The Feminine Heart of God

In our weekly reading of the Torah, once again we are reading the sections which quite frankly, could be considered boring, or at the least not very relevant to our daily lives. This week was "Bamidbar", which is "In the Wilderness/Desert"; I was struck once again with the detail, order, and beauty commanded by the Lord. These revealed characteristics, a desire for order, an attention to the little details, the desire to use these details to create order and beauty, are all a revelation of the feminine heart of God.

In these days, it almost feels blasphemous to attribute any kind of femininity to the Most High. But the Torah is very clear right from Genesis chapter 1:17 "And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." It is clear that the female is as much the "image of God" as the male.  I think we mostly ignore this fact.

So, in these days when too many women are abused, or put down, or made to feel like second class citizens (or considered as property in many parts of the world), I think it is very important to get back to the realization that God is female as well as male. It is also important to read the scriptures with this in mind.  We must ask ourselves, where is the feminine heart of God in scripture?

Another question I really think we need to answer honestly, is this: is God more male than female? That's an ouch question because the answer is:  He (and I will use the He rather than It), is both, and if we are honest, He is equally both male and female. I know that Yeshua came to this earth as a male, but I don't think that makes God more male than female. I think that is an honest recognition of the difference between male and female, and the fact that as a woman Yeshua couldn't possibly have completed the mission he was sent to accomplish. But if you look at how he treated women, you will see that he treated them with as great a respect for their personhood as he did other men. He did not send them away, he did not despise, or denigrate them. In fact, in spite of how women were considered by the culture, his obvious attitude toward women was one of equal respect as fellow human beings. Consider that Mary and Martha thought of him as a good friend. Consider that he did not condemn the Samaritan woman at the well, but rather spoke with her and felt she was worthy of hearing the truth (in his view she was certainly worthy of being taught). Consider the woman caught in adultery, the woman who had the issue of blood, and many others.

So when we read scripture, when we look at the Torah, it is a good thing to keep in mind that while God is referred to in the masculine tense, yet, the feminine heart of God is clearly revealed in the parts that we find either "irrelevant" or "boring". Why should we care how each of the utensils of the Tabernacle were to be cared for? Or take the time to imagine how beautiful each was, that in fact, the Tabernacle was very beautiful? That the Tabernacle was a place of cleanliness, order, and beauty? That the camp of the Israelites was supposed to be a place of cleanliness, order, and beauty? All these things come from the feminine heart of God.  I had some friends once who crotched  a lovely Afghan out of red, purple, and gold, the colors used in the Tabernacle, because they wanted to see how they would look together. I think this honors the feminine heart of God.

So from now on when you get to the parts of Torah, that might be considered irrelevant to your life today, remember that very likely these places are vitally important to remembering how God created us both male and female "in His image". And to remember that God's heart is equally feminine and masculine and that both are revealed in His scripture. It honors Him to remember this and to look for His feminine heart.