FATHER: Av/Ab. Masculine noun. (Strong’s 1).
Root: אָב
Sounds like: Ahv
I’m an only child… and I have an amazing Dad who has loved me, supported me and encouraged me throughout my life. My Dad taught me to learn something new every day, and to carefully cultivate my intelligence. He has taught me to be thoughtful, kind, curious, analytical and passionate. He has instilled in me a love of history and archaeology, music and old books… we are two peas in an intellectual pod, and I love him way more than I can express in words!
So I am the fortunate daughter of John Marshall Fisher, who was the son of Bruce Marshall Fisher, who was the son of John Marshall Fisher, who came to Canada, from Yorkshire England, on 5 July 1907. These are the patriarchs of my family and I grew up hearing stories of the adventures of their youth. I love (and still love) hearing the tales of my ancestors, and that has translated into a passion for genealogy… tracking down lost family members of the shadowed past and bringing their life stories back into the light.
The Bible does a really good job of this, and it doesn’t take much to see how the Biblical authors expressed the importance of genealogy within scripture. But even though there are some great “father stories” in the Bible, it is interesting to note that the first time we see the word father, it’s just a casual mention that they exist:
Genesis 2:24
For this reason a man shall leave his father [aviw] and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
It’s clear, though, that fathers weren’t in the picture just to procreate, God created fathers and mothers to guide and teach their children… and a big part of the teaching was remembering family history.
Teachings of the Father
Being a parent means nurturing a child’s mind and body and soul; teaching them to become successful adults by sharing God’s love, encouragement, and joy of living.
Fathers and mothers were responsible for helping children remember who they were (children of God) by teaching them stories…. stories of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, the suffering in Egypt, and the wandering in the desert. Parents had the responsibility of keeping history alive, recognizing the complicated story of humanity, and acknowledging God’s beautiful plan of Salvation… and they were to teach their children these things.
Psalm 78:1-8 (see also Psalm 44, Proverbs 4, Proverbs 23, Ephesians 6)
Listen, O my people, to my instruction; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers [wa-a’votenu] have told us.
We will not conceal them from their children, but tell to the generation to come the praises of YHWH, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers that they should teach them to their children, that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments, and not be like their fathers [w-lo yih’yu k-avohtam], a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God.
YHWH commanded them to teach the children stories so they would put their confidence in God. Telling the stories of God’s strength and wonderful works in Jewish history would keep a child’s eyes on the prize. It would remind them to make good choices so they would not sink back into disobedience and apathy towards their Creator, as their ancestors had done.
Understanding our history helps us confirm and celebrate our relationship with YHWH and knowing our past, as children of God, encourages a healthy and flourishing relationship with our heavenly Father. The Bible is both divine and historical, and it’s a rich source of human history, with all its highs and its lows… and the concept of “father” has a deep impact in the epic Biblical narrative.
The Patriarchs
God was not just a Creator-Maker, He was a Father… the Ultimate Patriarch… and He wanted a relationship with the humans that He created. The Bible plot is God’s relationship with His creation, and the setting of the story is human history. Because of this, the Biblical narrative of humanity always had YHWH at the centre of the story.
Genesis 17:1-8
Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, YHWH appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before Me, and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, and I will multiply you exceedingly.”
Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying, “As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you will be the father [l-av] of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations [av ha’mown goyim].
“I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you, and kings will come forth from you. I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
YHWH had made a covenant with Abraham. His multitude of descendants would inherit the land of Canaan (Israel) as an everlasting possession. But Abraham wasn’t just the father of the Hebrew people, he was the father of many nations… his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the sky (Genesis 22:17-18).
YHWH reiterated this covenant statement to Abraham’s son, Isaac:
Genesis 26:3b-5
YHWH to Isaac: …I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham [l-Av’raham avika]. I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed Me and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes and My laws…
Isaac became the father of Jacob (whom God re-named “Israel”), and Jacob was the father of twelve sons and one daughter, Dinah. At the very end of Jacob’s life he brought his sons together and gave each of them an individual prophetic blessing:
Genesis 49:1-2
Then Jacob summoned his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves that I may tell you what will befall you in the days to come. Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob; and listen to Israel your father [a’vikem].”
And so he spoke to each of his sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph and Benjamin.
Genesis 49:28, 33
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He blessed them, every one with the blessing appropriate to him… When Jacob finished charging his sons, he drew his feet into the bed and breathed his last, and was gathered to his people.
Jacob knew the strengths and weaknesses of each of his children and he gave a unique blessing to them according to their individuality. These were not twelve cookie-cutter sons… they were twelve unique human beings and their father saw the potential in each of them.
