Kabbalah/Jewish Mysticism/Essenes

[nebula]

Actually, I have heard from several individuals whose knowledge I trust that Kabbalah is occultic.

Problem is, I've never really heard anyone say what Kabbalah is about, just that it is. . . .

[Guest]

Root Of Jesse

Or

Bitter Root

True Path

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 14:6

False Trail

In many cases, the purpose of mysticism and mystical disciplines such as meditation is to reach a state of return or re-integration to Godhead. A common theme in mysticism is that the mystic and all of reality are One. The purpose of mystical practices is to achieve that oneness in experience, to transcend limited identity and re-identify with the all that is

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysticism

The Devil's In The Details

Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

John 8:44

It IS NO SECRET

OR

PRIVILEGED ELITE

Open Book

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

2 Peter 1:20

None Righteous No Not One

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Isaiah 64:6

The Few, The Proud, The Blind

Kabbalah...Judaic Mysticism.

It is believed to have come down from a remote past as a revelation to elect Tzadikim (righteous people), and, for the most part, was preserved only by a privileged few.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah#Orig...udaic_Mysticism

The Blinder

In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

2 Corinthians 4:4

The Healer

Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.

Luke 7:22

The Offer

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Matthew 11:28

It Is No Secret

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 3:14-16

See Jesus And Be Blessed

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:

The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:

The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.

And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them.

Numbers 6:24-27

Love, Joe

[Fraught]

VickiLynn - get a grip, girl!! I mean this very lovingly, i recognize the signs of someone trying to pick a fight! Peace, sister.

Shalom Fraught,

You are wrong, dead wrong. You recognize nothing.. And there is nothing "loving" about your remarks. Shame on you! You are the one who needs to get a grip and follow the Bible about judging someone's heart motives.

Perhaps because I exposed Kabbalah as occult that it doesn't sit well with you and made you act this way?? Also take it up with Shiloh. He knows a LOT more than Ger and Shiloh is correct, Kabbalah is occult.

Reproof accepted. Thank you - But I really wasn't trying to defend it - I was just asking . . .

[Guest shiloh357]

Actually, the occultic nature of Kabbalah is just one aspect and I will get into that.

First of all, I need to explain something: A lot of the "Kabbalah" that many people are are into is not really Kabbalah but is just New Age, hippee nonsense with a Jewish schtick. It is what I call "bookstore Kabbalah" and is not the real thing. You are not going to find genuine Kabbalistic material at Barnes and Noble or Borders bookstores. The "Kabbalah" that Modonna, Britney Speers, Barbara Streisand, Ashton Kutcher, and other movie stars are into, is not the "real McCoy," so to speak.

First of all the Kabbalistic notion of God is not the YHVH of the Scriptures. In Kabbalah the Godhead is referred to as the "Ein-Sof." Ein-Sof means the unknowable, unsearachable, infinite nothingness. The Godhead is a force comprised of different mystical aspeacts. All of creation, in Kabbalah is an emanation of the Ein-Sof. The idea of creation being the result of the purposes and pleasure of a personal God does not exist in Kabbalah. I would also add that the concept of an "unknowable" god is something both Kabbalah and Islam have in common. If God is not knowable, He is not trustable. The God of the Bible goes to great lengths to reveal Himself so that we know Him and that He is a God who keeps His promises. The Ein-Sof of Kabbalah is NOT the YHVH of Scriptures! Kabbalah is violation of the commandment which says, "You shall have no other gods before me."

That does not mean that the tetragrammaton does not serve a purpose in Kabbalah. Each letter of the YHVH in Hebrew, according to Kabbalah represents a "universe." There are meditative practices for one to meditate on each letter and thus traverse different universes that are contained in that Name. In the Bible it was this Name by which God made Himself known to man, but it is twisted for the purposes of occultic practices by Kabbalists.

The Bible teaches that God is knowable and wants us to know Him and love Him as our heart's chief desire. Everything in Scripture is about God reaching out to man, loving man, revaling Himself to man. Kabbalists are on a quest for truth and feel that the truth is hidden under layers of mystical, mysterious realities. On the other hand, the Bible does not teach that truth is hiding from us. From the day God called out, "Adam, where are you?" to buidling of the Temple of Solomon, to the day Jesus walked among us, the Bible has consistently revealed that wants us to know Him. You don't have to go on a quest looking for truth. Truth came looking for you.

