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Personification & Anthropomorphism |
At such a time when wrath is without repentance so that the breaches of promise go on unfilled, lo, and behold, the prophets declare that the armies of God’s wrath are rising upon the distant horizon! It is an amazing thing for God to fulfill the promises of God, that He would be so near a Warrior and King in Israel that He would fight for them, even through them, unto uncompromising victory, but how terrible is the warning in which God saith: “Woe also to them when I depart from them” (Hos. 9:12)! Woe that God, the only Good, would leave them, but let the reader understand that when God leaves Israel, He then joins the army of the invading enemy host to empower them by His infinite might!
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“I the LORD have drawn forth My sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more” (Ezek. 21:5).
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If an opposing alien host rearing up for the charge unsheathed all their swords – even with the loudest unanimous roar – they would be but grasshoppers of intimidation next to a Living God arrayed for the battle. Imagine, Almighty God, set forth in determination as a Warrior of Steel, saying, “I the LORD have drawn forth My sword.” Enemy armies stand opposed, premeditating the utmost brutality to obtain the victory, and yea, they make themselves ready, even with valiant energy, solemn and stern countenances, every one of them set to kill the enemy they meet on the field, and thus –they unsheathe their sword – but how feeble is this house of cards when one army does not have a mere man in their cavalry charge?! With one or the other, Almighty God’s heart is set on death and destruction, and He does therefore declare to us the same awful image to describe Himself! Yea, with an unwavering mind, He saith, arrayed as one with an unsheathed sword – “it shall not return any more” (Ezek. 21:5). A sword unsheathed in the arm of God, and He saith, “it shall not return”…this is to mean that it is propelled by unrepentant wrath, and therefore intercession is impossible. Had intercession been successfully attained, then the physical manifestation of an opposing army would not have come upon Israel. If God’s sword had returned into His sheath, then the alien armies would have returned theirs. They are a hornet hive of servants under the Lord’s command to send. Think of it! An army of swords in a million hands – but one Lord – directing every blade of the enemy raid! It was for this reason King David did earnestly pray: “Arise, O LORD, disappoint him, cast him down: deliver my soul from the wicked, which is Thy sword: from men which are Thy hand, O LORD, from men of the world” (Ps. 17:13-14)!
What terror it is that the wrath of God is personified in such a manner that God has unsheathed a sword of judgment and death! Again I say, and let it be clear – for God to say, “It shall not return any more” (Ezek. 21:5), is to say the same thing as, “I am weary with repenting” (Jer. 15), and for this purpose, the sword is reared back for the strike! This personification of wrath ought to cause the greatest warrior to cower. God, though depicted as a warrior, is an unapproachable force, and like wax before the fire, the mighty men will melt away. His footsteps are earthquakes, with His charging stride the earth does shake, and He will hew them down until their bones do break. “As wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God” (Ps. 68:1-2). This sword drawn image is one of the many ways in which God takes up an illustration for His wrath through anthropomorphism. An unsheathed sword shows ready wrath, even reared back wrath, but other anthropomorphic images declare other attributes & messages.
The prophets declared wrath which was to come, and is not yet – how it would come as in a sudden moment when a man would awake, though it tarries long in hibernation. There are times when God does “rise up” (Num. 10:35) as a man would do who goes forth to war, and also, God does “awake” for “the judgment” as if He were lying down or fast asleep (Isa. 51:9, Ps. 7:6-7), and this shows that He did ignore the cause at hand until a sudden moment of time. And again, another more compelling message: “The LORD shall go forth as a Mighty Man, He shall stir up jealousy like a Man of War: He shall CRY, yea, ROAR; He shall prevail against His enemies. I have long time holden My peace; I have been still, and refrained Myself: now will I CRY like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once” (Isa 42:13-14). The message is frightfully clear – GOD IS ANGRY – and in this way of descriptive speech, God uses anthropomorphism to rattle the cages of the animal-like, iniquitous sinners that He is angry with – so they feel hunted by God – even by God in the form of unrelenting vengeance and rage, even that He is crying and roaring after them in a devouring jealousy! Thus is the animation of God’s mind in wrath!