The God of your fathers
For the Jewish people, YHWH was consistently described as “the God of your fathers”… primarily referring to the patriarchs of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob (Israel). When Moses was confronted by God, it was this phrase that he used to describe YHWH:
Exodus 3:13
Then Moses said to God, “Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, ‘The God of your fathers [Elohe avohtekem] has sent me to you.’ Now they may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?”
Moses wanted to share YHWH’s message to the sons of Israel, but he knew that they would want to know the name of the God they served. And so God gave Moses His name:
Exodus 3:14-16, 20
God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”
God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘YHWH, the God of your fathers [Elohe avohtekem], the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.’
Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘YHWH, the God of your fathers [Elohe avohtekem], the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt… So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go.”
And that’s exactly what YHWH, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, did… like a Father protecting His children, He freed the people from bondage in Egypt. He led them to the land of the Canaanites and established a kingdom for them there, and for a while they thrived. King David became a great kingly father to the nation and under the guidance of God he established a home base for them in Jerusalem.
David: the Patriarch of the Messiah
The covenant that YHWH made with the patriarchs was to establish the Jewish people as the family who would bring the fulfillment of God’s plan of salvation. Through David YHWH presented another covenant. David’s throne would be everlasting; the Anointed One [Mashiach/Messiah] would come through the line of David:
Psalm 89:20-37
“I have found David My servant; with My holy oil I have anointed him, with whom My hand will be established; My arm also will strengthen him. The enemy will not deceive him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him.
But I shall crush his adversaries before him, and strike those who hate him. My faithfulness and My lovingkindness will be with him, and in My name his horn will be exalted. I shall also set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers.
He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.’” [Avi attah, Eli w-tsur yeshuati]
I also shall make him My firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. My lovingkindness I will keep for him forever, and My covenant shall be confirmed to him. So I will establish his descendants forever and his throne as the days of heaven. If his sons forsake My law and do not walk in My judgments, If they violate My statutes and do not keep My commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes.
But I will not break off My lovingkindness from him, nor deal falsely in My faithfulness. My covenant I will not violate, nor will I alter the utterance of My lips. Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David. His descendants shall endure forever and his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever like the moon, and the witness in the sky is faithful.”
YHWH’s covenant with David was a promise of enduring salvation, and the promise would be fulfilled by someone in his family:
2 Samuel 7:12 (see also 1 Chronicles 17 & 1 Chronicles 22)
YHWH to David: “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers [avoteka], I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.
When David laid down, God would rise up. From this action YHWH would establish the forever Kingdom:
2 Samuel 7:13-16
He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father [l-av] to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.”
Although David’s son, Solomon, became a powerful king, his grandson, Rehoboam, was a terrible ruler. The kingdom eventually split and after centuries the line of David crumbled completely. It seemed as if this was not the forever-established throne that they had been promised. What happened to the line of David?
YHWH was willing to keep His end of the bargain, but His children were not. They turned away from their God and they broke the covenant. God’s forever kingdom wasn’t here… yet.
Father of Rebellious Children
Malachi 1:6a
YHWH: “A son honours his father [av], and a servant his master. Then if I am a father [av ani], where is My honour? And if I am a master, where is My respect?” says YHWH of hosts…
This was not a one time issue in history… Disrespecting YHWH was a problem from the earliest days of human civilization. In the Torah we read:
Deuteronomy 32:5-6
“They have acted corruptly toward Him, they are not His children, because of their defect; but are a perverse and crooked generation. Do you thus repay YHWH, O foolish and unwise people? Is not He your Father [avika] who has bought you? He has made you and established you.”
When Assyria captured Samaria and the kingdom of Israel fell, it was because they rejected YHWH their Father, and all His commandments, and instead they embraced foreign gods. When they chose the chaos of idols over the order of YHWH, by their own hand they lost everything:
2 Kings 17:13-18
Yet YHWH warned Israel and Judah through all His prophets and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep My commandments, My statutes according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you through My servants the prophets.”
However, they did not listen, but stiffened their neck like their fathers [a’vohtam], who did not believe in YHWH their God. They rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers [et a’vohtam] and His warnings with which He warned them. And they followed vanity and became vain, and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which YHWH had commanded them not to do like them. They forsook all the commandments of YHWH their God and made for themselves molten images, even two calves, and made an Asherah and worshiped all the host of heaven and served Baal. Then they made their sons and their daughters pass through the fire, and practiced divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of YHWH, provoking Him. So YHWH was very angry with Israel and removed them from His sight; none was left except the tribe of Judah.
