Why are there so many seemingly competing philosophical constructs about the meaning of life? You can be a believer in a transcendent God or a total naturalist believing in a randomly evolving cosmos, with many shades of grey in between to suit all the levels of interest. But to the Jewish mind, with the Christian mindset echoing close behind, this is the testimony, that God himself has revealed to them the truth. We all know how assertive this assumption has been and what it has cost.
Nevertheless if it is true, how was this done? In my first three blogs I have been building a case for a scriptural dissemination of the knowledge of this truth in a very orderly and methodical way. It’s only helpful if you KNOW this. This system that will take you down a path from a literal, to an allegorical, to a Midrashic understanding, finally to the “meat” of the whole thing, the “mystical”. To really embrace this level you really have to want to get out of the nest and fly. Or in modern allegory get out of the matrix and see it for what it is, a construct, and start to explore. This is a way of giving three stages of growing in truth, the child, the young person, and the mature believer.
Now to clue you in another way, the texts illustrate this ever-expanding mindset. They use many parables and examples we can relate to; stages of growth being the most easy to follow. Hence, in 1 John 2:12-14, John talks to children, young men and fathers. I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. The new believer gets “saved”, receives forgiveness of sins. Next the youth begins to walk it out… ” you are strong, and the word of God abides in you,” you have overcome the evil one”.
Strength, action and increased learning are hallmarks of “youth. But with the father or adult stage comes the contemplative season, to “know him who has been from the beginning”. Now the big questions in life: how we got here, who is behind it all, where do we go after it all, can be sought for with maturity and depth. The believer is seasoned by being in a few battles, no longer a newbie, firmly tested and still standing…in other words one who can be trusted with knowledge and responsibility. To whom much has been given much shall be required.
We all know milk is for babies. See how easy that was. The author of Hebrews is aware of these “keys”. He goes on to admonish “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.” (Heb 5:12) Meat is for the mature, seasoned and discerning.
In the Old Testament we find milk, honey, wine and oil used to indicate stages of initiation. This understanding is tied to the four rivers of Gen 2: 10 “Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers.” In “The Vision of Paul” an apocalyptic writing, purportedly from the third century, the apostle is shown these four rivers in great detail with much apocryphal (hidden) imagery. {vs 22} “There was, moreover, a river of honey and a river of milk, and a river of wine and a river of oil….These are the four rivers which flow sufficiently for those WHO ARE IN THIS LAND OF PROMISE, of which the names are: the river of honey called Fison (Pishon), and the river of milk, the Euphrates, and the river of oil, the Gihon, and the river of wine, the Tigris.” Here in the Tarot Ha Sod level, theses rivers are encrypted to represent the levels of spiritual acumen we have been talking about.
Water is a symbol of the Word, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his belly (innermost being) will flow rivers of living water.’ John 7:38. Isaiah 55:1, 44:3 and 55:11b are being quoted here. “Lo! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk, without money and without cost. “For I will pour out water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants;” “…And you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.”
These rivers are likened to “veins of understanding, fountains of wisdom and streams of knowledge” {2Esdras 14:47}. A Remez (hint) to all these allusions is given in Joel 3:18 “that the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the LORD.’ ….count four “rivers”.
To add up all these “hints” the easiest, the most plain, the most literal, a very easy river to document is the Euphrates. It is for infants, newbies and “those just weaned from their mother’s milk”. At the river of HONEY Paul “saw there Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Amos, and Micah and Zechariah, the minor and major prophets, and they saluted me in the city. I said to the angel: What way is this? And he said to me: This is the way of the prophets, every one who shall have afflicted his soul and not done his own will because of Elohim” {Vision of Paul vs 25}. This river in Gen 2:11,12 ” flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. The gold of that land is good; the bdellium and the onyx stone are there.” The way of the prophets is hidden from the world….its gold (the most valuable commodity) must be mined from deep recesses (higher wisdom). There is a remez (hint) here also in that this river has trees at its bank where “each single tree bore twelve fruits in the year, having various and diverse fruits:” This is all seen in the “City of Christ” the New Jerusalem which has “a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” {Rev 21:12-14}.
