The QT  is defined at grammarist.com as “doing something secretly”–quiet, shortened to “q.t..” The Grammarist further explains that, though it “originated in the mid-1800s, there is some debate on whether the phrase is of American or English origin. At this time, the oldest examples are found in British media, though it is the Americans who had a penchant in the 1800s for coining abbreviations.” Finally, the expression is “currently nearly always rendered with uppercase letters and without periods as in on the QT.”

God typically does not act in secret, as the Bible attests (Isa 45:19, 48:16; John 18:20; Acts 26:26), but the Book reports some incidents that fit the term.

Defying Pharaoh’s command that all male Hebrew babies be killed, Moses’ parents secretly kept him till he was three months old (Exo 2). The Hebrew spies secretly agreed to spare Rahab, who hid them, and the lives of her family in the upcoming attack on Jericho (Jos 2). David secretly cut off a bit of King Saul’s garment then openly revealed it as proof of his loyalty and lack of enmity (I Sam 24). At first, Mordechai warned Esther to keep her Hebrew origins secret (Est 2:10). Only the threat of her death and the death of her people brought those facts into the open. The Wise Men chose not to return to Herod and share what they knew about the birth of the royal Baby. For their safety and the safety of the child Herod feared—the newborn king these men of the East had come to worship—a warning dream changed their plans, sending them secretly home by another way (Mat 1:12).

The most notable on the QT in the New Testament is labeled by some “the Messianic secret.” Jesus repeatedly charges those he healed or delivered from demons that they not tell it. Matthew Newsome comments on this odd command when Jesus reiterates it after Peter declares, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mat. 16: 16). Newsome writes : “Why keep his Messianic identity a secret ? This is not an isolated incident. The gospel accounts are full of passages like this where Jesus expressly tells people not to tell others who he is. Why? Jesus is waiting for the proper time.” Newsome continues: “It’s partly a matter of waiting for the proper time for his passion, but also because the divinity of Christ isn’t something that can really be told to others. It must be demonstrated. It must be revealed. It must be discovered. Notice that Jesus doesn’t tell Peter, ‘I am the Messiah.’ He asks. He probes.

“He wants to wake them up and get them thinking. Who do people say that I am? Who do you say that I am? You’ve been with me this long; do you not know who I am?”(testeverythingblog.com).

The title of the final New Testament book, The Revelation, also gives an impression of truths strategically withheld, mysteries to be made plain later though obscured for now. The unveiling of the whole truth about Jesus Christ, the full disclosure of who he is, is partly described by John in this book, but the specifics are anything but clear. Even with these disclosures, we are still in the dark about many things. And that, it seems, is exactly what God wants.

How to deal with God’s current on the QT? Jesus said, “My Father is always working” (John 5:17), and Paul expands the point: “All things work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28 NKJV). But wouldn’t we like to see the open evidence! We ask, Why isn’t God acting? Where is God in this situation?

Many choose the answer of agnosticism or atheism. There probably isn’t a God anyway.

In his second letter, Peter says: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts and saying, ‘Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation’ ”(2 Pe 3:3-4).

We won’t budge in our conviction that God will act and act openly–not just far behind the scenes–to answer prayer, to rectify the bad situation, to fulfill the promises. But faith is required. Faith and patience, especially when the time stretches out. Solomon’s counsel gives encouragement for any long wait: “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven” (Ecc 3:1).

Even Jesus had to wait for his hour to come.

From the Edgefield Advertiser, oldest newspaper in South Carolina.

April 8, 2019

Photo image credits: Finger-to-lips by Kristina Flour, watch by James Healey, hour glass by neonbrand. All can be found on unsplash. com