What terror it is that the wrath of God is personified in such a manner that God has unsheathed a sword of judgment and death! Again I say, and let it be clear – for God to say, “It shall not return any more” (Ezek. 21:5), is to say the same thing as, “I am weary with repenting” (Jer. 15), and for this purpose, the sword is reared back for the strike! This personification of wrath ought to cause the greatest warrior to cower. God, though depicted as a warrior, is an unapproachable force, and like wax before the fire, the mighty men will melt away. His footsteps are earthquakes, with His charging stride the earth does shake, and He will hew them down until their bones do break. “As wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God” (Ps. 68:1-2). This sword drawn image is one of the many ways in which God takes up an illustration for His wrath through anthropomorphism. An unsheathed sword shows ready wrath, even reared back wrath, but other anthropomorphic images declare other attributes & messages.
The prophets declared wrath which was to come, and is not yet – how it would come as in a sudden moment when a man would awake, though it tarries long in hibernation. There are times when God does “rise up” (Num. 10:35) as a man would do who goes forth to war, and also, God does “awake” for “the judgment” as if He were lying down or fast asleep (Isa. 51:9, Ps. 7:6-7), and this shows that He did ignore the cause at hand until a sudden moment of time. And again, another more compelling message: “The LORD shall go forth as a Mighty Man, He shall stir up jealousy like a Man of War: He shall CRY, yea, ROAR; He shall prevail against His enemies. I have long time holden My peace; I have been still, and refrained Myself: now will I CRY like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once” (Isa 42:13-14). The message is frightfully clear – GOD IS ANGRY – and in this way of descriptive speech, God uses anthropomorphism to rattle the cages of the animal-like, iniquitous sinners that He is angry with – so they feel hunted by God – even by God in the form of unrelenting vengeance and rage, even that He is crying and roaring after them in a devouring jealousy! Thus is the animation of God’s mind in wrath!
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“He breaketh me with breach upon breach, He runneth upon me like a Giant” (Job 16:14).
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Oh reader! What cry can be compared to a travailing woman? What roar can be compared to a jealous man of war who is valiant and strong – AND READY TO FIGHT, & TO DIE! For God to “go forth” with a cry and roar! How awful the image!! What would you do if you saw and heard God waking up and roaring exactly 1 mile away from you, and then with cries and roars, lo, He broke out into a sprinting stride in an angry pursuit to kill you!? Oh! This hotwires man’s feeble understanding and leaves them speechless in a holy astonishment – and yet, there is more to tell! Few things are more intimidating than a charging mighty man of war, but even more than this, imagine the exact same raging man set to kill you, and he is also drunken or drugged. Numb to pain and mindless in rage, such a man can scarcely be restrained by force, for where sense of physical hurt or sure defeat would dissuade a man, or where reason and conscience would make a man aware of shame and guilt - his senses are stupid and his reasonability is madness. This is the experience of humanity, but what if it was likened to a charging, Mighty Deity? It is written, “Then the Lord awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine. And He smote His enemies in the hinder parts: He put them to a perpetual reproach” (Psa. 78:65-66). Earthly images of unstoppable forces are used to give men a small sense of the indescribably terrifying force that God is, so that the mind of men might understand – God is unstoppable – The Only Fierce. Like a mighty man, full of wine, or an intoxicated man in a fit of rage, when men are uncontrollably set to destroy another, this also is like as the uncontrollable human force behind a betrayed husband in the rage of jealousy, or again, a family member seeking revenge after their kin’s blood was shed (called a pursuer of blood). At such a time as this, the anger in man is described as a restless anger, making men as mighty as they could be according to their earthen frames, but what if God is in such a restless anger, as if He was frantically out of control and boiling to pursue the adulterer who robbed Him of His wife, or the murderer of His child…He also being the Almighty?
Zoomorphism
God is infinitely beyond humanity, so as to be indescribable, but, in the effort of condescension to us, God describes Himself in the characteristics of men. This is called anthropomorphism, thus God takes upon Himself the attributes of humanity, but what if God takes upon Himself the attributes of animals? Considering the mightiest of men in the most terrifying fits of rage, however they are made uncontrollable or unstoppable by whatever circumstance, how much more are animals in strength and violence, which are not restrained by any reason or conscience? Thus God doth animate His wrath and power through zoomorphism. Zoomorphism is “the attributing of animal characteristics” to God, instead of human characteristics (Wiktionary). For example, Christ is called “The Lion of the tribe of Juda” (Rev. 5:5), and again, “I will be unto Ephraim as A Lion” (Hos. 5:14). Lions are called the King of the Animal Kingdom for a reason. The impregnable ranks of their pride do rule the countryside, and by their roar they do mark and guard their territories from other male lions or prides. In the wild, it is an unthinkable fear for a lion to steadfastly look upon you - for you know he is lusting after your blood. It is one thing to be threatened by a mighty man, or even a drunken man, as God warns, “I will tear and go away, I will take away and none shall rescue him” (Hos. 5:14), but what if God – The Lion – does make such a threat? “For I will be unto Ephraim as a Lion, and as a young Lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him” (Hos. 5:14). One of the ways that God shows the fierceness of His anger – which is not turned back – holding the promise of sure destruction, is that God is as terribly unconquerable as a Lion. In the face of a roaring Lion you will not render a reason, or vainly hope in a change of mind – it is an animal! Thus God doth show the unrelenting jeopardy of His mind toward sinners whose sin has reached the verdict of merciless annihilation. “Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them: I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them. O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in Me is thine help” (Hos. 13:7-9). “The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy” (Amos 3:8)? Those on the safari plains of Africa do know the terror of the saying, “The Lion hath roared, who will not fear” (Amos 3:8)?
