Images of God

When you think about God, what images come to mind?

I would guess “father” and “shepherd”, maybe “judge” will be among the first ones. And those are biblical images of God. (The old guy with the white flowing beard is not, however. That’s Santa Claus.)

But there are other Biblical images of God.

Some are explicitly feminine:

God says, “As a mother comforts her child, so I will comfort you.” (Isaiah 66:13)

Jeremiah 31:20 (speaking about Ephraim as a synonym for God’s people) is commonly translated as “Therefore I am deeply moved for him; I will surely have mercy on him.” The Hebrew literally would read: “Therefore my inner organs (as the heart or womb) move for him; my womb will have compassion on him.” [The Hebrew verb for “to have compassion” comes from the same root as “womb”.]

God has a womb, and God’s womb “moves” out of compassion and love for us!

Jesus says in Matthew 23:37, “How often have I desired to gather Jerusalem’s children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wing.”

Some beautiful, often neglected images.

 

The danger of speaking of God as either male or female is that we narrow God down. We can only think in those two genders because that’s what we know. God, however, is much more than that. And allow me to say that human beings are much more than that also! We all have so-called “masculine” and “feminine” personality traits. We all carry “masculine” and “feminine” hormones (testosterone and estrogen). If someone’s physical appearance is not “masculine” enough, or too “masculine” (say a woman has facial hair), people can be very cruel in their judgments.

Not every person born is born as either male or female. Some have both male and female body parts. Others have male body parts but identify as female, and vice versa. Some individuals are gender fluent and some identify as agender, meaning neither male or female.

Why do we need those categories? Why do we have to be “either or”? Why can’t we just be who God created us to be, and stop the labeling and judging? We would save each other a lot of pain and heartache, and we would possibly save lives. (Transgender teens have the highest suicide rates.)

 

My point is, God is more complex than male and female, and so is God’s creation, including all human beings.

 

This, I believe, is why many other images used for God in the Bible have no gender:

David sings that God is his “rock, fortress, and his deliverer.” (2 Samuel 22:2)

In Psalm 36:9, God is described as “the fountain of life.”

Psalm 84:11: “God is a sun and shield.”

“God is our peace.” (Judges 6:24)

 

And last but certainly not least: “God is love.” (1 John 4:16)

That’s what we all need: Love. Love and compassion. We are all God’s beloved children. May we live that way.