The combo phrase “milk and honey” always paired together is used over 15 times in scripture and it is always associated with the land. This tells us this is an earthly lower level of understanding, easily accessible. Everyone has the texts of the prophets, and can glean as much as they want from them, per 2 Esdras 14:45. Who said there were books for the worthy and unworthy.
In Paul’s vision, this river is Gihon and we are told in vs 28. “And again he carried me near the river of OIL on the EAST of the city. And I saw there men rejoicing and singing psalms, and I said: Who are those, my Lord? And the angel said to me: Those are they who devoted themselves to God with their whole heart and had no pride in themselves. For all those who rejoice in Yahweh Elohim/Lord God and sing psalms to the Lord with their whole heart are here led into this city. Whole hearted devotees and praisers. This is the Oil of Gladness: “you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions;” {Ps 45:7}.
This river is associated with Babylon, to the EAST of the Holy City is Babylon. Not always a city of moral integrity biblically. But I will have to get back to that point.
The last river is our river associated with wine. Paul goes “north of the city and led me where there was a river of wine.” vs 27. This is the Tigris and “it flows EAST of Assyria” Gen 2:14. Here he saw Abraham and Isaac and Jacob”, the patriarchs. These are pilgrims and sojourners who upon passing “first adore Adonai Elohenu (Lord God), ….and all the just salute him as son and brother.”
Wine and oil are paired together, as I mentioned milk and honey are. These last two have a much more esoteric side to them. All these rivers symbolize divine flows, fluxes or emanations of the supernal realm. Water by nature either gushes and flows as in rivers and rains (dew), or is contained in seas and lakes. All hidden, arcane spiritual knowledge is described using nature; the invisible made visible using symbols we can relate to.
This is how it happens with me. I will see an enigmatic statement jump off the page of a text. It is so out of the ordinary I just have to get to the bottom of it. In the Book of Jasher, Pharoah says “My river is my own”. After years of seeking I now understand Pharoh was referring to his spiritual flow, his essence and authority he had as a prince in the whole cosmic Mazzaroth. What a usurper. Pharoah as King of Egypt represents the principality, the “god” over the domain known as “Egypt”. No wonder he had to be shown who’s boss, who the real King of Kings is. He had enslaved the firstborn children of Elohim and was told “to let my people go”. The utter arrogance of this “god” to think he was a match for the Living El. What we think are just “bible stories” are some of the most sublime, behind the scenes power encounters, in all the heavens. This ‘King” was dealt with and the forces of darkness that would hold captive the inheritance of the Most High were shown before all the realms, that power is limited and can be checked. Praise Yah!
That was a rabbit trail. What I want to impart was that the scriptures are very polysemous, having many levels. Mature believers should not be satisfied with the milk. The information we need about the war we are in is couched in type and symbol; it is encrypted. That is why we are losing so badly on so many fronts today. Oil and wine, which represent “spiritual wisdom” and “revelation knowledge” are the rivers that flow directly from the mind of Yahweh.
No natural man can find these streams. This is Chockmah and Binah, the highest of the Sefirot of Yah. In Greek we have Sophia (wisdom) and Gnosis (knowledge) Same Sefirot. They are guarded by Yah’s most elite angels, and their intel does not go to the unworthy. It is not given to fools, swine, children, dogs or the profane, just to give you a few key words. Revelation is for the elect, the chosen, the pious, the holy, the Quodesh. And if you got initiated into the holy mysteries, the rule of thumb was “Guard them (the understandings) under your clothes. (i.e. do not share this with non-Torah educated people).
But that was yesterday. This is today. “For nothing is concealed that will not be uncovered, or hidden that will not be made known. So do not be afraid of them. (these userping “elohim’s) What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear!”
We live in a time of full disclosure. The principalities and powers, the spiritual wickedness in high places is coming down! All the rivers and streams of wisdom and understanding that have gotten polluted and taken over by ” fallen angelic propagandists” are in for a rude awakening as the elect get up to speed in this last hour.
Time to get OIL in your lamp!
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