Americans suppose they understand nature, but they are robbed from its experience! Sure, they can watch it from an illuminated box while seated in the comfort and safety of their living room couch, but a real-life experience of “The Wild” is fearful! There is a striking humiliation like no other when you, a mere biped, are standing before giant beasts which tower over you! Quadrupeds are of greater weight, speed, and power, and if you are caught in the open plains with them, then you will see the element for which they were created. Rhinos weigh upwards to 4000 pounds and they can run around 30 mph…in such a case when this animal turns to violence, safety could not be found even if you were in a safari jeep! Have you ever seen an elephant walk through a thick forest? They don’t walk around trees very often, they just push them over and trample them down! Even an elephant’s horns would make your heart rush if you found yourself outside of the safari jeep, but how much more a lion’s roar? One swing of a lion’s paw would filet your flesh like a tender child. If you are caught in its grip but a moment, you will not escape, but for a few seconds you may try to run, while your flesh is shredded under his retractable, three inch, razor sharp claws, and, lo, his mouth is just behind you to break your bones and rend your neck like you would a chicken. Nature channels and cinema experiences are one thing, and fantasy another, but when you have been near a pack of lions feasting on their prey, your heart will not slow down to rest until you are far from that place. They glance at you every once and a while as they feast in the bloodbath of their kill, and with red beards and full bellies they pass you by, for now.
Zoomorphism
God is infinitely beyond humanity, so as to be indescribable, but, in the effort of condescension to us, God describes Himself in the characteristics of men. This is called anthropomorphism, thus God takes upon Himself the attributes of humanity, but what if God takes upon Himself the attributes of animals? Considering the mightiest of men in the most terrifying fits of rage, however they are made uncontrollable or unstoppable by whatever circumstance, how much more are animals in strength and violence, which are not restrained by any reason or conscience? Thus God doth animate His wrath and power through zoomorphism. Zoomorphism is “the attributing of animal characteristics” to God, instead of human characteristics (Wiktionary). For example, Christ is called “The Lion of the tribe of Juda” (Rev. 5:5), and again, “I will be unto Ephraim as A Lion” (Hos. 5:14). Lions are called the King of the Animal Kingdom for a reason. The impregnable ranks of their pride do rule the countryside, and by their roar they do mark and guard their territories from other male lions or prides. In the wild, it is an unthinkable fear for a lion to steadfastly look upon you - for you know he is lusting after your blood. It is one thing to be threatened by a mighty man, or even a drunken man, as God warns, “I will tear and go away, I will take away and none shall rescue him” (Hos. 5:14), but what if God – The Lion – does make such a threat? “For I will be unto Ephraim as a Lion, and as a young Lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him” (Hos. 5:14). One of the ways that God shows the fierceness of His anger – which is not turned back – holding the promise of sure destruction, is that God is as terribly unconquerable as a Lion. In the face of a roaring Lion you will not render a reason, or vainly hope in a change of mind – it is an animal! Thus God doth show the unrelenting jeopardy of His mind toward sinners whose sin has reached the verdict of merciless annihilation. “Therefore I will be unto them as a lion: as a leopard by the way will I observe them: I will meet them as a bear that is bereaved of her whelps, and will rend the caul of their heart, and there will I devour them like a lion: the wild beast shall tear them. O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in Me is thine help” (Hos. 13:7-9). “The lion hath roared, who will not fear? the Lord GOD hath spoken, who can but prophesy” (Amos 3:8)? Those on the safari plains of Africa do know the terror of the saying, “The Lion hath roared, who will not fear” (Amos 3:8)?