They had done everything God the Father had told them not to do… just like in the Garden of Eden. The fathers even sacrificed their own children to foreign gods which infuriated YHWH. In their moral depravity and contempt, they turned to false and inanimate gods and their behaviour led them down the path towards their own destruction:
Jeremiah 2:27-28
YHWH: “Who says to a tree, ‘You are my father [avi attah],’ and to a stone, ‘You gave me birth.’ For they have turned their back to Me, and not their face; but in the time of their trouble they will say, ‘Arise and save us.’ But where are your gods which you made for yourself? Let them arise, if they can save you in the time of your trouble; for according to the number of your cities are your gods, O Judah.”
By denying that YHWH was their Father they broke their covenant with God and they fell… hard. In the days of Jeremiah, Jerusalem was under the threat of a Babylonian invasion. It was the result of hundreds of years of neglecting and rejecting God:
Jeremiah 11:7-11
YHWH: “For I solemnly warned your fathers [ba-a’vohtekem] in the day that I brought them up from the land of Egypt, even to this day, warning persistently, saying, “Listen to My voice.” Yet they did not obey or incline their ear, but walked, each one, in the stubbornness of his evil heart; therefore I brought on them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did not.’”
Then YHWH said to me, “A conspiracy has been found among the men of Judah and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the iniquities of their ancestors who refused to hear My words, and they have gone after other gods to serve them; the house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken My covenant which I made with their fathers [et a’vohtam].” Therefore thus says YHWH, “Behold I am bringing disaster on them which they will not be able to escape; though they will cry to Me, yet I will not listen to them.”
It was a devastating time in history for the Jewish people. They were ripped out of their own land and dragged away as war refugees to Babylon, where they would live in servitude. But although they were exiled out of Jerusalem (just as Eve and Adam had been exiled out of Eden), YHWH would not let them live in exile forever. He would forgive them, restore the promise of an everlasting King from the line of David, and bring them home.
Our Father
Centuries before the Babylonian invasion, Isaiah identified YHWH as Our Father. He prayed to YHWH, asking Him to look and see His people… and take them back as His own:
Isaiah 64:8-9
But now, O YHWH, You are our Father [YHWH avinu attah], we are the clay, and You our potter; and all of us are the work of Your hand. Do not be angry beyond measure, O YHWH, nor remember iniquity forever; behold, look now, all of us are Your people.
We are His people… the sons and daughters of YHWH… Are we not worth saving?
Psalm 27:7-10
Hear, O YHWH, when I cry with my voice, and be gracious to me and answer me. When You said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, O YHWH, I shall seek.”
Do not hide Your face from me, do not turn Your servant away in anger; You have been my help; do not abandon me nor forsake me, O God of my salvation! For my father [avi] and my mother have forsaken me, but YHWH will take me up.
There are many people out there who’ve had some pretty terrible biological fathers or father-figures, but we were created to be the daughters and sons of YHWH first and foremost. He is a Father who loves His children more than anything. And He was always planning to redeem us and bring us back home.
The Father’s Redemption
Jeremiah 31:7-11
For thus says YHWH, “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and shout among the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise and say, ‘O YHWH, save Your people, the remnant of Israel.’
Behold, I am bringing them from the north country, and I will gather them from the remote parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, the woman with child and she who is in labour with child, together; a great company, they will return here.
With weeping they will come, and by supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk by streams of waters, on a straight path in which they will not stumble; for I am a Father to Israel [hayiti l-Israel l-av], and Ephraim is My firstborn.”
Hear the word of YHWH, O nations, and declare in the coastlands afar off, and say, “He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.”
For YHWH has ransomed Jacob and redeemed him from the hand of him who was stronger than he.
Although Abraham’s descendants had forgotten God, He would not forget them.
Isaiah 63:15-16
Look down from heaven and see from Your holy and glorious habitation; where are Your zeal and Your mighty deeds? The stirrings of Your heart and Your compassion are restrained toward me. For You are our Father [Abinu], though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not recognize us. You, O YHWH, are our Father [attah YHWH avinu], our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name.
YHWH, a Father who Saves His Children
What kind of Father is YHWH? He is a compassionate Father:
Psalm 103:13
Just as a father [av] has compassion on his children, so YHWH has compassion on those who fear Him.
From the moment humanity sinned in Eden, YHWH had compassion on His people and put a plan in motion to save us. He was a Father who had wanted to saves us from the beginning. Yeshua told a parable that expressed YHWH’s great desire to bring us home. A prodigal (wasteful) son demanded his inheritance and left his father and brother behind, desiring the “good life”. But things did not go well for him… he lost all the money, and found himself homeless, destitute, and hungry. In his humility he came home:
Luke 15:17-24
But when he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men.’”
So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”
But the father said to his slaves, “Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.” And they began to celebrate.
