The Construction of the Cosmos | Isaiah 6:1–4
Delving into God, the angels, and us.
Welcome to Gateways, where you experience the Nevi’im—the Prophets—through the teachings of Don Yitzchak Abarbanel, distilled into easy-to-follow lessons.
In this lesson we’ll cover the third question Abarbanel addresses on this prophecy where he explores the order of the vision.
My additions here are in italics. I’ve used bold to highlight key ideas and make the content easier to follow. As usual, this is a slightly abridged version.
I’ve included a brief overview, the verses, Abarbanel’s questions and his answers. I’ll conclude with a short takeaway.
Jeff
Photo by Miriam Espacio
Overview
A little background is in order about how Abarbanel viewed the world. Abarbanel followed in the footsteps of Maimonides in write in the Guide to the Perplexed:
All we wish to point out is this: in the first place, that the whole Creation is divided into three parts, from highest to lowest:
The pure Intelligences (the realm of God and the angels).
The bodies of the spheres endowed with permanent forms (the stars).
The transient earthly beings, all of which consist of the same substance.
Guide for the Perplexed, Part 2 11
Of course, we don’t see God as being just in one place. The angels are also able to travel down to earth as God sees fit. And yet, there is a concept that is rooted in various verses that there is a “homebase” of sorts where we view each.
This will help us understand Abarbanel’s question presented in today’s mini-lesson.
Verses
In the year in which King Uziyahu died, I saw the Lord sitting on a high, raised throne, the hem of His clothing filling the Sanctuary.
There were seraphim standing above Him, each with six wings—with two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
And they called out one to another, “Holy, holy, holy—the Lord of Hosts—all the world’s fullness, His glory.”
The door pillars shook with the voice of him who called—and smoke filled the House.
Question
The third question regarding this vision concerns the order in which it is presented.
He begins with the first cause—God—when he says, “I saw the Lord,” then immediately mentions the upper sphere when he says, “the hem of His clothing filling the Sanctuary.” After that, he returns to speak again about the separate beings—who inhabit the upper sphere— saying, “Seraphim standing above Him,” and then once more speaks of the upper sphere, saying, “the door pillars shook,” and so on. Abarbanel attributes the movement of the door pillars as a cosmic reverberation from what was happening in the upper worlds.
But it would have been proper for him to relate everything concerning the separate beings together, and afterward to bring everything concerning the spheres together, and afterward everything concerning the lower world—not to mention them in a mixed and interwoven manner.
Abarbanel’s question is why is the vision presented as:
The first cause, separate beings—the realm of God and the angels “I saw the Lord.”
The sphere—the celestial realm, “the hem of His clothing…”
The first cause, separate beings— “Seraphim standing above Him.”
The sphere— “the door pillars shook.”
It should have mentioned it in order from upper worlds to lower: 1, 3, 2, 4.
Another question which Abarbanel addresses, but doesn’t explicitly ask, is how is it possible for Isaiah to have seen God, when Moshe Rabenu taught: “No man can see Me and live” (Exodus 33:20).
Answers
The prophet further mentioned here that, together with all that he saw of God’s exalted greatness—which no account could possibly contain—he also perceived the lowliness and particularity of His providence.
Concerning this he said, “and the hem of His clothing filling the Sanctuary” meaning that the hem of His garment, which alludes to His actions and His providential governance, fills the Sanctuary, that is, the lower world—or else he intended the Temple Sanctuary, indicating that His influence is directed there.
Clothing is a metaphor for an extension of a person. The idea that God’s hem filled the Sanctuary simply means that God was aware of what is happening in the lower—our—world.
After mentioning this vision in general, he then explained how he saw it—whether he saw and apprehended the First Cause itself, or how this vision should be understood. Thus he said afterward, “Seraphim standing above Him,” and “the door pillars shook,” and so on.
The order of the verses is correct. The vision opens with a general perception—that of God on His throne and the hem of His clothing filling the sanctuary. Then the vision proceeds to detail what was happening—the angels declaring God’s holiness followed by the door pillars shaking.
This means that what he said, “I saw the Lord,” does not mean that he apprehended God Himself, but rather that he apprehended His angels—the separate intellectual beings—who stand first in the kingdom (a play on Esther 1:14), and who are related to Him, that is, caused by Him and receiving influence from Him, blessed be He. He saw them proclaiming holiness in threefold form, as I will explain.
In this way he clarified the statement “I saw the Lord,” and he likewise clarified what he meant by “His train filled the Sanctuary.” He did not mean that God Himself directly moves the lower world without mediation, but rather that the separate beings, whom he saw as emanating from Him, are the movers of the heavenly bodies. This is the meaning of “door pillars shook with the voice of him who called”—for from the motion of the heavens, whatever comes into being in the lower world comes into being. This is the meaning of “and the house was filled with smoke.”
…One should therefore not be astonished by his saying “I saw the Lord,” even though he did not see Him in His essence, but only the beings emanated from Him. For the prophets received their prophecy through an angel, yet they attributed it to God, saying, “And the word of the Lord came to me,” or “And the Lord said to me,” because the agent is mentioned in place of the one who sends him.
So this isn’t a contradiction to “No man can see Me and live” since Isaiah didn’t actually see God. Rather, he perceived the messengers who do God’s will.
Takeaway
I’ve gotta admit, the idea of God operating via angels isn’t how I typically think things work. In our daily life, we say blessings explicitly thanking God. It seems like there is some theological gymnastics we’re actually doing when we respond to someone’s inquiry about how we’re doing with a “Baruch HaShem—Thank God.” In fact, all things are coming via the angels, but God is the author of it all. I tend to just leave the angels out, honestly.
And yet, the angels are part of the warp and weft of our faith. Consider the morning blessings for reciting the Shema. After recognizing the world, its majesty, the cycle of day and night, we switch to focus on how the angels praise God, with the words from these verses in Isaiah, “Holy, holy, holy—the Lord of Hosts; all the world’s fullness is His glory.” And in the next paragraph we switch to:
With an eternal love, You have loved us, Hashem, our God.
God has the most celestial and holy beings possible. Yet, He desired us, humans, with flesh and blood, and souls. The Midrash Tanchuma captures this idea:
The Holy One, Blessed Be He, desired to have a dwelling in the lower worlds.
With all our frailties, all our faults, all our temptations and shortcomings, we are the part of creation that God loves most. God has the angels surrounding Him, and even so, His providence is down here on earth.
And so, the blessing from the morning Shema continues:
The Merciful One, have mercy on us.
Place in our hearts the understanding to reflect, comprehend, listen, learn and teach, guard and do, and fulfill all the words taught in Your Torah with love.