Comprehending the Mystery of God

God by definition is unchanging, uncreated, and beyond the ability of humans to fully comprehend. The Bible presents the mystery of God by use of metaphors and analogies. In Psalm 18, God is described as a rock, a shield and a fortress (see also 2 Samuel 22). Psalm 84 uses the Sun as a symbol for the High God.

Wings are often used to illustrate God's care and protection. In Deuteronomy 32:9-12 eagle's wings describe how God carried His people through the wilderness: 

"As an eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers over its young, Spreading out its wings, taking them up, Carrying them on its wings, So the Lord alone led him, And there was no foreign god with him."

When Boaz met Ruth for the first time he encouraged her by saying, "The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge" (Ruth 2:12).

The Bible also uses descriptive names for God. El Elyon means God Most High and is associated with royal shrines and temples constructed at high elevations. These are sometimes referred to as "Sun temples" by anthropologists. Among Abraham's ancestors the Sun was the emblem of the Creator and to this day Jews perform the Sun blessing. The Birkat Hachama (ברכת החמה, "Blessing of the Sun") is recited when the sun completes its cycle every 28 years on a Tuesday at sundown.

God is described as the Groom whose bride is faithless Israel in Hosea.

God is described as the Shepherd who watches over his flock.

The idea that God has a son is found in the Old and New Testaments, but is especially prevalent in the New Testament. Consider Proverbs 30:4:

Who has ascended to heaven and come down? Who has gathered the wind in His hands? Who has bound up the waters in His cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is His name, and what is the name of His Son--surely you know!

The son of God is described in ancient Horite Hebrew tests as having a "red clock."

Trinitarian correspondences between the beliefs of the ancient Nilotes and the Mesopotamians have also been noted. Judaism later suppressed this understanding of God Father, God Son, and God Spirit.

God is so far beyond human comprehension that many images, metaphors and analogies are needed to help us begin to grasp God's nature. Thankfully, Jesus Messiah came into the world - "God of God... very God of very God"-  so that we might know the Father through the Son. As Jesus explained to Phillip, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father" (John 14:9).

The Apostle Paul insists that there is no rational reason to claim ignorance of God. God has been busy revealing His nature from the beginning! "Since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-21).

Related reading: God's Power and Divinity are Evident; Judaism is Not the Faith of Abraham