by Pat Lunsford

Created on: January 07, 2011   Last Updated: April 22, 2012

The Bible doesn’t plainly express God’s sense of humor which is understandable considering the seriousness of the message it puts forth. Nevertheless, God certainly seems to enjoy toying with those who try to get around him. Balaam tried to make a detour around him and God rebuked him with a talking donkey. Imagine having to explain yourself to a donkey!

The challenge 

Perhaps the most humorous passages in the Bible are in 1Kings 18:22-40 where Elijah mocks the prophets of Baal. He had set up a challenge where he and the prophets of Baal erected separate alters- one to Baal, a false god, and one to Yahweh (Jehovah) the true God. The one who responded by burning the sacrifice on his prophet’s alter would be accepted as the true God.

“So they (the prophets of Baal) prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the altar. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noontime, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no reply of any kind. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made. 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!”

It is certainly obvious that Elijah had a sense of humor. Considering the strenuous effort that the prophets of Baal extended in trying to get their god to respond and the way Elijah chided them, it's reasonable to assume that there was laughter from the crowd. So the fact that God has a sense of humor is clearly seen in Elijah.

Humor is not forbidden

The Bible plainly states that God experiences the same emotions that we experience, namely, love, hate, joy, and anger. Since we all have some sense of humor and were created in his image, we must conclude that God has a sense of humor as well.

Without humor we would be like androids and our lives would be too sober to be enjoyed. If we were unable to see the humor in our surroundings we would always look upon the negative aspects of all circumstances which would lead to very dismal lives. The Bible nowhere states that humor is wrong. John Calvin in his Institutes of the Christian Religion (III: 19:9) said, “We are nowhere forbidden to laugh, or to be satisfied with food …or to be delighted with music, or to drink wine."

However, humor can be perverted. Picturing God in any way that demeans

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