Our Motherly God

God is called our Father. All the pronouns in scripture that refer to Him directly are masculine. That is how the Bible refers to Him and how we should address Him as well. But there are also a number of scriptures that describe God in what we often consider very feminine ways. It might be that the image of God in man is not best manifested in Adam or in Eve, but in the combination of these two first humans. In honor of Mother’s Day, it might be helpful to look at some of the many “motherly” passages that describe our great God.

Nurturer

Deuteronomy 32:11-12 describes God as a mother eagle. She stirs up her nest and hovering over her offspring, all at once making the little one uncomfortable and pushing it toward flight. When the fledgling springs from the nest she is there to fly under and catch the little one if it fails. God uses this mother eagle to describe His relationship with His people. It is a complex and beautiful example of nurturing behavior.

Birth-giver

Deuteronomy 32:18 is common translated “the God that Fathered you” and I suppose that is understandable since He is always referred to in the masculine. The language here is the language of childbirth. “The God who gave birth to you.” He birthed the nation of Israel. He uses this language to describe not only the origin but also the deep and intimate relationship He has toward the nation of Israel.

Comforter

Isaiah 66:13. In these overwhelming words of promise to His people, God says he will comfort His people so that they will be like children being comforted by its mother—like when a mother dandles her child on her knees. In this passage, God likens Himself to a mother. He does not promise to comfort like a father—but like a mother does her little child.

Mindful

Isaiah 49:15. Can a nursing mother forget her child? I really did not understand this until we had little nursing children of our own. This is pretty much impossible. The mother’s own body tells her when it is time for the child to nurse, and the child knows too—and usually lets everyone know loudly. Even if a nursing mother could forget her child, God will never forget His children.

Calming

Psalm 131. This entire Psalm is about the calming “motherly” characteristics of God. In this passage, David calms and quiets His soul in the presence of God like a young child calms himself in the presence of his mother.

Protective

Matthew 23:37. Jesus describes Himself and Jerusalem as a hen with her chicks. He wants to gather them under His wings and protect and care for them, but they refused the maternal affections.

Often forgotten

Hosea 11:3-4. In this passage, God fulfills a number of motherly functions. He teaches Ephraim to walk. He catches the nation up by its arms, like when a little child reaches for and is picked up by its mother. He heals, protects, and draws with bands of love, and they did not even know that He was doing all that.

The best example of motherly nature in scripture is God Himself. That should not surprise us. After all, mothers are made in the image of God too.