No matter how far we stray a good father will always take his children back home… this has been YHWH’s hope from the beginning… that His children would come back home, where they belonged.
But to truly come home, to see YHWH face to face, there would have to be a sacrifice. Yeshua’s sacrifice would restore the relationship between the Father and His children so that all those who loved the Father could embrace Him in the Garden once again.
As David’s direct descendant Yeshua fulfilled the criteria to be God’s Anointed One, redeemer of the nations. He was the key who would open the Garden Gates and bring us back home to the Father.
Yeshua consistently referred to YHWH as His Father. When Yeshua taught the disciples to pray, He started off with, “Our Father, who is in Heaven, hallowed be Your name” (Matthew 6:9). He could have said, Our Creator, or Our Great Omnipotent God, or Our Holy Deity, but He made it much more personal. YHWH was more than just the Creator who built us… He was a loving Father who guided us, taught us, and gently corrected us.
More than any other Gospel, John really emphasized Yeshua’s use of the title Father when He spoke about YHWH. And Yeshua was very clear… the Father had sent Him for a purpose:
John 10:14-18
“I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.”
During His final season celebrating Hanukkah, Yeshua boldly claimed that He was One with the Father and that He would bring eternal life to the followers of YHWH:
John 10:27-30
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
This was a bold claim: I and the Father are one. They were completely connected; you couldn’t reach one without the other:
John 14:6-7
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”
But these words of Yeshua’s were very upsetting to the Jewish leaders. How could this human being claim such status? How could God have a Son?
John 8:34-41a
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. I know that you are Abraham’s descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak the things which I have seen with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from your father.”
They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father.”
Jesus said to them, “If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. You are doing the deeds of your father.”
Yeshua was setting them straight: If you’re seeking to kill me then Abraham could not be your father… and God could not your father either. But they disagreed:
John 8:41b-42
They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.”
Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.”
But Yeshua wasn’t sent to be loved by everyone (clearly He wasn’t), instead He was sent to die for everyone. As YHWH’s Anointed, Yeshua came to set humans free from the bondage of sin… which was a barrier between God and humans. Yeshua would become the sacrificial lamb, restoring all the children of earth to their Father in heaven. That sounds beautiful and romantic, but it was far from that. The death of Yeshua was gritty and catastrophic.
John 16:31-33
Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold, an hour is coming, and has already come, for you to be scattered, each to his own home, and to leave Me alone; and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with Me. These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
He would conquer sin, but at a great price. And so Yeshua went to the cross:
Luke 23:33-38, 44-46
When they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. And the people stood by, looking on. And even the rulers were sneering at Him, saying, “He saved others; let Him save Himself if this is the Christ of God, His Chosen One.” The soldiers also mocked Him, coming up to Him, offering Him sour wine, and saying, “If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself!” Now there was also an inscription above Him, “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
…It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last.
Yeshua had made wonderful friends during His time on earth. There were the twelve disciples, yes, but many others followed Him, including a core group of women. After His death and resurrection, His first appearance was to Mary Magdalen but she did not immediately recognize Him:
John 20:15-18a
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).
Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”
Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”…
Yeshua died painfully, but He conquered death and lived again, joyfully. Just as we will one day ascend to the Father with great joy, Yeshua was also happy to return to His Father. But He did not leave His followers as orphans. His disciples would have to live on this earth without His physical presence, but He would not leave them completely on their own:
John 14:18-20, 23b, -28
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
…If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.”
Yeshua would return to His Father and His disciples should have celebrated that. Home is where the Father is, and it’s where the Son belonged. But it’s hard to say goodbye, on this earth, to our loved ones, and it’s hard to celebrate for them, when we are left behind. But we’re not alone. YHWH, gave us the Spirit to teach us all things.
Being Good Children
But not all of humanity strives to be good children of God. Many have turned away from their Creator and try to be gods of their own making, separating humanity into little groups based on differences, not similarities. There is a dangerous dance called us versus them in which no one benefits.
Until we all realize that we are all siblings of One Father and One God, we will desperately cling to our differences instead of holding onto what unites us: our common humanity.
Regardless of colour, creed, sexual identity, and nationality, we were created to be God’s Image-bearers and we were meant to bring light and love to this word. The prophet Malachi put it this way:
Malachi 2:10
“Do we not all have One Father [Av ekhad]? Has not One God [El ekhad] created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers [a’votenu]?”
Let us remember that we are one humanity, one race (the human race), with one Creator… One Father for all the children of the earth! Your Father loves You! He has redeemed you, and like a good Father He has called you by name. Listen to the Father who loves you. He is waiting with open arms to bring you home.
Next week: vapour/vanity/breath
Hebrew Word Lessons 