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Excerpt from Lesson Four: Prophecy
LESSON OUTLINE
- Introduction to Prophetic Experience
- The Prophetic Experience
- Prophetic Limitations - Location & Time
- "Sub-Prophetic" Levels of Divine Communication
The Prophetic Experience
Rabbi Yehudah Ha’Levi (1080-1145, Spain), Maimonides (1135-1204,
North Africa – Egypt) and Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzatto (1707-1747, Italy)
discuss various aspects of the prophetic experience:
Rabbi Ha’Levi (Book of the Khazar, Section 1, ch. 103),
Maimonides (Book One of Mishnah Torah: Fundamentals &
Principles, ch. 7), and Rabbi Luzatto (The Way of G-d,
Section 3, chapters 3-4):
The Essence of Prophecy:
Any person, whether man or woman, who achieves a state of prophecy, has reached a high
level of human perfection, a level at which one binds oneself to G-d. The prophet feels
the spiritually rewarding feeling of connection to G-d (akin to the spiritual reward of
the World to Come), being fully as sure of it as he would be sure of having observed a
physical object with his physical senses. During a prophetic experience, one also learns
many lofty truths about G-d’s hidden mysteries of Creation.
Preparation for Prophecy:
Attaining a high level of prophetic experience is a gradual process, one that requires
the guidance of a recognized, well-established prophet. Those who would learn from that
prophet in the hopes of themselves achieving a state of prophecy must serve in a
prolonged, intense period of apprenticeship under the master. It is important to note that
no amount of effort can ensure anyone that he will achieve prophetic experience; G-d alone
determines if, when and how anyone will experience prophecy. Like other disciplines, the
"student" must advance step-by-step, until he has mastered prophetic techniques.
The established prophet who guides him must possess adequate knowledge and understanding
of prophetic ways, and must therefore teach each student according to his own level of
advancement.
The Bible is replete with references to such "disciples of prophets" (e.g.,
Kings II ch. 2). These disciples dedicate themselves exclusively to the intense
discipline of prophetic techniques, in order to bring G-d’s influence upon them and
to overcome the natural human barriers to Divine communication that are created by their
physical condition: The fact that the soul is encased in – and encumbered by –
the physical body, makes it very difficult for man to achieve prophecy; hence the rigid
discipline that is necessary to raise one’s entire being – physical and spiritual
– to a level of extreme closeness to G-d. In addition to a regimen of purifying
themselves physically, students of prophecy engage in a variety of meditations, prayers
and pronouncements, to achieve a heightened state of spiritual sensitivity and awareness.
Even after a student begins to experience Divine revelations, the master continues to
guide him toward achieving ever-higher levels of prophecy. Depending upon the type of
revelation the student has already achieved, the master instructs him to help him reach
still higher levels of revelation and experience of G-d’s Presence.
Achieving Full Prophetic Vision:
One can engage in all the proper preparations for prophetic experience, yet never
achieve prophecy, although such a person will certainly achieve a very high spiritual
level. Even if someone does achieve full prophecy, he may reach any of the innumerable
quantitative and qualitative levels and degrees of prophecy: quantitatively – a
prophet may prophesy many times, or he may prophesy only once in his life; qualitatively
– each prophet achieves a different level of closeness to G-d, which will result in a
higher or a lower degree of revelation. Yet, if indeed he has succeeded in attaining a
level of prophecy, whatever that level may be, he is clearly and powerfully aware of his
unique attachment to G-d.
Physical Effects of Prophecy:
During a prophetic vision, the prophet is greatly overwhelmed. His body and all his
limbs immediately begin to tremble, and he feels as if he is being "turned inside
out" (e.g., Daniel 10:8). The prophet loses his ability to command his
own senses, and his mental faculties can no longer function independently. They have all
been superseded by the experience of communication with G-d, to the exclusion of every
other stimulus. The prophet’s entire being is infused with the G-dly experience, and
with the influx of Divine inspiration that is encompassing him. This is the physical
nature of a person: it cannot tolerate the revelation of the spiritual, and cannot exert
any control in the presence of the spiritual, particularly where direct communication from
G-d is involved.
Prophetic Messages:
There are two distinct aspects of prophetic messages that a prophet receives: the
content and the wording. Thus, a prophet may receive a clear prophetic revelation that
contains no specific wording, in which case, the prophet will communicate the message of
his prophecy using any wording he chooses. At other times, the prophetic revelation may
also contain precise wording. All the prophecies recorded in the biblical books of the
Prophets are of this nature.
Public & Non-public Prophets and Prophecies:
A prophet’s career may involve his being sent to an individual, or to a group of
people, with a Divine message of guidance, or of a warning to refrain from sin.
Alternately, a prophet may never be sent on a public mission; instead he may experience
Divine revelations for his personal benefit. Since the essence of prophecy is an exalted
feeling of attachment to G-d, along with Divine revelations concerning G-d’s hidden
mysteries of Creation, prophetic experience does not necessarily require a public message
that must be delivered to other people.
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