The Femininity of the Ruach haQodesh - NCCG.ORG Ning Network Archive 2008-10

Members of MLT are pretty well in complete agreement with classical Trinitarians from the Protestant, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches when it comes to the biblical doctrine of the Father and the Son. Where we differ a little is in the doctrine of the Ruach haQodesh, in Hebrew known as the Ruach haQodesh. The Protestants and Catholics differ with the Eastern Orthodox Church over the Holy Spirit too (e.g. the 'Filioque Controversy') and we are closer to the Eastern Orthodox in this regard than the Western Churches. Nevertheless there is, in reality, very little difference between us as we all accept the Deity of the Holy Spirit.

To lie to the Ruach haQodesh is to lie to Yahweh (Acts 5:3-4). The linking of the Ruach with the Lord Yahshua (Jesus) and the Father in such places as 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 and 2 Corinthians 13:14 would be near blasphemy if 'He' were not 'Himself' God. The Ruach haQodesh is also personal. Thus 'He' wills (Acts 13:2; 1 Corinthians 12:11); 'He' understands (Romans 8:27); 'He' may be grieved (Ephesians 4:30). Such terms would be meaningless if applied solely to an impersonal influence or power.

We do not have nearly as much data on the Ruach haQodesh's personality as we do of Christ, as we would expect of an invisible Being. There are two problems with the classical Trinitarian fomulation on the Ruach haQodesh:

Part of the problem we have with the New Testament is that the one used by the Western Churches is a Greek translation of the original Hebrew or Aramaic, a language evolved within a pagan context as opposed to the Hebrew of the Old Testament which was, we believe, the original divine language and which evolved within the context of a divine theocracy (Israel). This means, in our opinion, and in concert with many scholars, we believe that Hebrew is more precise and inspired than Greek. Moreover, we have good reason to believe that most, if not all, the New Testament was originally written in Hebrew and subsequently translated into Greek. Therefore in terms of defining the gender of the Ruach haQodesh, members of MLT are more disposed to the Hebrew Old and New Testament witness of the Bible which overwhelmingly reveals the Ruach haQodesh to be feminine.

Recent studies of the original Hebrew New Testament, before it was translated into Greek, show conclusively that the Holy Spirit is feminine in both Old and New Testament. James S. Trimm, Hebrew and Aramaic New Testament scholar writes:

One problem that presents itself in translating the New Testament from Hebrew and Aramaic into English is that of the gender of the Ruach haKodesh (Holy Spirit). English is very different from Hebrew and Aramaic. To begin with, English has three genders, masculine, feminine and neuter (i.e. he, she and it). Hebrew and Aramaic have no neuter gender. In Hebrew and Aramaic everything is either a "he" or a "she" and nothing is an "it". Also gender plays a much more important role in Hebrew and in Aramaic than in English. In English gender is usually only an issue when dealing with pronouns. But in Hebrew and Aramaic nouns and verbs are also maculine or feminine. And while there are no true adjectives in Hebrew (nouns are also used as adjectives), noun modifiers must agree in gender with the noun. Now the Hebrew word RUACH (Aramaic RUCHA) is gramatically feminine as is the phrase Ruach haKodesh. This is matched by the rôle of the Ruach haKodesh as "comforter" (Jn.14-16) and the identifier of the "comforter" with YHWH acting as a "mother" (Is.66:13).

Now in English the Ruach is often referred to as "he" or "it" as also in the Greek New Testament. However this seems very odd indeed to the Semitic mind.

Now it is very clear that the gender of the RUACH has been revised in many passages of the Aramaic to agree with the Hellenistic concept of the Holy Spirit as being either a "he" or an "it". Thus the pronouns used for the Ruach haKodesh in Jn.14-16 in the Peshitta are all masculine. However, the hand of revision is very clear. For example while both the Peshitta and Old Syriac have "he" in Jn.16:8 the Old Syriac has "she" just a few verses further down in 16:13 while the Peshitta has "he".

Moreover there are many passages in which the Peshitta itself pairs the Ruach haKodesh with feminine verbs and/or feminine modifiers. Mk.1:10; Jn.1:32-33; 6:63; 7:39; Acts 8:29,39; 16:17; Rom.8:9-11,16,26a,26b; 1 Cor.3:16; 1 Tim.4:1; 1 Pet.1:11; 4:14 and 1 Jn.5:6. In fact the Peshitta Aramaic of Rom.8:16 opens with:

"And she the Ruach gives testimony ..."

(James S. Trimm, Hebraic-Roots Version "New Testament", 2001, SANJ, Hurst, Texas, pp.xxxiii-xxxiv)

Members of MLT believe that the Ruach haQodesh is a female personage and I shall now give other biblical reasons for doing so.

Karen Vaughan, reviewing the book "Sophia in the Biblical Tradition" (Harper and Row; 1986) by Susan Cady, Marian Ronan and Hal Taussig, writes : "Sophia, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Hochmah is the feminine personification of Wisdom in the Pentateuch. She is neither a goddess nor a new age creation of feminist theologians. She was a real biblical person with more material on her in the Old Testament (with Apocrypha) than anyone in the scriptures, except God, Job, Moses and David...

"One reason we little consider Sophia, even in readings of the Old Testament, is that English translations usually translate the feminine "Sophia" into the abstract "Wisdom". Although the Greek and Hebrew words were fully feminine, the English is not. The fullest development of her is in the so-called "Wisdom Books" of the apocryphia in the Greek Pentateuch that were canonized into Christian Scripture and are still used by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Sophia dominates the first nine chapters of Proverbs and is found in both the Old and New Testaments.

