Ramchal – Page 5 – Study Torah Online: Live and Interactive Torah Learning with Rabbi Eliyahu Shear

Derech Hashem – The Way of God – How False Prophets Can Confuse Others – Lesson 23 Section 3

The Ramchal teaches us the story about the wicked King Achav. He had wanted to go to war with Ramot Gilad, but did not know if he would be victorious. As a result he employed some prophets to tell him that he would indeed be victorious!

Lessons in Derech Hashem – The Way of God – False Prophets – Lesson 22 – Section 3

The Ramchal teaches us about false prophets. Sometimes people are false prophets intentionally and other times false prophecy occurs simply to test those who will find themselves listening to those people.

Lessons in Derech Hashem – The Way of God – Prophets Sent on Missions – Lesson 20 of Section 3

Prophets come in two types. There are those who are actually sent on missions, and then there are those who have no particular mission. Their prophecy is given to them as a simple gift from God. The prophet has the advantage in being able to be close to God and to experience Divine ecstasy!

Lessons in Derech Hashem – The Way of God – The Student Prophet – Lesson 19 of Section 3

The Ramchal teaches us about the way in which the student desiring to learn how to prophesy would be required to learn by a teacher. The teacher would instruct him, monitoring his progress so that ultimately he too would reach the tremendously high levels of holiness and being able to prophesy for himself.

Derech Hashem – The Way of God – Prophecy – Lesson 17 of Section 3

In paragraph 6, the Ramchal details further about what the prophet actually goes through at the time he experiences his prophesy. Here he also explains the difference between prophecy and Ruach HaKodesh (Divine inspiration.) We then continue to Chapter 4 of Section 3 – dealing with the concepts of the soul, Divine inspiration and prophecy:

Lessons in Derech Hashem – The Way of God – Prophecy – Lesson 16 of Section 3

The Ramchal introduces us to Nevuah – prophecy. What exactly is prophecy, and how does it differ from Ruach HaKodesh (Divine inspiration)? Join us for this lesson where we get to see the text online as we learn it together and get a glimpse into the world of spirituality and attachment (Devekut) to God.

Lessons in Derech Hashem – The Way of God – Divine Inspiration (Ruach HaKodesh) – Lesson 15 of Sec 3

Divine Inspiration: A special gift from God, given to any person who is deserving of it. In Hebrew, it is called Ruach HaKodesh and it refers to a unique ability to be aware of certain things that most people would not be aware of by themselves.

Lessons in Derech Hashem – The Way of God – The Limits of Evil – Lesson 14 of Section 3

We conclude our chapter discussing the limits of evil in the world. It is true that there is the aspect of evil. There are spiritual beings that have the power to infringe on activities in the physical world. But with all that, we must constantly be aware that nothing within the realm of evil has any power unless God Himself allows that power to express itself.

Lessons in Derech Hashem – The Way of God – The Purpose of Evil – Lesson 13 of Section 3

What exactly are black-magic and sorcery all about?! These are the other powers of the spiritual worlds that God has created.

Lessons in Derech Hashem – The Way of God – Using God’s Names (Part 3) – Lesson 11 of Section 3

Though there are means to making changes within the spiritual realms through the use of G-d’s Names and even interacting with angels, not everyone who uses the known methods will succeed. In addition, making use of the Names when not permitted is really forbidden and will ultimately cause problems at a later stage.