Understanding the Will of God through Judaism and Christian Revelation: Exploring these Mysteries and Correlations with Christ
I often hear Christians talk about following God's will over man's. It is a strange word frequently used to express someone’s futurity about their express desire.[i] Sometimes, I feel like I’m in a wrestling match with God. “I want to buy that new sports car,” I ask. His response: “No, you cannot have it.” In this context, God’s Will appears arbitrary and maybe even selfishly motivated. Is He the grand arbitrator up in the sky? My response to the car question: “Why can’t I have it?” His answer: “Because I said so. Next question, please?”
Is this really what constitutes the Will of God? I do not think so. In the Lord’s prayer, we read, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10, NKJV).[ii] Now we begin to see that God’s Will directly correlates with His Kingdom, which is the whole of creation. He has a much bigger picture than we do.
Okay, Lord, have your way on earth as it is in heaven! Yeshua prayed similarly: “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). But what exactly is God’s Will on earth as it is presently in heaven? Let us find out.
I will begin this teaching from a Jewish mystical viewpoint called Kabballah. Now, do not stress out. Kabbalah is nothing more than the collected thoughts of our sages, feeble men curiously exploring the unsearchable God. The essence of their imagination is the “awe and wonder” of Yahweh, the place where that which we know touches the infinite and the unknown. The mystery and the mysticism of God are born in this place. We aim to explore and correlate these mysteries with Christ and His church—God’s revealed secrets.[iii]
Kabbalah comes from the root “to receive,” it stresses that one may not rely on one’s wisdom but only that which is received.[iv] Kabbalah is heavy in symbolism and associations, and each idea can be interpreted and associated in many ways. While I disagree with much, I have also discovered prophetic gems of wisdom buried in the text. I believe these have been imparted to the sages by the Spirit of the Lord because we know that God’s gifts are irrevocable.
It takes careful discernment to utilize the associative process of comparing the rabbinic text with scripture. Therefore, I do not recommend people openly study Kabbalah. My interest is to use some of these associations to help us better understand the spiritual realm, always being careful to reference scripture. When appropriately used, Kabbalah can activate the imagination and human intellect. It is intended to create a feeling of unity by showing how everything within the universe is related to creation's physical and spiritual laws. The world seems truly one and relatively small through the depths of revelation.
In Kabbalah, we learn about the ten attributes of God. These are somewhat different from the seven Spirits of God mentioned in Isaiah chapter eleven and Revelation chapter three. We know that seven is the number of completions associated with this present world, meaning the seven days of creation. Eight is the number of transcendence, inferring beyond this creation. But the number ten, signified by the Hebrew letter yud, which also means hand (yad), is associated with the hand of God.[v] It is written, “The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand [a mighty yad]” (Deuteronomy 6:21).
In Hebrew, the attributes of God are called Sefirot and are said to represent the fingers of God in a metaphorical sense. An attribute is a quality or characteristic ascribed to God. For example, God is kind.[vi] This characteristic is associated with the attribute of Kindness (Sefira Chesed in Hebrew). All the fingers make up the hand, and the hand without the fingers is incomplete.
The ten Sefirot are divided into three upper attributes, collectively called the “head,” and seven lower ones. There are several theories offered as to the meaning of the word Sefira. One suggests it is correlated with the Hebrew root of the word “sefor,” which means number. Sefor is also closely related to the word sefer, which means “book.” Another possible relationship is to the Hebrew word “Sapir,” which implies sapphire or gem. For now, this word remains a mystery.
These attributes are more than abstracts. They are spiritual emanations of God’s infinite light—the Ein Sof. For this reason, these emanations have no physical properties as God is Spirit. They also have a dual nature, as both vessels, meaning they are conduits of God’s light (Kelim) and the essence of God’s light Himself (atzmut). The Rabbis debate whether these emanations have material substance. Are these emanations the essence of God or merely a reflection of His light? We cannot know for sure. Either way, the radiance of God’s light flows through these vessels to reveal God’s light to the creation.
We also see other emanations within the creation in speech and mathematics. Hence, the sages declare the world was created with ten numbers and the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet.[vii] For example, when God said, “Let there be light; and there was light” (Genesis 1:3), the essence of God’s light was poured into the creation. This manifestation was both an emanation of God’s speech, spoken in the Holy Hebrew language, and the appearance of the visible light of God to sustain the creation.[viii] Scripture tells us that God did not create the sun, moon, and stars until the fourth day. So, before they were created, God’s light sustained the creation.
In thinking about the revelation of God to the creation, I believe that the most significant vessel of God’s light and His radiance, through which all creation came into existence, is Christ, the Son of God. It is written, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:3-4); “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Therefore, Yeshua is the hand of God, and His fingers are His attributes.
