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The fact that so many of us are posting re: this verse suggests to me that perhaps God has a cracking good sense of humor - rather different to a human SOH in that it is subtler and kinder than human SOH.
I am not calling God a "joker". GGSOH appears "different" (unique, set apart, holy). I imagine a teacher being amused by a pupil's non sequitur (and smiling not scolding that pupil). Imagine a movie director chuckling when editing out actors' bloopers (errors caught on camera) onto the cutting room floor. Then imagine a football team manager's witty questions that challenge/put in their place a few rather uppity players during a training session. Imagining those 3 metaphors suggests to me some of the components of God's BENIGN humor.
Obviously the Bible is a serious book, with a serious message, humor is not it's defining feature. But i was surprised (when first reading it seriously, when i was a new believer) to find that some humor is there at all. So the divine GSOH would appear to be like a facet - a small part of a large whole. A diamond has 57 facets when cut the classic way, i am told.
This note is not intended to be disrespectful, on the contrary, it aims to show yet another reason why we can thank & praise God.

I think humor is a small percentage of the Bible. We don't usually read the Bible because we are looking for humor (even if some people pick it up with a mocking attitude, looking for something to mock - some of them get surprised, and put it down reckoning "this Bible isn't as daft as i expected it to be").

The Bible is amazing and it is to be taken seriously. But like a fringe benefit on top of wages, like the garnish on a dish, a certain amount of humor is to be found within the Bible. At least twice in the book of Exodus. Then when Jesus tells the Pharisees "give Caesar what belongs to Caesar", that NT example is both a serious lesson and hilarious, both things at the same time.
There are other examples of the divine GSOH, some of which are;

Genesis 18:1-19 ESV
"And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth and said, "O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, while I bring a morsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant." So they said, "Do as you have said." And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, "Quick! Three seahs of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes." And Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate. They said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" And he said, "She is in the tent." The Lord said, "I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?" The Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son." But Sarah denied it, saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. He said, "No, but you did laugh." Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. The Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him." "
(end of ESV quote)
Genesis 21:1-3 ESV
"The Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had promised. And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him. Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac."
(end of ESV quote)
there is a footnote saying that the name Isaac means "he laughs".

Psalm 2:1-12 KJV
"Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him."
(end of KJV quote)

Isaiah 55:8-11 ESV
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven
and do not return there but water the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."
(end of ESV quote)

So i think the divine sense of humor is above human humor. I would say God's GSOH is certainly positive & kind & has a higher purpose, but human humor isn't always so.
That may be why it's also quite risky to tell non-believers that you think "God has a sense of humor", that is an opinion, and that opinion is probably the opinion most likely to be misunderstood. Tell a non-believer "i think God has a sense of humor" and you invite mockery.

I do like, however, a story about Sir Isaac Newton (a famous astronomer-physicist of his time):
Newton was asked to defend the idea that "God is omniscient - He knows what He is doing, the Lord knows everything that everyone else is up to, and even though the world seems chaotic & bizarre, there is divinely designed order to be found and there is a point to life." A skeptical person (with whom Newton was debating such an idea) asked IN something like: "But what is the point of flies? Flies are harmful & a nuisance, and neither you nor i know of any useful purpose whatsoever that flies serve. So why would your omniscient wise God create flies?" In reply, Isaac Newton offered the suggestion "perhaps if only to demonstrate the superior wisdom of their creator?"

The person who talks too much is a fool. Hmmm, "if the cap fits, wear it" - so i must bid the reader "au revoir" without further ado, so that i can go put on mine, innit!

Created 4 months ago