Anthropomorphisms are figures of speech that apply human or earthly traits to God. They help us describe spirit in terms we understand. Here are five:
Warrior
Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me.
Take up shield and buckler;
arise and come to my aid.
Brandish spear and javelin
against those who pursue me.
Say to my soul,
"I am your salvation."
Shelter
I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings
until the disaster has passed.
Psalms 57:1
Foundation
be my rock of refuge,
a strong fortress to save me.
Psalms 31:2
Walker
I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.
Lev 26:12
Reasonable
"Come now, let us reason together,"
says the LORD.
Isaiah 1:18
Now add some of your favorites.
When Mildred dressed for work yesterday morning, she probably didn’t dream she was doing her daily routine for the very last time.
When Carl drank his morning coffee, he probably didn’t contemplate that his life would change forever.
Our little farm community has been rocked by a horrible tragedy, a harvest accident that took the life of a woman and left a crew of harvesters shaken in horror. There was no fault in this accident, no finger-pointing to be done.
All involved are long-time residents of the area, with family and friends threaded throughout the community. No one is untouched by this tragedy. We feel the ache of loss, the agony of passing.
Mildred’s family has already lost their father and a brother. Now their mother has been snatched from them in an instant.
For Carl, who was driving the machine, we have compassion. His is the suffering of regret, although he could not have prevented the accident.
….like water spilled out on the ground…..*
Life cannot be recovered. The innocence of yesterday is gone.
We’re tempted to ask WHY?
But the answers are not in understanding. Our relief doesn’t come in uncovering a good reason for all this. We don't gain by trying to judge the purpose of a tragedy.
Comfort comes in one place. We must ask the who question. Who is our comfort? We forget that we are tender grass, burned by the heat of the day. Life withers us.
Jesus remembers. He wept before Lazarus’ grave. He healed with compassion. He always lives to make intercession for us.
“You are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love “
Jonah 4:2
*2 Sam 14:14
Analogies can be slippery, vibrant yet vague. How to illustrate without misleading, how to reveal and not obstruct….
It wasn’t exactly a cave. Or an ostrich, Or a commune in the mountains.
But I was once a separatist, rejecting all that had the smoky taste of the world. I boycotted movies starring homosexuals. A preacher with a divorce in his history was not worthy of my ear. Music was always suspect, lyrics and motives overlaid on transgressions and rhythms.
I often wondered why God, once I had opened the door to my heart, didn’t whisk me off to heaven so I could escape this soiled place.
Did Daniel, snatched from his homeland and pressed into the king’s inner court, feel the same? He was an alien in a strange world, surrounded by false gods and unhealthy practices. He refused the king’s food because it would defile him. (Dan. 1:8)
But irony of ironies: Daniel’s refusal to be tainted led him deeper into the king’s presence. Noticing Daniel’s wisdom and understanding, the king began consulting him often. He gained greater standing than the magicians and enchanters.
What’s up with that? Daniel didn’t get to go home. He remained in the strange land, surrounded by the scent of opulence and the tinge of idolatry. Superstition and conjuring ruled the king’s mind.
Before Daniel came on the scene, that is.
Daniel didn’t escape Babylon. He spent a lifetime correcting magicians, outdueling enchanters, revealing God’s mysteries, testifying to the power of the one true God.
Daniel was God’s agent to deliver life to Nebuchadnezzar, the powerful king who moved from ignorance to acknowledgement to serving God only. In the battle of two kings, Nebuchadnezzar learned his place as servant of the true King.
By his words, advice, wisdom, choices, prayers, and courage, Daniel served the king of Babylon well. And he served the King of kings even better.
Daniel was no separatist.
Daniel remained at the king's court.
Dan 2:49
Today, we’ll get an example of that through a non-biblical text, an 18th century painting by William Hogarth entitled The Graham Children. I want you to look carefully at the painting, noticing any details that might contribute to the artist’s intent.
In examining this painting, you are doing the equivalent of studying the design of a biblical text. If you recall, there are three major steps to understanding a work:
In examining the design of this painting, you have probably noticed the four children and their setting. Maybe you noticed the baby’s buggy gilded in gold leaf or the silver basket of fruit. Maybe you noticed the clock in the background or the bird in the cage.
This is Hogarth’s most ambitious painting, a life size portrait of the Graham children. Henrietta, 9, wears a blue dress. Richard, playing a serinette (bird organ) is seven. Anna Marie, 5, wears a flower-printed dress and the baby, Thomas, sits in the buggy.
Hogarth, in his choice of objects, illustrates the lifestyle of the family. They obviously had some wealth.
But something you may not know was that Thomas died before the painting was finished. In the early 18th century, child mortality was high. To symbolize the death of the baby, Hogarth painted a winged cherub with a scythe and an hourglass, mounted on a clock in the background. Two carnations lie beside the child, stalks crossed.
There’s more. Notice the clock on the mantelpiece is decorated with the figure of Cupid holding a scythe and standing beside an hour-glass, symbols of death in that day. We know that the baby was dead when the portrait was painted, and this must account for the sombre references to mortality, at a time when many children died in infancy.
Those items signaled the 18th century viewer of the baby’s death. The viewer of that day understood that the family had lost baby Thomas.
Take a look at the cat in the background. The cat's claws are out, gripping the furniture. His eyes are focused solely on the fluttering goldfinch. The gilded cage could be seen as the rich protector of the innocent, then released into a dangerous world. Hogarth placed an allegory of the child becoming an adult and having to deal with an altogether more dangerous reality. The cord that cuts the corner of the painting and so obviously supporting the suspended cage, is symbolic of the fragility of life and especially of child mortality.
There’s much more in the painting but I think we’ve made my point, that knowing the provenance helps pry loose meaning. This painting would not have been made today. The loss of children does not hang over us as it did in that day.
The symbols of Hogarth’s painting are foreign to us today. We have to do some research to understand their meaning, but in doing so, and understanding the backdrop of the times, Hogarth’s meaning becomes clearer.
Obviously wealth couldn’t shield a family from the realities of life. In that day, the loss of children was the great equalizer. Rich and poor shared in the grief.
In our discussion, provenance is an important key in revealing meaning. Never settle on the author’s intent until you’ve examined his timeframe.
Remember that provenance is determined by the author’s time, not by the time of the story. We will visit provenance again. In the Old Testament, application often pops out when we understand the time of the text.
What insights did you gain from The Graham Children?
This is a simple request: please pray for Donna.
Donna lives in Texas but came to Colorado year ago and again this summer with a mission team from her church, to help us love on our community. She loved children with Jesus’ tenderness and spoke the gospel clearly to young mothers.
More than once, during her time in Colorado, I caught her and her husband sitting in a far corner, hands clasped together, praying fervently for people they’d met that day. Her heart belongs to Jesus and his plans are hers.
Now, cancer has returned. Donna has been in this battle before and hoped never to come back. But the fight is not over.
Although it has spread to her bones, liver, adrenal glands and lymph nodes, she and her family rejoice that there is no cancer in her brain. She starts chemo this week. Eight weeks from now, they’ll evaluate her condition and plan the next step.
At the same time, her adult daughter has to have surgery and so the family is wrestling with a double burden.
Please pray for Donna and her family. Ask Jesus for healing, for strength, for refining. The family has asked for grace to handle the double burden while honoring God for they can see how he has already provided.
Please leave a comment here for Donna. I want to gather them in a week or so and sent them on to her as an encouragement. Please bless her as she has blessed the King.
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