The Sermon on the Mount:
Its Resonance in the
Sephirot
Matthew 5:1-2
In this sequential examination of the sephirot, which are treated as the "brightnesses" within man as a projection of Elohim, I will begin at Malkuth and will then circle around to Kether to proceed, again, towards Malkuth. This approach is not so disorderly as it might seem; a treatment of its basis in the traditions of kabbalah is given in the Malkuth text concerning the messages to the Churches of Asia.
The
purpose of the study is to discover what the spheres have to add to our appreciation of
Y'shúa's Sermon on the Mount, as it is recounted in Sephir MattíthYahu, the Book
of Matthew. The little they may add to understandings of these scriptures should
not be gainsaid; for revelation is given by the littles: a little here, a little
there.
What follows is a cursory examination of these sayings. This interpretation is presented as an example of kabbalistic exegesis. To those who will think too much is made of numbers, whether stated or implied by quoted scriptures, I offer the reminder that the hairs of our heads are numbered:. It is not presumptuous, in consequence, to assume that the operation of numbers in scripture has special, intended significance. Overlooking this literal argument for the plausibility of this approach, let's begin.
The beatitudes of Saint Matthew are nine in number. As the sephiroth are ten, their relevance to the Sermon on the Mount is not immediately apparent. However, a tenth beatitude is hidden in the precepts beginning at Matthew 5:13 and continuing, minimally, through the end of Matthew 7 in the teaching of the wise man who both hears and performs the sayings of Y'shúa: as it is written in Revelation 22, "blessed is he that keeps the sayings of this book." Kingdoms are ordered by the operation of law; and Malkuth, the manifestation of the Kingdom of Elohim, is ordered by the spiritual precepts of El la as they operate within the context of grace, which unfolds the dispensation of HasShem's mercy from moment to moment.
Expressed otherwise, Y'shúa might have taught, "Blessed are they who shall hear the words of life and do them: for they shall dwell securely." He chose to hold a hidden blessing in reserve, however; for some shall imagine themselves worthy of the nine blessings, but shall be undone by the requirements of the tenth; so, also, shall some see themselves as unworthy in the nine, but shall, in receiving the tenth blessing, be confirmed in all to all, as it is written, ". . . and the last, first."
I find yet another reason for no written, tenth beatitude in the Sermon on the Mount. Y'shúa teaches that the Kingdom-- Malkuth-- is like leaven hidden in measures of meal. Without digressing into interpretation of what these measures of meal could signify, notice that the blessing of the Kingdom is promised twice in the beatitudes. And why not three times: once for each measure of meal? Well, because the Kingdom is yet hidden until the full manifestation of the Sons of Man and God; so also, then, is the fullness of the Kingdom's blessings. The tenth blessing will be received with joy as the criteria for all blessings are confirmed within the elect, who appear within the maturation of Malkuth: as it is written, "And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of El."
The precepts of the Sermon on the Mount are the distilled essence of Y'shúa's doctrinal gifts to the Kingdom-. They are the very fabric of the righteous mammon with which the Father has clothed him. To hold them in one's heart while reading other scriptures is to stand before an open door through which shines the many nuances of sound interpretation.
Although they are of remarkable wisdom in every phrase, one nevertheless tends to receive them-- and not without good reason-- into the contexts of very personal states of being that remain somewhat closed to the qualities of Light that lie beyond the immediately visible spectrum. Some will find food of which others know nothing. Nourishment is determined by the individual's ability to receive. Because the beatitudes address spiritual states in a very personal manner, one shouldn't expect to understand their force and application at any single reading.
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