agent” (i.e. the one doing the forsaking or NOT forsaking, for example: Ps 94:14.

There is one KEY passage that I’ve purposely left out for now, but going to round this response off with it.

Considering all the above passages - Did GOD REALLY forsake/leave/withdraw to the point of being “uncontactable” or unaware?

New Testament Search

In the New Testament there is only 3 hits of Christ OR GOD being serated from someone (i.e., I’m excluding passages where Jesus left a city, for example):

Matthew 27:46 NKJV

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

2 Corinthians 5:6 NKJV

So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord.

Hebrews 7:26 NKJV

For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;

The firest wa already know and is the subject of this study, the second two scriptures are interesting:

2 Cor 5:6: Are the Saints absent from the LORD while on earth??

Heb 7:26:

1) Christ IS undefiled/blameless/perfect: Did Christ sin? Why then would He ever have been seperated from GOD? (Is 59:1-3)

2) Christ is seperate from sinners.

How does the above 2 scriptures related to Jn 9:31? Does GOD truly “not hear” (i.e. is GOD completely unaware of) sinners? If so, what about Cornelius?

Conclusion:

I know that there is A LOT that we can go into and discuss and go back and forth on in the above, but unless we set up a call where we go through it all together or wait until we meet again, I can only present my thought process which isn’t goint to give you a satisfying answer! :) :) :)

The Old Testament verse I was saving to last is:

Psalm 22:1 NKJV

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?

It is my opinion that this statement from Christ was 100% for the benefit of the Pharisees.

Read the whole of Ps 22.

I’d suggest that upon the crying out of this statement, the Pharisees and the Scribes would have immediatley been aware of this Psalm. A Psalm which paints the exact scene that the Pharisees and Scribes now found themselves in at that moment... and painted the scenes of the plan of salvation that was about to follow.