Metatron, the greatest of all heavenly hierarchs, the chief of the tetragrammaton, the 1st and last
of the 10 angels of the Briatic world. He is the king of angels, the prince of presence
and of the divine face, the chancellor of heaven, and the chief of the ministering
angels. Charged with the sustenance of mankind, he is a ruling prince of the seraphim, he
who has his seat in the 7th heaven, he who occupies "the throne next to the throne of Glory."
Metatron is known by over a hundred names in many different cultures of the world.
He is said to be the tallest and largest angel in heaven in his true form with the width of his
body equal to the size of the world. When invoked, he appears as a pillar of fire,
his face more dazzling than the sun, He is the Demiurge of classical Jewish mysticism,
the male form of the Shekinah, the Shekinah being the female manifestation of God. In the Kabbalah,
he is the angel who led the children of Israel through the wilderness after the Exodus;
and is the twin brother or half-brother of the angel Sandalphon. In the traditions of the Jews,
Metatron is the supreme angel of death, and under his wing are the subordinate princes of death,
Gabriel, Sammael , and Azrael. It is he whom God daily gives orders as to the souls that
are to be "taken" that day, and These orders he transmits to his subordinates.
In the 9 angelic hierarchies of the heavens, Metatron is sometimes said to be the ruling
prince of the seraphim instead of Michael, since Michael already governs the archangels.
In this case, he is called Jehoel, or Yehoel, one out of his many other names.
In the Kabbalah however, in the great Sephiroth in the form of angels, Metatron is archangel of the
Hayyoth, archangel of the cherubim, the holy beast like angels who surround God's throne.
Vedic cosmology knows the angels as the shining gods, and in Vedic and Persian theology,
Metatron is the same as the shining god Mithra, one of the 28 spirits that surround the great god
Ahura-Mazda. They say he rises from the east, bearing wings that have a thousand ears, and
10,000 eyes. He is the god of light who assigns places to the souls of the righteous and the just
in heaven. In the Talmud of Abodah Zarah, Metatron is the teacher of the children in paradise,
children who die prematurely while on earth. As their souls are being led into paradise,
Metatron hides them under his wings to protect them from the angels of destruction.
But Great archangels like Michael and Gabriel existed long before Metatron.
So who exactly is Metatron, and when did he become one of the 7 archangel princes?
Metatron was once a human who lived on earth As a mortal man, he was the holy patriarch
Enoch who lived 365 years before he was taken up to the heavens by God. Enoch was one of
the 2 holy men who never experienced death like all mortals do, the other one being the prophet
Elijah. The two holy men lived at different times, and when they had lived long enough, An angel of
god came down in a chariot of fire and bore them up to the heavens while they were still alive.
Enoch was transformed into the mighty Metatron, while Elijah was transformed into the Majestic
Sandalphon. They became archangels and princes of the highest angelic orders,
because they were spotless and lived without sin. Before the days of Metatron, All of the heavens
and the earth knew Michael as the mightiest of all the angels, for his battle prowess was unrivaled
and unparalleled, until Metatron proved a match, surpassing the great Michael himself. But how? How
great was Metatron? What feat proved his might and skills were greater than that of Michael?
It was a crisis that had to do with the two great mages and sorcerers of ancient Egypt,
Iannes and Iambres, some call them Jannes and Jambres, The same mages who turned their
staffs into snakes alongside Moses and Aaron, before the throne of the pharaoh of Egypt.
This event is said to have occured during the exodus, right after the crossing of the red sea.
In the christian bible, the story ends with the victory of the Israelites over the Egyptians,
saying the sea drowned all the might of the Egyptians, But a few texts say different,
they say the story continued, for not all the might of the Egyptians were vanquished at the red
sea.Once upon a time, in the Chronicles of Jerahmeel, the Hebrew Bible Historiale,
after Michael guardian of Israel had defeated Abezithibod one of the guardians of Egypts,
throwing him and his people into the sea, the Israelites sang songs of victory and praise,
and Michael returned to the heavens and the heavens rejoiced. But there in the red sea,
when the great sea had grown calm and peaceful, and the bodies of the Egyptian army had grown
cold and silent, the fearsome wizards Jannes and Jambres emerged from the waters of the red sea,
for they followed in the pursuit of the Israelites. They were unscathed as though
the water had not touched them, for they commanded great power and magic that not even the sea could
drown them. By the means of their witchcraft, the two sorcerers flew straight into the heavens
and ascended into the realm of the angels unannounced, their motive unknown, perhaps
to avenge their drowned kinsmen. The heavenly guards stood against them and were dispersed,
Gabriel fought against them and was defeated. When Michael arrived and battled them,
the combined powers of the 2 wizards proved too much, that not even he could defeat them,
and Alas! The great Michael was bested. Therefore the angels cried out to God in supplication,
saying, 'O Lord of the universe, these wicked men who oppressed your children with hard bondage,
have dared to stand here without fear, and they have dared to defy even you.'
If it is your will, O Lord of the universe, execute punishment for your children.'
And at this, God immediately ordered Metatron, saying, 'Throw them down
and cast them to the ground, but be careful and see that they only fall into the sea.'
At once Metatron appeared before Jannes and Jambres, and engaged them in combat. there
did he show his might, for he singlehandedly smote the 2 wizards and forcibly cast them into the sea,
binding them in the deepest part of the sea, so they would not arise again. Thus,
Metatron came to be known in non canonical writings as the greatest of all the angels
and archangels for he accomplished a feat no one else could, a feat worth acknowledging.
Nevertheless, whether the ancient Egyptians were the villain of this story or not does not really
matter. It is known without doubt that they were the greatest practitioners of magic, for they were
taught by some of the best angels, both holy and fallen, Angels who guarded their cities and their
people, and were worshipped by them as gods. These great angelic guardians and tutors include Azazel,
Abezithibod and Semyaza, to mention but a few, they were all known among the Egyptians by many
different names. Jannes and Jambres were the princes of sorcery and witchcraft, and It is
said that they grew so much in the knowledge of the dark arts that they harnessed such great power
that they equaled the angels in might. As the Kabbalah and many other mystical texts agree,
There was not another nation in the world so much addicted to sorcery as the Egyptians. The
sages always told a story, that 'Ten measures of sorcery and witchcraft descended into the world:
and out of the 10, the Egyptians took nine, and only one remained for the rest of the world.
Thus, whoever stood against the magic of the Egyptians and the might of their guardians, would
possess equal might and mystical skills if not greater, for only the best can handle the best.
As christianity and Islam spread across the globe, sorcery and witchcraft would come to be
rejected and abhorred, and the old ways would be forgotten, practiced in secrecy if one would dare.