"In the Hebrew tradition, Sophia was considered to have been with God from the beginning of Creation. In Proverbs 8:27-51, Sophia says:

Do we have any indications in the Bible of a similar creation process? We do. If we look at the story of Eve's creation from Adam we find a remarkable parallel. Eve was created out of Adam in the same way that Sophia was created out of Yahweh. Eve was created to be a helpmeet and co-ruler with Adam in the same way as Sophia was created by Yahweh from Himself to be a helpmeet and co-creator. We may therefore say that in the same way as Eve is the mother of the human race, that Sophia is the mother of Creation as a Heavenly Mother along with Yahweh our Heavenly Father.

So I repeat: the creation of Eve from Adam as a helpmeet and companion is a simulitude of the creation of Sophia (or Hochmah) from Yahweh for similar reasons.

Are members of MLT feminists or New Age? Abolutely not. We are merely acknowledging what the Bible teaches. We absolutely reject feminism and New Age paganism. The purpose of feminism is antithetical to biblical Christianity and the New Age worships a female deity in place of the Father - and whilst they assert this is "Sophia" it is, in fact, a demon which goes under many names (e.g. "Maia").

Neithet does our assertion that the Godhead contains Female Deity does not undermine Patriarchy - it does, however, undermine gentile patriarchy which has virtually excluded the female altogether, except in the apostate Catholic Church where they have blasphemously elevated a mortal human being, the Virgin Mary, to be the "Mother of God", many even claiming she is "co-redemptrix", or co-saviour with Christ. We affirm the biblical doctrine most strongly, namely, that there is only one Saviour, Yah'shua (Jesus). Thus Helenic (Greek-inspired) Christianity has removed the Divine Female from the original faith of the Hebrews.

What does this mean for us as Christians? It means a deep respect for the feminine as must of necessity be as we consider the subject further.

The ancient Hebrews knew of Sophia as SHEKINAH which literally means, "the Divine Presence". She was also known by the Israelites as the "Sabbath Queen". Her name comes from the Hebrew word shakhan which means "to dwell".

The Godhead consists of Father, Son and Ruach haQodesh, the Ruach haQodesh being the Shekinah or the Heavenly Mother. That the Ruach haQodesh, also known as Wisdom, is female is shown by the plethora of scriptures on her.

"Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud: "To you, O men, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind. You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, gain understanding. Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right. My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness. All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse. To the discerning all of them are right; they are faultless to those who have knowledge" (Proverbs 8: 1-9).

It is through the Ruach haQodesh that Yahweh the Father communicates to us invisibly. Without Her we would have no access. However, she is not to be worshipped because she is not the head - Yahweh is the Head. Moreover, in terms of authority, she lies in Third place after Christ because Yah'shua is Yahweh's special emmissary. Yah'shua commanded us in the Lord's Prayer to only pray to the Father and did not include the Mother. Neveretheless She is honoured and regarded so highly that Yah'shua said that anyone who blasphemed Him could be forgiven but the sin against the Ruach haQodesh was unforgivable.

The phrase, "fear of Yahweh," which we often find in the Scriptures, does not mean fright or terror. It means a good relationship with Elohim based upon reverence and respect. In the passage above the fear of Yahweh refers to righteous living. If we listen to the counsel of the Inner Voice that seeks to guide us, we hear the Father's Living Word of Truth and learn to live in accordance with His plan.

So we see that the Ruach haQodesh identifies Herself in Scripture as "Wisdom." When we listen to the Voice of Wisdom,

We have already seen how the Ruach haQodesh identifies Herself as Wisdom, but do the scriptures identify Wisdom with the Ruach haQodesh? They do:

"Yahweh brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began. When there were no oceans, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, before he made the earth or its fields or any of the dust of the world. I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth. Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind." (Proverbs 8: 22-31)

"In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Ruach Elohim (Spirit of God) was hovering over the waters." (Genesis 1: 1-2)

"Then Elohim said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness..." So Elohim created man in his own image, in the image of Elohim he created him; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1: 26-27)

"By wisdom Yahweh laid the earth's foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place." (Proverbs 3:19)

We learn further that the Ruach haQodesh is a divine teacher or instructor which I can see might upset some men with darkened minds who, through misreading the scriptures, do not even allow their women to open their mouths in Church:

"But it is the ruach (spirit) in a man, the breath of the Almighty, that gives him understanding" (Job 32:8).

"She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue" (Proverbs 31:26).

"Now then, my sons, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways. Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from Yahweh. But whoever fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death" (Proverbs 8: 32-36).

"For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul" (Proverbs 2:10).

"Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding" (Proverbs 4: 5-7).

Prior to the birth of Christ the Shekinah/Holy Spirit/Ruach haQodesh was the divine intercessor with the Father. The Scriptures also make plain in the light of the above that women have leadership rôles in the Messianic Assembly. In saying this, though, I am not advocating identical leadership rôles but parallel ones.

This is important and if we don't strictly adhere to it we will end up as the feminists in the liberal churches whose work has been so destructive of true patriarchy leading to serious compromises with the truth. Accordingly there are different priesthood orders for men and women in MLT.

Yet us first see the characteristics of the Ruach haQodesh's leadership rôle in the Godhead for this will give us some idea of true women's priesthood rôles here in the earthly Messianic Community or Church. The following summary is courtesy of Evan Randolph: