System of Agency

Agency
Romans Intermediaries (Class Audio October 26th 2019)

Judaism sees G-d as the only and ultimate power. However, this in and of itself creates great difficulties when trying to understand G-d.

B’resheet 15:5 And He took him outside, and He said, “Please look heavenward and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So will be your seed.”

Rashi’s comments on B’resheet 15:5 below …

 5 And He took him outside According to its simple meaning: He took him out of his tent, outdoors, to see the stars. But according to its midrashic interpretation, He said to him, “Go out of your astrology,” for you have seen in the signs of the zodiac that you are not destined to have a son. Indeed, Abram will have no son, but Abraham will have a son. Similarly, Sarai will not give birth, but Sarah will give birth. I will give you another name, and your destiny will change (Ned. 32a, Gen. Rabbah 44:10). Another explanation: He took him out of the terrestrial sphere and lifted him above the stars. This explains the expression of הבטה, looking down from above (Gen. Rabbah 44:12).

Here we learn that the Jewish do not need intermediaries, per se. They have direct access to G-d. Yet they have and will have an intermediary in Messiah during the days of Messiah (Y’mot HaMashiach).

The Agent of Messiah

B’resheet 1.1 begins with “In the beginning G-d.” “G-d” in this passage is “Elohim.” Thus, with the disorder that has ensued, “Elohim,” the creator must restore what was lost in the defection of the spheres of light. Elohim is the creator; thus, he must also restore what has been lost or broken. Herein we see that the first act of tikun was the “Ruach Elohim” filling the darkness with His presence. He restores the waters to correct temperature for the sustenance of life. Because G-d is Elohim and the Ruach Elohim is Messiah we can surmise …

Firstly, that the Ruach Elohim is an agent of Elohim the G-d of strict Justice or the G-d of strict Law, i.e. the Oral Torah and the Written Torah as well.

Secondly, we could intimate that the Ruach Elohim is the breath of Elohim the creator. Thus, the Ruach Elohim is at minimum the agent of Elohim or he is possibly the work, breathing of Elohim. Therefore, it is possible to see Messiah as the agent of Elohim the Creator who is the agent of HaShem. This gives a bit of a different picture of Messiah than is normally seen. Messiah is usually seen as the mediator of chesed. However, this picture shows that Messiah is the G-d of strict justice, the G-d of strict Law. If this allegory does not suffice, we must not believe that there is any other G-d (HaShem) than G-d! This idea necessitates a great deal more discussion.

Midrash Rabbah B’resheet II.4. R. Simeon b. Lakish applied the passage to the [foreign] Powers. NOW THE EARTH WAS TOHU (E.V. ‘UNFORMED’) symbolizes Babylonia: I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was tohu-E.V. ‘waste’ (Jer. IV, 23)2; AND BOHU (E.V. ‘VOID’) symbolizes Media: They hastened (wa-yabhillu) to bring Haman (Est. VI, 14).3 AND DARKNESS symbolizes Greece, which darkened the eyes of Israel with its decrees, ordering Israel, ‘Write on the horn of an ox that ye have no portion in the God of Israel.’⁴ UPON THE FACE OF THE DEEP-this wicked State⁵:just as the great deep cannot be plumbed, so one cannot plumb [the depths of iniquity of] this wicked State. AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD HOVERED: this alludes to the spirit of Messiah, as you read, And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him (Isa. XI, 2). In the merit of what will [this spirit] eventually come? [For the sake of that which] HOVERED OVER THE FACE OF THE WATERS, i.e. in the merit of repentance, which is likened to water, as it is written, Pour out thy heart like water (Lam. II, 19). R. Haggai said in the name of R. Pedath: A covenant was made with water⁶ that even in the hot season a breeze stirs over it.⁷

For the opinion of Rabbi Elazar, there is the verse, [Genesis 1:24]: “Let the earth bring forth the living soul (nefesh chaya) to its kind.” “Living soul” – that’s the spirit of the first man. Said Reish Lakish: “Behind” – that’s the last day. “Before” – that’s the first day. For the opinion of Reish Lakish, there is the verse: [Genesis 1:2] “And the spirit of God wavered upon the water” – that is the spirit of the king messiah. If man merits, we say to him: “You were created before all of creation.” If not, we say to him, “The mosquito preceded you.” Said Rabbi Yishmale b’Rabbi Tanchum: “Behind” on all creation, “before” (first) in all punishments. Said Rabbi Yochanan: Even man’s praise only comes last, as it says [Psalms 148:110]: “Beasts and all cattle creeping things and flying fowl”. And afterwards, [Psalms 148:11]: “Kings of the earth and all peoples.” Said Rabbi Simlai: “Just like man’s formation was after beast, cattle, and bird, so too his laws are after beast, cattle, and bird, and that’s what is written, “This is the law of cattle” [Leviticus 11:46], and afterwards, “A woman when she gives seed…”

Or HaChaim on Exodus Chapter 19:5 Another meaning of the Israelites being a סגולה for G’d more than all the other nations is that they alone serve G’d directly, whereas all the other nations who serve pagan deities such as the sun or the moon, etc., nonetheless serve G’d indirectly, not being aware that all these so-called deities are merely agents of the Lord. This concept is mentioned specifically in Deut. 4,19 where the Torah speaks of G’d “assigning” such agents as the sun and the stars to the other nations for them to serve them [at least as partners of G’d, Ed.].

Why the Agent of Messiah?

This text and these Midrashim certainly show that there has to be a Messianic hope that transcends the mundane world, a “Spirit” or “Soul” of Messiah subordinate or agent to Elohim (G-d).

Zohar 1:2a When HaShem wanted to reveal Himself, something that is impossible for the infinite to do for the finite without first making a finite representation of Himself, He transmuted the principal thought of Messiah.

He first produced a single point (Hokhmah) that single point was the thought of Messiah, by which He created the whole cosmos.

Col. 1:15 – 17
¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

Sons of Light – The Prophets

…R. Hiya and R. Hizkiah were once sitting underneath a tree in the field of Ono. R. Hiya fell into a slumber and beheld Elijah. He said to him: The whole field is illumined with your presence.

The whole field is illumined with your presence means that the light was the primordial light. We can also say that some of the Prophets are messengers of light. Thus, some of them fill the space where the fallen spirits were occupied. In this we are certain that they are a part of the Message of Messiah.

1. Berakhot 34b And R. Hiyya bar Abba said R. Yohanan said, “All of the prophets prophesied only concerning the days of the Messiah, but as to the world that will come [thereafter], ‘Eye has not seen, God, beside you.’ ”

It would not be possible for a Prophet to prophecy anything that did not relate to Messiah.

Augustine notes that even Gentile Prophets prophesied of the Master’s coming. See B’midbar (Numbers) 22-24.