THE SHEKINAH - PART 2
NEW JERUSALEM, MESSIAH, THE WEDDING FEAST
(Last updated 12/7/00)

As noted earlier, the mystical teachings introduced in this section will be developed in detail in Section V of our Revelation background articles.

THE SHEKINAH AND NEW JERUSALEM

The following verse shows a multiplicity of ideas that closely mirror themes from the book of Revelation. This verse would "feel quite comfortable" if it were placed within the latter:

Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 10a - Then the lower He' (Shekinah) shall be filled from the upper spring (the highest Sephiroth), and be crowned and radiate in perfection until the Sabbath of the Lord arrives to gather souls in the joy of holiness throughout this whole seventh millennium. Then the holy spirits of the people of Israel at the fulness of time will be invested with new, holy bodies, and be called "Saints": "And it shall come to pass that he that is left in Zion and that remaineth in Jerusalem shall be called holy" (Isa. III, 4). These are the veiled mysteries.’

The term "Sephiroth" (above) is an emanation or characteristic of God and will be explained fully in a later section. The book of Revelation shows "New Jerusalem" to come from the heavens, with the glory of God (the Shekinah) and all the Lamb (the Messiah) unified to provide its "light.":

Revelation 21:9-10 - And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God ...

Revelation 21:22-23 - And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.

The following Zohar section agrees with Revelation that the heavenly Jerusalem will decend at the end of the 1000-year Sabbath. This Heavenly Jerusalem is directly tied to the Shekinah, and is the "gate" for entry into God's presence:

Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 51a - For thus said R. Simeon: "The Holy One prepared for Himself a holy Palace, a supernal Palace, a holy City, a supernal City, which is called ‘Jerusalem, the holy city’. He who wishes to see the King, must enter through this holy City and thence take his way to the King: ‘this is the gate of the Lord into which the righteous shall enter’ (Ps. CXVIII, 20)." Every message which the King wishes to send out is sent through the Matrona, and, conversely, every message sent from the lower spheres to the King must first reach the Matrona, and from her it goes to the King. Thus the Matrona is the messenger between the upper regions and the lower. For this reason she is called "the angel (messenger) of God".

In the Amsterdam Edition of the Zohar, the same position and function of "messenger of God" is given to Metatron:

Amsterdam Edition Zohar, Exodus, Vol. ii; Page 51 - "To keep the way of the tree of life." (Gen. 3:24) Who is the way to the tree of life? It is the great Metatron, for he is the way to that great tree, to that mighty tree of life. Thus it is written, "The Angel of G-d, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them." (Ex. 14:19) And Metatron is called the Angel of G-d. Come and see, thus says R. Simeon. The holy One, blessed Be He, has prepared for Himself a holy Temple above in the heavens, a holy city, a city in the heavens, and called it Jerusalem, the holy city. Every petition sent to the King, must be through Metatron. Every message and petition from here below, must first go to Metatron, and from thence to the king. Metatron is the Mediator of all that comes from heaven down to the earth, or from the earth up to heaven. And because he is the mediator of all, it is written "And the Angel of G-d, which went before the camp of Israel, removed; that is, before Israel which is above." (Ex. 14:19) This Angel of G-d is the same of whom it is written "And YHWH went before them…" (Ex. 13:21) to go by day and by night as the ancients have expounded it. Whoever will speak to me [says G-d] shall not be able to do so, till he has made it known to Metatron. thus the holy One, blessed be He, on account of the great love to and mercy with which He has over the Assembly of Israel, commits her (the Assembly) to Metatron's care. What shall I do for Him (Metatron)? I will commit my Whole house into His hand, etc. Henceforth be you a Keeper As it is written "The Keeper of Israel" (Ps. 121:4)

THE SHEKINAH'S UNITY WITH THE MESSIAH

Both the Zohar (above) and Revelation (22:14) state that the only righteous will pass through the gates of New Jerusalem to spend eternity with God. We know also from Scripture, that the path to the Father goes through Yeshua. Hence, an immediate parallel can be drawn between "New Jerusalem" and Yeshua.