I find it interesting to see how, in the words of the rabbis, God’s duality of His vessel-essence nature, revealed through His attributes, allows Him to be multiple, yet one. In Christianity, we refer to this duality as the trinity of God (three-in-one): Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, co-equal and co-eternal with each other. It is the great mystery of God’s unity as nothing can exist apart from Him, yet the universe does exist. Before God created the world, there was only God and His name, His unknowable Will. Neither did the emanations of God exist.
Interestingly, the Hebrew words “name” (Shemo) and “will” have the same numerical value. God’s Will is His first and holiest attribute, the Crown (Keter). It is so intrinsic to His essential being that it is believed to have existed before the creation. However, God revealed His Divine attributes (spiritual and physical laws) at the creation, beginning with Wisdom and Understanding, through which He would administer the world. Wisdom is both the beginning of creation and the source of the laws of nature. In other words, Wisdom is the “tool” of God’s Will. It is known by the Hebrew word yesh, which means “being.” Being implies material, formative, or substantive. God created human “beings” from nothing. It gives meaning to the scripture: “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:3).
All of God’s attributes are one with Him and in complete unity with Him. In other words, God is the embodiment of His laws. God’s laws exist because He is. This understanding of God’s absolute and perfect unity gives revelation to the commandment: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!” (Deuteronomy 6:4).
The introduction of God’s Divine attributes to the creation also produced dichotomies, for example, strictness versus kindness, masculinity versus femininity, and freedom of choice versus God’s sovereignty. Good and evil are not dichotomies, as God did not create evil. We know that God is good, and there is no darkness in Him.[ix] However, the dichotomies He created allowed evil to exist and the presence of sin. This dichotomy makes for choice; without it, our decisions would be without moral responsibility. Therefore, God uses all for His glory, both good and evil. As it is written, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
God’s Will is also His unbound intelligence, which, when revealed to creation, is associated with His unrestrained and unlearned knowledge. In other words, God is the knowledge, the knower, and the known. There is nothing He does not know and nothing He must learn. All knowledge is united in His being; with this knowledge, He knows every created thing, as it is written, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5). We must also recognize the difference between God’s infinite light of His unbound Will (God’s unknowable transcendence) and the limited light of His Wisdom and Understanding made known to creation (God’s revealed immanence). It is written, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
The rabbis have strived for the knowledge of God, knowing they are doomed to fail. Paul said, “For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2). However, I believe that we can know God’s revealed Will through the revelation of the Holy Spirit. As Yeshua said, “For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17). God’s revelation is, therefore, for the purpose that we might know Him and His Will. Knowing God requires that we surrender and submit to His Will, thereby accepting His knowledge and wisdom over ours. This teaching will focus on God’s revealed or limited Will, His written word of instruction—the Torah. It is limited because we are finite created beings and not because God has any limitations.
This discussion raises an interesting question. Have you ever wondered why Jesus, considered equal to God, had to learn? It is written, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men” (Luke 2:52). I believe Jesus had to learn because He is the called arm of God (Zeroah) revealed to the world. It is written, “The Lord has made bare His holy arm In the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see The salvation of our God” (Isaiah 52:10).
In other words, God extended His arm into His creation, who is the Christ Jesus, and the revelation of God’s limited Will and concealed light to the creation. As it is written, “Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, And His arm shall rule for Him” (Isaiah 40:10). And because Jesus is the revelation of what is limited to a finite creation, God followed the order of His natural and spiritual laws to reveal Himself to creation. Thus, Jesus had to grow and increase in wisdom and stature to demonstrate how we must do the same. With this understanding, we will now continue with our mystical teaching.
The rabbis tell us that God’s emanating light travels downward from His Crown (His Keter) through His other attributes. In order from top to bottom, these nine other attributes are called Wisdom (Chachmah), Understanding (Binah), Kindness (Chesed), Courage (Gevurah), Glory (Tiferet), Eternity (Netzach), Beauty (Hod), Foundation (Yisod), and lastly, Kingdom (Malchut). These nine attributes, plus God’s attribute of Crown (Keter), can be formed metaphorically into the shape of a man as God is Spirit and has no bodily form. The sages tell us that man was created in the shape of these attributes, namely, as we read, “In His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27).
We will begin our explanation from the lowest attributes, called the lowest world. These six lower attributes (Courage, Glory, Eternity, Beauty, Foundation, and Kingdom) are called the attributes of life (Sefirot Chiyunim). They are also called the six extremes (Shesh, HaKetzavot). It is believed these attributes are associated with the six days of creation, represented by the Hebrew letter vav from the Tetragrammaton, which has a numerical value of six and the number of a man.
