More on God The nature of the divine

Describing the Divine Terms from Hosea Terms from Hosea –A husband (2:2) –A father (11:1) –A Physician (7:1) –A fowler (7:12) –A lion (5:14) –A leopard (13:7) –A she-bear (13:8) –The dew (14:5) –The dawn and rain (6:3) –A cypress (14:8) –A moth and dry rot(5:12) Metaphor and simile are the most common ways of describing God and God’s attributes Metaphor and simile are the most common ways of describing God and God’s attributes The inexplicable and the unknowable is made more familiar The inexplicable and the unknowable is made more familiar Gives one glimpses, but not absolute knowledge Gives one glimpses, but not absolute knowledge

A Mystery God is, at heart, a mystery God is, at heart, a mystery The divine name itself is something we do not understand The divine name itself is something we do not understand The nature and character of God is something the writers saw as beyond us The nature and character of God is something the writers saw as beyond us Exodus 34:6-7 Exodus 34:6-7 The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation

Merciful <wjr or merciful comes from the same root as womb. While the translation here is merciful, it is really more womb-compassion. It can have masculine overtones, Ps 103:13, but it has a more normal association with women and the children they birth: See Isaiah 49:15 See Isaiah 49:15 “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.”

Gracious |\/wnj or hanun is all about showing favor towards another. Isa 30:19 “Truly, O people in Zion, inhabitants of Jerusalem, you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you.” Psalm 27:7-9 “Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! ‘Come,’ my heart says, ‘seek his face!’ Your face, Lord, do I seek. Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation.” Psalm 27:7-9 “Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, be gracious to me and answer me! ‘Come,’ my heart says, ‘seek his face!’ Your face, Lord, do I seek. Do not hide your face from me. Do not turn your servant away in anger, you who have been my help Do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation.”

Steadfast Love dsj or hesed. It is often translated goodness or kindness. It is about covenant love and fidelity; and is an attitude or inner disposition much like the Confucian concept of jen. Psalm 130:7 O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. Psalm 130:7 O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem. Isa 63:7 I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord, the praiseworthy acts of the Lord, because of all that the Lord has done for us, and the great favor to the house of Israel that he has shown them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love. Isa 63:7 I will recount the gracious deeds of the Lord, the praiseworthy acts of the Lord, because of all that the Lord has done for us, and the great favor to the house of Israel that he has shown them according to his mercy, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.

Jonah 4:2 That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing. That is why I fled to Tarshish at the beginning; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing.

Jonah – Sistine Chapel

Jonah 4:10-11 You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals? You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?