I was studying this week's Parasha section from The Zohar (Ki Tetze) and ran into something really interesting that corresponds to the The Central Path of Spiritual Perfection, that I recently made an in depth post about.
Please refer to that post here, if you've not read it already:
The GREAT HAND (Right Hand)
On DAY ONE of CREATION - LIGHT is Mentioned 5 Times corresponding the 5 Fingers of THE RIGHT HAND of MERCY (called THE GREAT HAND)
Yom Echad ( יום אחד )
Day One
Ohr ( אור ) "Light"
Mentioned Five Times
"And God said, Let there be Light: and there was Light.
And God saw the Light, that it was good: and God divided the Light from the darkness.
And God called the Light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." - Genesis 1:3-5
The STRONG HAND (Left Hand)
On DAY TWO of CREATION - FIRMAMENT is Mentioned 5 Times - corresponding to the 5 Fingers of THE LEFT HAND of JUDGMENT (called THE STRONG HAND)
Yom Sheni ( יום שני )
Second Day
Raqia ( רקיע ) "Firmament" or "Expanse"
Mentioned Five Times
"And God said, Let there be a Firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the Firmament, and divided the waters which were under the Firmament from the waters which were above the Firmament: and it was so.
And God called the Firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day." - Genesis 1:6-8
The HIGH HAND (Central Column)
The HIGH HAND is THE CENTRAL COLUMN - and these Five correspond to The Body, The Two Arms and The Two Legs - The Sefer Zohar also refers to this as the "Third Hand"
We are told in Exodus that B'Nai Yisrael (The Children of Israel) "went out with an "HIGH HAND"
"And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel: and the children of Israel went out with an HIGH HAND." - Exodus 14:8
When we add these three 5's up (which correspond to The Great Hand, The Strong Hand and The High Hand) we get a total of 15, which is the Numeric Value of Yah ( יה / LORD). This is the name "Yah" ( יה ) as in "HalleluYah” ( הללו יה ) or Praise YAH (which literally means Praise The LORD).
5 + 5 + 5 = 15
15 = Yah ( יה )
As I was studying all of this and putting all of these pieces together, I was shown a deeper understanding of these three paths and how they correspond with the conversation that Yeshua with The Two Thieves, One to His Left and One to His Right.
This position of the the two thieves to the left and to the right are established in all four Gospels.
"Then were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another on the left." - Matthew 27:38
"Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him.
And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left." - Luke 23:32-33
"And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left." - Mark 15:27
"There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them." - John 19:18
I believe the Left and Right Hand positions of these the two thieves are very significant. The Gospel of Luke goes on to document the conversation that Yeshua had with these two thieves.
"One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?
And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”
And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Luke 23:39-43
So what we can see from what the scripture tells us is that one of the thieves mocked Yeshua and told him to prove himself as The Messiah (Christ) and to save himself and to save his own physical life; while the other thief admitted his own guilt and asked Yeshua to save his soul. Though the text doesn't explicitly state which thief said what, I think that the one of the left is most likely the one who mocked him and the one on the right humbled himself and admitted his guilt. The path of the left hand side is the selfish path of arrogance and the right hand path is the selfless path of humility. Regardless of which thief was on which side, we can surely see deduce that the perfection was in The Center, as all four gospels agree that's where Yeshua was located. This all alludes to that Central Path of Spiritual Perfection that represented by Yeshua who was The Teacher.
"And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ.
But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.
And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Matthew 23:10-12
As I was researching all of this, something told me to look deeper into the Greek Isopsephy Value of The Cross of Jesus; and of course, I found The Creator's Dive Fingerprint of 37.
Check out my ever growing post of this mystical number 37 and how it can observed throughout the Hebrew and Greek scriptures:
τῷ σταυρῷ Ἰησοῦ
Total Numeric Value
3589 (or 37 x 97)
The Cross of Jesus
If that weren't significant enough, just look at the the amazing literal message that the Numeric Value of The Hebrew translation of "The Cross of Yeshua" gives us!
צלב ישוע
The Cross of Yeshua (Jesus)
Total Numeric Value 508
בשרו
His Flesh
Total Numeric Value 508
שבור
Is Broken
Total Numeric Value 508
כחטאתיכם
As Your Sins
Total Numeric Value 508
סלחתי
I Forgave
Total Numeric Value 508
Although I do find some light in some apocryphal texts, I don't put too much emphasis on them. I truly don't believe them to be as inspired as the 66 Books that make up The Holy Bible (which correspond to The 66 Chapters of Isaiah) - although I have found some interesting truths in them here and there. According to The Gospel of Nicodemus (also known as the Acts of Pilate), these two thieves on either side of Yeshua are actually named Dimas (or Dysmas) and Gestas. The Gospel of Nicodemus is an apocryphal gospel derived from an original Hebrew work, attributed to Nicodemus, and is dated around the 4th or 5th century A.D. We know Nicodemus from The Gospel of John, where he has a dialog with Yeshua and is mentioned there by name in Chapter 3. In this apocryphal gospel Dimas, the penitent thief, was said to be on the one at the right hand side of Yeshua. This is an accepted teaching in the Catholic Faith and is alluded to in many early artworks as well, as shown below.
"And in like manner did they to the two thieves who were crucified with him, Dimas on his right hand and Gestas on his left." - Nicodemus 7:3
"But the thief who was crucified on his right hand, whose name was Dimas, answering, rebuked him, and said, Dost not thou fear God, who art condemned to this punishment? We indeed receive rightly and justly the demerit of our actions; but this Jesus, what evil hath he done?" - Nicodemus 7:11
Though we should all strive to keep HaShem's Torah and follow His Laws, there is nothing that we can do to save ourselves. Only though our Faith in Yeshua can we find eternal life and are given Salvation, which is the literal meaning His Name. The Torah was given in order to teach us right from wrong and it is our true moral compass. Observance of The Torah gives us spiritual purity and enables G*d to dwell with us on this earth and gives us Shalom (Peace). We see that this thief (said to be known as Dimas), who was on Yeshua's Right Hand Side, confessed his sin and humbled himself; thus was given a ticket to paradise. If there is one thing that is extremely clear throughout scripture is that we must humble ourselves to gain G*d's favor.
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land." - 2 Chronicles 7:14
"He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way." - Psalms 25:9
"For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with victory." - Psalms 149:4
"He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed." - Proverbs 3:34
"When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." - Proverbs 11:2
"Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the LORD, and humility comes before honor." - Proverbs 15:33
"Before a downfall the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor." - Proverbs 18:12
"Humility is the fear of the LORD; its wages are riches and honor and life." - Proverbs 22:4
"Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips." - Proverbs 27:2
"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." - Micah 6:8
"Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." - Colossians 3:12
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love." - Ephesians 4:2
"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." - James 4:10
"In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” - 1 Peter 5:5
חסד ושלום עליכם והרבה אהבה וברכות
May Grace and Peace Be Upon You and Much Love and Blessings!
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