The vision of the burning bush appeared to Moses alone; the other
shepherds with him saw nothing of it. He took five steps in the
direction of the bush, to view it at close range, and when God beheld
the countenance of Moses distorted by grief and anxiety over Israel's
suffering, He spake, "This one is worthy of the office of pasturing My
people."[116]
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.
In the second heaven Moses saw the angel Nuriel, standing three hundred
parasangs high, with his retinue of fifty myriads of angels, all
fashioned out of water and fire, and all keeping their faces turned
toward the Shekinah while they sang a song of praise to God. Metatron
explained to Moses, that these were the angels set over the clouds, the
winds, and the rains, who return speedily, as soon as they have
executed the will of their Creator, to their station in the second of
the heavens, there to proclaim the praise of God.
In the third heaven Moses saw an angel, so tall it would take a human
being five hundred years to climb to his height. He had seventy
thousand heads, each head having as many mouths, each mouth as many
tongues, and each tongue as many sayings, and he together with his
suite of seventy thousand myriads of angels made of white fire praised
and extolled the Lord. "These," said Metatron to Moses, "are called
Erelim, and they are appointed over the grass, the trees, the fruits,
and the grain, but as soon as they have done the will of their Creator,
they return to the place assigned to them, and praise God."
In the fourth heaven Moses saw a Temple, the pillars thereof made of
red fire, the staves of green fire, the thresholds of white fire, the
boards and clasps of flaming fire, the gates of carbuncles, and the
pinnacles of rubies. Angels were entering the Temple and giving praise
to God there. In response to a question from Moses Metatron told him
that they presided over the earth, the sun, the moon, the stars, and
the other celestial bodies. and all of them intone songs before God. In
this heaven Moses noticed also the two great planets, Venus and Mars,
each as large as the whole earth, and concerning these he asked unto
what purpose they had been created. Metatron explained thereupon, that
Venus lies upon the sun to cool him off in summer, else he would scorch
the earth, and Mars lies upon the moon, to impart warmth to her, lest
she freeze the earth.
Arrived in the fifth heaven, Moses saw hosts of angels, whose nether
parts were of snow and their upper parts of fire, and yet the snow did
not melt nor was the fire extinguished, for God had established perfect
harmony between the two elements. These angels, called Ishim, have had
nothing to do since the day of their creation but praise and extol the
Lord.
In the sixth of the heavens were millions and myriads of angels
praising God, they were called 'Irin and kadishim, "Watchers" and "Holy
Ones," and their chief was made of hail, and he was so tall, it would
take five hundred years to walk a distance equal to his height.
In the last heaven Moses saw two angels, each five hundred parasangs in
height, forged out of chains of black fire and red fire, the angels Af,
"Anger," and Hemah, "Wrath," whom God created at the beginning of the
world, to execute His will. Moses was disquieted when he looked upon
them, but Metatron embraced him, and said, "Moses, Moses, thou favorite
of God, fear not, and be not terrified," and Moses became calm. There
was another angel in the seventh heaven, different in appearance from
all the others, and of frightful mien. His height was so great, it
would have taken five hundred years to cover a distance equal to it,
and from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet he was studded
with glaring eyes, at the sight of which the beholder fell prostrate in
awe. "This one," said Metatron, addressing Moses, "is Samael, who takes
the soul away from man." "Whither goes he now?" asked Moses, and
Metatron replied, "To fetch the soul of Job the pious." Thereupon Moses
prayed to God in these words, "O may it be Thy will, my God and the God
of my fathers, not to let me fall into the hands of this angel."
Here, in the highest heaven, he saw also the seraphim with their six
wings. With two they cover their face, that they gaze not upon the
Shekinah; and with two their feet, which, being like a calf's feet,
they hide, to keep secret Israel's transgression of the golden calf.
With the third pair of wings they fly and do the service of the Lord,
all the while exclaiming, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the
whole earth is full of His glory." The wings of these angels are of
prodigious size, it would take a man five hundred years to traverse
their length and their breadth, as from one end of the earth to the
other.
And Moses saw in the seventh heaven the holy Hayyot, which support the
throne of God; and he beheld also the angel Zagzagel, the prince of the
Torah and of wisdom, who teaches the Torah in seventy languages to the
souls of men, and thereafter they cherish the precepts contained
therein as laws revealed by God to Moses on Sinai. From this angel with
the horns of glory Moses himself learnt all the ten mysteries."
Having seen what there is in the seven heavens, he spoke to God,
saying, "I will not leave the heavens unless Thou grantest me a gift,"
and God replied, "I will give thee the Torah, and men shall call it the
Law of Moses."[117]