Sunday, May 3, 2015

The Messianic Consciousness in Jewish Prophecy (CVII) Isaiah

“Did You not rend the heavens? You did come down, from Your Presence did mountains flow. (As fire kindles stubble, fire causes water to boil) To make known Your Name to Your adversaries, from Your Presence do nations tremble.” (Isaiah 64:1-2)

The Prophet once again proclaims God's dominion over His Creation in these verses that evoke the times of the Exodus from Egypt. These are the introduction for us to assimilate that God's Redemption is imminent, as evident as His power.

Here we reflect on the metaphors indicating that God not only creates but also sustains what He creates. As fire's power to transform stubble into ashes and water into steam, God's will fulfill His promise to transform the negative trends and traits in consciousness (His “adversaries” and the “nations”) into the positive qualities that will rule all aspects and dimensions of life in the Messianic era.

“In Your doing fearful things we expect not. You did come down, from Your presence did mountains flow. Even from antiquity men have not heard, they have not given ear. Eye has not seen God saves you (Israel). He does work for those waiting for Him.” (64:3-4)

The Prophet states something that most believers fear from the Creator, and it is destruction. It is not an unfunded fear, considering the Torah's narrative on the Flood, the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the plagues in Egypt among others. What they do not consider are the moral and ethical reasons behind such episodes.

They also may argue that in similar or worse conditions in human history, the “hand of God” has been apparently absent. We have referred to this in other commentaries in this blog, saying that God's Creation is, has been and will be good, and the choices and the negative deeds we allow have consequences. Therefore, before pointing out to God or blaming Him for the negative happenings in this world, we first must examine what we have made of it.

Once we assimilate in the possible deepest level that “wickedness causes the death of the wicked” (Psalms 34:21), we will understand what the Torah means by divine destruction. Let's focus in what Isaiah wants to point out by saying that we don't expect “fearful things” in God's “doing”.

The Prophet mentions God's power to put His Creation in movement through His Love, and since ancient times humankind rather ignore it. This includes God's salvation of Israel as it happened in Egypt. Isaiah evokes God's Love as the source and sustenance of His Creation as the premise to “wait for Him”. Earlier the Prophet also states God's power to redeem Israel in the end of times.

“You [Israel] have met with the Rejoicer and the Doer of righteousness. In Your ways they remember You. Lo, You have been wroth when we sin, by them is continuance, and we are redeemed.” (64:5)

The Prophet recalls Israel's encounter with the Creator after the Exodus from Egypt, which we are commanded by Him to remember daily and never forget. Then he speaks in first person plural as the people of Israel, while mentioning the “continuance of them” in a possible reference to the nations or those among Israel who persist in sinning.

We can infer from this verse that sin implies a learning process by which we end up pursuing our redemption from it. In this sense the redemption from sin is our redemption from evil and its negative traits and trends in consciousness.

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From the Book's Foreword

Let's reexamine our ancestral memory, intellect, feelings, emotions and passions. Let's wake them up to our true Essence. Let us engage in the delightful awareness of Love as the Essence of G-d. The way this book is written is to reaffirm and reiterate its purpose, so it presents its message and content in a recurrent way. This is exactly its purpose, to restate the same Truth originally proclaimed by our Holy Scriptures, Prophets and Sages. Our purpose is to firmly enthrone G-d's Love in all dimensions of our consciousness, and by doing it we will fulfill His Promise that He may dwell with us on Earth forever. Let's discover together the hidden message of our ancient Scriptures and Sages. In that journey, let's realize Love as our Divine Essence, what we call in this book the revealed Light of Redemption in the Messianic era.