Psalms 103:13: “Like as a father pitieth [his] children, [so] the LORD pitieth them that fear him.”

 

Some people are beginning to think that I am giving men a bad rap with my talk of women being a gateway, having a special knowledge of God and all that, so I figure that at least on Father’s Day I can wave the flag for the old man. Indeed the Bible speaks very highly of fathers.  Check out Psalms 103:13: “Like a father pitieth his children.”

 

It is a given that a father will have pity for his children.  Yuck, do we really want our fathers to pity us?  That word pity sounds a bit too condescending. It sounds like a father can feel sorry for his son and maybe just lower himself to help his child along. The word that is used in this text  in the Hebrew for pity is racham.  Now I have talked of racham quite a bit.  Racham is usually rendered as tender mercies.  It is a caring, sweet gentle love. Pity, my foot. Translators want to make sure the father is not made out to be some mushy, tender hearted soul. Why he must be strong, enduring, and brave and if we are to attribute any tenderness to him we will just call it pity or mercy.  Even commentators will not admit that the Hebrew word that is used for pity is racham, a romantic word. They will just wax lyrical about the great and powerful male who can show a little pity once in a while, surely we would not attribute these feminine tendencies of nurturing, caring and loving to a man. I mean a man is a man and has to be man.  I have studied this word racham inside and out and outside and in and all around and I cannot get over the fact that racham is an expression of tenderness, caring and gentleness. If all a man is supposed to do is pity his child that gives the impression of a father who is stand offish, who does not hug his child or tell his child I love you. Icky poo, that is girl stuff.  Yet, if David is saying that a father rachams his child, then that is exactly what he does, he does hug his child, he does tell his child that he loves him, he does weep for his child and prays to God with tears in his eyes for his child.  Come on translators  man up, show some courage and admit that racham means a father does more than pity or show compassion to his child, he loves his child and hugs his child and show me where racham does not mean that.

 

Oh, but  behold, the KJV does not tell the whole story.  The word racham is used as an adjective for the word father.   A loving passionate father will show love and passion to his child.  Some people don’t like it when I attribute feminine qualities to God as nurturing, caring etc.  He is a Father by golly and Fathers are not measly, soft spoken tender hearted, he is a man, a fighter, a warrior, who fearlessly defends his family.  Thus, we see God as a fighter, a warrior who fearlessly defends us and we are terrified of him as a little child is terrified of a father that will beat him.  But David saw his God as one who rachams, is tender hearted, forgiving, caring and nurturing.

 

Frankly, I don’t want a Father God who pities me or even shows compassion, I want a Father God who will hug me, who will wipe away my tears, who will weep with me and pick me up and carry when I just can’t go on.  I want a God who is racham.

 

The word for father in Hebrew is ‘av  which is spelled Aleph and Beth.  A father is three.  The Aleph equals one and the Beth equals two, one plus two equals three.  A mother is forty one, ‘im  spelled Aleph and Mem.  The Aleph equals one and the Mem equals forty.  Together they equal forty four.

 

A father and mother are partners in the creation of an adam, a human person. The word adam is spelled Aleph = 1, Daleth = 4 and Mem = 40, the numerical value of a human person is 45.  A father = 3 and a mother = 41 and produce a 44.  Oops, we are one short. To the father and mother we must add one to create an adam, that one is the Aleph = God = 1.  Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear O Israel the Lord our God is 1.”  It takes a unity of spirit, mind and body to create adam or human person but it can be done without the One, without God.

 

A father is an adam but he is also an ‘av which equals 3.  What do we know as three?  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  That father is to be the human, physical picture of the God head. Indeed, I have found many people who see God the Father as they saw their own earthly father.  If their father was a loving, caring, forgiving, patient, and understanding  racham as was in my case, then they, as I,  see the Father God as a loving, caring forgiving, patient, and understanding racham. If a person had a father that yelled at them, beat them, was cold, stand offish, never said I love you to them, never hug them, the odds are they will see God as a father that will beat them if they sin, stand offish, never saying I love you, and never hugging them.

 

I found that when I worked with troubled teenagers many years ago that I would get nowhere talking about God as a heavenly Father.  To them a Father was someone who got drunk, stole household money and beat their mother.  Fathers take careful note, the God that your child will believe in is going to be modeled after you and if you are not a father that your child will love and cherish, then the odds are they are not going to seek out God as their Heavenly Father and boy will you stand in judgment for that one day.

 

If you don’t mind, just one more thing about the Hebrew word father, av.  The Aleph is the One or God and the Beth is the letter that stands for the house or home. The father is the beginning of family life.  His function is to introduce the oneness of God into his home.   The word for father is ‘av which has a numerical value of 3.  What do we know as three?  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  It is the father’s duty live a life before His children as the God head expresses before us.

 

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