Festival Articles
The Chariot


The Stepped Stone Structure and
the overlying House of Ahiel.


God's Chariot

The Synagogue reading from the prophets for the festival of Pentecost (Shavuot) is Ezekiel chapter 1. In the first chapter of Ezekiel, the prophet is given an incredible vision of the Dwelling Presence (Shekinah) of God seated among the angels of his throne. In its descriptiveness, Ezekiel's revelation of God is without parallel in the literature of the Scriptures. The Sages called Ezekiel's vision "The Chariot" (HaMerkavah) because the vision sees God's throne in motion, carried by angels called "Ophanim" which mean "wheels."

The Chariot passage is considered so holy and so loaded with mysteries that the Sages were reluctant to teach on it. Students of the Rabbis were warned to avoid the passage because of its immense holiness.

Why then is it the Synagogue reading from the prophets for the Day of Pentecost? Perhaps it is because Pentecost is the anniversary of the Revelation of God at Mount Sinai. Just as Passover is celebrated as a memorial of the Exodus from Egypt, so too Pentecost memorializes the anniversary of God's decent onto Mount Sinai. For that reason, Pentecost is called the festival of Mattan Torah, the "Giving of the Torah." Exodus 19 and 20, the story of God's appearance at Sinai and his speaking the Ten Commandments, are the principal Torah readings in the synagogue on Shavuot.

The Synagogue readings from the Prophets (haftarah) usually echo the main themes and concepts of the principal Torah readings. In that sense, Ezekiel's vision of "The Chariot" echoes the revelation theme of the epiphany at Sinai.

The Glory Departs

However, there is a major difference between the Revelation at Sinai and the Ezekiel passage. At Sinai, the Dwelling Presence of God was moving earthward, touching down on Mount Sinai. At Sinai, God's intent was to take up residence and dwell among his people in a Holy Place, the Tabernacle. In those Exodus narratives, The Dwelling Presence of God moved from the Heavens to Mount Sinai and from Sinai to the Tabernacle.

In Ezekiel, however, the Dwelling Presence of God is again in motion because he is forsaking his Dwelling Place in the Jerusalem Temple. Chapter 10 makes the meaning of the vision explicit as The Chariot leaves the Temple. What began with God's descent onto Mount Sinai and culminated in his taking up residence in the Jerusalem Temple ends in Ezekiel as he withdraws His Presence from the Temple just prior to the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem.

Although Jerusalem and the Temple were rebuilt, the Sages sadly note that the Dwelling Presence of God never filled the Second Temple as it did the first. The Ark of the Covenant, which was the throne of God, was never recovered for the Second Temple. The miracles common in the First Temple were rare in the Second Temple. The glory of God's manifest Dwelling Presence never filled the second Temple as it had the First.

R. Bechaye writes that when God's presence filled the Tabernacle, He said: "Today I am causing My Presence to rest among you; if you sin, My Presence will leave you. But when Messiah comes, My Presence will remain with you permanently. Now you see the Divine Presence through fire, but with the advent of the Messiah you will see it clearly revealed, as it is written: "For eye to eye shall they see when God returns to Zion." (—Tz'enah Ur'enah)

The Glory Returns

But in Acts chapter 2, a remarkable thing happens on Pentecost. As if in answer to the Torah reading of Exodus 19 and to the Prophets reading of Ezekiel 1, Acts chapter 2 finds the believers gathered in the Second Temple on the Day of Pentecost. Then in fire and wind, just as at Sinai and just as in Ezekiel's vision, the Dwelling Presence of God returns to his Temple to take up residence. But rather than entering the Holy of Holies as in the Tabernacle and First Temple, He takes up his residence within the bodies of the believers gathered there that day. The message is clear. The believers have become the New Temple of the LORD. They have become the Dwelling Place of the Dwelling Presence.

The Third Temple

It is still true today, brothers and sisters. This is our high calling in the Master. We are to be a Holy Place, a Sanctuary for God's Spirit to reside in. We are to be his Chariot, God in motion in the world. We are to be the revelation of his Torah, as at Mount Sinai. We are to be a Third Temple. This is the ultimate meaning of Pentecost.

Remember to gather with other disciples and celebrate the giving of the Torah, the giving of the Holy Spirit and the revelation of God.

Kehilat Sar Shalom

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