Written by: Peretz Green

MESSAGE OF THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL

Part 2: You are blessed in the Corrections

You are blessed in the Corrections found in many of the verses of David ben Ishai. Against the arrogance of the nations: "And the afflicted people Thou wilt save; but Thy eyes are upon the haughty, that Thou mayest bring them down. Against the darkness of the world: For Thou art my lamp, o Lord! And the Lord will enlighten my darkness. Against obstacles: For by Thee I run through a troop; by my God I leap over a wall. Against dangers: As for God – His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried; He is a shield to all that trust in Him. For who is God save the Lord? And who is a rock, save our God. Against weakness: God is my strength and power; and He rendereth my way perfectly free. He maketh my feet like those of the hinds, and upon my high places He causeth me to stand. Against defeat: I pursue my enemies and destroy them; and I make an end of them and I crush them, that they cannot rise; and they fall under my feet" (Sam. 2, 22: 28-39).

You are blessed in the Correction of the Sanctity: "And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord; And the priests were not able to stand to minister because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord. Then said Solomon: The Lord said that He would dwell in the thick darkness. God's choice of Jerusalem is a Correction for the Sanctity, that it should have a permanent dwelling place in the world" (Kings 1, 8: 10-13). "Since the day that I brought forth My people Israel out of Egypt, I did not make choice of any city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that My name might be therein; but I made choice of David to be over My people Israel" (ibid: 8:16).

There are several Corrections in Solomon's inauguration prayer in the First Temple. The Correction of Prayer: "For in truth will God then dwell on the earth? Behold, the heavens and the earth cannot contain Thee; how much less this house that I have built. Yet wilt Thou turn Thy regard unto the prayer of Thy servant, and to his supplication. O Lord my God, to listen unto the entreaty and unto the prayer, which Thy servant prayeth before Thee to-day; That Thy eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which Thou hast said: My name shall be there; that Thou mayest listen unto the prayer which Thy servant shall pray at this place. And listen Thou to the supplication of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, which they will pray at this place; and oh, do Thou hear in heaven Thy dwelling place; and hear, and forgive. For the Correction of oaths for the sake of justice: If any man trespass against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before Thy altar in this house. Then do Thou hear in heaven, and act, and judge Thy servants, by condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head; and by justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. Correction for prayers and rain" (ibid: 27-32). "When the heavens be shut up, and there be no rain, because they have sinned against Thee, and they pray towards this place, and confess Thy name, and turn from their sin, because Thou has afflicted them. Then do Thou hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy servants, and of Thy people Israel; for Thou wilt teach them the good way wherein they should walk; and give them rain upon Thy land, which Thou hast given to Thy people for an inheritance. (ibid: 35-36). Correction against famine: "If there be a famine in the land, if there be a pestilence, blasting, mildew, or if there be locust, caterpillar, if their enemy besiege them in the land of their gates; at whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness; What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, of all Thy people Israel, when they shall be conscious every man of the plague of his own heart, and he then spread forth his hands toward this house. Then do Thou hear in heaven the place of Thy dwelling, and forgive, and act, and give to every man in accordance with all his ways, as Thou mayest know his heart; for Thou, even Thou only knowest the heart of all the children of men. That they may fear Thee all the days that they live on the face of the land which Thou hast given unto our fathers" (ibid: 37-40).

You are blessed in the Correction of serving the nations their spiritual needs: "But also to the stranger, who is not of Thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far-off country for the sake of Thy name; For they will hear of Thy great name; and of Thy strong hand, and of Thy outstretched arm; when he will come and pray at this house. Mayest Thou listen in heaven the place of Thy dwelling, and do according to all that the stranger will call on Thee for; that all the nations of the earth may know Thy name, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel (ibid: 41-43).

