He is not a Man

It feels like one of the stupidest lines ever written in Scripture. The prophet, Samuel, is telling King Saul that God was stripping him of his kingdom for his sin. In the midst of this, Samuel says of God, "The Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind" (1 Sam 15:29). While this is a clear statement of God's immutability, that little line in there, "He is not a man", just cracks me up. Like, "Wow, Samuel, thanks for clearing that up. We kinda thought God was just a guy over in the next valley, but you've sure straightened us out!" "He is not a man."

Oh, sure, it's all fun and jokes ... until it occurs to me that this isn't as outlandish as it first seems. Talking to people day in and day out, it looks to me like a lot of them don't seem to realize that God is not a man. Oh, sure, no one makes that mistake consciously, but turn the corner of consciousness and suddenly they're saying things that convince me that's exactly what they're thinking.

Take, for instance, the anthropocentrism so absolutely prevalent today, even in the Church. We tend to start with Man as the key issue ... as if God (who, if you recall, is not a man) is somehow beholden to Man, somehow obligated to Man, must somehow see Man in the same light that we see Man. We are told, for instance, that "Whoever sheds a man's blood, by Man his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made Man" (Gen 9:6). So, see? God is not allowed to shed human blood because we're far too valuable, being made in the image of God. But, wait ... the Bible is full of God doing just that. So ... okay, hold on ... now I'm confused. Doesn't that make God immoral? Of course, if God is a man, then He must follow the same rules as Man. But ... God is not a man. So while humans are obligated to recognize in one another the image of God and respect life on that basis, God is not so obligated.

Consider the problem of self-centeredness. Among humans, it is both normal and a problem. We all suffer from it, and we all recognize that we shouldn't. Well, when faced with it we recognize it. You see, humans tend to see themselves (individually and as a whole) as the center of the universe. We are the important ones. Well, to be most precise, I am the important one, but you are all important as well. You know, more important than, say, animals or fish or bugs or trees. And God must see that as well, right? Of course, it is nonsense. We are not the center of the universe. And that kind of thinking spawns every form of evil you can think of, from discourtesy to murder. It starts with a simple error and ends up in all error. Who, then, is the center of the universe? Well, according to Paul, "For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things" (Rom 11:36). So, I guess it's reasonable to say that God is the center of all things. As such, if God was not self-centered, then He would be wrong. He would be an idolater, putting other things before the Creator. He would be insane, thinking of other things that are not the center of the universe as the center. He would not be God. You see, we should not be self-centered (both because it's incorrect and because it is immoral) and God must be self-centered (because it is both true and morally correct).

These are just a couple of examples. You'll find this running throughout our thinking processes. "God," we tend to think, "must conform to all the same rules that we do." It's not true, and you know it. You know, for instance, that He is omnipresent and we must be in only one place at any given time. ("Oh, sure, be obvious, Stan.") It's not true in other ways. We have a higher rule of morality and justice imposed on us to which we must conform. God is that higher rule, defining morality and justice by what He is and does. As Creator, He makes His own standards; as creature, we conform to His standards. And despite all of our protests, He doesn't actually have to conform to His own standards.

Now, before you get your knickers in a twist there, think about it. Parents make standards for their children. "You cannot drive before you're ___" (fill in the blank yourself because I've heard some parents tell their teenagers numbers like "16, "18", or "32", depending on the kid). "You have to be in bed by 8." "No, you're only 4; you can't cross the street by yourself." But ... parents drive, go to bed when they please, and cross the street all by themselves! Immoral, hypocritical parents! Right? No, of course not. "Parent" is a different order of being than "child". And what is true in small, human terms is much more true in God-versus-Man terms. So it is unreasonable to impose human rules on God.

God (unlike parents) will always do what is right. He is the standard. "Justice" is defined as "whatever God does". Be very careful not to confuse yourself with that. While it may sound somewhat silly, God is not a man. He doesn't conform to the same rules to which we are supposed to conform. He is God. Be careful not to trip yourself up with that. He is not a man.