God’s sense of humor

God’s sense of humor

About noontime, Elijah began mocking them. “You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed, “for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip or is asleep and needs to be wakened!” – 1 Kings 18:27

Exodus 32:21-24

 21 Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?”

 22 Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil.”

 23 “For they said to me, ‘Make a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’”

 24 “I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it [the gold] into the fire, and out came this calf.”

“Does God have a sense of humor? He must have if He created us” (Jackie Gleason).

“God has a sense of humor. If you don’t believe me, tomorrow go to Walmart and just look at people” (Carlos Mencia).

The story is about a worried mom who hurried to the pharmacy to get medication for her daughter. When she returned to her car, she discovered she had locked her keys inside.
 
The woman found an old rusty coat hanger left on the ground. She looked at it and said: “I don’t know how to use this.” She bowed her head and asked God to send her some HELP.
 
Within 5 minutes, a beat-up old motorcycle pulled up, driven by a bearded man wearing an old biker skull rag. He got off of his cycle and asked if he could help.
 
She said: “Yes, my daughter is sick. I’ve locked my keys in my car. I must get home.
Please, can you use this hanger to unlock my car?”
 
He said, “Sure.” He walked over to the car, and the car was open in less than a minute.
She hugged the man and, through tears, said: “Thank You, God, for sending me such a very nice man.”
 
The man heard her little prayer and replied: “Lady, I am NOT a nice man. I just got out of prison yesterday; I was in prison for car theft.”
 
The woman hugged the man again, sobbing, “Oh, thank you, God! You even sent me a Professional!”

The Father demonstrates His sense of humor through the many stories found in the Scriptures, of which He is the ultimate author.

When Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the 10 Commandments, the people became discontented. Because he was gone so long, some thought that perhaps Moses had died. They decided they wanted to go back to Egypt. So they convinced Aaron to craft a golden calf. Moses was not dead, and when he came down the mountain and saw what was going on, he was furious. He confronts Aaron. Aaron’s response is hysterical.

Exodus 32:21-24

 21 Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?”

 24 “I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it [the gold] into the fire, and out came this calf.”

Right!

REFLECT & PRAY

“I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t laugh” (Maya Angelou).

Father thank You for loving me so much and being my Father. Thank you for demonstrating over and over again how much love and care for me. Thank You for playing with me.

INSIGHT

There is the story of Elijah challenging the prophets of Baal to a contest to determine whose god was real. Was it Yahweh, the God of Israel? Or was it Baal, the god of the Canaanites? A bull was sacrificed, and it was placed on an altar. Neither he nor the prophets of Baal could use man-made fire to burn the sacrifice. The ball was laid on the wood of an altar. The contest was to call on their deity to send fire from heaven to light the wood ablaze. The prophets of Baal cried out to their god all morning. But no answer came. There was no fire, and Elijah began to mock Baal. He was extremely sarcastic.

1 Kings 18:27-29

 27 About noontime Elijah began mocking them. “You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed, “for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!”

 29 They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response.

Perhaps Baal is distracted; maybe he is daydreaming or occupied. In the which is not really paying attention. How un-godlike.

The next taunt is far more cutting and a bit crude. Perhaps he is relieving himself. The Hebrew word translated as relieving himself or busy is sig. Sig literally means dung or excrement. “Holladay says that the Hebrew word here means ‘has to attend to business’ and is a euphemism meaning ‘to relieve himself’” (UBS). Thus the word picture is a bit graphic of Baal relieving himself, that is, having a bowel movement. Again how un-godlike. You can fill in the blanks on this one (cf. 1 Samuel 24:3).

Why was there no response from Baal? Elijah derisively suggests that perhaps Baal had gone on a journey or was sleeping? Maybe shouting louder would help.

You know the rest of the story. After the prophets of Baal failed, it was Elijah’s turn.

1 Kings 18:36-39

 36 Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command.

 37 O LORD, answer me! Answer me, so these people will know that you, O LORD, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”

 38 Immediately the fire of the LORD flashed down from heaven . . ..

 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The LORD – he is God! Yes, the LORD is God!”

Then there is the story of Balaam’s talking donkey. The Father sent an angel to block Balaam’s path. The donkey could see the angel and stepped aside to avoid him. Balaam could see nothing. He gets angrier and angrier with the donkey. Finally, the donkey simply lies down on the path.

Numbers 22:28-34

 28 Then the LORD gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam.

 29 “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!”

 30 “But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?” “No,” Balaam admitted.

 31 Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him.

 32 “Why did you beat your donkey those three times?” the angel of the LORD demanded. “Look, I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me.

 33 Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey.”

 34 Then Balaam confessed to the angel of the LORD, “I have sinned. I didn’t realize you were standing in the road to block my way. I will return home if you are against my going.”

The moral of the story is if your donkey starts talking, don’t make a donkey out of yourself and begin to argue with him. You will lose.

Like any good parent, our heavenly Father loves to play with His children and joke and entertain them. Not every child of the King is attuned to this aspect of their relationship with Him. Pray for eyes to see His humor in the events of everyday life.

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