Monday, January 31, 2011
Question for Discussion:
G-d is Father to the Fatherless...what of the motherless? If G-d is not man (though chooses to reveal Himself as Father, King and Bridegroom), what is the proper way to look to the mothering, nurturing characteristics of G-d? Those who have had improper fathering look to the L-rd for inner healing in the area of fathering...what is the proper way for those who need inner healing because of poor or absent mothering?
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9 comments:
He also nurtures us with his Spirit & nurturing is a maternal characteristic.
Yes, and the Holy Spirit is feminine in the Hebrew.
This is a very good question. I am interested in what is uncovered.
Really good question. I never even thought of that, it seems so many people struggle with the Father aspect. We were all made in His image though right? That means women too. It makes me excited to be one anyway, and understand that part of the L-rd. Nurturing is so fun!
True that, Cass.
And yes, Leah...I also think I read somewhere that Shekinah, manifest presence, is also a feminine word in Hebrew.
Jess- Yes, I totally agree and that's what I'm getting at. We are all made in His image, but my question is more how to connect with that nature of G-d, practically.
Matthew 23:37 (New International Version, ©2010)
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.
Some have said that this passage is a reference to the Lord being like a 'mother' hen who longs to gather her children under her wings. On a practical level, it shows the Lords it is like the prodigal son story but from the mother angel its shows God heart that when we have sinned He longs to embrace us and restore us.
Continue to ask questions... because it will lead you into God's Heart
Here is a quote from Dr. Moseley's class Covenantal Relationships. "the first two letters of the tetragrammaton YHWH indicating YAH are masculine, while the last two WH are feminine." This principle is also observed in the fact that woman was made from man and in the unity of marriage they are re-united as ONE just as the L-RD is ONE or echad.
That's beautiful.
Keep em' coming.
Okay, I'm excited to weigh in on this one - I'm sure you've heard God's name El Shaddai. In it's original language, this name came about because of the pictographs used to form it. One was a tower, signifying "mighty", and the other - Shaddai - was two rounded, down-turned humps, like a curvy capital "W" - also resembling breasts or an udder. The Mighty Teet, it would be most nearly translated.
It sounds funny, yet El Shaddai was one of the ancient Hebrew's favorite names for God, because it specifically signified his feminine, nurturing qualities. In a harsh desert life, they were very in tune to the reality that their survival, day-to-day, depended directly on El Shaddai's direct sustenance and provision. Indeed, their survival required an upward posture, heart and ear toward the "mothering" of the Father.
Food for thought.
it's very interesting considering what I (we, my friends) have been learning about how middle eastern/hebrew philosophy tends not to separate the physical and spiritual and have an overall holistic view of the world and reality, at least than the west. It makes sense that they would have practically connected their need for the bare essentials for survival as emerging from the
character of El Shaddai.
I'm chewing. Thanks for contributing.
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