The Male and Female Aspects of God

THE MALE AND FEMALE ASPECTS OF GOD

8-6-2019

God Created Man in His Image

In Genesis 1:27 we read:

²⁷ And God created man [awdawm] in His own image; in the image of God created He him; male and female He created them.

We can see here that when man was created in the image of God, he was both male and female at least in the characteristics of male and female, the appearance is not certain at this point.  This is because God is both male and female (in the characteristics of God).  The scripture indicates that God initially created one individual called Adam or awdawm (from the earth).  At this creation event there was only one creation that had the characteristics of both male and female.

Genesis 2:7 NET The LORD God formed the man from the soil of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

https://www.bibleref.com/Genesis/1/Genesis-1-26.html

God decrees, "Let us make man in our image," using a Hebrew word—ē'nu—which is unmistakably plural. Why does God speak of Himself as more than one person? Scholars have offered a wide variety of ideas over the centuries.  Bible Ref answers:  God may be referring to Himself and the angels; God is speaking as a Trinity, of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Or God may be speaking within His two aspects:  male and female.

Genesis 1:26 NET Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth."

Later, in Gen. 2:21-23, we read that God removed the female out of the man and separated them into two individuals.  Thus the single individual creation was separated into two individuals:  a man and a woman.  It is apparent that each individual had the characteristics and the appearance of a male and a female similar to the mammal pairs of animals that God had created prior to the extraction of the female from the man.

Genesis 2:21-23 NET So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he was asleep, he took part of the man's side and closed up the place with flesh. (22) Then the LORD God made a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. (23) Then the man said, "This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man."

Once the male and female were separated and placed in distinct bodies, they were dependent upon each other for their completeness, similar to the previous animal creation. That is the foundational truth behind the institution of marriage. And so the Scripture continues in verse 24,

²⁴ For this cause a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.

In scripture God has two names:  Yahweh and El Shaddai. The most commonly known name is Yahweh also known as God the Father.  However, El Shaddai is the name of God with a female or mother connotation.

God spoke to Moses in Exodus 6:2-3 and explained to him these two names,

² God spoke further to Moses and said to him, I am the Lord [literally, “Yahweh”]; ³ and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty [literally, “El Shaddai”], but by My name, Lord [Yahweh] I did not make Myself known to them.

Exodus 6:2-3 NET God spoke to Moses and said to him, "I am the LORD. (3) I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name 'the LORD' I was not known to them.

From Dr. Stephen Jones:

This is a most important revelation of truth. The name of Yahweh was revealed first to Moses many centuries after Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Since Moses was the writer of the first five books of the Bible (the Torah), we see that he often inserted the name of Yahweh throughout the book of Genesis. Yet this was not to imply that the name of Yahweh had been revealed in those days, but rather to show that Yahweh was active during that time. The first occurrence of the name of Yahweh appears in Gen. 2:4,

⁴ This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God [Yahweh Elohim] made earth and heaven.

Hence, we know that Yahweh, usually reflected as Lord or God in biblical texts, was the Creator of heaven and earth, even though He did not reveal Himself by this name for the first 2,500 years of Adamic history. Then in Gen. 17:1 we find a very unique verse,

¹ Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord [Yahweh] appeared to Abram and said to him, I am God Almighty [El Shaddai]; Walk before Me and be blameless.

Note that Yahweh told Abram, “I am El Shaddai.” This tells us that El Shaddai is also Yahweh. They are the same God, but God uses both names, depending upon the occasion. Let no one think that there are two Gods. There is only one God, but He uses more than one name and has more than one manifestation.

El Shaddai is the name God uses to manifest the divine character of motherhood. The Hebrew word shad means “the breast of a woman or animal,” according to Strong’s Concordance, word #7699. Thus, the name shows the feminine, or mothering, side of God’s character.

The Hebrew word El is usually translated “God,” but more literally, the word refers to one who is in power over others. For example, God told Moses in Ex. 7:1, “See, I make you as God to Pharaoh.” This simply means that God had given Moses spiritual authority over Pharaoh. Pharaoh was, in effect, the servant or subject of Moses, though Pharaoh would not have admitted this. In its plural form, Elohim, the word is sometimes used of the judges in Israel. (See Ex. 21:6; 22:8, 9.)

So El, or Elohim, refers to one who is in power, or “almighty.” The name of El Shaddai, then, presents God as the Almighty Breasted One, the God who gave birth to creation and the nourisher and protector of her children, particularly during their youth. Therefore, this is the name by which God was revealed in the early days of man’s history—when man was yet “young.”