Americans suppose they understand nature, but they are robbed from its experience! Sure, they can watch it from an illuminated box while seated in the comfort and safety of their living room couch, but a real-life experience of “The Wild” is fearful! There is a striking humiliation like no other when you, a mere biped, are standing before giant beasts which tower over you! Quadrupeds are of greater weight, speed, and power, and if you are caught in the open plains with them, then you will see the element for which they were created. Rhinos weigh upwards to 4000 pounds and they can run around 30 mph…in such a case when this animal turns to violence, safety could not be found even if you were in a safari jeep! Have you ever seen an elephant walk through a thick forest? They don’t walk around trees very often, they just push them over and trample them down! Even an elephant’s horns would make your heart rush if you found yourself outside of the safari jeep, but how much more a lion’s roar? One swing of a lion’s paw would filet your flesh like a tender child. If you are caught in its grip but a moment, you will not escape, but for a few seconds you may try to run, while your flesh is shredded under his retractable, three inch, razor sharp claws, and, lo, his mouth is just behind you to break your bones and rend your neck like you would a chicken. Nature channels and cinema experiences are one thing, and fantasy another, but when you have been near a pack of lions feasting on their prey, your heart will not slow down to rest until you are far from that place. They glance at you every once and a while as they feast in the bloodbath of their kill, and with red beards and full bellies they pass you by, for now.
“Thou huntest me as a fierce Lion: and again Thou shewest Thyself marvellous upon me” (Job 10:16).
The devouring power of a Lion leaves its prey unsalvageable - "Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch. Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of hosts, That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD" (Amos 3:12-20). Even so, this generation is taught, by experience, the awful truth of these threats, and they say by confession: “He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a lion in secret places. He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in pieces: He hath made me desolate” (Lam. 3:10-11)!
A lion is an animal that is raised up to learn the violence of hunting and killing, whose life is sustained by sharpened skills to do it well. It is an animal that lives by every kill – that kills to live – likewise with God are “the instruments of death”, and as long as He lives, sin and sinners must die! If He were to die, then sin could remain alive to live forever, but with Him remaining yet alive it is impossible for this to be so. He exists to destroy sin, death, and evil! “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, He will whet His sword; He hath bent His bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; He ordaineth His arrows against the persecutors” (Psa. 7:11-13). Instruments of death are His sword, His bow, and His arrows. God takes hold of these to reveal the emergency of wrath at hand, but like as the metaphorical image of the Lion’s crouch, pounce, and roar, God is describing the urgent feeling of His powers but not necessarily the medium in which they are directed. God spoke of Himself as the Lion, but at other points He speaks of the actual destroyer to be “the Gentiles” (Jer. 4:5-10). “For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion” (Joel 1:6). Why? God has left Israel and is now with the enemy nation, and He fights with and through them to destroy Israel!
When God takes hold on judgment, He takes hold on His “glittering sword” to make it warm and wet with blood. He takes hold on “Mine arrows,” God says, that He may make them “drunk with blood.” He takes hold on “My sword”, He says, and this “shall devour flesh” (Deut. 32:39-43). Nevertheless, in the case of God turning upon Israel as His enemy to fight against them, His instruments of death are the entire population of Gentile humanity. Babylon, chosen to destroy Israel, was called “the hammer of the whole earth” (Jer. 50:23), and that is to say that they are God’s HAMMER, God’s weapon, which does not move without Him. At a time of triumph for Israel, it is said that Judah and Ephraim are His bent bow, and the sons of Zion the arrows, and as the sword of a mighty man – “the LORD shall be seen over them, and His arrows shall go forth as lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with the whirlwinds of the south” (Zech. 9:13-14). If the Lord is so seen over Israelite armies at war, in this soul-gasping, life-taking power, it should be equally as shocking to hear of the Gentiles that – “They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole land” (Isa 13:5). God takes the glory for it, and for this purpose He raises them up; God says, “Now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps” (Isa 37:26).
These Gentiles nations are called “men which are Thy hand, O LORD” (Ps. 17:14). Assyria was called “The rod of Mine anger, and the staff in their hand is Mine indignation;” thus God calls them His “axe” wherewith He did hew down His people (Isa. 10:5-6, 15). God, literally, stands at the right hand of Israelite adversaries to bend their bow, and slay (Lam. 2:4). Thus God says, “I will spend Mine arrows upon them” (Deut. 32:23). At such a time as is said to be here, when God is spending His arrows, and sparing not, it was then that His anger was burning with the vehemence equivalent to “hell” (Deut. 32:22), which meaneth, it was flaming to devour the proud and swelling future of society - the young man and virgin – and so also the ancient past which remained alive in that day for venerable memories and respect - the old man – and even all those who would appear to deserve the pitiful face of pardon - the suckling child (Deut. 32:25).
