07. Part 3 - 4th Division
Fourth Division
Having penetrated thus far the mystery of the nature of God, and seen what the faith of my fathers had been at that time when the candlestick was burning in all its effulgent glory in the sanctuary, I took up the second Psalm, which speaks of no other than of Metatron, the Son of God. Consider the 7th and 12th verses: "I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My son; this day have I begotten Thee. Kiss the Son lest He be angry and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him."
Thus is yome (this day) used in the second Psalm in the sense of day of eternity, so that He who is here called by God My Son, must be from Eternity.
2. Nathanael is instructed that the Son of God is from eternity, an emanation from God, therefore called Jehovah (Yud Hei Vav Hei).
Regarding the essence of Metatron, "the KEEPER of Israel," who is the same person as He, of whom it is said in the second Psalm, "Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee," I read the following in Tikkune Zohar,
"There is a perfect Man, who is an Angel. This Angel is Metatron, the KEEPER of Israel; He is a man in the image of the Holy One, blessed be He, who is an Emanation from Him (from God); yea, He (the Metatron) is Jehovah; of Him cannot be said, He is created, formed or made; but He is the Emanation from God. This agrees exactly with what is written, Jeremiah 23:5-6, of David’s Branch, that though He shall be a perfect man, yet He is "The Lord our Righteousness."
* Jeremiah 23:5-6, "Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS."
3. The Son of God, the Fountain of Light, Begotten from Eternity. In the seventh verse of the second Psalm, it is written, "I have begotten Thee." It is beyond the limits of human understanding to comprehend the mystery contained in these words, "I have begotten Thee," nevertheless, some light has been thrown upon it by one of my chosen teachers, R. Simeon ben Jochai, in his book Zohar (Gen., p. 16, versa), which I will faithfully transcribe and divide into verses:
1. And God said Let there be light, and there was light (Genesis 1:3).
2. Here is the beginning of finding treasures (of hidden wisdom), how the world was created in its particular parts.
3. Till now (namely, till He said, Let there be light), was the creation standing before Him as a whole;* but after He said "Let there be light," the creation in its whole underwent a change, and we hear of its particular and general parts.
* The meaning is, that the creation came first forth as a chaos, and afterwards the separate parts were formed through the words, Let be.
4. Till now, that He said "Let there be light," was the universe suspended in the air, through the secret (power) of Him, who is without beginning and end.
5. As soon as the secret One in Elohim (God) made Himself known in the exalted temple above, the word "God said," was heard (lit. written), though at first it was not heard, whilst the particular parts of the creation were not yet in existence; yet the sentence "in the beginning God created heaven and earth" is a perfect one, though the word "He said," is not expressed.
6. This word "He said" (ויאמר) is a sentence which implies a question, to know who that light is?
7. Who is this Light? The power (the Person) which has taken in a secret (lit. hidden) manner the abundant gifts, out of the secret thoughts of Him, who is without end (God).*
* According to the footn-note of the Amsterdam Edition, "From thence the beginning of the heave offerings, tithes, and the abundant gifts from heaven."
8. "He said," now begat He in this Temple which He had conceived of the holy seed, and begat it in secret: He, who is begotten is publicly* proclaimed by Him, who has begotten Him in secret,** though how His emanation was, is nowhere heard of; whereas, of every other thing which cometh forth, a voice is produced, which is heard openly.
* Lit., without; hence publicly, openly.
** Lit., in silence, secret, incomprehensible.
9. "Let there be light." Everything which has come forth, has come forth through this secretly begotten One.
R. Simeon ben Jochai here tells us, how everything which is light, has come forth from one point in the Godhead. By one point in the Godhead, he means One of the Three, which though Three, are only One. This point (נקודה) is the fountain of light remaining in Him who is without end (Ain Sof), because He is without beginning; and he adds:
Therefore all light is united, one with the other giving light here and there. This light penetrates all degrees, from the lowest degree of natural, to the highest degree of spiritual light, and all that is light is united in Him, who is LIGHT.*
* John 8:12, "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life";
John 12:35-36; John 12:46, "Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them...I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness."
He saith on the same page:
Let there be Light. This light is the great God*.....And God saw the Light, that it was good. This Light is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead.**
* Bechai makes a remarkable observation (p. 4., versa, Colossians 2:1-23), And God said, "Let there be light," to indicate the coming (lit., days) of the Messiah, of whom it is said: Arise, shine, for Thy Light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen in Thee (Isaiah 60:1). Also Bechai calls the Messiah Light.
