“It might be well for all of us,” according to Rev. De Jong, “especially in the light of some of the present discussions of the role of women, to look more closely at these parts of God’s Word [Isa. 49:15; 66:12, 13]. Both the champions of women’s rights (who sometimes seem to have little appreciation for the role of motherhood) and the critics (who sometimes would like to put women back in their place) might see the matter in a somewhat different perspective if they did.”
“Can a woman forget her sucking child, that. she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, these may forget, yet will 1 not forget thee” (lsa. 49:15).
“. . . ye shall be borne upon the side, and shall be dandled upon the knees. As one whom his mother, comforteth, so will I comfort you . . .” (Isa. 66:12, 13).
Women’s Liberation? – One of the most devastating replies yet made to the women’s lib movement in the churches may be that of C. S. Lewis‘ little essay on “Priestesses in the Church?” in the Eerdmans collection of Lewis’ writings under the title, God in the Dock (pp. 234–239). His treatment of the subject deals both wi th the proposals that women be ordained to leading church offices and with the more basic idea that sex discrimination should be removed from our religion even to the extent of altering our ideas of God. (The Grand Rapids Press recently reported on a Duke University students’ project to rewrite hymns, prayers, and even passages of Scripture to remove masculine references to God as “him” and suggesting prayers to “Our Father-Mother.”) Lewis observes that, while such suggestions may be plausibly argued and may seem to offer practical advantages, what must not be overlooked is the fact that they are really advancing another kind of religion. Exalting women in worship is nothing new. Ancient religions worshipped goddesses and the medieval church elevated Mary so as to make of her “almost ‘a fourth Person of the Trinity.’” But these religions that worshipped goddesses were pagan, man-made religions. “Christians think that God Himself has taught us how to speak of Him.” To reject or try to alter this is to reject Christianity, as the revelation of God. “. . . if we retain only what can be justified by standards of prudence and convenience at the bar of enlightened common sense, then we exchange revelation for that old wraith Natural Religion.”
Lewis was right. God has revealed Himself as “Our Father in heaven.” He has also told us plainly in His Word what kind of people He would have to represent Him in ruling offices. If we reject that, we reject Him.
Motherly Love – Our resistance to these current anti-Christian ideas that threaten to overwhelm the church should not lead us to react in an opposite direction, however, so that we minimize the importance of or the role of women in the church or even of what their sharing in the image of God as women (Gen. 1:27) reveals of the character of God!
At a recent meeting dealing with the subject of “What the Bible says on Women in Church Office” a questioner asked, “Do you know of any place in Scripture where God is referred to as a Mother?” In reply to that question these passages quoted at the head of this article come to mind. In them God compares His love and care for His children with that of a mother for her child. It might be well for all of us, especially in the light of some of the present discussions of the role of women to look more closely at these parts of God‘s Word. Both the champions of women’s rights (who sometimes seem to have little appreciation for the role of motherhood) and the critics (who sometimes would like to put women back in their place) might see the matter in a somewhat different perspective if they did.
It Doesn‘t Cancel Fatherly Authority – God revealed Himself to His people as their “Father” (Isa. 63:16; 64:8). As Father, as their Creator and Savior, His authority and power had to be strongly emphasized, the mOre because His people had ignored it and suffered the resulting judgment of Babylonian captivity. God never lets people get away with throwing off His authority.
The judgments of which the prophets had long warned His people came. What they had considered unbelievable because they were God’s people (or church) happened. Now the prophets had to speak to them in the desolations of exile calling them back to God as their Father and Savior. To that the people’s reply was, “God has forsaken and forgotten us!” Didn‘t the terrible experiences of judgments prove that? (Isa. 49:14).
If Reveals God’s Love and Grace – God‘s answer to the people was, “Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, these may forget, yet will not I forget thee” (15). Calvin‘s observation is to the point, “In order to correct that distrust . . . he shows how strong is his anxiety about his people, comparing himself to a mother, whose love toward her off-spring is so strong and ardent, as to leave far behind it a father’s love.” “What amazing affection does a mother feel toward her offspring, which she cherishes in her bosom, suckles on her breast, and watches over with tender care, so that she passes sleepless nights, wears herself out by continued anxiety, and forgets herself! And this carefulness is manifested, not only among men, but even among savage beasts . . .”
The Bible compares God‘s love with that of a father for his children (Ps. 103:13), but also insists that it is greater (Matt. 7:11). In this instance it compares His love with that of a mother in all her intimate care and concern for her baby, but it insists that God‘s love is even greater than that.
The same illustration of the love of God confronts us again in the last chapter of Isaiah. One sees there the mother holding her baby in her lap, caressing, fondling and, as Calvin also observes, even playing with it! And God says that this kind of love and concern expressed so intimately and vividly in a mother‘s care for her baby is to convey to us some idea of the character of His love and grace to us! “As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you . . . .”
Does It Apply to Us? – Critics may say that to cite and apply Isaiah‘s words to the Jewish people, to us, and the church of our time is to disregard their context and to misuse them. But that kind of objection ignores the whole character of these prophecies as plainly leading to Christ. He was to be not merely God’s “servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel” but also given “for a light to the Gentiles” and to be God‘s “salvation unto the end of the earth” (Isa. 49:6). The Apostle Paul saw in this God‘s command to bring the same gospel of God’s love and grace in His Son to the Gentile world (Acts 13:47). Whoever believes in Christ shares in it.
The Image or God Revealed – Recently a survey conducted by Redbook magazine turned up the, for them, surprising conclusion from questioning over 18,000 women that religious women were evidently happier in their marriage relationships than others. That conclusion should not be surprising. The gospel of God‘s love and grace does not, as the devil has been industriously claiming, dehumanize people; it begins, as they are led to faith in and fellowship with God, to renew them in His image. That image is restricted neither to men nor women; and neither does it make them alike or assign them the same roles, as some today would have it. It serves each to reflect in his and her own unique place and way, in his and her divine “vocation” or “calling,” the love and grace of God who has called each out of darkness into His marvelous light (I Peter 2:9).
Peter De Jong, pastor of the Christian Reformed Church, Dutton, Michigan.