The Messiah is the Zohar
By
James Scott Trimm
We read in the Book of Hebrews:
1 Elohim, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 Has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
(Heb. 1:1-3)
The word for “brightness” above, in our Hebrew manuscripts of Hebrews, is “zohar”. Of course many know that there is a book known as the Zohar, but fewer know the original significance of the term. The Hebrew word ZOHAR appears only twice in the Tanak. One of these is in the Book of Daniel:
And they that are wise, shall shine as the brightness [Zohar] of the firmament, and they that turn the many to righteousness, as the stars; forever and ever.
(Dan. 12:3)
The other is in the Book of Ezekiel as part of Ezekiel’s description of the “Likeness” of Elohim:
Then I beheld, and behold, a likeness as the appearance of fire. From the appearance of his loins and downward, fire: and from his loins and upward, as the appearance of brightness (Zohar), as the color of electrum.
(Ezekiel 8:2)
This brings us to Ezekiel’s vision of the Merkavah (Divine Throne-Chariot):
22 And over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of a firmament; like the color of the terrible ice, stretched forth over their heads above.
23 And under the firmament were their wings conformable, the one to the other. This one of them had two which covered, and that one of them had two which covered, their bodies.
24 And when they went, I heard the noise of their wings like the noise of great waters; like the voice of Shaddai–a noise of tumult like the noise of a host. When they stood, they let down their wings.
25 For, when there was a voice above the firmament that was over their heads, as they stood, they let down their wings.
26 And above the firmament that was over their heads, was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone. And upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man, upon it; above.
27 And I saw as the color of electrum, as the appearance of fire round about enclosing it, from the appearance of his loins and upward. And from the appearance of his loins and downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him.
28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of YHWH. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spoke.
(Ezekiel 1:22-28)
The “firmament” mentioned by Daniel is that which is above the four living creatures in Ezekiel 1:22. The Zohar is the brightness of the likeness seated on the Merkavah (Throne-Chariot).
It is this brightness which is the namesake of the book known as the Zohar. This is what the book called the Zohar says about the ZOHAR:
It is written: And they that are wise, shall shine as the brightness [Zohar] of the firmament, and they that turn the many to righteousness, as the stars; forever and ever (Dan. 12:3). There was indeed a “brightness” (Zohar). The Most Mysterious struck its void, and caused this point to shine. This “beginning” then extended, and made for itself a palace for its honor and glory. There it sowed a sacred seed which was to generate for the benefit of the universe, and to which may be applied the Scriptural words “the holy seed is the stock thereof” (Is. 6:13). Again there was Zohar, in that it sowed a seed for its glory, just as the silkworm encloses itself, as it were, in a palace of its own production which is both useful and beautiful. Thus by means of this “beginning” the Mysterious Unknown made this palace. This palace is called Elohim, and this doctrine is contained in the words, “By means of a beginning (he) created Elohim.”
The Zohar is that from which were created all the creative utterances through the extension of the point of this mysterious brightness. Nor need we be surprised at the use of the word “created” in this connection, seeing that we read further on, “And God created man in his image” (Gen. 1:27).
A further esoteric interpretation of the word Bereshith is as follows. The name of the starting-point of all is Ehyeh (I shall be). The holy name when inscribed at its side is Elohim, but when inscribed by circumscription [i.e. between the two Ehyeh’s. v. Ex. 3:4.] is Asher, the hidden and recondite temple, the source of that which is mystically called Reshith. The word Asher (i.e. the letters, Aleph, Shin, Resh from the word Bereshith) is anagrammatically Rosh (head), the beginning which issues from Reshith. So when [15b] the point and the temple were firmly established together, then Bereshit combined the supernal Beginning with Wisdom. Afterwards the character of that temple was changed, and it was called “house” (beit). The combination of this with the supernal point which is called rosh gives Bereshith, which is the name used so long as the house was uninhabited. When, however, it was sown with seed to make it habitable, it was called Elohim, hidden and mysterious. The Zohar was hidden and withdrawn so long as the building was within and yet to bring forth, and the house was extended only so far as to find room for the holy seed. Before it had conceived and had extended sufficiently to be habitable, it was not called Elohim, but all was still included in the term Bereshith. After it had acquired the name of Elohim, it brought forth offspring from the seed that had been implanted in it.
(Zohar 1:15a-15b)
In the book called the Zohar the Zohar is likened to a “seed” which is elsewhere called the “Son of Yah”. The Zohar says that the Most Mysterious (the Infinite One) created a palace for himself called Elohim into which he placed his Zohar (brightness) like a seed sowed of himself, in much the same way that a silkworm encloses itself in a cocoon. The “seed” is elsewhere known as the “Son of Yah”. The book called the Zohar also says of the Zohar that he “is that from which were created all the creative utterances”.
Now we can better understand what Hebrews means when it says:
1 Elohim, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past to the fathers by the prophets,
2 Has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness (zohar) of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;
(Heb. 1:1-3)
We must raise at least $400 by the end of the day Monday, or our account will plunge into the negative and start a cascade of returned items.
As you know we have been digging ourselves out of a budget shortfall. As I have said to you many times, I look on this work as a co-operative one with me, and all of you combining our resources together in order to get the job done of helping to teach this great truth to all in the world who will listen. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your continued support, you are the ones who make it all possible by your contributions and your prayers for our work. I truly appreciate your help in every way.
If you can make a one time donation of $500 or $1,000 dollars to support this work.
