Anthropological
research has indicated that among the farthest and most remote primitive
people today, there is a universal belief in God. "Lift up
your eyes to the stars and see Who has created them." (Isaiah
40:26).
Belief
in God is our most precious possession and must be guarded accordingly.
The Bible recognizes the atheist and calls him a fool, as it is written,
"The fool says in his heart, there is no God" (Psalms 14:1).
The atheist simply wants no restriction, hence doesn't like anyone
with greater power, thusly he would just deny any divine purpose and
power. So the nonbeliever would declare that I'm here by accident
(meaning to say I'm not much different than a ill fly).
Have you ever seen a building under construction? The builders use
cranes to pick up an entire truckload of bricks, and then one or two
men put their hands under the derrick and push the truckload into
the right place.
An idiot sees two guys pushing a truckload of bricks and he thinks
they're as strong as Hercules. A wise person understands it's the
crane that's moving.
A minor modest explanation of what God is
-
God is the Creator of everything
God is Holy and Perfect. Everything
in the universe was created by God, and only by God. Judaism completely
rejects the dualistic notion that evil was created by Satan or some
other deity. All comes from God. As Isaiah said, "I am the
LORD, and there is none else. I form the light and create darkness,
I make peace and create evil. I am the LORD, that does all these things"
(Isaiah 45,6-7).
- God is Incorporeal
Although many places in scripture and
Talmud speak of various parts of God's body (the Hand of God, God's
wings, etc.) or speak of God in anthropomorphic terms (God walking
in the garden of Eden, God laying phylactery, etc.), Judaism firmly
maintains that God has no body. Any reference to God's body is simply
a figure of speech, a means of making God's actions more comprehensible
to beings living in a material world. Much of Maimonides Guide for
the Perplexed is devoted to explaining each of these anthropomorphic
references and proving that they should be understood figuratively.
In Judaism it's forbidden to represent to God in a physical form.
That is considered idolatry. The sin of the Golden Calf incident was
not that the people chose another deity, but that they tried to represent
God in a physical form.
- God is Neither Male nor Female
This followed directly from
the idea that God has no physical form. God has, of course, no body;
therefore, the very idea that God is male or female is patently absurd.
We refer to God using masculine terms simply for convenience's sake,
because Hebrew has no neutral gender; God is no more male than a table
is.
Although we usually speak of God in masculine terms, there are times
when we refer to God using feminine terms. The Shechinah, the manifestation
of God's presence that fills the universe, is conceived of in feminine
terms, and the word Shechinah is a feminine word.
- God is Omnipresent
God is in all places at all times. He fills the universe and exceeds
its scope. He is always near for us to call upon in need, and He sees
all that we do. Closely tied in with this idea is the idea that God
is universal. He is not just the God of the Jews; He is the God of
all nations.
God can do anything. It is said that the only thing that is beyond
His power is the fear of Him; that is, we have free will, and He cannot
compel us to do His will.
God knows all things, past, present, and future. He knows our thoughts
as well.
- God is Eternal
God transcends time. He has no beginning and
no end. He will always be there to fulfill his promises. When Moses
asked for God's name, He replied, "Ehyeh asher ehyeh". That
phrase is generally translated as, "I am that I am", but
the word "ehyeh" can be present or future tense, meaning
"I am what I will be" or "I will be what I will be".
The ambiguity of the phrase is often interpreted as a reference to
God's eternal nature.
Time is in this universe - whatever created this universe has to exist
outside of time (Einstein).
- God's Involvement
God is aware of everything
that takes place, including every thought that is entertained by every
human being. Nothing can exist without God bringing it continually
into existence. The fact that anything exists, whether it's a rock
in the street or ant #8162 in this particular ant hill, is a revelation
of God's constant will and awareness. Nothing happens without God's
will.
- God is Both Just and Merciful
We have often heard Christians
speak of Judaism as the religion of the strict Law, which no human
being is good enough to fulfill (hence the need for the so-called
sacrifice of Jesus). This is a wrong mischaracterization of Jewish
belief. Judaism has always maintained that God's justice is clearly
tempered by mercy, the two qualities perfectly balanced. Of the two
Names of God most commonly used in scripture, one refers to his quality
of justice and the other to his quality of mercy. The two names were
used together in the story of Creation, showing that the world was
created with both justice and mercy.
II. Relationship with
God
The first of
the Ten Commandments declares: "I am the Lord your God who
brought you out of Egypt" (Exodus 20:2). This is the good-deed
to "Know there is a God."
"Know that God is the Lord, He made us and we are His"
(Psalms 100:3).
as the prophet taught, "Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Was it not told to you from the beginning? Do you not understand how
the earth was founded? (Isaiah 40:21). Similarly, we are taught, "Know
the God of your father" (I Chronicles 29:9).
