I have always known God made me in His image, but I was left pondering if people changed in appearance when sin entered the world. I believed the word “image” could only have one meaning. I only thought of the dictionary definitions which were physical explanations (a photograph, something perceived through a lens, or a reflection), but as I began reading through the Pentateuch, I kept this constant uncertainty in mind hoping to find a logical explanation. Suddenly, I began to think of the word “image” as a symbol—something that was meant to help me understand. I realized I had been reading too much into this simple word. Throughout these five books, God showed me what his image is and what it truly means to be made in his image.
God revealed His humor and creativity to me the most in the Pentateuch. The humor I am suggesting is not referring to jokes and riddles but to His sarcasm and use of irony. One of the most notable cases of God’s humor is located in the eleventh chapter of Numbers. Because of God’s annoyance with His children, He gave them so much of the meat they whined for, so that they would never want eat it again. He used a humorous, sarcastic method to make His children to stop complaining. Other cases of God’s use of irony appear in stories such as the birth of Isaac and the life Joseph. In Genesis chapter twenty-one, God opened Sarah’s womb, and she gave birth to a son named Isaac in her old age. He worked through one of the weakest families in the nation and he made it the strongest in history. In the story of Joseph, God used a young man who was tormented and mistreated by his selfish siblings to save the entire region—including those very siblings. Lastly, when the God of the universe made the animals and people of the Earth, he revealed his creativity in every creation. We look at the variety of strange animals such as the platypus, ostrich, and giraffe, and we can see his creativity and his light-hearted outlook. All of these citations point out how I can relate to God. God created man with a sense of humor, and because we are made in His image, He must have a similar humoristic character. Many people believe the Old Testament God is an angry God who is full of wrath. They cannot understand the reasoning behind His anger, so they are quick to assume the worst in “the God of the Old Testament.” His anger and wrath scare many people away from him. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19 is a key example of God’s anger. I always believed anger itself was a sin, but now I understand that anger is only wrong when it is not justified. In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, God was angry because He saw countless men and women defying Him. In Exodus 3, God grew angry with Moses because Moses gave Him excuses as to why he should not be the leader of the Israelites. Later on in Exodus, God revealed His anger to the Egyptians for mistreating His chosen people. Each time God showed His anger, He had a valid reason for it; therefore, as followers of Christ, our mindset should be the same. God has shown me in theses first five books what the ideal human was meant to be and how even our less attractive emotions are acceptable to express. God created all people with a sense of protectiveness. We live to make sure our families, friends, and even our household pets are healthy and safe. God is not so different from us in this sense. In Genesis 3, we see God exile His beloved friends and children from the Garden. I always thought this was a harsh punishment until I read about the Tree of Life. I began to understand how merciful God was to Adam and Eve. By exiling them, He protected them from living in a sinful state forever. In Exodus, God shows his protectiveness when he parted the Red Sea so the Israelites could escape Pharaoh. God is the