Against sin: You are blessed in the Correction of Exile and Diaspora: "If they sin against Thee, (for there is no man that may not sin,) and Thou be angry with them, and give them up before the enemy, so that their captors carry them away captive unto to the land of the enemy, far or near. And if they take it to their heart in the land whither they have been carried captive, and repent, and make supplication unto Thee in the land of their captors, saying: We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly: And they return unto Thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, who have led them away captive, and pray unto Thee in the direction of their land, which Thou hast chosen: Then hear Thou in heaven the place of Thy dwelling their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. And forgive Thy people for what they have sinned against Thee, and all their transgressions whereby they have transgressed against Thee, and cause them to find mercy before their captors, that they may have mercy on them. For they are Thy people and Thy heritage, whom Thou hast brought forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace. That Thy eyes may be open unto the supplication of Thy servant and unto the supplication of Thy people Israel, to listen unto them in all for which they call unto Thee. For Thou hast separated them from all the people of the earth to be Thine inheritance as Thou spokest by the hand of Moses Thy servant, when Thou broughtest forth our fathers out of Egypt, o Lord God" (ibid: 46-53).

You are blessed in thee Correction of Solomon's prayer. "And it happened, that, when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord from kneeling on his knees, with his hands spread out toward heaven. And he stood up, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying: Blessed be the Lord, who hath given rest unto His people Israel, in accordance with a all that He hath spoken; there hath not failed one word of all His good promise, which He spoke by the hand of Moses His servant. The Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; oh may He not leave us, nor forsake us. That He may incline our heart unto Him, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments, and His statutes, and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers. And may these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord, our God, day and night, that He mat maintain the cause of His servant, and the cause of His people Israel in their daily requirements. In order that all the nations of the earth may know that the Lord is the God, and none else. Let your heart therefore be entire with the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commandments, as at this day" (ibid: 54-61).

You are blessed in the Correction of King Solomon's Dedication of the Temple: "And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifices before the Lord. And Solomon offered the sacrifice of peace-offering which he offered to the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. And thus did the king and all the children of Israel dedicate the house of the Lord" (ibid: 62-63).

You are blessed in king Solomon's Correction of Succot and Shemini Atzereth: "And Solomon held at that time the feast, and all Israel with him, a great assembly, from the entrance Hhamat unto the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, even fourteen days. On the eighth day he sent the people away, and they blessed the king; and they went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart, because of the good that the Lord had done for David His servant, and for Israel His people" (ibid: 65-66).

You are blessed in the Correction of God's warning to Solomon: "And it came to pass, when Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all Solomon's desire which he was pleased to execute; That the Lord appeared to Solomon the second time, as He had appeared unto him at Gib'on. And the Lord said unto him: I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast offered before Me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put My name there forever; and My eyes and My heart shall be there at all times. And as for thee, if thou wilt walk before Me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do in accordance with all that I have commanded thee, and will keep My statutes and My ordinances. Then will I establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever; as I have spoken concerning David thy father, saying: There shall never fail thee a man upon the throne of Israel" (ibid, 9: 1-5).

"But if ye will at all turn away, ye or your children, from following Me, and will not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods, and bow down to them. Then will I cut off Israel from the face of the land which I have given them: and the house, which I have hallowed unto My name, will I cast away of My sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a by-word among all nations. And at this house, which should be so exalted, every one that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss; and men will say: Why hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and unto this house? And they shall say: Because they forsook the Lord their God, who had brought upon them all this evil" (ibid: 6-9).

You are blessed in the Correction of Solomon's wives: "But king Solomon loved many strange women, beside the daughter of Pharoah, women of the Moabites, 'Amonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites. From the nations concerning which the Lord had said unto the children of Israel: Ye shall not go in among them, nor shall they come in among you; surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: unto these Solomon did cleave to love them. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. And it came to pass, at the time that Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not undivided with the Lord his God, like the heart of David his father" (ibid: 11: 1-6). "And the Lord was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord the God of Israel, who had appeared unto him twice" (ibid: 9).

March 18, 1991

Nissan 3, 5751

Milan, Italy