Apologetics · FaithLogic
"God Is Not a Man" — Numbers 23:19 and Hosea 11:9
"God is not a man, that He should lie" (Numbers 23:19); "I am God, and not a man" (Hosea 11:9). Both Jewish and Muslim apologists cite these as a flat contradiction of the incarnation. But read in context, neither verse is about whether God can take on a human nature — both are about God's character: unlike people, God does not lie, break His word, or act on spite.
Numbers 23:19 — The Verse Finishes Its Own Thought
"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?"
The second half defines the first. The point is that God — unlike Balaam, the pagan diviner speaking these words, who was hired to curse and kept trying to be bought — does not lie or renege. It is a statement about divine faithfulness, not a metaphysical rule that God could never unite Himself to humanity. "God is not a fickle, lying man" and "God cannot become incarnate" are different claims; only the first is in the text.
The second half defines the first. The point is that God — unlike Balaam, the pagan diviner speaking these words, who was hired to curse and kept trying to be bought — does not lie or renege. It is a statement about divine faithfulness, not a metaphysical rule that God could never unite Himself to humanity. "God is not a fickle, lying man" and "God cannot become incarnate" are different claims; only the first is in the text.
Hosea 11:9 — "For I Am God and Not a Man"
"I will not carry out My fierce anger… For I am God, and not a man — the Holy One among you." Here God is explaining why He will not destroy Israel in wrath: His mercy is not like human vindictiveness. Again the contrast is moral. And the same sentence says "the Holy One among you" — God present in the midst of His people, the very theme the incarnation completes ("Immanuel — God with us").
The Old Testament Already Has God in Human Form
If these verses forbade God appearing as or in a man, the Hebrew Bible would be contradicting itself constantly:
• The LORD appears to Abraham as one of "three men," eats, and speaks (Genesis 18).
• Jacob wrestles "a man" all night and names the place "I have seen God face to face" (Genesis 32:30).
• The commander of the LORD's army receives worship — "take off your sandals" (Joshua 5:14–15).
• The Angel of the LORD speaks as God in the first person and carries the divine Name (Exodus 23:21).
The prophets then promise a figure who is both: a child born who is "Mighty God, Everlasting Father" (Isaiah 9:6); a ruler from Bethlehem "whose origins are from of old, from ancient days" (Micah 5:2); "one like a son of man" who comes with the clouds and is given everlasting dominion and worship (Daniel 7:13–14); and, most directly, "they will look on Me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him" (Zechariah 12:10) — the pierced one is YHWH speaking.
• The LORD appears to Abraham as one of "three men," eats, and speaks (Genesis 18).
• Jacob wrestles "a man" all night and names the place "I have seen God face to face" (Genesis 32:30).
• The commander of the LORD's army receives worship — "take off your sandals" (Joshua 5:14–15).
• The Angel of the LORD speaks as God in the first person and carries the divine Name (Exodus 23:21).
The prophets then promise a figure who is both: a child born who is "Mighty God, Everlasting Father" (Isaiah 9:6); a ruler from Bethlehem "whose origins are from of old, from ancient days" (Micah 5:2); "one like a son of man" who comes with the clouds and is given everlasting dominion and worship (Daniel 7:13–14); and, most directly, "they will look on Me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him" (Zechariah 12:10) — the pierced one is YHWH speaking.
What the Incarnation Actually Claims
Christianity does not say God stopped being God and became a mortal, or that a man was promoted to deity. It says God the Son, without ceasing to be God, took an additional human nature (John 1:14; Philippians 2:6–7). He did not become a lying, changeable man; He remained "the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8) while also being genuinely one of us. Second Temple Judaism itself had room for a second figure sharing God's throne and identity — what scholars call the "two powers" tradition (Alan Segal, Two Powers in Heaven) — before that idea was later ruled out precisely because Christians used it.
💡 "God Is Not a Man" — Complete Response"Numbers 23:19 finishes its own sentence: 'God is not a man, that He should lie… does He promise and not fulfill?' It contrasts God with human lying and fickleness — spoken, fittingly, about Balaam, a diviner who kept trying to be bought. Hosea 11:9 is the same: 'I am God and not a man' explains why God will not act on vengeful anger. Neither verse is about whether God can take on a human nature — and the same Scriptures show God appearing as a man to Abraham (Genesis 18) and Jacob (Genesis 32), and promise a child who is 'Mighty God' (Isaiah 9:6) and a pierced one who is YHWH: 'they will look on Me, the one they have pierced' (Zechariah 12:10). The incarnation is not God becoming a fickle mortal; it is the unchanging Son adding humanity — 'the Holy One among you.'"
Numbers 23:19 and Hosea 11:9 contrast God with human unfaithfulness and spite — He does not lie, break His word, or act on vengeance the way people do. Neither verse addresses whether God can take a human nature, and the same Scriptures show God appearing as a man to Abraham and Jacob, and promise a child who is "Mighty God" and a pierced one who is YHWH. The incarnation is not God becoming a fickle mortal; it is the unchanging God the Son adding humanity to His deity — "the Holy One among you."
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