A mystical connection between the Shekinah and Messiah may be found in another section of the Zohar. Here we see an allusion to the number forty-two, which (as previously discussed) is associated with Yeshua Himself in chapter one of Matthew's Gospel:

Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 5a - Blessed are the souls of the righteous who perceive it! "There is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great and thy Name is great. Who would not be in awe of thee, thou king of the nations?" (Jer. x, 6-7). Said R. Simeon: ‘When the Shekinah went down to Egypt, a celestial "living being" (Hayah, cf.Ezek. 1, 5), called "Israel", in form like the patriarch Jacob, went down with Her, accompanied by forty- two heavenly attendants, each of whom bore a letter belonging to the Holy Name. ... When R. Isaac was once studying with R. Eleazar, the son of R. Simeon, he asked him: ‘Did the Shekinah go down to Egypt with Jacob?’ Said R. Eleazar: ‘Surely! Did not God say to Jacob, "I will go down with thee into Egypt" (Gen. XLVI, 4)?’

The book of Ezekiel also connects the glory of God (the Shekinah) with the Messiah who comes via the eastern gate of the Temple. Ezekiel also links this vision to the Chariot vision he had by the river Chebar (Ezekiel chapters 1 and 10):

Ezekiel 43:1-4 - Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east.

Returning to the Soncino Appendix commentary from the beginning of this section:

"The Shekinah originally rested on the Tabernacle and Temple, but even now it accompanies the wise, especially when three study together."

This same idea is found in the Mishna:

Avot 3 - If two sit together and occupy themselves with the words of the Torah, the Shekinah abides in their midst.

The above sounds very much like the words of Yeshua, who was of course, the Torah in the flesh:

Matthew 18:20 - For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Obviously, Yeshua in the flesh is not in our midst, so then who is, but the Shekinah? Looking into the "future," the Shekinah and Messiah both are seen as coming from Edom and exacting justice:

Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 52a - And in the future all of them shall be delivered up, as it says: "Who is this that cometh from Edom...?" (Isa. LXIII, 1). And this indeed is the significance of the words: "And he went behind them"- that the Shekinah will uproot them all at the end of days.’

Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 238a - HE HATH WASHED HIS GARMENT IN WINE . With this may be compared the verse: “Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah?” (IS. LXIII, 1); and also: “I have trodden the winepress alone, etc.” (Ibid. 3). “Wine” here alludes to the side of Geburah, of stern justice which will be visited on the idolatrous nations. AND HIS VESTURE IN THE BLOOD OF GRAPE . This is the lower-world tree, the judgement court which is called “grapes”, in which the “wine” is kept. Thus the Messiah will be clothed in both to crush beneath him all the idolatrous peoples and kings.

Both the Messiah and Shekinah are seen in a single section of the Zohar, as the "Lion of Judah," taking vengeance in the end of days. This interesting verse also indicates two distinct roles for one Messiah, (as opposed to the traditional "two-Messiah" theory often used to explain "conflicting" verses about Him.) Once again, Metatron is also directly linked to the Messiah:

Soncino Zohar, Bereshith, Section 1, Page 237b - SHALL BOW DOWN BEFORE THEE . They only, but not other peoples, who will only bow down at the time of the Messiah. But here the expression only indicates Israel, all of whom would bow down to the Exilarch in Babylon, but not other peoples. JUDAH lS A LlON'S WHELP : first he will be a whelp, and then a lion, corresponding to the transition from “lad” [tr.note: i.e. Metatron.] to “man”, as it is written: “The Lord is a man of war” (Ex. xv, 3). FROM THE PREY, MY SON, THOU ART GONE UP The word “prey” includes the angel of death, who preys upon mankind. From that prey the Shekinah shook itself free. It “stooped down” in the captivity of Babylon, it “couched” in the captivity of Edom, “as a lion” which is strong and as a “lioness” which is stronger. So Israel are strong, because though the Gentiles entice and oppress them, they adhere to their laws and their customs like a lion and a lioness. So, too, the Shekinah, which, although it is fallen, remains strong like a lion and a lioness. For just as these crouch only to spring upon their prey, which they smell from afar, so the Shekinah only crouches to take vengeance on idolaters and to spring upon them. WHO SHALL ROUSE HIM UP . He will not rise to take any petty vengeance. The word “who” (Mi) here indicates the supernal world, which has dominion over all; it is similarly used in the verse “From the womb of whom (Mi) came the ice” (Job XXXVIII, 29), as we have explained. THE SCEPTRE SHALL NOT DEPART FROM JUDAH, ETC .

