We tend to talk about God as a father, but the Bible also says, "As a mother comforts her child so I will comfort you."
Yes, we tend to shy away from describing God in too human terms, especially if they are terms many see as weak. Usually, "weak" traits like pity or compassion are seen as female characteristics.
But the authors of Scripture do not have such hesitations. God Himself did not have such hesitations when He spoke to His people through Isaiah, likening Himself to a mother who has compassion for her child.
Though God's people rebelled against Him, He promised to comfort those who turn to Him with all the intimacy and healing love of a mother.
Where Does the Bible Say, 'As a Mother Comforts Her Child So Will I Comfort You'?
This verse is taken from the last chapter of the book of Isaiah. The entirety of the verse reads: "As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem" (Isaiah 66:13) and is written within the context of Isaiah's prophetic vision of a future hope, a new Jerusalem.
The first half of the book of Isaiah vacillates between judgment and hope for the people of Israel. The latter half focuses on offering unrelenting hope for peoples of all nations.
Chapter 49 introduces readers to the Servant, who brings salvation to the ends of the earth (Isaiah 49:6). Throughout the rest of the book, we get glimpses into how this will happen. The Servant will have to suffer and die for the world's sins, and then He will be raised in triumph over death.
We also learn what this means for the Israelites. From the beginning, it was evident that God had set them aside to bring all peoples to Himself (Gen. 18:18). That righteousness was a matter of faith alone (Rom. 4:3), but pride still plagued them. They assumed their heritage was enough to keep them in God's good graces despite wicked behavior. Isaiah made it clear that having the right pedigree would not be enough to receive the fullness of the hope the Servant brought. Rather, those who "join themselves to the Lord, to attend to His service and to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants…" (Isaiah 56:6) would receive the hope. In this context—a future hope where God's servant will bring healing to people of all nations who humbly repent of their sins and turn to Him—we read God's promise to comfort His people as a mother comforts her child.
Is 'As a Mother Comforts Her Child So Will I Comfort You' the First Time God Is Called Mother?
God has revealed Himself to us as the man, Jesus Christ, and as our Heavenly Father. Understanding Him as such is a pivotal aspect of our relationship with Him. Yet, God Himself is non-gendered—he has no physical shape (1 Timothy 1:17, Deuteronomy 4:12). Male and female are made in his image (Genesis 1:27). Hence, it takes both men and women to image God well.
God reveals His glory to Moses in perhaps the most intimate and insightful revelation of His character recorded in Scripture (Exodus 34:6). The first descriptor is "compassionate," or rackum in Hebrew. This deeply emotional word is inextricably linked with the word rekhem, meaning "womb." It bears the image of a mother's passionate and tender concern for the child she bore in her body for nine long months. God uses the image of a mother's love to show Mose one of the most foundational aspects of His being.
The imagery of God as having love like a mother's also appears in Deuteronomy 32:18, when He addresses the Israelites' faithlessness: "You neglected the Rock who begot you, and forgot the God who gave you birth."
It appears again in Hosea 11:1-4.
"When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son…it is I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them in My arms; But they did not know that I healed them. I pulled them along with cords of a man, with ropes of love, and I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws; And I bent down and fed them."
Neither instance refers specifically to God being like a mother, but both employ motherly language to develop the reader's imagination and understanding of His character.
Aside from Isaiah 66:13, the only other instance in which God is explicitly described as being like a mother is found in the same book, in which God is, yet again, addressing a wayward Israel. "Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you" (Isaiah 49:15). It is evident that God wants His people to know His loving compassion as they understand that of a devoted mother.
There are less specific images where the biblical authors compare God to maternal animals. Psalm 91:4 plays on mother hen imagery when it says that God "will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge." When Jesus weeps about the fate of Jerusalem, he says, "How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings" (Luke 13:34).
God has intentionally revealed Himself as a man and has invited us to interact with Him as a Father, but that does not mean that what we would consider His more female attributes are not foundational to His being.
Who Is the Audience When God Says 'As a Mother Comforts Her Child So Will I Comfort You'?
The prophet Isaiah lived before and during the Babylonian exile (586-539 BCE), dwelling in Jerusalem and speaking to its leaders and the leaders of Judah. The first half of the book of Isaiah describes God's coming judgment through the Babylonian conquest. The latter half (in which this verse can be found) addresses a people living 150 years after Isaiah's death. This time frame has led some to question whether chapters 40-66 are by Isaiah or collected from Isaiah's later disciples. No matter your stance, it is evident that Isaiah 66 is written to a people who have experienced the tragedy of exile and are being called back to their God.
This is significant because the audience fully understands the previous generation's faults. They have been afflicted greatly for their hypocrisy and faithlessness, living in a land that is not their own under the lordship of a cruel master. Now they have a decision. Their time in exile is ending. Will they continue in their parents' footsteps, preferring idols to their Heavenly Father, or will they choose the righteous path and put their hope in Him alone? If the latter, they will be comforted by God's loving care. If the former, they will never know what it means to be at home with their God.
Does 'As a Mother Comforts Her Child So Will I Comfort You' Have Conditions?
Have you ever yearned to be a place of peace for a loved one, a source of solace in their pain, but because of addiction, stubbornness, or other reasons, they have refused to turn to you? Such is a painful matter. You struggle with co-dependency, not wanting to facilitate damaging behavior but desperately desiring to make your love and care known to a child or a friend. Or have you ever yearned for the peace of God, desiring His comfort in your heart while also cherishing and protecting your sin? Effectively declaring that you care more about your idol than a relationship with your Father in Heaven. You would prefer peace in keeping the thing which you know He hates, the thing which is hurting yourself and those around you, to holiness.
If so, then you know that comfort must come with conditions if it is truly rooted in a place of love. All these experiences are captured in the book of Isaiah. There is "peace like a river" for those whose hearts are set on God (Is. 66:12), but He cannot force comfort upon those who reject it. He will not facilitate behaviors that harm. But "let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon" (Is. 55:6-7). The comfort of God does not belong to the prideful or the pious, but to "him who is humble and contrite of spirit" (Is. 66:2). As a mother whose heart yearns to comfort her hurting, wayward child, God's desire is for His children to come to Him that He can bind up their wounds and heal their broken hearts. That comfort is available to those who accept the sacrifice Christ, God's Servant, made on their behalf.
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This article is part of our larger resource library of popular Bible verse phrases and quotes. We want to provide easy to read articles that answer your questions about the meaning, origin, and history of specific verses within Scripture's context. It is our hope that these will help you better understand the meaning and purpose of God's Word in relation to your life today.
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