Navigating Divine Presence
Similar to what we’re going through now in US politics is what happened just about 3,300 years ago with Balak. The monarchies of old all crowned themselves as gods and claimed that their immortality will haunt their nation for years to come. We have yet to find any leader throughout history to claim that they were a god and actually acted properly. The ones who sought to be nice to their citizens always tried to portray themselves as the common person who lived their own life. “I’m no better than you, I am just like you and therefore I care for you. I remember the neighbor and I remember milking the cow in the morning. My privilege as king has only come for me to be a better and more loving person.” They clearly see the divine hand of Hashem throughout their success and always attribute it all to Him.
Pharaoh proclaimed himself to be an almighty god. He had high powers of sorcery, which in other words meant, he had certain angels wrapped around his fingertips. People feared him because it all looked real. If you would ask any prehistoric Egyptian what they believe in they would say, “I believe that Pharaoh controls all that is on earth, below it and above.” Their entire life was indebted to him, and therefore understood, that in order for their life to be a good one, they would need to submit to this power with true belief for their wishes would be granted. It is with true belief that they feel heard, and it is with this motivation that they go about doing their work. Their deeds are measured, their words are filtered and their thoughts are pure, all in order not to show the god of their beliefs any sense of dissatisfaction.
Balak saw his gods topple before him. As the interim president after Sichon’s death, he understood that there was a higher fight that was actually playing out in physical form. The decisions made at the round tables in the situation room all seemed real at the time, but now he clearly saw that this isn’t a logical war but rather it was a war of beliefs. In today’s political climate we see a very similar awakening; some people have had personal problems that have brought them closer to God, while some did quite the opposite and were angered at Him even more for their lack of success. But now, mankind woke up as a whole. After witnessing the most viewed miracle ever as President Trump was the target of an assassination in broad daylight, they saw the angel of death, the Devil himself with his true colors out in the open, and the hand of the Al-Mighty protecting him.
What are we going to do with this knowledge, are we going to be like Balak who seeks ways to hack that system? Or are we going to accept the yolk of Hashem’s presence and understand that there is something much bigger going on behind the scenes inside the fabric of the world. Will we strengthen our belief in Him to an extent where we see Him through every movement of our day? Or will we lose that inspiration and let in to the physical temptations of the world? We keep on falling and that is what we do as humans, but we believe in the providence of the Divine and we know that His love transcends beyond any comprehension.
We strive in the places we have belief in. It is exactly in where we find the struggle that we find our biggest successes. A man I know struggles very hard with his financials, he would talk to me many times and I would notice that eventually, throughout the conversation, he would move on to the topic of not being strong enough to guard his eyes. Me, being the analyst I am, asked him why he thought his struggle with his eyes was always preceded by his financial issues. Was there any correlation between the two that would somehow link these two topics together? Or is it a coincidence that keeps on repeating itself? (which makes it no coincidence.) He told me that he strongly believes that they are linked together. He said, “Our bodies are similar to the heavenly body of the world, and just as He provides an abundance of good to the world, we too have the ability to send forth Shefa. And we best be giving the world our best.”
He continued, “I see a clear connection between the two, and as I have a few clean weeks my wallet gets thicker. This is my struggle and as I ace my tests I get rewarded instantly.” I understood that many times we don’t see our hard effort paying off right away but our minds become clearer and we start witnessing the world from a pure lens. We start seeing His hand all throughout our lives and we never wish to see it leave. We stick to this belief and our eyes open up to miracles as we see His clear providence in our lives. We say in Birkat Hamazon, “Please, God our Lord, don’t have us need for the handouts of flesh and blood or to their loans, only to Your full, open, holy, and expansive hand.” Our holiness is directly connected to our financial success and with our belief in Him, with our love and awe of His presence we will merit our salvation.
Bilaam knew this, he understood how belief works. He saw the Yidden and praised them for their way of life. He understood that such people are principled in their everyday lives, they devote every second of their day to serving their One and True Master. He read our behavior and noticed where our success comes from. It is not a coincidence that last week’s Parsha spoke of the purity of the nation, our underlying core of success stems from the ability to withhold self gratification of physical pleasures. He saw the pathway to discipline, by being secluded for seven days from any physical activity until he understood the purpose of being alive in this world. “I’m not to use any instrument in the world if I have defiled my ways, I need time to reconcile my priorities and set a new path forward. A path connected to Hashem, one where I think of Him in every facet of my life, and one where everything I do has a proper intention beforehand. For I know that this is the reason I came here to earth so that I can become one with the One.”
The belief of man strengthens with every win that we have. We are all in this as one and my win is yours. We take inspiration from each other and we learn to break our egos before the One and Only above. There is so much more to this topic which I feel would require maturity, our bodies work very similarly to the bodies of above. And the physical battles we have down here are directly associated with the war happening in higher realms. And if we fall for Bilaam’s plan we start by misusing the body by giving in to these temptations and the spiritual forces above lose their standing against the powerful opposition.
With belief in God we become whole. Our daily lives are improved and our relationships prosper. We see success in our endeavors since we never miss a chance to see Him. We choose right from wrong and resolve to live accordingly. We accept our fate on earth, understand our talents and pursue our purpose with them. It is with clarity that we know that we are not gods, but rather sons and daughters of the One and Only, Master of entirety.
David Lemmer is an orthodox Author Hypnotherapist out of NJ. Find his books on Amazon.com and can be reached at LemmerHypno@gmail.com