What Is the Meaning of the Dungeon that Abraham Was Thrown into, in the Bible Story?
Continuing the story of Abraham’s defiance of Nimrod, Abraham is thrown into a dungeon for ten years.
The dungeon that your Abraham is thrown into is the optimal state for your development at this time. Your Abraham must realize that he is hopelessly attached to his ego. He must experience it first-hand, not conceptually, but really feel it. And the only way to feel it and clearly see that the ego is an evil force of darkness robbing you of your freedom, is to put yourself “deep into the earth,” in the dungeon—the darkest and innermost part of your ego, where you can’t help but feel terrible and shackled by it. This can only be done in the prison of the ego, in the bowels of the earth.
Here, Abraham is going through a phase that every person who cannot let go of his ego goes through. You try everything in your power to reconcile the ego with what you’re studying; you wish to remain an egoist, yet connect to the Creator at the same time. Thus, Abraham finds himself imprisoned.
You already know about the existence of the Upper Governance when you are already with Abraham, but you realize that your nature cannot be defeated.
This is the state called “imprisonment,” which lasts until you begin to realize that you can regain your freedom, but not by your own efforts. Rather, you can be free only if the Creator rescues you.
It takes time to realize this.
As the Midrash states, your Abraham remains in prison for ten years. Needless to say, we’re not talking about corporeal years, for your liberation can happen in an instant. Ten years later, Nimrod finally realizes that Abraham cannot be broken, and orders to have him executed.