The attribute of Kingdom (Malchut) is the lowest of the six attributes and is believed to be correlated with God’s purposed descent of His Kingdom into the world of creation. It is written, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10); “Heaven is My throne [Crown], And earth is My footstool [Kingdom]. What house [Foundation] will you build for Me?” (Isaiah 66:1). Malchut is also thought to represent the Shekinah Glory (Shechina), which is the abiding presence of God in creation. The Shekinah is correlated with the Sabbath (Shabbat) and the lower Garden of Eden (Gan Eden). It is written, “For he who has entered His rest (His Sabbath) has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest [God’s Kingdom], lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:10).
The top three attributes (Crown, Wisdom, and Understanding) correspond with the head of God. They are thought to be associated with “reason” (Sichliyim) and the “spirit of counsel,” as it is written, “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord” (Isaiah 1:18). We have already discussed God’s attribute of Crown (Keter) and explained that this is His unbound Will. Below the Crown is God’s second attribute of Wisdom (Chachmah). Wisdom is called “primal unformed thought,” meaning it is matter without form. Therefore, Wisdom represents the beginning of thought, and the completion of thought is the third attribute of Understanding (Binah).
There is a Jewish tradition of fifty gates of Understanding (Binah) in the world. Fifty is associated with this attribute and is called Jubilee (Yovel). It is also associated with repentance (T’shuva), from the Hebrew word “return,” because in the fiftieth year of the Jubilee, the Jewish people are to return to their ancestral lands of inheritance.
After the attribute of Understanding, all that remains is for God’s thought to be put into action. It is referred to as His Knowledge (Da’at), adding God’s Will to perform an action from His thought that came through His Wisdom. It is written, “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; By understanding He established the heavens” (Proverbs 3:19). Knowledge is an outcome of God’s wisdom and understanding. It is not viewed as a separate attribute of God but rather the emanation of His Will in the lower world of creation. Thus, Knowledge embodies God’s intelligence, comprised of His unbound Will, Wisdom, and Understanding.
The middle attributes, immediately below Will, Wisdom, and Understanding, are called the “attributes of feeling.” These are metaphorically comprised of the heart and the two arms of God. They are also considered extremes (spiritually), with the heart in the middle. Kindness (Chesed) is regarded as the right arm or highest spiritual level, while Courage (Gevurah) is the left arm or lowest level and represents the strictness of the Law (Din). Moving towards the right or upwards implies moving towards Kindness, and moving left or downward means moving towards Courage or strictness. The Psalmist declared: “The world of kindness will build the heavens” (ע֭וֹלָם חֶ֣סֶד יִבָּנֶ֑ה שָׁמַ֓יִם), also translated as “The world will be built with Kindness.” This verse shows the correlation between the highest and lowest spiritual realms.
In the New Testament, we read about this correlation (or contrast) between God’s kindness and His strictness. It is written, “Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness” (Romans 11:22). “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came [down from heaven] through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:33). And yet we know that Yeshua did not do away with the Law of Moses. He came to fulfill it, saying, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).
In Judaism, we learn that God’s strict Law and His kindness are tempered in His heart, which is His love. This intermediate sweetening quality at the center of God’s attributes is called Mercy (Rachamim), or in Christian terms, it is termed Grace. One attribute requires the other, meaning we cannot experience God’s love and mercy unless He strictly deals with our sinfulness. It is written, “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin” (Isaiah 53:10).
Therefore, we can associate Jesus Christ, Yeshua, as the soul and heart of God revealed to humanity. And God’s soul and heart emanate His love for us. As it is written, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). For this reason, the righteous in Christ declares: “I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8).
God’s Law is perfect, as it is written, “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul” (Psalm 19:7), and He has promised to write His Law on our hearts and minds, as the Lord declared: “I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). And what is this Law? I believe it is the Divine attributes (the Sefirot) of God. In other words, God’s Will for us is that we become the perfect image of Christ. With this understanding, let us now associate scripture with these ten attributes and see how they reveal the mystery of Christ and our inheritance and nature (as the church), now shown in Him:
We have covered a lot of ground, explaining as best I can how God’s nature and His attributes, His Sefirot, reveal God’s perfect Will in our lives. In summary, God’s Will is essentially His intelligence, which is His wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. These are things He has made known to us through His written word.
Returning to our first scenario, where I mentioned wanting to buy a sports car, I am not sure the Lord had an opinion about what car I should drive. The same could be said for what style and color of clothing we wear or what we should eat for dinner. God’s Will does not violate our freedom of choice, and I believe the Lord delights in us experiencing the bounty and diversity of His creation. Your spouse, on the other hand, might have a different opinion about the sports car.
I have also found that some Christians have a crippling and, on occasion, misguided understanding of God’s Will for their life. Some have even said they believe God wants them to divorce their spouse because He has a better person for them. That statement alone violates God’s law of marriage, adultery being the exception. It also defiles the holiness and sanctification He requires of married people, even to an unbelieving spouse.[x] If we understand, once again, that God’s Will is predicated on His infinite knowledge, wisdom, and understanding of each circumstance in our lives, then following His Will requires us to seek His understanding from scripture and submit to it. Hence, it is written, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). This understanding is bound by God’s written word, which is also His laws.
