Ironically, this past Shabbat my six-year old son asked me, “Does God have a body?” After I advised him that God does not have a body, he asked me, “Then is God not real?” The childlike mind thinks concretely. Our passage speaks concretely too.
This passage presents Balaam’s promulgation of the perpetual priority that God’s people hold with Providence. As already demonstrated with nachmat Elohim, this passage does not constitute a comprehensive statement about the nature of God. Rather, here God seeks to correct Balak’s false belief that Israel could be disenfranchised of her portion and allotment as God’s people. Why then does Balaam state, “God is not a man that he should repent…”? Why would God make reference to man in this passage?
Before answering this question, note that Numbers 23:19 exhibits poetic parallelism. Notice the following:
A God is not a man
A1 that He should lie
A neither the son of man
A1 that He should repent
B He hath said
B1 will He not do it
B …He hath spoken
B1 will He not make it good?
Our passage pairs the following terms: ish (man) with ben adam (son of man) and kazeiv (lie or disappoint) with nacham (repent). The parallel presentation of this passage provides each phrase with lexical precincts that can be used to determine precise lexical pith. Hence, the statement God is not a man is synonymous with [God is not] a son of man. The objection, then, that Yeshua is referred to as the “son of man” does not resonate here. We find that man and son of man are synonyms in this passage through this chiastic parallelism.
God is not a man…again, why does this passage contain such a statement? Contextually, this passage relates to Israel’s relationship with God and not to apodictic revelation about the nature of God. We have already demonstrated that this passage is inconsistent with the nature of God revealed elsewhere. Why the connection: God is not a man?
The connection is a concretion. The God of the Bible is dynamic. He is not an abstract principle. He is personality and presence. The Greek mind seeks to keep Him abstract and ethereal, yet the prophets are not reluctant to call Him the Rock or the Shepherd. Yes, they also speak of His right hand and sitting at His feet. Likewise, they are not afraid to compare Him to a man in this passage. The comparison, though, relates to the attribute of man that God does not possess: a fickle mind.
God speaks in concretions. This type of concretion is known as anthropomorphism in which the dynamic God is revealed as possessing human attributes. The next post will deal with the incorporeal nature of God.
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The rabbis, it should be pointed out, are fond of attributing anthropomorphic attributes to God. This fondness in the the literature of formative rabbinic Judaism has been called the "incarnation of God" by Jacob Neusner. Of this tendency, Neusner states,
"I maintain that the incarnation of God formed part of the unfolding of the inner logic that Judaism spun out of the heritage of the Hebrew Scriptures."
The incarnation of God in rabbinic Judaism, according to Neusner, is God presented anthropomorphically as a sage or a Torah scholar of the "dual-Torah Judaism." In Christianity, the incarnation of God is the flesh and blood Messiah.
This one was like a challenging jigsaw or crossword puzzle. It also reminded me of "Peter Piper" in places. : ) After utilizing Princeton's Wordnet several times, I think I've got it.
For those who don't enjoy the challenge of deciphering like I do and wish Peter would "eschew obfuscation," here is the plain speech summary: (correct me if I'm wrong, Peter) --
"God is not a man" in that He is trustworthy and true, not fickle and apt to change on a whim.
Hebraic thought anthropomorphizes God in order to describe the indescribable.
Yet God did become a man. We know Him as Yeshua. Yeshua is YHVH in the flesh. Great is the mystery of how this can be, yet it is true.
Hello Maureen,
I have to work on being clearer in my presentation. I did not intend to use unclear or ambiguous language. I wanted to be as clear as possible. Maybe this is why God is having me become a teacher of elementary children before I become a teacher of adult children.
You are correct in your summary of my post. The reference to “man” and “son of man” in Numbers 23:19 are anthropomorphic in how qualify the changeability of God relative to mankind. God is capable of changing His mind, but this capability is not like that of mortal man (a “son of man”). Of more relevance to Numbers 23:19, God is committed to Israel and will not “break covenant” like a man might.
Thank you for the dose of clarity!
Kol tuv,
Peter
I greatly enjoyed this post, Peter. It's a brain-twister when I come to it with a western mindset. I often hear it as a proof text for God never becoming Messiah in the flesh because it would go against this passage of Torah. But the explanation, parallelism, and just the simple reminder that "God is not a man/son of man" is not the end of the sentence are very helpful.
Peter,
It sounds as if you are taking the proper steps to join yourself with Israel.
It must be hard to let go of orthodox christianity with its extra biblical doctrines and creeds, in order to rediscover the "Jewish" roots of your faith.
Something you do need to know, however, is that the belief in the "incarnation" is very much a man-made doctrine.
This is something you need to prayfully consider, as the consequences are nothing short of idolatry.
I do not say this to you in a spirit of malice, but of concern.
Ben Allen
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