Like the determined, fearless, relentless, and devouring look of a Lion, God commands “the sword” of men to slay, and says, “I will set Mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good” (Amos 9:4). What kind of fear is God seeking to make manifest? Behold again, the prophet Ezekiel:
A lion is an animal that is raised up to learn the violence of hunting and killing, whose life is sustained by sharpened skills to do it well. It is an animal that lives by every kill – that kills to live – likewise with God are “the instruments of death”, and as long as He lives, sin and sinners must die! If He were to die, then sin could remain alive to live forever, but with Him remaining yet alive it is impossible for this to be so. He exists to destroy sin, death, and evil! “God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, He will whet His sword; He hath bent His bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; He ordaineth His arrows against the persecutors” (Psa. 7:11-13). Instruments of death are His sword, His bow, and His arrows. God takes hold of these to reveal the emergency of wrath at hand, but like as the metaphorical image of the Lion’s crouch, pounce, and roar, God is describing the urgent feeling of His powers but not necessarily the medium in which they are directed. God spoke of Himself as the Lion, but at other points He speaks of the actual destroyer to be “the Gentiles” (Jer. 4:5-10). “For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion” (Joel 1:6). Why? God has left Israel and is now with the enemy nation, and He fights with and through them to destroy Israel!
When God takes hold on judgment, He takes hold on His “glittering sword” to make it warm and wet with blood. He takes hold on “Mine arrows,” God says, that He may make them “drunk with blood.” He takes hold on “My sword”, He says, and this “shall devour flesh” (Deut. 32:39-43). Nevertheless, in the case of God turning upon Israel as His enemy to fight against them, His instruments of death are the entire population of Gentile humanity. Babylon, chosen to destroy Israel, was called “the hammer of the whole earth” (Jer. 50:23), and that is to say that they are God’s HAMMER, God’s weapon, which does not move without Him. At a time of triumph for Israel, it is said that Judah and Ephraim are His bent bow, and the sons of Zion the arrows, and as the sword of a mighty man – “the LORD shall be seen over them, and His arrows shall go forth as lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with the whirlwinds of the south” (Zech. 9:13-14). If the Lord is so seen over Israelite armies at war, in this soul-gasping, life-taking power, it should be equally as shocking to hear of the Gentiles that – “They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of His indignation, to destroy the whole land” (Isa 13:5). God takes the glory for it, and for this purpose He raises them up; God says, “Now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps” (Isa 37:26).
These Gentiles nations are called “men which are Thy hand, O LORD” (Ps. 17:14). Assyria was called “The rod of Mine anger, and the staff in their hand is Mine indignation;” thus God calls them His “axe” wherewith He did hew down His people (Isa. 10:5-6, 15). God, literally, stands at the right hand of Israelite adversaries to bend their bow, and slay (Lam. 2:4). Thus God says, “I will spend Mine arrows upon them” (Deut. 32:23). At such a time as is said to be here, when God is spending His arrows, and sparing not, it was then that His anger was burning with the vehemence equivalent to “hell” (Deut. 32:22), which meaneth, it was flaming to devour the proud and swelling future of society - the young man and virgin – and so also the ancient past which remained alive in that day for venerable memories and respect - the old man – and even all those who would appear to deserve the pitiful face of pardon - the suckling child (Deut. 32:25).
Like the determined, fearless, relentless, and devouring look of a Lion, God commands “the sword” of men to slay, and says, “I will set Mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good” (Amos 9:4). What kind of fear is God seeking to make manifest? Behold again, the prophet Ezekiel:
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“That all flesh may know that I the LORD have drawn forth my sword out of his sheath: it shall not return any more. Sigh therefore, thou son of man, with the breaking of thy loins; and with bitterness sigh before their eyes. And it shall be, when they say unto thee, Wherefore sighest thou? that thou shalt answer, For the tidings; because it cometh: and every heart shall melt, and all hands shall be feeble, and every spirit shall faint, and all knees shall be weak as water: behold, it cometh, and shall be brought to pass, saith the Lord GOD. (Ezek. 21:5-7)
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