The pages of Scripture are filled with violent stories that make modern readers very uncomfortable. One such story is the ultimate destruction of Ninevah celebrated by the prophet Nahum. Yes, that Ninevah. We've all heard the glamorized story of Jonah who was eaten by a fish in rebellion to God's command to warn Ninevah of their impending doom. The book itself has a much sadder ending then the Sunday school version, but even more-so when you take their ultimate demise into account and the joy Israelites like Nahum took in it. How do we reconcile these kinds of writings alongside our more beloved examples of God's mercy and grace?

In Greek and Hebrew the Holy Spirit is described using feminine language. It brings balance to our predominantly male language referring to God which doesn’t properly reflect the gender neutral nature of God, the fact that both male and female are made in God’s image, and the diversity of the people of God. Women have little to no connection to Godly femininity because in English we avoid feminine language surrounding God, even though the ancient scriptures did not. It was more rare, but that can easily be explained considering that the Scriptures were written in, by and for ancient Patriarchal societies. Their way of relating to authority was through male imagery. In light of this, it’s actually more surprising that God is described using feminine language in the Scriptures at all. Perhaps, something we should take more note of. Nazarene pastor and author Tara Beth says, “While a nurturing mother is the furthest thing from our minds when we think of ‘leader’, Scripture is full of rich imagery describing God with maternal and nurturing traits.” She goes on to say, “While culture might paint maternal traits as something to be removed from leadership, Scripture flips this upside down and shows them as a strength.” (Leach 6, 8). There’s nothing strange or shameful about using female language to describe God. Scripture does it, so we can do it.