Now, I said that the Ein-Sof is comprised of different mystical aspects. Well, there are 10 of them called "sefirot." Sefirot are planes or realms. They are:

Keter - Crown

Hokhma - Wisdom

Binah - Understanding;

Hesed - Lovingkindness

Gevurah - Power

Tipharet - Beauty

Nezakh - Lasting Endurance

Hod, - Majesty

Yesed - Foundation

Malkhut - Kingdom

There are 7 lower and three higher. I have them listed from top to bottom. The three higher are Keter, Hokhma and Binah. Simply put, they are the archetypes of creation and are symbols that are suppposed to reveal of the inner life of God. The ten sefirot also represent what is called "the tree of life." In Kabbalah, an understanding of the sefirot illuminate the inner workings of the cosmos

In Kabbalah, everything in Scriptures is symbolic of deeper mysteries. The truth of the Scriptures is not seen in text itself, but by mediation and an understanding of how sefirot operate, Kabbalists teach that one can uncover the layers reality to uncover "the true" cosmic/mystical meaning of the Scriptures, and not only that but through certain meditative practices, one is allegedly able to participate in the various and sundry "dimensions" of God's being.

So, everything in Scripture including the commandments and Israel's exile are purely symbolic of some deeper cosmic reality.

It is important to note that because people do not make the distinction betwen the Ein-Sof (the god of the Kabbalah) and YHVH, (God of the Bible), they mistakenly believe that Kabbalah is just false teaching. It is more than that. It is the worship of a false God. It is very tragic that Messianic Jews are caught up in this sin.

Many Jews will be familiar with the concept of Tikkun. It is a word that is used by many to simply mean "to make the world better." Many Jews believe that good works, particularly works of charity are expected because by doing good deeds we make the world better, and there is some truth to that. God expects all of us to bless the world through acts of kindness and mercy, and most definitely expects this from us as Jews.

Now Kabbalah, takes this further. Kabbalah teaches from the Zohar that good works are for the purpose of redemption. The world and even God Himself is in need of redemption according to Kabbalah. Keep in mind that it is their "god" that is need of redemption. In Kabbalah, their god is need of human assistance because there was a great catastrophe at creation because the Ein-Sof allowed evil to come into the world and the vessels of light (the three higher sefirot were shattered and their sparks were imprisoned) Man's job is to do good deeds in order redeem the world and reunify the Godhead.

Kabbalists teach that man has been assigned the task of redeeming the world through prayer and the proper observance of the commandments. "Proper" according to Kabblists, is more cosmic and simiply the literal fufillment of the commandments.

I could go on , but Kabbalah is nothing that belongs in the life of a believer. I have only scratched at the surface.

[Guest shiloh357]

I would also like to add that most Messianic Jews do not subscribe to Kabbalah. There are some who do, but most do not. It is unfortunate that some Messianic Jews have allowed themselves to fall into this error.

[nebula]

OK, Shiloh - thanks!

[Scarletprayers]

I may be wrong and please correct me if I am Shiloh, but I read somewhere that in true Kabbalah, all of the hollywood people would never actually be able to study and practice it, it is only able to to understood by a person with Jewish blood, you have to be over 40 to be allowed "in" to study and you have to be male. Which would leave out Madonna, Brittany and the rest.

[nebula]

I heard this from an orthodox Jew.

There are three questions you need to ask to tell if someone is into Kabbalah or not:

1. "Who is your mentor?"

To learn Kabbalah, you need a mentor to teach and train you. If he has no mentor, then he isn't truly Kabbalah.

2. Open the [Torah or Talmud? I forget] randomly, put your finger on any passage/verse, and ask him to analyze it. (Or something like that - sorry my ability to remember exact words is sparce.)

A true Kabbalist could give a dissertation on any verse, including key commentary notes. If he can't do this, he isn't into Kabbalah.

3. As him if he is into Kabbalah.

If he says, "Yes," then the answer is, "No." (For some reason, they just don't admit that they are into it.)

*Shiloh - if you think what I said needs to be fine-tuned, go ahead and fine-tune it. )

[Guest]

I could go on , but Kabbalah is nothing that belongs in the life of a believer

Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Ephesians 5:19

[Guest shiloh357]

I may be wrong and please correct me if I am Shiloh, but I read somewhere that in true Kabbalah, all of the hollywood people would never actually be able to study and practice it, it is only able to to understood by a person with Jewish blood, you have to be over 40 to be allowed "in" to study and you have to be male. Which would leave out Madonna, Brittany and the rest.

Well the person does not have to have Jewish blood, as there are nonJewish converts in Orthodox Judaism, some who are even Rabbis. However, one must be male, at least 40 and be a very accomplished scholar in Torah and Talmud. Out of 100 Rabbis, one or two might actually qualify to study Kabbalah.

True Kabbalah is not diseminated to the public. The stuff Modonna and Britney mess around with is nothing more than New Age with a Jewish veneer. For example, the stuff they study equates the seven lower sefirot with the seven chakras in Hinduism and stuff like that.