Emotions are something that are considered to be uniquely human. While we see some animals express emotion, especially dogs, we don’t truly know if that is emotion or some other reaction, as we can’t talk to them and get an answer that we can understand. But not all animals express emotion in any way that we might recognize. Birds singing in the trees may seem happy to us, but that happiness may actually be us attributing the happiness they make us feel to them. We don’t really know if they’re just talking, telling a joke, expressing their joy or having a marital argument.
What about looking in the other direction? We look at animals as “lower life forms;” a thought that might make it surprising to us that they could have emotions at all. But what about the other direction? God is clearly a “higher life form” than we are. So, if we have emotions, doesn’t it stand to reason that He would too?
Let me add something else to that question… we have been created in God’s image. So, the question that arises is… does that include our emotions? We have a lamentable tendency to try and explain God in our terms, humanizing Him; but isn’t that backwards? Aren’t we created in His image, rather than He being created in ours (Genesis 1:26)?
However, being made in His image doesn’t mean that we are exactly like Him in all regards. A die-cast model care is “like” the original; but certainly doesn’t have the horsepower that the original has. It’s smaller and isn’t expected to run down the highway at 75 miles per hour. In much the same way, we can see that we might have some of the same characteristics of God, while still falling far short of being just like Him. The apostle John tells us, “God is love” (1 John 4:8 & 16). That doesn’t just mean that God has love or that God displays the characteristics of love; but that God Himself is defined as love. Everything He does comes out of that love. In contrast to that, while we can display love, our love is nowhere near as perfect as His is. We have the ability to love, without being defined as love itself.
So, while our having emotions indicates that God is likely to have emotions as well, it doesn’t actually prove that He does. Not only that, there’s really nothing to say that God’s emotions work anything like ours do. Ours are faulty, because we are fallible human beings. God doesn’t have the faults that we do, so it follows that He doesn’t have the same faults in his emotions that we do either. Therefore, when we read about God’s emotions in the Bible, we must take care to understand that they aren’t the same as ours. Rather, they are what ours should aspire to be. There’s a huge difference between the two.
Nevertheless, we know that God does have emotions; not because we have experienced them, but because they are mentioned in the pages of scripture. There are a variety of different verses, which talk about God’s emotional response to one thing or another, telling us in no uncertain terms that God has emotions. Fortunately for us though, His response to them is different.
The Imperfections of Our Emotions
As humans, we have a lamentable tendency to allow our emotions to control us. That wouldn’t be so bad, except that we allow those emotions to exist, based upon some faulty standards. We all tend to be selfish and self-centered, which ultimately controls our emotional reaction to everything. Think about it for a moment… When was the last time you got offended, when the person who offended you hadn’t done something against you? When did you get mad, without someone having mistreated you (at least in your own mind)? We respond emotionally, especially in the area of negative emotions, to how people treat or mistreat us.
Even what we call “love” in dating and marriage is different from what the Bible identifies as “love.” When we look at the Bible’s definition of love, as found in 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, we find that it is centered around doing what is best for others. In contrast to that, what we call love in our relationships isn’t about what we do for others, but rather about how those others make us feel. We don’t love them as much as we love how they make us feel.
The real danger here isn’t just that we have these emotions; but rather, that we allow our emotions to control us. All too often, especially when negative emotions are present, we find ourselves hurting others, especially those who are closest to us. In the most extreme cases, people have actually killed family members over the most trivial of matters.
What Emotions Does God Have?
Throughout scripture, we find verses that make reference to God’s emotions, more than anywhere in the book of Psalms. While some may not seem like they are direct references to His emotional response, it becomes clear that they are, when we take a moment to think about what is being said.
The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” – Jeremiah 31:3
It only makes sense to start out talking about God’s love, as that is His defining attribute. Love is both a decision and an emotion. Which is it with God? We really don’t know; but it is probably an equal mixture between the two. The verse quoted above doesn’t give any indication that God just decides to love us, even though He doesn’t feel anything. Rather, it shows that Hid love is everlasting, motivating Him to act in certain ways towards us.
