METAHISTORIE.COM

Introduction

In a previous article, the Creative Power of the original Sacred Hebrew letters was discussed. By translating and changing these letters, God created the cosmos, including the earth. In doing so, God bestowed life force upon all living beings on earth (Lessons in the Tanya Shaar Hayichud Vehaemunah, Jewish mysticism).

 

The aim of this article is to delve somewhat more extensively into this design by addressing questions. 

 

Information has been obtained from biblical and (Jewish) rabbinic articles.

 

Questions

 

What existed before the creation in Genesis?

Jewish scholars state that, before the infinite God created the cosmos, He created an earlier state of existence (Rabbi Janki Tauber, Glorious Twins, Chabad.org).

 

Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1542) was one of the most famous mystics and Kabbalists. His concept was as follows. Before God created our world, the entire universe was filled with His holy presence.

 

The infinite God made room by withdrawing into an infinite realm as well. This is difficult to understand, because it concerns the concept of infinity and boundless time (1). This created darkness. God then said: Let there be Light. God emanated ten vessels (which served as lanterns) with which the world would be created. These are the Sefirot, which are both part of God and created by God. They are, as it were, the channels of the divine life force. These vessels are channels of light and they are also light. They are God and of God, but they cannot define or limit God. What truly is God completely transcends these descriptions (Broken vessels, Rabbi Azulai, Safaria).

 

God sent the ten vessels to the world. If each of these had reached the world, the world would have become perfect. But the holy light of God was too strong for the bottom three vessels. They broke into pieces. Then it arose desolate and void (2). Chaos arose (see Genesis 1; Rabbi Azuli, Sefaria). According to the Kabbalists, the breaking of the vessels was the origin of evil (The shattering of the vessels is the origin of evil, Chabad.org). It goes too far to go into this further.

 

What is creation according to Genesis 1 and 2?

God saw that all He had made was very good. In this context, man was considered male and female. They were blessed by God. They lived in Paradise. Genesis 2-3 describes how God the LORD plants a garden in the east, in Eden (Genesis 2:8). The location of Eden should probably be sought in the vicinity of Armenia (Protestant University, Genesis 2:10-15).

 

If the Garden of Eden was spiritual, did it also exist on earth?

The original Garden of Eden was located on earth, because Adam and Eve were created sinless and immortal. God's presence (the Shechina) lived with them in this world. If Adam and Eve had not sinned, that state of spiritual bliss would have continued in the world. Their sin brought death into the world, separating the soul from the body. This was part of God's plan. In the completion of the Messianic era with the resurrection of the dead, the world will reach its ultimate perfection.

 

Despite the Fall, God still sustains His creation. It does mean that all living beings, such as humans, animals, and plants, live temporarily on earth, but that they continue to exist as a species. This includes the laws of nature that make life on earth possible (3) (National Geographic, History, September 24, 2025).

 

This means that after a perfect world following the Fall, an imperfect world emerged that persists to this day.

 

In Christian theology, society after the Fall is characterized by a fundamental break in relationships: with God, fellow man, and creation. In paradise, there was harmony in the world. After that, creation was marked by brokenness, transience, and sin (Genesis 3). The Fall immediately caused a separation between people (Got Questions).

 

However complex current technology and societal organizations may be, society remains dependent on God (4) to sustain life.

 

For many years, the majority of the population lived on the land and near nature (5). Many of them literally fulfilled Adam's curse by toiling to extract food from the ground. But technological developments over the last hundred years have caused remarkable changes in society, such as the migration of residents from the countryside to the city (Avraham Greenbaum, Azamra and Tijdvakken.nl).

 

The current technology- and media-based urban civilization has transcended traditional boundaries. It has established itself as the dominant civilization worldwide (Avraham Greenbaum, Azamra and Tijdvakken.nl). It would also be a solution with which Adam struggled (7).

 

The Wallerstein's World System concept

The definition is a coherent whole of countries and their mutual political, cultural, and economic relations. This consists of core countries (great powers), peripheral (poor) countries, and semi-peripheral countries (neither poor nor rich). When this system is in equilibrium, there is more or less peace in the world.

 

When this stagnates, as is currently the case between the core countries and both the peripheral and semi-peripheral countries, an imbalance arises. We currently see this with mass immigration, particularly to the prosperous Western democratic countries (8). This is currently leading to disintegration in these countries. Subsequently, to friction between the core countries, the U.S. and Western Europe, and between the core countries, the U.S., China, and Russia. We also see increasing polarization in Western countries (9).

 

What causes exist in the West that affect creation?

In his work "The Suicide of the West", Burnham sought the causes of the decline of the West and identified them as the decline of religion, an excess of material luxury, and a loss of faith in the superiority of Western civilization (Wikipedia January 23, 2022).

 

Dr. F. de Graaff wrote about the Western culture crisis as early as 1956 (Frank de Graaff, Het Europese Nihilisme, 1956). Christian (transcendent) culture is no longer taken for granted by many and has been replaced by secular/subjective views. Christianity is stagnating and being replaced by a secular culture. He mentions several consequences, such as overpopulation, political and racial tensions.