A further connection between the Shekinah and Metatron is made in the Zohar. Here it is said that Metatron actually embodies the Shekinah, thus making Him the visible presence of God on earth:

Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 94b - “I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another” (Isa. XLII, 8). Nor is it to be thought that the body which harbours the daughter of the king shall be sold into the power of earthly crowns of defilement. Against this the Scripture says: “And the land shall not be sold in perpetuity” (Lev. xxv, 23). Which is the body of the King's daughter? Metatron; and this same body is identical with the handmaid of the Shekinah.

Another section directly ties the litter (bed/couch) of Solomon, (which as we have seen is the Shekinah), to Metatron. Again, the translator's note ("Tr") is unedited from the Soncino Zohar:

Soncino Zohar, Vayikra, Section 3, Page 60a - R. Simeon then discoursed on the verse: “Behold it is the litter of Solomon, threescore mighty men are round about it”, etc. (S.S. III, 7). He said: ‘The “litter” here is the throne of glory of the King, Solomon, the “king to whom all peace belongs”. Threescore mighty men are round about it, clinging to its sides as emissaries from stern judgement; they are called the sixty rods of fire wherewith that Youth [Tr. note: Metatron.] is girt.

Finally, another section of the Zohar tells of a Rabbi Abba describing an encounter with the Shekinah. Note that the Shekinah is described as "three separate lights," a concept of Elohim (God as He reveals Himself to us), that we will discuss later in this study. Again, Metatron is directly involved with the Shekinah. The concept of our good works hastening the arrival of Messiah can also be seen (if you "read between the lines") in the last sentence of this paragraph:

Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 209a - R. Abba further said to them: ‘Let me relate to you what I saw. When I set out on my journey to-day I saw a light ahead of me which split into three separate lights. They all went in front of me and then disappeared. I said to myself: Assuredly, what I saw was the Shekinah. Happy is my portion. Now I know that those lights I saw were yourselves. Verily, you are the supernal lights and lamps to lighten this world and the world to come.’ R. Abba continued, saying: ‘Until now I did not know that all these hidden pearls were in your possession. And now that I see that all these words of yours have been uttered by the will and command of your Master, I know that they are all ascending this day to the Divine Throne, and that the Chief of the angels [Tr. note: Metatron] is taking them up and weaving them into crowns for his Master, and this very day sixty holy legions are adorned with crowns, made of the words uttered here this day, to the glory of the Divine Throne,’

THE BRIDE AND WEDDING FEAST

The following is an extensive section from the Zohar that depicts the heavenly wedding feast that is to occur in the Millennium. The Zohar ties Ezekiel's Chariot vision directly to this.

• The one ascending to heaven in Proverbs 30:4 is God Himself (Recall what we earlier said about the connection between the lower and upper "heavens")
• At the time of this "wedding," God assembles those of His above and below (as is also seen in the final chapters of the book of Revelation)
• The12 tribes are associated with the Shekinah, who as a unity, make up the "bride"
• The "heave offering" is shown to be symbolic of raising the Shekinah from the third heaven where Ezekiel's throne was (Beriah) to the highest heaven of the Ein Sof (Aziluth)
• Ezekiel's Chariot vision is considered to be a picture of the unification of the Shekinah with her spouse - though the prophet himself could not see it to this level of detail

Thus, we have seen that the "bride" is a unity made up of the following:

• The Shekinah
• The 12 tribes of Israel
• The Tabernacle/Temple
• All who are part of the Faith of Israel
• "New Jerusalem"

In addition to the above, the Sabbath itself is considered to be the bride. This will be the subject of the next section.