Determining God’s Will in a Family

When God gave the law to Moses, He revealed a very fundamental precept in Deuteronomy 19:15,

¹⁵ A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity, or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.

In parental decisions (those that affect the family in general), the husband and wife are called as the two witnesses to establish the truth of revelation.

God separated male from female in order to provide a double witness in the family unit that would establish all truth as revealed by God. This is one of the most important principles that a husband and wife must know fully in order to establish the kind of marriage that God intended from the beginning.

When man was originally created with male and female in a single individual, the man was in God’s image, having both a left and a right brain. He could discern and hear the voice of both El Shaddai and Yahweh speaking to him. But when God separated Eve from Adam, they became incomplete within themselves. Adam’s male nature was naturally tuned to hear the voice of Yahweh; Eve’s female nature was naturally tuned to hear the voice of El Shaddai. We do not know how pronounced this deficiency was in that first couple, but we know by experience today that most men tend to be more developed in the left side of their brain, while most women tend to be more developed in the right side of their brain.

The left brain gives us a logical and mechanical ability. The right brain gives us an artistic and intuitive ability. Thus, men and women view life from different perspectives and react differently in viewing and solving life’s problems. When confronted with identical situations, men tend to ask for logical reasons to understand it, while women tend to see and understand its emotional impact. In order to understand the entire situation and resolve it fully, one must understand both sides. The difference between men and women is far more than just physical.

One of the purposes in marriage is for each person to assist the other to better see the other side of reality.  For instance, if God speaks to them and leads them to move to another city, the husband will tend to wonder how this will affect his job and his ability to support his family.  The woman will wonder how it will affect the family and the disruptions inherent in moving the “nest.”  Even if the woman herself has a career, she cannot help but view such a move more emotionally and intuitively than an average man would view it.

In order to determine the will of God, it requires the viewpoint of both the husband and wife. Each one’s input will help the other to comprehend the full situation with more clarity. Therefore, both husband and wife must have the ability to hear God’s voice, or else they will experience a breakdown in knowing the will of God for their lives. The ability to hear God is a skill that is learned and developed over time.

If both the husband and the wife have developed the ability to hear God’s voice, and if both truly want to know God’s will alone without the disadvantage of heart idolatry to lead them astray, then such a marriage has the potential of always knowing the will of God for the family. Husband and wife then can assume the role of two witnesses, one hearing from Yahweh and the other hearing from El Shaddai. Together they can receive the full divine perspective from both sides of God’s mind and act accordingly.

When the Apostle Peter spoke about marriage relationships, he said to husbands:

1 Peter 3:7 NET Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as the weaker partners and show them honor as fellow heirs of the grace of life. In this way nothing will hinder your prayers.

Peter says that a man’s wife is a “fellow heir.” It is the same term used in Romans 8:17 when Paul was referring to Christ’s bride, who is a joint-heir with Christ.  Note that in this example both males and females as the Bride(s) of Christ.  The word has to do with being an inheritor. Women have the same right as a man to receive a spiritual inheritance.  By this law, the Bride of Christ is a join-heir with Him.

Secondly, Peter admonishes husbands to HONOR their wives.  Some married couples may dishonor their spouses in some manner.

Thirdly, Peter says the woman is the “weaker vessel.” This does not mean weak minded, weak spiritually, or morally weaker. It simply means that the average woman is not as physically strong or as tall as the average man.

Finally, husbands ought to honor their wives, because they are joint-heirs with them. Both men and women will obtain the same reward in the end. She will not receive a lesser reward for having motherly and household duties as her primary work. In fact, the wife is the husband’s double witness, she is a partaker in all that is done in the family. Her role and calling as a double witness, then, is really the lawful basis of her right to be a joint-heir.  No one can be absolutely sure of the Father’s will without a double witness.

This is the basis for the ideal marriage. No one has this type of relationship automatically. It usually takes a long time to develop. Unfortunately, most people know little or nothing about it, and without some example to observe, they spend most of their life fumbling in the dark, trying to learn by trial and error. But without instruction, the learning curve is too gradual, and most come to the end of their lives never having attained the satisfaction of developing this relationship.

Those who are unmarried, of course, obviously must find someone else as a prayer partner for confirmation. For those who have no close friends that can hear from God, they must look to the pastor of the local fellowship. If there is none, or if the pastor has little ability to hear God’s voice, then perhaps all one can do is pray that God will provide the double witness Himself in some way. God does often show us signs, if we have eyes to see them. This involves learning divine “sign” language.