Q. The Name of the Father is Yahweh, and the Name of the Son is Yah'shua. If the Holy Spirit is a female person, why isn't her name given?

A. Like Yahweh, She has many titles. Unlike Yahweh, who is one Personage, the Ruach is seven (e.g. Rev.1:4) and is a kind of 'female Elohim' all on her own. Multiple names are given Her which appear as personifications of principles and places. She is know, variously, as Zion (Heb. 'fortress'), Jerusalem (Heb. 'possession of peace'), Hochmah (Heb. 'wisdom'), Comforter (Heb. nacham, Gk. paraclêtos), Shalom (Heb. 'peace'), the Sabbath Queen (Heb. 'cessation', 'rest'), Shegal (Heb. 'queen', 'wife'), etc..

Unlike the Father and the Son, the Ruach (Spirit) remains physically invisible to human eyes. A human type of the Ruach (Spirit) is Eve (Heb. havah, meaning 'life', 'life-giving' or 'mother'), the wife of Adam, Adam being made in the image of the Elohim (Godhead): Adam contained Eve before she was taken from him, just as Yahweh contains, as it were, the Ruach (Spirit) and the Son. The original Adam is a type of the original Êl (Yahweh) before He became Elohim. The Bible tells us that the Ruach (Spirit) was derived from Him as a bosom companion as Eve was from Adam, and that Yah'shua is His Only Begotten. Abel is a type of Yah'shua murdered on the Cross, Seth being a type of the resurrected Messiah.

Because the Ruach (Spirit) is female, She occupies a submissive position in the background of the Elohim. Though invisible, Her influence is profound. Like a godly wife, Her influence on man is through the experienced "the fruits of the Spirit" which reflect Her qualities, and which are the glory of woman. Her influence on the male of the species enables them to be humble and contrite so that they in their turn may approach the Father in the right attitude or frame of mind. Because She remains in the background, She is neither directly named nor is worship of Her permitted. We are to worship the Father alone in the Name of the Son, and such worship as is given to the Son is always given back to Yahweh, for He is the salvation (shuah) of Yah, not His own. When we honour the Father we automatically honour the Mother. When this order is not observed it is not long before people fall into a false spirit which exalts human substitutes (the Catholic Madonna) or pagan deities (demons, in fact) like Semiramis, Astarte, Ishtar, Maia, Diana, etc.. Accordingly there is no direct revelation of Her Name(s) in order to (a) preclude this kind of false worship and (b) ensure that all honour is given to the Most High - El Elyon - our Father, Yahweh.

Many have concluded as a result of this that the Ruach (Spirit) is just an impersonal force - an emanation from Yahweh or the Elohim (which they consider to consist of only Father and Son ... the belief of many Messianics). However, there is no doubt from many passages that the Ruach (Spirit) possesses the attributes of personality and we ourselves are under command at the conclusion of the Gospel of Matthew to baptise in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

There is, in our view, something 'missing' in any belief system which negates the personhood of the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit). Many Messianic Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, the cluster of Herbert Armstrong-derived churches (e.g. the United Church of God), Christadelphians, some Unitarian groups, and others all regard the Ruach (Spirit) as an impersonal 'it' and often render Her as 'holy spirit' rather than 'the Holy Spirit'. There is also something overwhelmingly 'male' about their spirit too, as though there is a lack of balance. Little wonder that when the classical all-male Trinitarian doctrine was formulated Catholics turned to Virgin Mary (Madonna - 'Our Lady') worship whom they idolatrously address as the BVM ('Blessed Virgin Mary'). All the various supernatural Mary manifestations we hear about are demonic impersonations for they blasphemously rob the honour and glory of the Ruach (Spirit) and thus of our Father Yahweh.

This page was created on 16 June 2004 Last updated on 16 June 2004

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