The reason God is always described as a male is because of His origins.
The Jews were part of the Canaanite people. The Canaanite Pantheon’s “Head God” was El (as in IsraEL) and the father of some of the other Canaanite gods. He was also known as “Elhoim” as well as other names.
Now, whether you think that the people that became the Jews were able to determine El was THE GOD, the God of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity or only a pagan god that we have been worshipping all these centuries is the reader’s decision. But God did start out as the Canaanite El.
This understanding of God’s “discovery” in the Canaanite Pantheon by the Jews also explains one of the contradictions in the Bible.
In the Old Testament God is often depicted as vengeful and angry. In the New Testament God is depicted as loving and caring. This discrepancy can be understood if El, the real God was “acting out” (poor choice of words here. No offense intended) because not all of the Jewish people had yet accepted him as the only, the actual God.
By the time that the New Testament was written, that problem had been resolved and God could “relax” and show us the reality of His love. Think of it in the human terms of the relationship between parents and their surly teenage children.
The reason God is always described as a male is because of His origins.
The Jews were part of the Canaanite people. The Canaanite Pantheon’s “Head God” was El (as in IsraEL) and the father of some of the other Canaanite gods. He was also known as “Elhoim” as well as other names.
Now, whether you think that the people that became the Jews were able to determine El was THE GOD, the God of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity or only a pagan god that we have been worshipping all these centuries is the reader’s decision. But God did start out as the Canaanite El.
This understanding of God’s “discovery” in the Canaanite Pantheon by the Jews also explains one of the contradictions in the Bible.
In the Old Testament God is often depicted as vengeful and angry. In the New Testament God is depicted as loving and caring. This discrepancy can be understood if El, the real God was “acting out” (poor choice of words here. No offense intended) because not all of the Jewish people had yet accepted him as the only, the actual God.
By the time that the New Testament was written, that problem had been resolved and God could “relax” and show us the reality of His love. Think of it in the human terms of the relationship between parents and their surly teenage children.