Introduction:
Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition is customarily believed to have arisen during the twelfth century C.E., but in fact disciplined meditation on the Throne of G-d reaches far back into the prophetic period. As we explore the depths of Kaballah we will learn of the” Secret Doctrine of the Son,” which with some variations is roughly the Christian Doctrine of the Trinity. This priestly doctrine was carried forth within the tradition of Kabbalah and exists in the Hasidic tradition today. The mystical tradition was clearly evident in the second temple period reposing in the hands of the Priestly caste as I previously taught you. However, we will see in that it is evident even in Israel’s prophetic period for we will examine Ezekiel a prophet/ priest whose vision may be the foundation for all subsequent traditions.
The first written reference to Kabbalah is found in the Talmud written in the fifth century to refer to the private instruction rabbis gave to their disciples. The term derives from the word qabal, meaning, “to grasp.” Kabbalah on the other hand means” tradition.” The Mishnah[1] denotes a rabbi’s public teaching, which a disciple learns in order to pass it on while kabbalah was taught to only a selected few on a one to one basis and was not for general dissemination.
It might be instructive to note the rabbi’s qualifications for teaching a prospective student Kabalistic art of hitbodedut, or meditation. This is a thirteenth-century aggadah (story). The prospective student was asked, “Are you in a condition of perfect equilibrium?” The prospective student who had prayed religiously and practiced good deeds replied, “I think so.” The rabbi asked, “When someone insults you, do you feel injured? When you receive praise, does you heart expand with pleasure?” The perspective student thought for a moment and replied sheepishly: “Yes, I suppose I do feel hurt when insulated and proud when praised.” The rabbi then replied, “Go out and practice detachment from worldly pain and pleasure for a few more years. Then come back and I will teach you how to meditate.”
The moral here is that to receive the teachings of Kabbalah one must first be prepared. This student did not go off and live as a hermit as some might suppose to achieve the degree of self-nullification needed to benefit from Kabbalah because traditional Judaism was and is all that is needed to guide one toward egolessness. The prayer over the morning meal reminds him or her of the divine ground upon which his/her sustenance rests. We can lose our feeling of self-importance in observing the miracles found in ordinary acts like, breathing, eating, sleeping, or in earning our livelihood. If we focus our minds properly in the middle of daily mundane matters we can prepare ourselves for enlightenment by climbing a spiritual ladder that although anchored in the earth will eventually lead to G-d’s throne itself in this time and now. This is the state where we actually experience a state of “Awe” in the presence of the Almighty. Awe will eventually turn to love and love to cleaving. Deuteronomy informs us that we are to Love the Lord thy G-d…hearken to His voice, and…cleave unto Him; for that is thy life and the length of thy days. These passages have been taken literally by Jewish mystics from biblical times onward. From this perspective much of the Bible can be read as an instructive manual that guides us through withdrawal from sensory attachments (Ecclesiastes); that confronts the heights and valley of spiritual struggles (Psalms); and depicts the union of the soul with its creator (songs of Songs).
Now this does not allow for the mystic to isolate himself from his fellows because for the Jew, community and religious observance is one as taught in the Torah. This concept is reinforced by the divine revelation at Sinai and by Yahshua that appeared not to one man but to a community numbering innumerable souls.
The mystical tradition was practiced in secret until the 18th century when it emerged as European Hasidim. Within the Hasidic movement the mystical tradition known as kabbalah, which all mystical tradition falls within has remained communal. Persecution has imbued it with hopes for the messianic redemption, preparing a whole segment of the Jewish populace for the return of Yahshua. The emphasis on mystical practice is for each soul to concentrate on G-d in each of his everyday daily acts, with each breath, but yet he must come down form this “high place” and live among people as well. By cleaving (yoking) himself to G-d he/she develops a power of love so great that he brings G-dly influx into the daily lives of an imperfect world of men.
Kabbalah is intimately rooted in Torah and without understanding its foundation, Torah; it would be like trying to fly without wings.
Ezekiel:
When we examine Ezekiel we have almost the entire structure of the Kabbalistic system.
Ezek 1:2 In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin’s captivity,
Ezek 1:3 The word of the LORD came expressly unto Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans by the river Chebar; and the hand of the LORD was there upon him.
Ezek 1:4 And I looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
Ezek 1:5 Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.
Ezek 1:6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.
Ezek 1:7 And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot: and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.
Ezek 1:8 And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.
Ezek 1:9 Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; they went every one straight forward.
Ezek 1:10 As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side: and they four had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.
Ezek 1:11 Thus were their faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two wings of every one were joined one to another, and two covered their bodies.
Ezek 1:12 And they went every one straight forward: whither the spirit was to go, they went; and they turned not when they went.
Ezek 1:13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.
Ezek 1:14 And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.
Ezek 1:15 Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.
Ezek 1:16 The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.
Ezek 1:17 When they went, they went upon their four sides: and they turned not when they went.
Ezek 1:18 As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.
Ezek 1:19 And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them: and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.
Ezek 1:20 Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
Ezek 1:21 When those went, these went; and when those stood, these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.
Ezek 1:22 And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above.
Ezek 1:23 And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other: every one had two, which covered on this side, and every one had two, which covered on that side, their bodies.
Ezek 1:24 And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host: when they stood, they let down their wings.
Ezek 1:25 And there was a voice from the firmament that was over their heads, when they stood, and had let down their wings.
Ezek 1:26 And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.
Ezek 1:27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.
Ezek 1:28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.
Ezek 2:1 And he said unto me, Son of man, stand upon thy feet, and I will speak unto thee.
Ezek. 8:1 And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of the Lord G-d fell there upon me. 2. Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber.
This vision stated here in Chapter 8 is like the vision in Chapter 1:27. In order to understand the vision we need to compare the visions.
Ezek 1:27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.
The foregoing is generally known as Ezekiel’s Chariot but in Judaism or Kabbalah it is known as Maaseh Merkavah. The “Workings of the Chariot.” Ezekiel is a key to the entire prophetic method. In the next lessons we are going to analyze Ezekiel’s vision through the Hebrew and from the Sages point of view to get an understanding.
[1] Rabbi Judah Ha Nasi between 200-220 C.E. codified Jewish Law (Oral Tradition) into a manageable handbook called the Mishnah