For example, we know that God created mankind in His image, male and female; he created us. When we violate God’s knowledge concerning our sexuality, we end up outside of His Will. For this reason, Paul said, “God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting” (Romans 1:28). God’s Will is that we keep ourselves pure and holy, as it is written, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust…” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5).
God’s law reveals to us what is morally right or wrong. Paul said, “Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, ‘You shall not covet’” (Romans 7:7).
In Judaism, there are 620 written commandments. This number, in gematria, is the numerical value of the Hebrew word for Crown (Keter). A Crown is placed on top of every Torah scroll as it is one of the most important symbols of our connection with God.[xi] It is written, “There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:8). As Christ is the fulfillment of the Torah and the Law, His crown of righteousness is laid up and now imputed to us.
God’s laws give us the knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, which is the Crown (Keter) of His righteousness so that we might follow what is truthful in our lives and turn away from ungodliness. Thus, it is written, “Lord, who may abide in Your tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart” (Psalm 15:1-2).
God’s Will is further revealed through the gospel of salvation. For it is written, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). And yet, we know that many will trust their own wisdom and knowledge concerning salvation. It is written, “But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him” (Luke 7:30). “[For] God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty” (1 Corinthians 1:27).
Paul goes on to say, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). Therefore, he said, “Do not be wise in your own opinion [understanding]” (Romans 12:16). We cannot understand God’s unbound and unknowable Will, and He does not expect us to. The Lord only desires that we pursue Him and His revealed Will in our lives, as it is written, “Let us know, Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord” (Hosea 6:3); “I applied my heart to know, To search and seek out wisdom and the reason of things” (Ecclesiastes 7:25). God’s “reason of things” should include how God ordains our lives and orders our footsteps.
It is not wrong to seek the Lord’s counsel on any decision we face, even whether to buy a sports car. I have asked the Lord for direction many times, and I know that my Father loves to guide his children. However, I do not believe the Lord holds us by invisible strings, manipulating us for His selfish gain. We are given many choices, and our decisions, if made within God’s revealed truth and boundaries of His written word, are for us to make. For example, who we marry or how many children we should have. These are personal choice decisions given to humanity. And we are reminded that in Christ, there is no condemnation, none.[xii]
Yes, it is written, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way” (Psalm 37:23). But ordered for what purpose? Yeshua said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). “For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother” (Mark 3:35). Yeshua is telling us that we are to do what is right in the Lord’s eyes; as it is written, “To do righteousness and justice Is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice” (Proverbs 21:3). And when we do what is right, we will always be in God’s Will.
It is written, “I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). “[For] He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8); “For I, the Lord, love justice” (Isaiah 61:8); “You who love the Lord, hate evil!” (Psalm 97:10). These are the Will of God. Yeshua said, “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:44). This is the Will of God.
It is written, “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). It is the Will of God, and in fact, every day we walk with the Lord is an opportunity to demonstrate His good Will to a world that does not know Him. One day soon, the Lord promised that the whole earth would know His Him and His Will. It will be God’s Knowledge revealed through the indwelling presence of Christ on the earth, as it is written, “For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:9).
And the Kingdom of God shall be established in Israel and all the nations. And “Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3). We, the church, are being perfected by the Will of God. Day by day, He is conforming us to His image, “To the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). Therefore, let us “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Ephesians 4:23).
I love the story in Genesis of how God formed Adam from the dust of the earth. God formed him with His two hands and ten fingers.[xiii] Here, we see how God’s hand and His ten fingers, His ten attributes (Sefirot), are now conforming us to the image of His Son. It is the Will of God. And so, I pray, “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints” (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13).
[i] Merriam Webster.
[ii] All Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Bible (NKJV) unless otherwise noted, Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982.
[iii] Ephesians 5:32.
[iv] Glotzer, Leonard R. The Fundamentals of Jewish Mysticism: The Book of Creation and Its Commentaries. Jason Aronson, Inc. 1992.
[v] Rabbi Raskin, Aaron. Yod. Chabad.org.
[vi] Psalm 31:21.
[vii] Glotzer, Leonard R. The Fundamentals of Jewish Mysticism: The Book of Creation and Its Commentaries. Jason Aronson, Inc. 1992.
[viii] All languages are translations of reality, except for the Holy Tongue, which is the language of reality itself (The Fundamentals of Jewish Mysticism. Glotzer, Leonard R.).
[ix] 1 John 1:5.
[x] 1 Corinthians 7:10-16.
[xi] Rabbi Blech, Benjamin. God and the Coronavirus. Aish.com.
[xii] Romans 8:1.
[xiii] Genesis 2:7.