What Gender is God?

Matthew 3:1-3

In those days came John the Baptizer preaching in the wilderness of Judaea And saying Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias saying The voice of one crying in the wilderness Prepare ye the way of THE LORD make the paths of THE SAME straight

Comments: ^{Matthew 3:2} A word about the Greek word autos (Strongs G846), usually translated as “HE” in reference to THE LORD in Matthew 3:3. James Strong mis-classified the word autos as a pronoun. Though it can sometimes be correctly translated [contextually] as a pronoun, the word itself is not a pronoun. It can, and often is, translated as an adjective or adverb, e.g.: the same, the other, together, this, very, which, … etc. These words are not pronouns.

In Matthew 3:3, the verse is speaking of the Messiah, who is indeed a “HE”—YAHWEH was born of a woman and became the man, Christ Jesus. But Yahweh is not a male mortal. YAHWEH is the name of the plural and non-genderized BEING we know as the Godhead ^{Colossians 2:9} The same is true of the titles ADONAI and ELOHIM, which are both plurals. THE GODHEAD itself is a BEING and not a genderized mortal ^{Numbers 23:19} —God is neither he nor she.

Members of THE GODHEAD individually are genderized, but collectively they are not, e.g., In the Hebrew text, RUACH, THE HOLY SPIRIT is always referred to in the feminine. In the Greek text, THE HOLY SPIRIT is never referred to as a “He” but rather in the neuter, autos, meaning, among other things, “THE SAME.” Trans-gendering the feminine RUACH/PNEUMA into a masculine he/him only happens in gender-biased mistranslation.

Though THE HOLY SPIRIT is a BEING and not a human, biblical text does genderize the same as feminine. So, though THE HOLY SPIRIT is not a woman, per se, it is biblically correct to refer to THE HOLY SPIRIT in the feminine, as a SHE/HER. It is always scripturally incorrect to refer to RUACH/PNEUMA as a HE/HIM.

The member of THE GODHEAD, known as THE WORD (Jesus) ^{John 1:1&14} became a human male when HE was born of a human woman. This was prophesied in the Old Testament books of Micah, Palms, and Isaiah and declared to be fulfilled in the New Testament books of Matthew, John, Acts, Colossians, Timothy, Hebrews, and The Revelation. Isaiah called Jesus the EVERLASTING FATHER.

The member of THE GODHEAD generally known as THE FATHER, is more of a mystery than either THE HOLY SPIRIT who is the feminine RUACH/PNEUMA or THE WORD, the un-genderized BEING who became Jesus, the human SON OF GOD. Much is written about the work of both THE SON and THE RUACH/PNEUMA, but aside from brief references to “THE FATHER,” very little is written about HIS work.

Every mention of God in the Bible is not a mention of THE FATHER, though hierarchical mis-translators would have us believe so. THE FATHER is not the leader of THE GODHEAD, as hierarchical mis-translators would have us suppose. Many or most New Testament references to THE FATHER, are actually references to the plural GODHEAD—YAHWEH, ELOHIM, ADONAI.

So, we see that, individually, members of THE GODHEAD can be correctly genderized. RUACH is feminine. FATHER is masculine. The un-genderized WORD became the human male, Jesus. But collectively, the GODHEAD is not and cannot be genderized. This can be confusing to us mortals. That’s Ok. It is perfectly acceptable for finite humans to admit difficulty in grasping the multifaceted aspects of THE INFINITE.

Isaiah, Malachi, and John all agree that John the Baptizer was the forerunner of YAHWEH in the flesh ^{Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 3:1, John 1:1, John 1:14}. Isaiah wrote that John was preparing the way for YAHWEH. Isaiah called the Messiah YAHWEH.

The prophecy in Isaiah 40:3, is JEHOVAH actually speaking of THE GODHEAD through the prophet. This is quoted in the Gospel of Matthew as being fulfilled, that the Messiah—Jesus—is JEHOVAH.

The word LORD, in Matthew 3:3, should be printed in uppercase letters, as it is a direct quote of Isaiah 40:3, referring to THE MOST HIGH becoming flesh and dwelling among us ^{John 1:14, Colossians 2:9}.

Within THE GODHEAD, there is no big GOD ^{THE FATHER} or little gods ^{the son and the holy spirit}—only THE GODHEAD. Hear Oh Israel YAHWEH OUR ELOHIM IS ONE YAHWEH…. ^{Deuteronomy 6:4}

Within THE GODHEAD, There is no first, second, or third person of the trinity (notice the descending order). Those titles are scripturally non-existent, tiered, designations designed to undergird man-made hierarchical religion, which does not exist under the New Covenant but are relentlessly taught in seminaries.

Jesus is YAHWEH, and all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in Him in physical form ^{Colossians 2:9}. Where can hierarchy be found in that?

Hear Oh Israel YAHWEH OUR ELOHIM IS ONE YAHWEH….

Jocelyn Andersen is the author of several non-fiction books, including, Redemption: Bible Prophecy Simplified, a Study of HOPE.

She will eventually be releasing e-book and print commentaries on every book of the Bible she features in this column. Click HERE to subscribe to updates, book release and event announcements, and links to all her Substack columns. Connect with Jocelyn on Goodreads and LinkedIn.

Note from the editor: I read my Bible every day, always picking up today where I left off yesterday. I have been doing this for over 44 years. The posts in this column are usually notes on whatever passage I happen to be reading on any particular day during what I call my “on-track” Bible reading.

Read more about this commentary HERE.