EZEKIEL'S CHARIOT & THE HEAVENLY REALMS. Ezekiel's visions in chapter 1 & 10 of the book of Ezekiel are a look into the heavens; linked to the image of a 'Holy Chariot' consisting of four heavenly realms. These can be represented by 'the inner being', 'the charioteer', 'the chariot' and 'the wheels'.
The Zohar teaches a concept each realm corresponds to the four letters of the divine name YHWH (Yod-Hay-Vav-Hay). In the vision we have; (1) A "Sapphire Stone" that represents the highest heaven, associated with the Yod ("Y") (2) the "likeness of a throne" in the next heavenly grade, that of the first He' ("H") (3) The "holy beasts" (cherubim) - The first creature - residing in the grade below the previous, that of Vav ("V") (4) The "wheels" (ophanim) - The second creature - that makes the connection to the most immediate heaven around us, that of the second or lesser He' ("H").
In relaying these heavenly realms to the Temple of God. The highest heaven is the supernal one and related to God; that is, outside time and space, undefinable. Which can be represented by an inner tabernacle or "Holy of Holies." Outside this we have the next heavenly realm which is also represented by a tabernacle ministering as a priest to the "Cherubim" or "Hayoth" the highest of these being Michael representing a High Priest to the "Ophanim"; or lower heaven. There being two tabernacles and two priests comprising three heavenly realms and a lower realm.
*Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 159a - ‘
From this we see that the Holy One, blessed be He, actually gave Moses all the arrangements and all the shapes of the Tabernacle, each in its appropriate manner, and that he saw Metatron ministering to the High Priest within it. It may be said that, as the Tabernacle above was not erected until the Tabernacle below had been completed, that "youth" (Metatron) could not have served above before Divine worship had taken place in the earthly Tabernacle. It is true that the Tabernacle above was not actually erected before the one below; yet Moses saw a mirroring of the whole beforehand, and also Metatron, as he would be later when all was complete. The Holy One said to him: "Behold now, the Tabernacle and the ‘Youth’; all is held in suspense until the Tabernacle below shall have been built." It should not be thought, however, that Metatron himself ministers; the fact is, that the Tabernacle belongs to him, and Michael, the High Priest, it is that serves there, within the Metatron's Tabernacle, mirroring the function of the Supernal High Priest above, serving within that other Tabernacle, that hidden one which never is revealed, which is connected with the mystery of the world to come. There are two celestial Tabernacles: the one, the supernal concealed Tabernacle, and the other, the Tabernacle of the Metatron. And there are also two priests: the one is the primeval Light, and the other Michael, the High Priest below.
The lower heaven is the heavenly realm in our immediate circle and is a representation of the "shekinah" or "ophanim" taking the shape of the wheels in Ezekiel's second vision.
*Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 145a - Moses, by building the Tabernacle, brought about the union of the Matrona with the world here below, Solomon brought about the perfect union of the Matrona with the Bridegroom above.
The connection is made from the world here below in union of Matrona. Therefore Just as there is a temple above and below, the same applies to the throne, shown in the following verses:
*Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 242a - The Throne immediately underneath the God of Israel is in the form of Jacob, and the Throne below in that of David; this is the one that turns to the four corners of the world. It follows that the spirit of the highest diffuses through the lower, and directs and guides the whole. There was similar direction in the lower world. Just as in connection with the upper world we read that “the spirit of the Hayah is in the Ophanim”, so of the lower world it is written, “And Moses reared up the tabernacle”, he being the guiding spirit below; wherefore it is written: “And he reared up, fixed, put.” ‘Observe that Moses set up the Tabernacle in the recondite spirit of his own high grade; but the Temple that Solomon built was the recondite expression of the River that went forth from Eden, signifying homely peace and rest. The Tabernacle expressed love and affection, but not restfulness, whereas the Temple of Solomon meant rest, as it says, “he shall be a man of rest” (I Chron. XXII, 9). Each one builded according to his own grade. ‘Moses first firmly established in the side of holiness the central Point which was hid in darkness and buried, and afterwards all the rest, which is but the enlargement of this Point. And if this Point had not been established first, all that spread from it could not have been established. This is referred to in the words, “he reared up the tabernacle”.
*Soncino Zohar, Shemoth, Section 2, Page 232a - It has already been explained that the verse, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”, means that the lower world was created after the pattern of the upper. Now, the Tabernacle below was likewise made after the pattern of the supernal Tabernacle in all its details. For the Tabernacle in all its works embraced all the works and achievements of the upper world and the lower, whereby the Shekinah was made to abide in the world, both in the higher spheres and the lower. Similarly, the Lower Paradise is made after the pattern of the Upper Paradise, and the latter contains all the varieties of forms and images to be found in the former. ... For whoever then looked at the Tabernacle saw in it an epitome of the upper world and the lower; for all the works of the universe were contained in the equipment of the Tabernacle. Thus whoever gazed with attention at the clasps of the Tabernacle saw in their gleam the radiance of the stars, inasmuch as they were disposed in the same way as the stars in heaven.’
This shows how we relate to the bigger picture and the heavenly realms that surround the Throne of God, relating to the Temple of God and symbolized by a Holy Chariot.
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