Hebrew Vision News Exclusive
by Miykael Qorbanyahu aka The End Time Scribe
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And יהוה Elohim planted a garden in Ěḏen, to the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed.
Genesis 2.8
Trust in יהוה, and do good; Dwell in the earth, and feed on steadfastness. And delight yourself in יהוה, And let Him give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to יהוה, And trust in Him, and He does it. And He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your right-ruling as midday.
Psalm 37.3-6
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, For your loves are better than wine. For fragrance your oils are good. Your name is oil poured forth, Therefore the maidens love you. Draw me! We run after you. The sovereign has brought me into his inner rooms. We exult and rejoice in you. We praise your loves more than wine. Rightly do they love you.
Song of Solomon 2.4
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Remember falling in love with that one person who you knew was the right one, created just for you?
Remember the late night conversations, the getting to know each other stage where you felt so open…so alive…so present…so attentive to the little things that it was as if you could read their mind and finish their sentences for them?
Remember the connection that you built with them; the shared thoughts expressed to one another as you both simultaneously receive each others text messages.
Remember the stares in silence when each of your eyes spoke volumes to one another?
There were feelings of rapturous joy, ease, confidence, peace, harmony along with a vibrancy that no one could shake off you.
You had that fire in your eyes and a light about your countenance shining so bright that any random stranger could see that there was something within you that caused you to brilliantly shine.
There was nothing that could penetrate the aura that you and your significant other had created.
Remember the pleasure you experienced when the two of you became one and the intense connection that you both established was elevated even higher?
And what is more is that there is an ever greater connection in life that awaits for us to discover found within ourselves that will ultimately connect us with the most profound and everlasting pleasure that there is in existence!
Pleasure, in the conventional sense, is usually understood as a physical form of enjoyment, satisfaction, gratification or delight so as derived from some sensual indulgence. When we typically think of experiencing pleasure we tend to associate it with a sexual act of some sort. This is because we have become accustomed to relate pleasure to sensuality and intimacy between two individuals who have a mutual fondness or attraction to and for one another. While pleasure can be derived from this type of intimacy, there is another form of pleasure that transcends that of the physical and requires us to readjust our sensory perceptors in order to experience a more ethereal encounter.
In the Torah, we find that the first mentioning of the word pleasure is found in the second chapter of Genesis; that word is Eden/עֲדָנִים, which is the name of the location of the Garden that Yah planted in the East where he placed Adam. The meaning of this word, taken from the Hebraic root word adan/עָדַן, carries the denotation of delicate, delight, pleasure. The connotation of the use of the word pleasure in association with the role of b’nai Adam/son of Man, as relates to our active engagement in reproducing the reflection of the image and likeness in which we were made in order to reign over the earth in righteousness, is that it is to be a most pleasurable experience in bringing the revelation of the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
In the Psalms, the psalmist writes of the pleasure of serving יהוה when he writes
Oh, taste and see that יהוה is good; blessed is the man that takes refuge in Him!
Psalm 34.8
Being that pleasure is a sensation, the psalmist in this passage invokes the language of pleasure related to the palate of man in order to capture the sentiment of what perceiving the joys and satisfaction that is derived from engaging in the service and worship of יהוה yields. The ability to perceive through the senses is reinforced in the passage as the perception of sight is added to the verse which further emphasizes the quality of experience that one encounters when engaged in intimate, covenant relationship with יהוה. When this perception is processed, the psalmist informs us that the experience one derives from their connection with יהוה is qualitatively pleasurable. There is also a protective quality that one is afforded when one is enraptured in the Shekinah presence of יהוה. The receiving of pleasure in the service of is again confirmed by the psalmist who records these words:
Praise Yah! I thank יהוה with all my heart, in the company of the straight, and of the congregation. Great are the works of יהוה, searched for by all who delight in them.
Psalm 111.1-2
While the search for pleasure is rarely thought of as a spiritual pursuit, the quest to experience it is regularly thought of as a secular matter. Pleasure is rarely thought of as something that someone can experience in a sublime state because of our sensual associations of it with fleshly gratifications. So powerful is the experience of pleasure that it becomes apparent that pleasure oftentimes overrides the intellect and becomes the motivating force in our decision making process. In fact, according to an article from the UK Daily Mail, the pursuit of pleasure has been proven by clinicians to determine choices, both major and minor, in most areas of life for humanity. Related to hedonism, or the philosophy that the experience of pleasure is the highest good in life, scientists from University College London produced their findings in the Current Biology journal that
Understanding how hedonic expectations are formed is critical both for understanding human action, which is largely driven by estimations of future pleasure and pain, and for understanding how pleasure expectation can go awry in a multitude of neuropsychiatric disorders that implicate dopamine, such as drug addiction. ‘The current study highlights the neurobiological basis of this key aspect of human behaviour, providing direct evidence of a critical role for dopamine in modulating the subjective pleasure expected to be derived from future life events.’
