Emanations

[RabbiBarry]

Sefer Yetzirah, the First Book of the Kabbalah teaches at Chapter 1, Mishnah 9 that the divine Unity is composed of the Ten Vessels within His Being and that separate from His being they are nothing. The Spirit of the Living G-d, blessed and blessed is the name of He who lives forever. Voice, Spirit, and Speech, this is the Holy Spirit.

We are taught that the Divine Unity withdrew from His center and sent forth One Divine Ray of Light into the Center of the resulting Emptiness and that Ray became Adam Kadmon, the Primieval Adam, whom we call the Archangel fo the Presence.

The Spirit which is Voice, Spirit and Speech Spoke the Word and it Became a Living Spirit. And so we are taught that Spirit came forth from Spirit.

Yeshua, the Son of Mary, died and was resurrected and ascended into the Heavens where he assumed the Spirit of the Archangel and became the Vessel of the Spirit's Residence. He became High Priest and King of the Angelic Hosts. It was for Him and By Him, that is it was for Yeshua and By the Archangel, that the Universe came into being.

Yeshua the man of flesh was born, but Yeshua the Archangel has been since the First Emanation. The Idea of Yeshua was present in Adam Kadmon and when it emanated to become the Ancient of Days, the Idea of Yeshua was also present. Finally, when the First Emanation descended into the world of Formations and became YHVH, the Idea of Yeshua was present to YHVH and when he descended to the world of Being, He was the First Emanation on Earth.

This truth has been taught in secret to Jews since it was recorded in 134 C.E. and was taught before that time by the Nasoreans who held it close to their core.

For Nasoreans, it is only at the Ascension that Yeshua takes on the aspect of YHVH and becomes the Archangel of the Presence. Before that time, he was like us in all things.

Rabbi Barry

[dark_knight]

Jewish tradition indeed is very rich and there is much more sense in there for us as Christian, than in Greek philosophy. Angel Metatron is also an interesting entity.

For my understanding, prior to the Incarnation there was this spirit being, higher than angels (or if you prefer, an Archangel), called Logos. By Logos, God created all the angels and dimensions and worlds.
Logos "emptied himself and toke the form of a servant", thus giving up his spirit "body"(?) and submitting that his personality was going to be born again in a human body. Therefore Jesus was fully, 100% human. There was no Jesus/Yeshua prior to Incarnation, but there was this same personality living in Heaven which became Jesus.

As for Yeshua being YHWH, I believe, only happened when the Holy Spirit descended into Jesus and the Spirit being both impersonal and a matter of a fact, part or "organ" of Yahweh Elohim the Father (whom I believe is also the Ain Sofer) - thus in my Christology there is a very slight Adoptionist aspect in way that God dwelled in Jesus because of His Holy Spirit dwelling in him.

Respectfully,

Henrk

[RabbiBarry]

The Logos and Metatron are essentially the same concept for us. The First Ray created Adam Kadmon. He is the Dabir or Word, Idea, Concept, in its earliest form, without organization or order, but pure Light. As Adam Kadmon descends to Briyah, he becomes the Emanation known as the Ancient of Days. Here the Idea, the Word, the Concept becomes imminent. It takes on the pattern of its formation.

As the Idea, Word, Concept descends to Yetzirah, it becomes Metatron, who is YHVH or Little YHVH in Jewish tradition. He is the Archangel of the Presence, the Creator, the Sustainer, the Destroyer. He is the Angel that can forgive sins in Exodus 23:20. He is the pre-existent Christ or Anointed One. He descends to the world of Assiyah or this Universe where he unites with the Yeshua after his ascension. He is also the Neshamah or Spirit of G-d in Enoch, Melchizedek, Solomon, Yeshua ha Cohen. Thus as taught by the Zohar the seven incarnations of the Archangel are completed in Yeshua ha Meshiach.

Because we believe that humans have three souls: Nephesh, Ruach, and Neshamah-- it is possible for a human to be unique with his own Nephesh and Neshamah and yet part of a larger thing with a shared Ruach.

Rabbi Barry Albin

[dark_knight]

I don't remember ever reading anywhere that same ruach may be shared by different individuals, except perhaps the hint that Yohanan the Baptist came in the "spirit" of Eliyah. Still I have for long time seen that possibility as a reconsiliating truth behind the hypothesis of reincarnation.
God blows ruach to those who born and the ruach returns to Him when they die.
Ruach being to my understanding something similar to Oriental qi/chi/ki.

[RabbiBarry]

What G-d blows at birth is nephesh which means breath? Ruach which means also wind is the portion of man that is intelligent and intellectual. Nephesh dies with the body. After 72 hours, the Nephesh has nothing to sustain it and it dies. Ruach returns to G-d for purification in Gan Eden and then is placed in the Well of Souls until it is used in the next incarnation. Neshamah returns to G-d, having been the Soul that is called by Freud the Super-Ego. It is good and brings us to goodness. Many rabbim say that not everyone has a neshamah. I say all humans do.

