Monday, November 28, 2016

The Song of Songs: The Love Story of God and Israel (XV)

“Go forth and gaze, you daughters of Zion, on king Solomon with the crown that his mother crowned him in his wedding day, and in the day of his heart's joy.” (3:11)

Israel's love for God compels her to summon her highest positive qualities (the daughters of Zion) in the King whom peace belongs. We look forward to God's love as our true essence and identity, for His love is the crown of His motivation (in this case the “mother”) to make possible His entire creation.

God's love becomes manifest in His creation as His crown, by which we learn of His dominion over all that exists. Thus we also realize that our love and God's love are bound since the day He revealed Himself to us in His giving of the Torah. This is the day of His wedding that makes His heart joyful. In that day God saw Israel's love for Him as an eternal destiny full of joy and endless delight.

“You are beautiful, My love, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves from behind your veil. Your hair is like a flock of goats shinning forth from mount Gilead. Your teeth are like a flock well counted, that have come up from washing. All of which are perfect and there is no blemish in them. Like a thread of scarlet are your lips, and your speech is comely. Like a slice of pomegranate are your temples from behind your veil. Like the tower of David is your neck built for an armory, a thousand shields are hung upon it, all quivers of the mighty. Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle that fed among the roses. Until the day breaks forth and the shadows have fled away, I will get Me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.” (4:1-6)

The first six verses of this chapter, and most in the Song of Songs are an exultation and praise of the bond of Israel's love and God's love. As we have mentioned many times, this bond is symbolized by the Temple of Jerusalem.

Beauty, love, more beauty, doves, veil and hair refer here to the decorations of the Tabernacle and its inner chamber. Goats and sheep that shine while descending from a mount are the offerings Israel elevates to the Creator. These animals represent the positive vital qualities that follow as a flock the voice and staff of the Shepherd of Israel.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not lack (...)”, “Know that the Lord He is God. Is He who made us, we are His, His people, and the flock of His pasture (...)” (Psalms 23:1, 100:3)

Thus we realize that the offerings brought to the Temple indeed represent our readiness and willingness to elevate the best in us up to God. They also reflect our good will, gratitude and peace we enjoy in our closeness to His love. These traits are fundamental qualities of humbleness as the premise to come before our Creator.

We can compare humbleness to nothingness, as emptiness from anything contrary to goodness. Certainly nothingness is a complex concept to grasp and, depending on what we understand, there are several ways to learn from it. Another way to understand nothingness is as absence or non-existence, in the same way that black is the absence of color. Likewise nothingness, in spite of itself, is still considered “something” named nothingness as a conceptual reference to define quality, quantity or value. Due to its lack of value, quality or purpose, nothingness factually doesn't exist.

In the context of God's creation from nothingness to something which is and has a function and purpose, we may understand nothingness as an unfathomable abstraction that only God knows, for everything comes from Him including the non-factual existence of nothingness. Thus we realize that “all that is” has a purpose for the reason that it comes from the goodness of God's love (see above, Psalms 136:1, 33:5).

Our sages suggest that one who desires to live and conduct himself in God's ways must “nullify” (empty himself) from what is not Godlike. As we have remarked often, every aspect, level and dimension of consciousness are vessels we must keep void of anything different than God's ways and attributes.

This precondition refers to removing ego's materialistic illusions and their negative tendencies in order to fill the vessels with traits and qualities of the goodness God wants us to be, have and manifest, and make it prevail in the world. God created these vessels to complement each other and expressing themselves as a functional harmonic unity, in consonance with the oneness of God's love. Thus we become united in God. 

The Tabernacle and the Temple of Jerusalem are compared to a graceful woman adorned with the beauty of her goodness, manifest in Israel's identity. Goodness is the expression of Israel's love and God's love as the “twin” complementary nature of God's ways and attributes, and Israel's purpose and mission in the world.

The “voice” of God as His love comes as sweet and beautiful as His commandments, similar to the seeds in a pomegranate, coming from the inner chamber of the Temple. Their inherent goodness is also the protective shield of a tower of strength that nurtures and sustains the positive expressions in life. The duality as “twin” mentioned in these verses represent God's will and Israel's purpose as two breasts, two fawns, two gazelles grazing in the encompassing ways and attributes of God's love for Israel, His espouse.

In this union God reveals the promise of His final redemption, eternal as an endless day that breaks forth forever without darkness, for shadows fled away. In this awareness, Israel enters the unity and oneness of God's love in the Tabernacle, the Temple in the mountain where she brings herself as an offering to Him.

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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.