Yes — God keeps certain things secret because He is sovereign and reveals His purposes in His own time.
Les Feldick teaches that the secret things belong to God and that God does not tell us everything we might like to know, but He tells us what we need in His own timing. Until God speaks, no one is expected to believe what He has not yet said. Once He reveals a truth, it belongs to His people and becomes their responsibility.
Deuteronomy 29:29 — This verse directly divides what God keeps secret from what He reveals, and Les uses it as the basis for God's sovereign timing.
Luke 18:34 — It shows that even the disciples could not know about Christ's death and resurrection while God kept it hidden.
Deuteronomy 29:29 says, "The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law." This marks a clear boundary: some matters remain God's own secret, while what He has revealed is given to His people. In Luke 18:34, when Jesus spoke of His coming death and resurrection, "they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken." The text itself says the meaning was hidden from them. In Acts 2:36, Peter publicly declares to Israel, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." The once-hidden truth is now proclaimed openly.
Les Feldick teaches that God's sovereignty includes the right to keep certain truths hidden until He is ready to reveal them. He points to Deuteronomy 29:29 as God saying, 'I'm keeping this secret. I'm not telling you everything.' God tells people what they need to know, but He does it in His own time. Les insists that 'you cannot believe something that someone has never said' and 'you don't believe something until God says it.' Therefore Adam, Eve, and Abraham were not expected to understand the Gospel, because it had not yet been revealed. Les applies this to Peter and the apostles in the early chapters of Acts. They still had not been given the understanding that Christ's death, burial, and resurrection would bring salvation to the whole human race. They knew Jesus was the Messiah for Israel, but the deeper purpose was still 'hid in the mind of God.' The events themselves were not an accident or surprise: Israel's rejection and the crucifixion were determined in eternity past. God simply had not yet revealed what He would accomplish through them. According to Les, the secrets of the church age and the rapture were kept hidden until they were revealed to the apostle Paul. God has the prerogative to keep things secret for as long as He chooses, and when He finally speaks, people are responsible to believe what He has now made known.
Les says 'a sovereign God does not reveal a truth until He's ready to reveal it.' In Luke 18:34, the saying about Jesus dying and rising the third day 'was hid from them.' In Acts 3, Peter and John still had not understood what God was going to place on the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. All they understood was that Jesus was the Messiah and the Son of God who had proved it with miracles, and that His ministry was to the nation of Israel.
Les rejects the idea that Adam and Eve or Abraham understood the Gospel. He says God had not yet revealed it; it was 'kept secret' and 'held in the mind of God.' Until God spoke, no one was expected to believe that Christ would die, be buried, and be raised from the dead. As Les puts it, 'you cannot believe something that someone has never said.'
Deuteronomy 29:29 shows that while secret things belong to God, 'those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children.' Les makes the same point: 'you don't believe something until God says it.' Once God does speak, that truth becomes the responsibility of the people who hear it. In Acts 2, Peter could then proclaim to the whole house of Israel that God had made the crucified Jesus both Lord and Christ, calling the nation to repent.
Peter’s Acts 2 Proclamation to Israel
Peter could only proclaim the truth once God had revealed it; this clip shows the revealed truth being announced to Israel after the crucifixion and resurrection.
God’s Sovereign Right to Keep Secrets
Les explains that the secret things belong to God because He is sovereign; He tells people what they need when He chooses, and no one is obligated to believe what God has not yet said.
Why the Disciples Could Not Understand
God had not yet seen fit to reveal Christ's death and resurrection, so the saying was hid from them; a sovereign God reveals truth when He is ready.
Peter and John Before the Mystery Was Revealed
Peter and John understood Jesus only as Israel's Messiah; the full purpose of His death, burial, and resurrection was still not revealed to them.
God’s Foreordained Plan Included Israel’s Rejection
Les shows God was not surprised by Israel's rejection or Rome's crucifixion; it was predetermined, just as the later hidden truths were.
Paul Reveals the Hidden Mystery
God has the prerogative to keep secrets until it is time, and Paul reveals a mystery that had never before been disclosed.
The Church Age and Rapture Were Kept Hidden
God can keep things secret as long as He chooses; the church age and rapture were not hinted at in prophecy or Christ's earthly ministry.
Belief Must Await God’s Word
No one can believe something God has not said; in Acts 10 the gospel of salvation by His death, burial, and resurrection was still hidden in God's mind.
Deuteronomy 29:29: The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.
This is the foundational text Les uses to show that God withholds some things and gives other things to His people.
Luke 18:34: And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
This records that the disciples could not understand Jesus' death and resurrection because it was hidden from them at that time.
Acts 2:36: Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
This shows Peter publicly declaring a truth once God had brought it into the open.
No. Les points to Deuteronomy 29:29 and says 'the secret things belong to the Lord our God.' God tells us everything we need to know, but He reveals it in His own time.
Les says God had not yet revealed the full purpose of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. Peter knew Jesus was the Messiah for Israel, but the saving purpose for the whole human race was still hidden in the mind of God.
Les says no. God had not revealed the Gospel yet, and it was kept secret, held in the mind of God. 'You cannot believe something that someone has never said.'
Watch the Teaching: Why the Resurrection Happens in Order — 1 Corinthians 15:20-23