2:6:1
In the course of His interactions with the world 1, G-d arranged it so that both the things that humankind brings about out of free will 2, and that He purposefully brings about in creation 3, should function like a government. That’s to say, with upper and lower courts with all of their procedures and rules 4. As our sages put it, “The kingdom of Heaven functions like a human kingdom” 5.
He thus established different “court systems” for the spiritual realm with rules and procedures 6, which work on various levels, feature certain spiritual entities 7, and follow particular sequences 8. And everything that’s to be judged is to appear before those courts and is to be subject to its decisions 9. As it’s said, “By the decree of the overseers is the sentence decreed” (Daniel 4:14) 10.
Footnotes:
1 This chapter is termed “The System behind Divine Providence”, which is a subject that necessarily touches on our interactions with Him and His with us.
2 And are to be judged for.
3 That are somehow or another adjudged or at least subject to decisions about placement, role and the like, too.
4 The point is that G-d purposefully arranged for the universe to function in a comprehensible, linear, and over-all orderly manner — despite the fact that it’s rooted in preternatural mystical nothingness and primal chaos — so that we can understand the “rules of the game”, interact with Him within our own contours and limitations, and to thus draw close to Him.
5 Ramchal is referencing a statement in Zohar 1:197a and Berachot 58a that is worded differently.
6 Of their own that mirror the rules and procedures of earthly courts.
7 Which function as the “overseers” cited below.
8 See Ma’amar HaIkurim, “B’hashgacha“.
9 See Adir Bamarom p.68.
10 See Sanhedrin 38b and Shemot Rabbah 6:1.