** A second Light like in all things to Himself (Philo, as quoted by Eusebius, Demonstr. lib. iv., cap. iii). That the Middle Pillar in the Godhead is the Son of God, begotten from the Father from eternity, R. Simeon ben Jochai teaches not only in this passage, but in many other places in his valuable works. To quote but one. Speaking on Proverbs 27:10, he says (Zohar, vol. ii., p. 115, versa):
"Better is a neighbour that is near, than a brother far off. This neighbour is the Middle Pillar in the Godhead, which is the Son of God." The chambers of light into which the WORD of God led me respecting this interesting subject, are so numerous, that the space of these pages will not permit me to open more of them to my readers; to conclude, I shall just communicate to them, what I saw in the last one of these chambers.
Pondering over Proverbs 8:14, "I am Understanding—I have strength," I had not a shadow of doubt, that Understanding means here the same self-existing Understanding as the self-existing Wisdom, the Son of God, speaking in this chapter, which truth R. Simeon ben Jochai corroborates (Zohar, vol. iii., p. 290): Who is the Understanding? (Proverbs 8:14). When Yod (Jehovah) is united with Yod (Jehovah), a son is born, and therefore Understanding (בינה) is called the Son of God (בֶּן יָהּ).
4. My Ancestors’ triumphing faith in the Son of God.
Having been led by my teachers to a knowledge of the mystery of the 7th verse of the second Psalm, I sought earnestly their instructions as to the right meaning of the 12th verse, "Kiss the Son, lest He be angry," &c.
Observation. That bar does not signify in this place, purity and virtue, as the more modern writers render it, is plain enough from the second and third members of the verse: "Lest He be angry," and "Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him"; or as Jonathan paraphrases it, "Blessed are all who trust in the Memra" (the WORD). Moreover we know that in the more poetical parts of the inspired writings, the ancient Chaldee words and forms are used: thus bar for ben (a son) is used not only in this Psalm, but also in Proverbs 31:2, "What, my son? and what, the son of my womb? the son of my vows?"
We find that Aben Ezra expounds the passage with the following words:
"Serve the Lord (v 11) refers to Jehovah; and Kiss the Son refers to the Messiah; and the signification son (bar), is as we find it (Proverbs 31:2), What, my son," &c.
I went to one of our oldest teachers, who, as I said in my introduction, lived above seventeen hundred years ago, to be taught how to interpret these words "Kiss the Son," and my soul drank of the pure and refreshing water of Divine knowledge. Before transcribing his solemn words of triumphing faith, I must remark that our ancient teachers, who care called "The Cabbalistical School," undoubtedly preserved the pure doctrine of the blessed Godhead. When, however, they imparted knowledge to their initiated pupils, they frequently made use of allegorical expressions, and sometimes of certain calculations from the numbers represented by the letters which a word contained. In this manner, they hid their mysteries from the uninitiated until they were properly prepared to receive them.
Thus in Zohar (vol. iii., p. 307, versa, Amsterdam Edition),
I found the following instruction respecting the words "Kiss the Son." Rabbi Simeon ben Jochai proves from Isaiah 19:1, that Jehovah spoken of there as riding upon a swift cloud to execute judgment upon Egypt, is no other than "the Son of God" spoken of in the second Psalm, verse 12, "Kiss the Son." These are his words of triumphing faith:
1. Thou art the faithful Shepherd.
2. Concerning Thee it is said (Psalms 2:12), "Kiss the Son."
3. Thou art the mighty One of the earth, the Lord of Israel.
4. The Lord of the serving Angels, the Son of the Highest, the Son of the Holy One, blessed be He, yea, the Shechinah.
5. "It is said with reference to David, (2 Samuel 12:13) The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die." Through the Redeemer from destruction, was David reconciled to God.
5. R. Simeon ben Jochai’s prayer and exhortation. The Prayer.
"R. Simeon arose with all his companions and said: O faithful Shepherd, Lord of all the prophets! arise and awake from Thy sleep; for Thou art to all the prophets as the sun." (Tikkune Zohar, cap. xviii., p. 65, Amsterdam Edition) The Exhortation.
"God said, Faithful Shepherd! verily Thou art my Son, yea, the Shechinah; ye mighty and ye Angels! Kiss the Son (Psalms 2:12). All of ye arise and kiss Him, and receive Him as your Lord and King." (Zohar, vol. iii., p. 281, versa, Amsterdam Edition)