Studies suggest that high levels of pleasure would…compromise your ability to think logically (Forgas 2007) and make sound decisions (Cyders & Smith 2008; Martin et al. 2002).
But understand this, that in the last days hard times will come—for people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, hardhearted, unforgiving, backbiting, without self-control, brutal, hating what is good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to an outward form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid these people! For among these are those who slip into households and deceive weak women weighed down with sins, led away by various desires, always learning yet never able to come to the knowledge of truth.
2 Timothy 3.1-7
If you turn back your foot from Shabbat, from doing your pleasure on My set-apart day, and call Shabbat a delight, the set-apart day of יהוה honorable, if you honor it, not going your own ways, not seeking your own pleasure, nor speaking your usual speech, then You will delight yourself in יהוה, and I will let you ride over the heights of the earth, I will feed you with the heritage of your father Jacob.
Isaiah 58.13-14
It is this innerstanding that allows for one to experience the true meaning of pleasure in life. As was just stated, the ultimate reality of pleasure is found in the act of serving יהוה in Spirit and Truth which then yields the peaceable fruit of eternal life. It is this life that humanity unknowingly seeks, as the five senses that are given to us are to activate the sixth sense of the mind’s eye so that we are able to connect with the unseen, eternal realms of existence. It is here where we are able to experience the unbound and limitless intensity of divine pleasure. More powerful than orgasms and the act of reproduction, divine pleasure is what allows the marriage of heaven and earth to occur. It is this pleasure that redefines our experience as humans and allows us to become the bride of Zion that we were intended to be; reflective of the image and likeness of our bridegroom; in one flesh and in one spirit. However, the conditions that make this reality possible hinges on our discerning the difference between the carnal and spiritual pleasures that exist. We find this matter philosophically elaborated on in the book of 4 Maccabees where the writer sets out to provide us with a most prolific delineation between the two types of pleasures that exist. It is upon these grounds that we will be able to bring forth the fruits of life so as derived from experiencing pleasure in Spirit and Truth. As it is written,
I’m about to prove a most important philosophical principle: godly thinking is supreme over emotions and desires. I would be giving you good advice then to pay close attention to philosophy. This principle is essential for knowing what to do in every situation, and it also includes the praise of the highest moral trait—I’m talking about good judgment. Therefore, if clear thinking is shown to control the emotions that prevent self-control, such as the tendency to overeat and rampant desire, then it is clear that it also rules the emotions that prevent us from acting in a just way, such as ill will, and those emotions that prevent us from acting with courage, such as anger, fear, and pain. Perhaps some people would object: “If clear thinking can control emotions, why doesn’t it do away with memory loss and ignorance?” But that’s just ridiculous. The mind doesn’t have control over such things, but it controls the emotions and desires that resist justice, courage, and self-control. And it does this so that we won’t surrender to the emotions, not in order to destroy them.
4 Maccabees 1.1-6
Ultimately, the matter of experiencing true pleasure is about becoming altruistic. For it is in the process of becoming selfless that one is able to experience transcendent pleasure due to sharing love outside of oneself. As our Father and King exemplified the true nature of love and pleasure by offering up His greatest gift in the form of His uniquely begotten Son, so too are we to embody the selflessness of love and sacrifice in order to encounter the hidden and true reality of pleasure. Our example in this matter is, in fact, the Son Himself, who in the face of His most passionate and challenging ordeal, denied himself and his desire for the will of יהוה. It was in this sublimation of His will that brought forth a delayed gratification of pleasure which resulted in the proliferation of life in a way that no eye has ever seen, nor any ear ever heard. For this is that of which true pleasure consists; service from the heart, based in eternal Truth, established on the Torah of יהוה, embodied in the person of Mashiyach, manifested in soul of every member of the household of faith, united in the bond of perfect love for the pleasure of experiencing life abundantly.
Then I said, “See, I have come; In the scroll of the Book it is prescribed for me. I have delighted to do Your pleasure, O my Elohim, And Your Torah is within my heart.”
Psalm 40.6-7
Selah…
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This blog was… how do you say it? Relevant!! Finally I have found something which helped me. Thanks!
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