By Larry Fyffe
God’s no wimp, as expressed metaphorically in the following biblical verse:
For He put on righteousness as a breastplate And an helmet of salvation upon His head And He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing And was clad with zeal as a cloke (Isaiah 59:17)
Echoed in the song lyrics below:
Well, the word of God is sharper Than any double-bladed sword He's the hammer of salvation The breastplate of righteousness (Bob Dylan: Cover Down, Pray Through)
A lion be on the Israeli flag, a symbol of Judah’s masculine strength:
For thus hath the Lord spoken unto me Like a lion and the young lion roaring on his prey When a multitude of shepherds is called forth against He will not be afraid of their voice (Isaiah 31:4)
Indeed, the biblical prophet Isaiah’s upset that kings like Ahaz turn over and show their bellies to aggressive lions ~ the Assyrians, for example.
As Eve does for Adam, the Hebrews at this time act like lambs; not like lions; nor like knights; not even like screech owl Lilith.
Isaiah’s upset because God is upset; having made Man in His image, Yahweh informs the prophet that He’s uncomfortable at His Jungian feminine side being exposed at this particular time in history.
The lion-hearted Assyrians are in the Northern Kingdom, and the Babylonians are on their way.
Isaiah accuses the Judeans as being like women at the bloody time of a month:
But we are all as an unclean thing And all our righteousness are as fifthy rags And we all do fade as a leaf And our iniquities, like the wind Have taken us away (Isaiah's 64: 6)
In the subtle, but satirical, song lyrics beneath, so agrees the narrator who dons a “he-man” mask just like Isaiah does.
He’s a modern prophet in the New Babylon of America.
Yes, there’s trouble – months in and months out, there’s lots of trouble:
You can't get to glory by the raising And lowering of the flag Put your goodness next to God's And it come out like a filthy rag In the city of darkness, there's no need for the sun And there ain't no man righteous No not one (Bob Dylan: Ain't No Man Righteous)
Part IV
Interpreted it can be that more than previous Jewish prophets, Isaiah asserts that the Judeans at this time in biblical history seek salvation through rational means; they’ve abandoned the caring “spiritual” side of the Lord; this causes the Almighty One to become weary, and His frustration sometimes leads to anger.
God has feelings.
Poet William Blake picks up on the idea that rationalism has come too much to the fore – at the expense of emotionally driven love.
The prophet Isaiah takes the weight on his shoulders to explain how Almighty God can be considered a tough guy with an unchangeable mind, but can also act like a doting and delicate father who spoils his children.
For example, the Heavenly Father permits King Ahaz down on Earth to play ball with the likes of Baal-worshipping Assyrians (The latter-day prophet Emanuel Swedenborg one morning sees Plato in the mirror; and claims that the Assyrians represent rationalism).
Isaiah attempts to deliver the meaning of God’s message that he believes is given to him ~ simply put, the Almighty has a feminine need to be comforted:
Remember this, and show yourself men Bring it again to your mind, O ye transgressors .... I am God, and there is none like me Declaring the end from the beginning And from ancient times the things that are not yet done Saying, my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure (Isaiah 46: 8,9,1O)
With the gates of Eden now barred, the Christ child (thought by Christians to be the Immanuel that Isaiah mentions), after He grows up, turns out a lot like His father ~ ready to be rough on those who refuse to please Him.
So claimed, apparently, in the song lyrics below:
Oh child, why you wannna hurt me I'm exiled, you can't convert me I'm lost in the haze of your delicate ways With both eyes in a glaze (Bob Dylan: We Better Talk This Over)
There is a somewhat similar sentiment, expressed, on the micro-level, by a troubled New Romantic singer ~ in the lyrics beneath:
Give me time to realize my crime Let me love and steal I have danced inside your eyes How can I be real Do you really want to hurt me (Boy George: Do You Really Want To Hurt Me ~ O'Dawd, et.al.)
Apparently, to Isaiah, the all-powerful male Creator possesses aspects of two sexes ~ which He passes on, in varying degrees, to all earth-dwellers.
Biblical words matter.
But they can be Jung-like; that is, mixed up, and confusing:
So God created Man in His own image In the image of God created He him Male and female created He them (Genesis 1:27)