We must always remember that no matter what God does, He is always motivated by His love for us. Even things which seem to not be founded in love are, once we understand God’s motivation and reasoning. His thoughts are higher than ours; therefore, His love takes a different form than our own.
Also at Tabereh and Massah and Kibroth Hattaavah you provoked the Lord to wrath. – Deuteronomy 9:22
Yes, God gets angry. Not only do we find references to His anger in the Old Testament but we see it over and over again in the book of Revelations. A constant theme there is God “pouring out His anger” through the various plagues that fall upon the earth. However, even God’s wrath that was poured out in the book of Revelations is tempered by His love; for He knows that there are some who will not come to Him, until they become desperate. His pouring out of His wrath is a last, almost desperate call for people to repent and turn to Him.
And when the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. – Judges 2:18
Pity isn’t normally thought of as an emotion, even though it is. We see this displayed by Go more in the book of Judges, than anywhere else. There’s a cycle that happens over and over in that book, where the people turn away from God and to idolatry. Due to that idolatry, He allows the other nations of Canaan to attack and oppress the people of Israel. Their response is to turn to God, seeking relief. Because of His pity for them, as they suffer, God raises up a judge, working through that judge to set them free.
The Lord your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.” – Zephaniah 3:17
This is a wonderful verse, showing an aspect of God’s emotions towards us that we don’t see elsewhere, especially in the last phrase. The word “rejoice” there, is the Hebrew word “giul,” one of several Hebrew words that can be translated as some form of “joy.” But this word in particular is most perfectly translated as “to jump and spin around wildly, due to strong emotion.” To put that another way, we can say that it means to dance. That makes this last phrase say, “He will dance over you with singing.”
It’s hard to imagine God dancing and singing over us, but that’s what the verse says. This is a wonderful picture of God’s love for us and his emotional expression of that love. For those who only see an angry God, when they look at the Old Testament, it proves that there is more to Him than anger.
The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth. 13 The Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming. – Psalm 37:12-13
Please don’t take this wrong; this isn’t the sadistic laugh of one who is taking pleasure in the downfall of another. There’s an element of contempt in this laugh, as God mocks them for their wrongdoing. But that shouldn’t surprise us, there are many places in the Bible where God is openly sarcastic, especially in the books of prophecy.
But the idea of God laughing is something we’re not used to. All too many people think of God, sitting serenely on His throne, looking for someone to throw a lightning bolt at. Oh wait, that’s Zeus, the Greek’s top god, not God the Father. So, why do people expect Jehovah God to act like Zeus? I’d much rather think of Him as one who laughs… and we give Him plenty to laugh at. There is nothing malicious or evil about God’s laughter; because there is nothing malicious or evil about Him. He is righteous and just at all times.
How God Deals with His Emotions
While we allow our emotions to control us, God never does. She is always in control of His emotions, not the other way around. That way, His emotions don’t cause or even motivate Him to do the wrong thing. Rather, He always does the right thing. His emotions are just how He expresses Himself while doing the right thing.
It is our sin nature that causes us to have wrong reactions to our emotions. But God is sinless; unable to be affected by sin in the same way that we are. He is saddened by our sin; but He has no sin of His own to cause Him to react inappropriately and lash out at others. He is quick to forgive, so doesn’t hold anger and bitterness against us.
We see the human embodiment of God in the Bible, Jesus, displaying a wide range of emotions, including crying three times. Yet those emotions never caused Him to do anything detrimental or destructive. He never lashed out and hurt anyone. Rather, as shown by His weeping, He carried His grief for all those in need and allowed that grief to motivate Him in His ministry efforts. Jesus continually reached out to the neediest, because He felt their hurt and pain.
More than anything, we can count on the fact that God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). That includes Him not changing due to His emotions. We can count on Him always acting in accordance with His Word, regardless of what emotions He might feel. Even in anger, He does not lash out. The wrath that is talked about in the book of Revelations is something that He has stored up through the centuries, rather than using it against us. Even as He pours it out, it will be tempered by His love. His love for us overrides all, even when we do things to hurt Him.