THE STAGES OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL
Yet another version of the same wisdom can be found in the Hebrew scriptures, where it is presented in the form of a historical-spiritual allegory. Many believe that the central, defining story for the historical Jewish tradition is Exodus, which chronicles the liberation of the ben Israel (sons of Israel) from their bondage in Egypt and their subsequent journey through the wilderness to Canaan, the Promised Land, where the immortal city of Jerusalem was to be built.
Although there is little doubt that this story describes a real historical event, it is also likely it was embellished and modified by Moses, Aaron, and their inner circle so that it could also be viewed as a spiritual allegory describing the journey of the soul from the state of mortal bondage (Egypt) to the state of immortal liberation (Canaan). In this light, the path that leads from Egypt to Canaan symbolizes the path of immortality.
We can find support for this interpretation in the thirty-third chapter of the Book of Numbers, the fourth book of the Hebrew scriptures, which begins: “These are the stages in the journey of the ben Israel, when they were led by Moses and Aaron in their tribal hosts out of Egypt. Moses recorded their starting-points stage by stage as the Lord commanded him.” What follows is a list of the sequential stages in the journey, which may be viewed as the “encampments” of the sons of Israel on their way to Canaan. It is interesting that many of the place names mentioned in this list are completely unknown; indeed, some are not mentioned anywhere else in the Bible. Why was the list compiled—and why was it placed in the thirty-third chapter of the Book of Numbers? The fact that this narrative is recorded in Numbers should tell us to pay careful attention to all the numbers involved. As we have discovered, the number 33 is very important and secret.
In kabbalah it signifies the whole of the diagrammatic Tree of Life, which contains a total of 10 + 22 = 32 parts. The whole of the tree of life thus represents the thirty-third implied aspect, which rests upon the 32 parts.Although most academic scholars believe that the tradition of kabbalah as a whole and the Tree of Life diagram specifically are relatively recent additions to Jewish lore, this assumption is based upon the earliest surviving written texts on the subject, which are not that old. According to its own traditional proponents, however, the kabbalah was passed down orally for a very long time before it was ever written. If the kabbalah was alive in the time of Moses, then it makes sense that a complete synopsis of its teachings would be recorded in the thirty-third chapter of the Book of Numbers, for 33 is the secret number of the whole Tree of Life.
This same number (33) also receives special emphasis in the list of encampments, which is presented unbroken except at one point: Immediately after the thirty-third stage in the journey is recited, corresponding to the encampment at the base of Mount Hor, there is a break in the narrative, followed by the description of Aaron’s death: “Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor at the commandment of the Lord, and there he died.” This is somewhat odd because the Book of Deuteronomy (10:6) states that Aaron died in Mosera.
We should also note that at this point, the Israelites had just come out of Egypt, where Moses had been raised in the royal court and surrounded by Egyptian symbolism. Hor in the Egyptian tradition refers to Horus, the son of Osiris, who was often conceived as a divine hawk and who was also viewed as having followed in his father’s footsteps by ascending beyond the shore (horizon) of this world to the shore (horizon) of the other world. For this reason, Horus was often referred to as the Lord of the Horizon.
This suggests that the story of Aaron’s death presented in the Book of Numbers carries symbolic weight.
Coming immediately after the recitation of the thirty-third stage, the death of Aaron on Mount Hor appears to be an esoteric allusion to the death of physicality that is experienced when the soul ascends to the thirty-third layer, the shore of this world, and then enters into the cosmic sea of death that lies beyond the physical universe in the hopes of reaching the shore of the other immortal world.Other than this single interruption, the list continues in an unbroken sequence, marking the stages in the journey from the first encampment just outside of Egypt to the last encampment, which lies just across the river Jordan from the land of Canaan. How many encampments were counted altogether? Exactly forty-two! The land of Canaan itself thus represents the forty-third and final encampment, where the immortal city of Jerusalem was to be built. We can say, then, that there were 42 + 1 = 43 stages in the journey of the ben Israel, from their first liberated stage outside of Egypt to their final stage in the immortal land of Canaan itself. Just as the Egyptians mapped out the forty-two stages of the path of immortality along the course of the Nile, so the Israelites mapped out the forty-two stages of the path along the course of their journey from Egypt to Canaan.