Heaven Down to Earth

There is only one God. Yet, throughout the Torah, there are numerous different names and descriptions given to this one God. This is not a problem: there are various ways of referring to God, each of which fits the multiple prisms through which we see God, in various situations. God is referred to as a King, a Master, a Father, a Warrior, a Unity of Powers and many more. However, if within one passage of the Torah this one God is referred to in multiple ways, it indicates that God is being viewed from different perspectives concurrently. One fascinating example of this comes in this week’s parashah:

Four kings go to war with five kings. The former are victorious and sack the cities of the latter, taking their people captive. Lot, Avraham’s nephew, is among the captured. Avraham hears of this, musters his household and rushes to his nephew’s aid. He vanquishes the four kings and their armies and returns the captives and their possessions. He refuses to partake in the spoils of war. A local king rides out to greet him:

וּמַלְכִּי־צֶ֙דֶק֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ שָׁלֵ֔ם הוֹצִ֖יא לֶ֣חֶם וָיָ֑יִן וְה֥וּא כֹהֵ֖ן לְאֵ֖ל עֶלְיֽוֹן: וַֽיְבָרְכֵ֖הוּ וַיֹּאמַ֑ר בָּר֤וּךְ אַבְרָם֙ לְאֵ֣ל עֶלְי֔וֹן קֹנֵ֖ה שָׁמַ֥יִם וָאָֽרֶץ: (בראשית יד:יח-כ)

Malkizedek, the King of Shalem, brought out bread and wine, and he was a priest to The God Most High. And he blessed him, saying, “Blessed is Avram to The God Most High, who has acquired Heaven and Earth.” (Genesis 14:18–20)

Rashi (ibid.), quoting the Midrash, adds that Malkizedek was not a new character in the Biblical narrative but an old one: he was Shem, the son of Noach. Accordingly, the dialogue between Avram and Malkizedek carries considerably more significance. This is no longer a mere meeting with battle-worn soldiers. It is a meeting of ideologies, a conversation between the religious old guard, a scion of the house of Noach, and its potential successor. Shem, it would seem, was rather taken by what he saw. It led him to change the way in which he refers to God. Initially, he is described as a priest to “אל עליון – The God Most High.” Upon his encounter with Avram, God becomes “אל עליון קונה שמים וארץ – The God Most High who acquires Heaven and Earth.” This is not merely a change in name, it describes a new prism through which God can be viewed.

The Midrash explains this latter description of God:

Who did He acquire them from? Rabbi Yitzchak says: “He (Avraham) would host passersby. When they were eating and drinking he would say to them, “Make a blessing.” They would respond, “What should we say?” He would say to them, “Blessed is the God of the world, we ate from what is His.” God said to him (Avraham) “My name was not recognized by My creations, and you made Me known to them. I consider you as though you are a partner with Me in the creation of the world.”” (Bereishit Rabbah 43:7).

Something very profound is being taught here. From a young age we are taught that God is everywhere. That is true but not fully accurate. In a sense, God is absent from the world, or at least absent from the consciousness of the world, if we are not conscious of Him being in it. The world, until Avram emerged, was devoid of God. God was, so to speak, confined to the heavens. People were unaware of God; He was not present in their consciousness. Avraham acquired the world for God; he brought Him from heaven down to earth.

This, for Shem the son of Noach, was a true revelation. Noach, his father, a righteous man, had been saved but had not saved anyone during the flood. He had been saved by heaven, but he had not done anything to save earth. Shem followed in his footsteps. He was a man of God: “כהן לאל עליון – a priest to The God Most High.” But that was the problem: God was a High God. He had not sought to involve Him in the mundanities of earthly life. Suddenly, Avram appeared. Here was a man who brought God into his kitchen and entertained guests with Him. A man who heard of war, left his study, took his weapons, and tried to put right what was wrong. A man who brought heaven down to earth.

Avraham was not the first person to believe in one God. He was the first person who taught people to believe in one God. Avraham believed in God and believed that God believed in him. If God created the world and He created me in it, then I have a role to play within it. He made it his mission to bring God into the world. Through the mission of Avraham, God acquired heaven and earth. He now existed in both of them.

Malkizedek was the King of Shalem (Bereishit 14:18). Shalem was Jerusalem. The name “ירושלים – Jerusalem” is a combination of two names given to this city. Malkizedek provided the second half. The first half comes from Avraham. In next week’s parashah, Avraham calls Mount Moriah in Jerusalem “ה’ יראה – God will be seen (there)” (Bereishit 22:14). These two names epitomize the difference in perspective between these two personalities. Malkizedek sees the perfection inherent in a City of God. Shalem (שלם) means perfect. Avraham is less focused on that. For him, what matters is that “God will be seen there” – heaven must be brought to earth.

There are two seemingly similar yet radically different verses which are used to describe Noach and Avraham’s relationships with God. Regarding Noach the Torah says “את האלוהים התהלך נח – Noah walked with God” (Bereishit 6:9). If God was there, then Noach would be there also. He followed God. In contrast, God tells Avraham “התהלך לפני – Go before Me” (Bereishit 17:1). Avraham went first. He did not wait. He would enter places that the word of God had not yet reached. But wherever he went, God would follow him. Avraham was His partner in creating a better world.