Dear Feminist,

I get it.  I get YOU.  I was there once.  I was one of those who called a Walkman (do you remember those??) a “Walkmate”.  I was a staunch feminist, reading Ms. Magazine, The Feminine Mystique…all the “in” books associated with the feminist movement.  I WAS you!

But a couple of things changed along the way.  For one, I became a believer in Jesus Christ.  That changed many of my views, as expected it would.  Second, feminism became something less about fighting for equality and more about fighting against everything male.  I won’t even get into the other issues such as abortion and gender roles.  I will leave those alone for now.  For the purposes of this article I want to focus on this one issue….

….I started to hear God referred to as “she”.

Let me tell you, God is most certainly not female.  No matter how much you might want Him to be, no matter how often you want to refer to Him as “her”, He is not.  The very word for God in the Hebrew language, Elohim, is a masculine, plural form.  So for those who want to argue that, in translation, men assigned God a masculine pronoun..you’re wrong.  He was HE from the original text.

For those who will say, “Well…back then Women were property!  Women weren’t held in high regard so of course they referred to God as “He”.”  Again, wrong.

You see, Judaism is actually a matriarchal and matrilineal society.  Women are revered in Judaism.  In fact, Judaism is passed on down the line through the mother and grandmother.  Yes…there were definitive roles for women and men but don’t mistake that for inequality as regards value.

The website Judaism 101 defines it this way:

“In traditional Judaism, women are for the most part seen as separate but equal. Women’s obligations and responsibilities are different from men’s, but no less important…” (Judaism 101 http://www.jewfaq.org/women.htm)

This page also goes on to say:

“Many of the important feminist leaders of the 20th century (Gloria Steinem, for example, and Betty Friedan) are Jewish women, and some commentators have suggested that this is no coincidence: the respect accorded to women in Jewish tradition was a part of their ethnic culture.” (Judaism 101 http://www.jewfaq.org/women.htm)

The God of the New Testament is the God of the Old.  The God of Judaism is the God of Christianity.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The view and value of women in each is no different.

We are just innately different and different is ok!!  I am the first to say I am not equal in many things to my husband.  He can do things I can’t and vice versa.  We are NOT equal and that is OK!!  But what we ARE equal in is our value as human beings and our value in the eyes of God.

When you start to refer to God as she you create God in YOUR own image #proverbs31
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You have made an idol for yourself…a god of your own design.  You decided you don’t like what the Bible says about God.  You want a female god and that is not the God of the Bible.

You do not get to recreate God just because you somehow feel less powerful being under the authority of a masculine deity.

God being a “He” does not diminish your value or worth any more than your earthly father being a man makes you less of a Woman.  The gender of your father has nothing to do with your worth or value.  It has nothing to do with your value in society.  We don’t all of a sudden demand that, because you are feminist, you want only female parents and that a male parent is somehow incapable of raising up a strong, capable woman!  So why do you demand that God be female?  Does a masculine God diminish who YOU are?

You are in dangerous territory when you start to create gods for yourself.

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.  You shall have no other gods before Me.”
Exodus 20:2-3 (NIV)

Your worth and value as a woman in society is not determined by anyone else’s gender, including God’s. Your worth and value in society is determined by who you are and by WHO created you.

God being a He does not diminish your value or worth #proverbs31
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Oh I have heard the arguments.  That because the Bible says God created man in His image…male and female He created them…therefore God must also be female as well.

You are assigning to God human attributes.  Again, you are creating God in the image YOU have of Him.  You are picking and choosing what you want God to be like (and what you don’t want to accept about Him) as though you are at some spiritual buffet!

Listen to me….you are a beautiful, powerful woman already!  The Bible doesn’t diminish the value of women, it actually demonstrates it!  Look at examples such as Ruth, Esther, and yes…the Proverbs 31 woman who was a business woman, a mother, a wife, an entrepreneur.  She is referred to as the “virtuous” woman.  The Hebrew word used here for “virtuous” is “hayil” and means strong, capable.  It was actually a word used to refer to military strength…now that is strong!  (See my post on the Virtuous Woman HERE )  There are many Biblical examples of women of virtue and strength in both the Old and New Testament.

The Bible doesn't diminish the value of women, it actually demonstrates it #proverbs31
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God is not a woman, no matter how much you wish He was and no matter how many times you refer to Him as “Her”.  But know…He loves you and created you to be a beautiful, strong, valuable woman nonetheless and He desires relationship with you.  He longs to know you and He longs for you to know Him…as the loving, faithful Father He is.

The post Dear Feminist – God is Not a “She” appeared first on Worth Beyond Rubies.