09/21/2007
Jeremiah 7:16-18(NRSV)
16As for you, do not pray for this people, do not raise a cry or prayer on their behalf, and do not intercede with me, for I will not hear you. 17Do you not see what they are doing in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? 18The children gather wood, the fathers kindle fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes for the queen of heaven; and they pour out drink offerings to other gods, to provoke me to anger.
In this “New Age”, many religions are emerging that revere a female deity. Wicca and Witchcraft say they honor both the male and female aspect of god. Some of the more feminist religions declare god to be female. And many times in Israel’s history, they built shrines (Asherah Poles) to the queen of heaven. Many liberal, theological historians will even point to passages like this one and say that there IS a female deity and that the male-dominated Jewish leaders distorted the event to make it sound like it was a sin.
This passage is God’s reaction to this practice.
Jeremiah tends to toggle between declaring destruction of Israel and proclaiming its restoration. But the restoration comes only after the destruction. And that destruction comes as a result of Israel’s willful disobedience in worshiping other gods and goddesses.
I am not going to state today that God is male or that God is not female. I believe that we simply do not understand God well enough to make such a claim. To make such a claim would be to reduce God to our level. What I will say is that God’s anger is provoked when Israel set up shrines or gave offerings to the “queen of heaven.” The reason is because that is a blasphemy that places another on the same level as Him. And that “other” is nothing more than a wood, stone or metal image; or even just a philosophical idea.
Further, Jesus said
25For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. Mark 12:25(NRSV)
So, what we can say is that we do not fully understand God. In heaven, we will not marry. Does this mean we will be genderless? I personally do not believe this. However, this passage does underscore that we don’t understand the nature and roles of gender among the angels. And it is folly to presume that God has a wife or paramour. God stands alone, three-in-one. Let us honor Him alone and simply appreciate His mystery.
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
©2007 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.
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