The circus performer is willing to walk the tightrope because he is
confident there's a net below to catch him. Similarly, a child will
jump down off a ledge into his father's arms, completely confident
that his father will catch him. The whole point of life is to strengthen
your awareness of God
This good-deed of awareness of God has Six Constant.
1. To know there is a God Ex. 20:2
2. Not to entertain thoughts of other gods besides Him Ex. 20:3
3. To know that He is one Deut. 6:4
4. To love Him Deut. 6:5
5. To fear Him Deut. 10:20
6. To sanctify His Name Lev. 22:32
Every moment of awareness is another occasion to actualize these goals.
None of the other good-deed has that same constant opportunity, and
that's why the Six Constant good-deed are our priority. All the other
good-deed only build and bolster these goals.
III. Steps to trust in God
Rabbi Bechaya, in his 12th century book of
self-improvement, "Duties of the Heart", describes key to
build trust in God:
First thing is to realize that the Almighty loves you with unbounded
love. The closest thing we can compare this to is the love a parent
has for a child. The Almighty is our Father in Heaven. His love for
us exceeds all of the love in this world. Awareness of God is to live
with this realization.
Deep down we know that God loves us. Anyone in trouble prays to God.
This is true even of people who have ignored Him all their lives.
As the saying goes, "there's no atheist in a foxhole." Even
if you've done everything wrong, when you need your Father, He's there.
The U.S. Defense Department spends millions of dollars each year to
send broadcast signals to distant stars, on the chance there's life
out there. It may take 2,000 years for the signals to get there, but
they're still listening 'round the clock.
If they ever get an answer -- even just a "hello" -- the
whole world would be flabbergasted.
Have you ever had a prayer answered? Four out of five people will
say "yes." The Creator of this universe has privately communicated
with you. It's mind-boggling.
Most people whose prayer was answered didn't even know in which direction
to send the signal! They simply said, "God, please help..."
Five billion human beings, a whole galaxy of planets and stars --
and God answered this individual!
The mitzvah of belief in God means living with the reality that you're
NOT ALONE. God's awareness and attention to every detail is constant.
He picks up signals when you ask.
God doesn't need anything from you. He doesn't need you to eat kosher
food, or to observe the sabbath.
God only wants to give. Everything in the world is for our benefit.
So if God doesn't grant your desire, you have to ask yourself why.
Why hasn't God given you 100 million dollars? Maybe it's not good
for you. Maybe you'd become arrogant, greedy, excessive. Maybe you'd
hire others to accomplish your goals, and you'd miss out on making
the effort to try.
God knows what's good for us, simply because God made us. Trust in
God means understanding that when He doesn't give you something, it's
a message. He's trying to wake you up, to get you to reevaluate your
goals.
Good parents do this with their children, too. A child wants five
cookies; you give him one. Or you take him to the doctor to get a
shot: The child is crying, "Why are you doing this to me?"
But you know it's for his own good.
Anytime something bad happens, you have to ask yourself, "Why?"
Understand that God knows what He's doing. He's trying to raise us
up. He knows what's good for us and He wants us to have the best of
everything.
It's all for the good
If
you really understand that the Almighty loves you and has all the
power, then when something doesn't go your way, you'll want to know
why. Because everything that God does is for our good. He never gets
angry. He never punishes you. He never takes revenge. Everything is
for our benefit. Sometimes we don't find out until a little later...
The Talmud tells the story of Rabbi Akiva, who was a student of Rabbi
Nachum Ish Gamzu -- whose very name means "also this is for the
good." Rabbi Akiva was once travelling to a distant town. He
had a rooster to wake him up, a donkey to ride on, and some candles
for light. As night began to fall, he arrived at a village and all
the hotels were full for the night. He had no place to sleep. So he
went to the forest to camp out. As he was studying Torah, a wind blew
out his candle, leaving him in the dark. Shortly after that, a lion
came and devoured his donkey. And then a cat came and ate his rooster.
There was Rabbi Akiva, alone in the forest and he'd just lost everything!
But he said, "Also this must be for the good."
Rabbi Akiva got up in the morning and continued his journey on foot.
He passed through the village and learned, to his horror, that a band
of marauders had come in the night, burned down the village, murdered
the people and took all their possessions.
"I now see how God protected me. Had I gotten a hotel room, they
would have taken me too. Or my horse would have neighed, or my rooster
would have crowed, or the bandits would have found me by my candlelight.
Everything God does is for the good."
God created this world and gave us a Torah. Why did He do it? It's
all a beautiful gift. Be grateful. And if you make the effort to attempt
even the impossible, God will surely help.
