Aggada -- Translations into English; Bible. Old Testament -- Legends; Jewish legends; Midrash -- Translations into English
Moses was still a novice in prophecy, therefore God said to Himself,
"If I reveal Myself to him in loud tones, I shall alarm him, but if I
reveal Myself with a subdued voice, he will hold prophecy in low
esteem," whereupon he addressed him in his father Amram's voice. Moses
was overjoyed to hear his father speak, for it gave him the assurance
that. he was still alive. The voice called his name twice, and he
answered, "Here am I! What is my father's wish?" God replied, saying,
"I am not thy father. I but desired to refrain from terrifying thee,
therefore I spoke with thy father's voice. I am the God of thy father,
the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." These
words rejoiced Moses greatly, for not only was his father Amram's name
pronounced in the same breath with the names of the three Patriarchs,
but it came before theirs, as though he ranked higher than they.
Moses said not a word. In silent reverence before the Divine vision he
covered his face, and when God disclosed the mission with which He
charged him, of bringing the Israelites forth from the land of Egypt,
he answered with humility, "Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh,
and bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?" Thereupon spake
God, "Moses, thou art meek, and I will reward thee for thy modesty. I
will deliver the whole land of Egypt into thine hand, and, besides, I
will let thee ascend unto the throne of My glory, and look upon all the
angels of the heavens."
Hereupon God commanded Metatron, the Angel of the Face, to conduct
Moses to the celestial regions amid the sound of music and song, and He
commanded him furthermore to summon thirty thousand angels, to serve as
his body-guard, fifteen thousand to right of him and fifteen thousand
to left of him. In abject terror Moses asked Metatron, "Who art thou?"
and the angel replied, "I am Enoch, the son of Jared, thy ancestor, and
God has charged me to accompany thee to His throne." But Moses
demurred, saying, "I am but flesh and blood, and I cannot look upon the
countenance of an angel," whereupon Metatron changed Moses' flesh into
torches of fire, his eyes into Merkabah wheels, his strength into an
angel's, and his tongue into a flame, and he took him to heaven with a
retinue of thirty thousand angels, one half moving to right of them and
one half to left of them.
In the first heaven Moses saw streams upon streams of water, and he
observed that the whole heaven consisted of windows, at each of which
angels were stationed. Metatron named and pointed out all the windows
of heaven to him: the window of prayer and the window of supplication;
of weeping and of joy; plenitude and starvation; wealth and poverty;
war and peace; conception and birth; showers and soft rains; sin and
repentance; life and death; pestilence and healing; sickness and
health; and many windows more.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account