 

Currently, we see the phenomenon of political activism particularly in Western societies (10). These are attempts by individuals or groups to influence political decision-making and bring about societal changes in an extra-parliamentary manner, but within the framework of the democratic legal order (Wikipedia).

 

What does this mean for the life force bestowed by God?

At the beginning of this article, attention was paid to the creative power of the Hebrew letters.

 

Now this matter is discussed in more detail based on Genesis 1. In this passage, the universe is created, including the heavens and the earth. Everything that has been created has been translated into the Holy Language of letters. These have descended in stages from God to creation. Creation thus originated as Holy Language from complete nothingness, and God still sustains His creation by means of His life force (11).

 

Although many people think that God does not exist as a supernatural phenomenon (12), this is the foundation of present-day society. The Book of Psalms states that the word of God will endure forever. For if God were to make His letters disappear with the creative words from Genesis 1, all creation (in heaven and on earth) would cease to exist and return to absolute nothingness (Rabbi Moshe Weiner and Dr. Michael Schulman, Seven Gates of Righteous Knowledge, 2023).

 

Summary and conclusion

We see that God, despite all the abuses and sins taking place on earth, still sustains creation. But suppose He were to decide to put an end to creation. What would be the result then?

 

If He causes the letters of the Sacred Language with which the earth was created (during the six days of creation) to deviate, then the situation returns to absolute nothingness. A situation just as it was before Creation. This can happen even in a single moment (Rabbi Schneur Zalman, translated by Levy Wineberg).

 

Angels, stars, planets, humans, animals, and plants would then no longer exist, exactly as in the text in Genesis.

 

God can also change His creation letters. This means less or more life force, due to the behavior of people. As a result, the angels of their nations are weakened or strengthened (Dr. Michel Schulman, Ask Noah, Yirmeyahu Bindman, Rabbi Chaim Luzzatto, The Way of God, February 1995).

 

God does not let the life force descend directly to the beings living on earth. However, the divine radiance of His life force is so intense that humans, animals, etc. cannot bear it directly. Therefore, the life force decreases step by step, until the carrying capacity of the receiving beings is reached. From God to the angels and then to the beings living on earth. Angels can bear more life energy than humans, animals, and plants (Chabad.org). God realizes this by changing and moving the Holy Hebrew letters.

 

 

footnotes

(1) Georg Cantor (1845-1918) was one of the first mathematicians to concern himself with infinity. But what exactly is infinity? In mathematics, 'infinity' is the concept that describes something greater than a natural number. It generally refers to something without any limit. It is a state of endlessness, or the absence of time, space, or other quantitative limitations. We can call this God's eternity. He is without beginning and without end (Psalm 90:2; 1 Timothy).

 

(2) God created the world for the sake of His Torah. But if one interprets it in order. Then write at the beginning of the creation of heaven and earth the earth was amazingly empty and dark. Instead the earth was desolate and void and God's spirit hovered over the water. But the scripture had not yet revealed when the creation of the water took place. From this you learn that the water preceded the earth. Moreover, the heavens were created out of fire and water. You must reluctantly admit that the Scripture teaches us nothing about the order of the earlier and later acts of creation (Rashi, The Complete Jewish Bible).

 

(3) We are therefore dependent on the preconditions that God has set in His creation. In addition to the laws of nature, there are also the commandments that God has set to make a social life function. People have the free choice to adhere to this or not. One could state that these conditions can be broadly summarized in the Universal Laws (Martijn, Expert by Experience, Feb 3, 2023).

 

(4) But no matter how advanced our technology and society become, we are becoming increasingly cut off from nature.

 

(5) However, city-states such as Babel and Rome existed in this context, in which the king and the emperor lived and ruled (The Bible).

 

(6) This civilization's claim to world domination is based primarily on its ability to generate wealth. Material consumption as a goal could unite people of all nations.

 

(7) It also offers comfort. One might think that such a situation would be paradise (Avraham Greenbaum, Azamra).

 

(8) In the year 2050, Dutch people without a migration background will no longer form the majority. Prof. Dr. warns against this. Demographer Jan Latten, former chief demographer at Statistics Netherlands (CBS), in a conversation with the WNL program Onze Eeuw. According to him, the population is growing mainly due to immigration and the children of newcomers.

 

(9) Polarization means that more and more us-versus-them thinking is emerging between groups in society. It is normal for different groups not to always agree with each other. But with polarization, groups in society are increasingly pitted against one another (NJ. Netherlands Youth Institute, NJi). Democracy has changed into a more activist society.

 

(10) Political activism can also consist of conducting political campaigns, lobbying, voting, or submitting petitions. Political activists often publish their ideas themselves via newsletters, magazines, newspapers, or digital media.

 

(11) This refers to creations such as the universe that have an eternal existence. But also creatures, which exist temporarily.

 

(12) As an example. “God bestaat niet” was a six-part Dutch television program by Paul Jan van de Wint and Rob Muntz, broadcast by the RVU in 2005. In each episode, a scientist, such as Dick Swaab, Vincent Icke, and Jaap van Heerden, came to explain why God could not exist. Strictly scientifically, God's existence is not provable, while philosophically there are strong indications for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Creative Power of the Hebrew Letters part 2, dr H. Dubbelman