Malkuth, the Church at
Ephesus
Back in the Wilderness:
and the Rough Places, Plain
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When Kether is the point of origin in study
of the sephiroth, Malkuth is understood as fruition; but when
Malkuth is the beginning focus, Kether is best understood as
conception. Kether and Malkuth appear, visually, to stand at
opposite ends of a continuum; in fact, however, they are more
like a single point located on a circle, the number of degrees
being represented by that point-- its value, or significance--
being determined chiefly by the direction of one's approach in
the illusory dynamic of time.
The linear aspect of the inward journey from
Malkuth to Kether is experienced by our minds; the circular aspect,
by our spirits. The close relationship between the two spheres
is understood even in their names: Malkuth is translated as "Kingdom"
and is often associated with the tribe of Ephrayim; Kether is
rendered as "Crown," in association with Judah.
Ten (Malkuth) is, after all, another order
of One (Kether); and in various studies throughout the centuries,
several Adam Kadmons have been stacked, one above another, to
signify progressive revelation, with Malkuth and Kether interchanging
at successive levels of symbolic thought. This tradition recalls
the Isaiah precept, HaShem's word to them was "here a little,
and there a little."
In the ascending progression, which moves
from thoughts of the created order to meditations upon the nature
of Elohim, the student advances from Malkuth to Kether, finding
in Kether insights that generate understanding to form a renewed
and richer Malkuth, from which to proceed again. In the descending
progression, which moves from conceptions of Elohim to conclusions
on the nature of His creation, Malkuth transforms into another
order of Kether, bringing new understandings of Elohim.
Using Malkuth as point of departure, we focus
upon revelations of the first Adam, as known in our mortal tabernacles,
seeking understanding of corollary implications for our walk
in the second Adam. The Sephiroth are also known as "emanations,"
or "pourings forth of Light." As Malkuth is the root,
or lowermost manifestation, of the Tree of Life, we consider
our bodies to discover the lowermost member responsible for the
manifestation of the physiological equivalent of light, or because
of which is routinely generated conscious, motivational thought:
equating that member, and its functions, with Malkuth.
We adopt this procedure because of the unity
of scriptural imagery: the menorah, or "candlestick,"
of the tabernacle of Moses is the prototype for both the seven
candlesticks of the message to the churches of Asia and, in a
mystery, for the ten silver and ten golden candlesticks of the
temple built by Solomon.
The revelation to Moses is that these seven
lights are branches of one holder; the revelation to John is
that the lights are perceived as functioning individually, being
united in the High Priest who both holds and moves among their
lights, and whose Father is the Light thereof.
That it is possible for the candlesticks to
be removed out of their places (compare, "if thy right eye
offend thee"), connects this imagery loosely with Paul's
teachings on the wild (silver) branches and the natural (golden)
branches of the olive tree, a symbol of the Life Tree as revealed
in Man, the Temple of Elohim.
The wild olive's branches are the ten silver
candlesticks of Solomon's Temple, whose place was not specified
in that revelation. The natural olive's branches are the ten
golden candlesticks, which served to light the way into the holy
of holies, proper home of the true Menorah. In Messiah, both
the wild and natural olive branches are grafted into the Eternal
Olive, the Tree of Light, which Light is the Life of men.
As there is but one Church-- one Menorah,
one united Olive Tree, one Body-- and as the messages are sent
to the seven churches that are in Asia, we conclude that Asia,
lair of the fabled Dragon, is a symbol of the libidinal attributes
of the flesh, and that the individual churches of Asia are symbolic
of the physical forms and faculties housed by the flesh-- by
earth. The flesh may be weak, but it is not unholy; for the flesh
is also the Temple in which the Church congregates to worship
Elohim.
When the messages actually begin, moreover,
it is not the churches, or body faculties, that are addressed
directly, but the angel of the church assembled at each city,
or dominion, of Asia. As the manifested existence of angels is
in heavenly realms, the angel of each church of Asia is interpreted
as being equivalent to that portion of the unconscious mind exercising
control or spiritual oversight upon the locale entrusted to its
supervision-- upon those forms and faculties in its domain.
That the angels are addressed and that the
churches are all invited to hear interiorizes the teaching by
Paul, "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."
We do not imply that the angels of the churches of Asia are wicked,
but that they are subject to wickedness as they succumb to the
gravitational pull of lower, subterranean realms, forgetting
their place of origin and their ultimate destiny.
The same judgment applies to the forms and
functions ministered to by the angels of the churches of Asia
as to the angels themselves: there is no wickedness in the flesh
itself; nor, necessarily, in the exercise of its faculties (as
supposed by the Nicolaitans, who practiced a rigid asceticism
that indirectly accuses the wisdom of the Creator in providing
His creatures with such troublesome dynamisms as are found in
the flesh), but only in the uses to which the flesh may be subjected
at the instigation of a faulty will or under the magnetism of
a faulty inclination.
Human will is a faculty that operates as from
below, and inclination is a force exerted as from above. The
ancient maxim applies: as above, so below; and, inversely, as
below, so above (compare Mt. 18:18). The act of will is answered
by increase of inclination, whether according to the law of sin
unto death or to the law of redemption under grace unto eternal
life.
In his message to Ephesus, Yahushúa
both commends and criticizes the fidelity of the libidinal angel,
speaking through him to the congregations of all of Asia, which
churches we have interpreted as representing the collective forms,
functions, and faculties of the human body. The roots of fidelity
among humans are found in the reproductive organs and in the
emotional and intellectual complexes involved therein. The judgment,
"thou hast left thy first love," positions the axe
head precisely at the root of the Life Tree in each of us. This
root is Malkuth, the bridal chamber.
Even so, baptism into Messiah is as a wedding,
making of twain a new man: wherefore they are no more two, but
one flesh-- one Body. The fruition of that union is as a birth--
the emergence of One. In birth, the head is presented first,
in the process called "crowning." Again, we see the
close relationship of the spheres Malkuth and Kether.
If we die daily to the isolation of sin that
Messiah may be born anew in us, we also are resurrected daily
into His life. It is this daily sacrifice of self and daily rebirth
that builds faithfulness in the chamber of Malkuth. As we renew
fidelity in Ephesus, the allegiance of the angel is assured;
for he will be bound by the strength of proper nourishment flowing
into the tree from its roots.
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