Shekinah

[Denise]

Is the Shekinah, the Memra and the Holy Ghost all the same? Would the Being be the She?

[Ed Hurst]

Yes and no. Hebrew is not like English at all. English is descriptive, generally used to declare with precision. Excellence with English means words supposed to be chosen carefully to convey something. It confines things with boundaries. Hebrew is meant to make you feel like you were there; it is an indicative language. It leaves the door open to your personal experience. Excellence with Hebrew transports you to your own encounter with something, without defining any outcomes.

In the Bible, the Shekinah is a term for the manifestation of God's Presence; He wants you to know He's there. We could say that the Pillar of Fire was another form of Shekinah, as was the Burning Bush. However, it is very specifically a Covenant manifestation. It's a word used to conjure up the experience of encountering the awe, the power and authority.

Memra is typically meant to indicate a word from God that carries this power and authority. It is glorious, but does not indicate the glowing Presence, per se. It's not enough to chase down all the occurrences of it using Strong's or something like that. You have to see how it is used when it matters most.

In our lives as Christians, the Holy Ghost (AKA Holy Spirit) may or may not appear with that glowing glory. His Presence becomes mostly low key, in that He's there consistently, regardless of your presence of mind. However, He does fling that power around generously when it comes to bringing glory to the Son.

I'm not sure what you refer to as "She".

[Denise]

I came across an article talking about Tohu the primordial world that exploded and Shekinah is the feminine side of God sent to us the lowest world to inflame our divine spark. The article is jewish in origin, of course that made me skeptical. But I read it with an open mind because Shekinah and Memra are foreign to me, but my gut says they should not be.

[Ed Hurst]

Oh, that can of worms. I've already laid the groundwork: You cannot approach Hebrew writing with an English/Western orientation. Well, the article you refer to shows the inherent flaw of Jewish Talmudic legalism, since it is reading Hebrew from a Hellenist orientation (which Hellenism is now a fundamental aspect to Western Civilization, to include the English language). Using Aristotle to explain Hebrew mystical parables means you cannot avoid missing the point of the Scripture text. Trying to nail down mystical parables with concrete boundaries results in religious legalism.

I reject both ex nihilo and the silly mythology in that article as different flavors of the same lie: missing the point. It's asking all the wrong questions, and is quite irreverent of God's purpose in having Moses include that narrative in his Pentateuch. The primary purpose of the narrative is not to answer all the questions we might have, but to provide a moral sense about our fallen nature and why this world is such an annoying existence. It wasn't meant to provide the grounds for hints and speculation about the mechanism of Creation, but to leave you with a sense of obligation about what God requires of you.

There is a sense in which all divine revelation is cast in terms of what God requires of us. Knowing what God commands and demands is the only possible way we can know Him. The root nature of spiritual birth is to become aware of God's divine moral character, and it's written into our convictions in terms of what we must and must not do to please Him. Love Him as your Father and feudal Lord, and love your covenant brother/sister as yourself. This is what He requires; redemption is embracing His requirements as the definition of "good".

All we really need to know in order to set our feet on the path of redemption is that God made everything and that the situation today is not what He had in mind for us. The Seven Days of Creation provide a Hebraic concept of taxonomy, not a scientific explanation. The Hebrew language is inherently symbolic and dramatic, not precise and literal. The whole mental orientation that the precise word choice of Genesis 1&2 is critical is completely outside the ancient Hebrew culture. It's story time children; you cannot possibly understand the real facts -- they can't be put into words -- so we are going to give you enough for you to proceed with what really matters for living as children in the Household of God.

So, to announce to an English audience that the Holy Spirit is somehow the feminine aspect of God is asking for trouble. You can already guess what kind of blasphemous nonsense that will produce. To say the same thing to an ancient Hebrew audience would produce an entirely different reaction. They don't even have the same concept of "feminine". I won't argue that the statement is false; I'll assert that it's improper for a Western audience that doesn't have a solid background in Hebrew thinking.

[Denise]

Thank you Ed for taking that much time and care for my question. The day I came on the article I was just having thinking time about the Holy Spirit and thinking on times I had heard Shekinah. Kind of like a child daydreaming. Surfing internet waters when your a child is iffy business, ha. Not having any one of faith near by it is a gift to have the Father brought Radix Fidem. It is like a prayer/bible study group that is always in session. I am so grateful to You Almighty Abba!

[Ed Hurst]

I join you in giving thanks, falling on my face before the Lord, as offering this kind of guidance is what I live for. It's a privilege beyond words.