[David Kone]

It is very pleasing to see the variety of viewpoints starting to be expressed on this forum. This is what the early church must have been like only much more diverse. It is the sign of the true Catholic Church that the ambiguities of individual opinions are able to be openly discussed. As all good parents provide a secure base for its children to explore and grow a good church allows the individual soul to explore their spiritual heritage. I am too set in my ways to become much more than the simple believer that I have always been and even if I was just starting on this path I would be well advised to find that which is most essential to our faith and make it the centerpiece of my devotion. Where there is confusion the master of lies reigns. I do respect your journey; these things that you believe are meaningful to you but to me they present unnecessary confusion. I have been, as time allows, reading about some of the concepts of these teachings but I have so little time and so much that I would like to know.

We all use different models to help us explain our relationship with our Creator. Like the models we use to explain the physical universe, such as the Bohr atomic model or the particle light theory, they are very useful in some ways and limited in others. Personally I do not have the need to have set beliefs in many areas such as reincarnation or how many souls we have. I do believe that it is our task to understand each other and accommodate such differences as we can. A great temple is built of many types of diverse materials whose common element is that they were chosen by the architect and set aside for holy purposes. Some say that catholic means universal because they have the universal belief. I say it is universal only if it accepts the universe as our Creator made it. As such, I certainly do not know that anyone has perfect understanding of the nature of Heaven and His creations that dwell there. I accept that it is His work and I am not capable of formulating any belief that explains His works that will do more than demonstrate my foolishness.

I do think that it is wise to clarify the meaning of the terms we use so we are not talking past each other. The term spirit for example is one of the most misused words in Christendom. There is indeed the Holy Spirit but there are also all sorts of other uses of the word spirit depicting good, bad and neutral in the bible. With some words we may have difficulty accepting each other’s definitions as they differ from our own usage. The way the term Logos is used by most Christians differs from the way I understand its meaning. To me it is not a person but the will, intention, and power of G-d. If this is not the way you use the term it is not a problem with me as I do not need for anyone to conform to my beliefs. But, it is important that we understand that when each of us use these terms it is in the context of our own definitions.

Is there a difference in the way we pray? I have always prayed to G-d in the name of Jesus. Do you pray to Sefer Yetzirah?

Thank you for the things you have shared with us,
David

[dark_knight]

I agree with most things you said brother.
I have a tendency to 'over-academic' approach to doctrine, and I know there are many spiritual pits in that path. Still it has some constructive use also.
What perhaps guards me little bit, is that the foundation of all my religious beliefs are in the ("protestant canon") Holy Bible. My soul is nurtured by it's pages, and I am eager to learn exegesis and the true meaning of every word there - thus I mean I interpret it with my God-given wits and rational thought.
Still, as there are such a great variety of interpretation it still gives much space for diverse ideas.

We are all parts of the same universe, and same mankind. God (sorry, I'm used to write this with o) loves us all, and offers salvation to everyone regardless of their creed. In some part, though, 'all will have to declare for the glory of Father that Jesus Christ is Master'.

I pray as you do David. I believe we ought to pray like that, but then again, He Who IS, being Omnipresent and Love, He hears all of 'em :)

Bless you on your path.

[RabbiBarry]

I pray to the Archangel Yeshua. He, as the High Priest of Heaven, is the Word of G-d, is the only Being who may Speak to G-d. However, Jewish prayers always begin, Blessed are thou, YHVH, Our G-d, King of the Universe ... For me, that is Yeshua, in his Archangelic Form.

[David Kone]

Thank you both for your feedback. I pray they way I do because it is the way I was taught in my youth by the LDS church. It has always worked for me and it will probably be the way I will continue to pray. I am aware that strictly speaking it is flawed. The head of our church was never in his lifetime called Jesus. More likely he was known as Jashuah or something like that. Also, certainly God was the name of a Germanic sun god. The good news is since so few people are fluent in ancient Hebrew everyone else is also probably getting it wrong. I believe that it is the intent of the heart that is heard not the exactness of our words. The truth is we Christians are thoroughly paganized. I am not ashamed of my heritage, pagan though it may be. Our Lord endowed the pagans of the north as He did people through out the earth with many great gifts in spite of their crude practices and low understanding. I strive to be the best authority on what the Lord requires of me. If you are called to practice differently than the way I do then that is between you and your Maker. Unless, you are living next door to me and you are burning incense to Baal on your roof top, I see no reason to separate from you. I believe the Lord has set us apart in this together, that is why we are having this discussion.
:vbgrin:

[dark_knight]

You and I have much in common bro.David. I'm currently going thru your (http://pastorkone.blogspot.com) and enjoying it.

Finnish word for God, "Jumala", is also a name of pagan deity - what can we do!? He Who Is confused our tongues at the ancient Babel (according to Scripture), so we use whatever terms suite best. As a user of Divine Name, I however prefer nowadays more "Yahweh" (in Finnish Jahve but spelled just like in english) than "Jehovah" (though spellled in Finnish Yehova).

I have joined the arian catholic communion (not yet partaken the Eucharist though) and believe it has much to offer - even though there are points of difference as I stated in my first post here (An Introdution and Enquiry).
It is well said that doctrine doesn't save us, but the Heart.

Couple of sayings that keep me going:

Old Samurai koan: Don't lose Heart!

Something an old Aussie SDA pops told me: "Son, keep the faith!"

My Christadelphian brother Duncan said: "Doctrine divides, but experience unites"

May He Who Was, Is and Will Become whatever He pleases let you all bathe in His ever-radiant Light.

-Henrik

:)