Evil inclination

Destiny or Choice

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Do I have Free Will or Did God Make Me Do It?

Someone raised the question in a chat group last week: if God has all knowledge and knows the future, how can we truly have free will? This query has been asked over and over for time immemorial. What is the answer? Is it even important for us to know? Or is it even possible to know? There are at least two views of this subject. 

Power of Choice after the Tree

Does the fact that God knows everything mean that He predestines us to make the decisions that we make? Does it mean that He somehow directs for bad or for good, where we end up? 

The excuse: “The devil made me do it.” Is not far off from “God made me do it.” So do we have free will? And is it possible that the devil, or as some say, the evil inclination made me do it? If so, does mankind truly have free will? Is it possible to resist the evil inclination that is bound up in our DNA…Something that started after Eve and Adam ate the apple?

Does the Eternal work with our weaknesses? Is He there to give us wisdom and strength to choose the right path? 

When our first parents chose to eat of the tree, they accepted the fate of two natures ruling their flesh. Unfortunately our inclination to evil is amplified unto the third and fourth generation and so we seem destined to do evil at times. But this is not as some religions explain, original sin and we can choose our way out of it!

The idea that the Eternal knows everything and has a divine plan…does that mean that God controls us against our will and makes us mere automatons on a chess board? I don’t like that idea.

The Bible says that God “knows the way that I take” (Job 23:10). It also shows the disaster of doing things the way we feel inclined. David followed his inclination with Bathsheba and his repentance is recorded for us: David’s decision, albeit a wrong decision which produced grave consequences, worked out in the end because the Eternal knows the way we take and guides and directs even after wrong decisions have been made. But, there are always consequences! But if we broaden the view, what effect do my actions have on the lives of others?…choices they may not have made but consequences that included them?

Was it the will of Hashem to direct David to take Bathsheba? Absolutely not! But did he work out something regardless? Obviously many of their descendants, including King Solomon would never have been born. Here is David’s sincere confession: 

Psa 51:”3 For I know my transgressions; And my sin is ever before me. 4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, And done that which is evil in thy sight; That thou mayest be justified when thou speakest, And be clear when thou judgest. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts; And in the hidden part thou wilt make me to know wisdom. 7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. “

What about the sale of Joseph by his brothers? Did the Eternal plan that? Not exactly! Did they all suffer for it! Of course!  From Joseph’s point of view, he was the innocent bystander affected by the decision of his brothers. Clearly not his fault. So was this all engineered by the Master of our Fate?

The tragedy of Joseph’s sale to Egypt did save many people as he later told his brothers. Yes! We don’t know what would have been if Joseph had not been sold, but something else could have happened because the Omnipotence of God is above all of our simple human logic. 

If our DNA includes tendencies to good and to evil, then is it possible to choose good and the path of life and to resist evil? We can, but we do not always do so. So there has to be a plan B, which God already knows about before it happens. If we choose correctly the first time, we might not have so many paths and tunnels in the maze of life. Again, we don’t know and there is much wisdom in saying we do not know the mind of the Eternal. 

Deu 30: “19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”

All of us have made bad choices and some of us see that those very choices have brought about learning experiences and actually positioned us to be where we can affect and receive good in this world. How do you bring good out of bad? Well only Hashem knows! But it happens. Job asked the very same question:

Job 14:4: Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?

I can’t quit believing that God has a plan, regardless of all the stuff we wade through, and it will all work out, with or without us but hopefully with us as we straighten our steps under His guidance!

Pro 4: 26 “Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

Prov 4: 27 “Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”

On the Other Hand

But what happens when our path is clearly guided to something we had nothing to do with, like Job when all he held dear was destroyed? This had nothing to do with his choices. Sometimes this happens and then what? How can we say he had free will? How can the Eternal be just and throw something like this upon any human being? We know that Job was recompensed in the long run and yet it seems he had no choice in the matter.  So what? Was he chosen? And for what? 

Chosen–The Chosen People

 “I know, I know. We are your chosen People. But, once in a while can’t you choose someone else?” Tevye from Fiddler on the Roof. 

It seems the Jews are chosen to suffer from time immemorial and was there a reason for this suffering? Individually it appears very vague. Do we suffer for the sins of our ancestors? Apparently! And yet we have the promise that the son is not punished for the sins of the father. (Deut 24:16). Strange, seemingly unmerited consequences. Is there ever a way out?

Right, so yes, there are instances when people are apparently chosen as guinea pigs, as in the case of Job above. We don’t know at the time and may never know but these things happen and it seems we have no choice in the matter which puts the eternal question back in place: “If we truly have free will, then why do these things happen to me? And if God is the engineer of the world’s fate then how do I fit in and can I really direct my own life?

Ariella Casey

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Original Sin—The Devil Made Me Do IT!

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Original Sin or the Evil Inclination?

What is the difference between the belief that mankind carries within him the “original sin” with the accompanying need for a blood sacrifice to absolve or cover up the sins that come because of it, and the Tanakh (Old Testament) view that we have the option of free choice to do good or to give in to the evil urge which is encapsulated in mankind? Considering all the generations of mankind since the Fall in the Garden and the passing on of evil tendencies, is it even possible for us today to resist temptation?

Taking seriously what the Bible says, does the inherent tendency toward evil indeed dominate or control mankind?

The verse in question seems to be Psalms 51:7 (hebrew “Tanakh” scriptures) or 51:5 in Old Testament scriptures, discarding as proof the New Testament, since it is not common ground:

הֵן־בְּעָוֹון חֹולָלְתִּי וּבְחֵטְא יֶחֱמַתְנִי אִמִּי׃

[Psa 51:5 ESV] “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me.”

So, yes! That does sound like the Christian version of being born into sin. But wait.

What are some other things that we can throw into the pot?

The very first accounting of anger and where it led:

Cain and Abel, what really happened?

Gen. 4:3-7 Koren Tanakh:

“And in process of time it came to pass, that Qayin brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to YHVH.

And Hevel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat parts thereof. And YHVH had respect to Hevel and to his offering: but to Qayin and to his offering He had not respect. And Qayin was very angry, and his face fell.

And YHVH said to Qayin, Why art thou angry? and why art thou crestfallen?

If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin crouches at the door, and to thee shall be his desire. Yet thou mayst rule over him.”

Genesis 4:3-7 JPS Tanakh:

“In the course of time, Cain brought an offering to יהוה from the fruit of the soil; and Abel, for his part, brought the choicest of the firstlings of his flock. יהוה paid heed to Abel and his offering, but to Cain and his offering [God] paid no heed. Cain was much distressed and his face fell. And יהוה said to Cain, ‘Why are you distressed,
And why is your face fallen? Surely, if you do right, There is uplift.
But if you do not do right, Sin couches at the door; Its urge is toward you, Yet you can be its master.’”

Gen 4:3-7 ESV (Old Testament)

3 In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, 4 and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.”

Note: All these versions indicate that when the evil desire arises “you must” or “you can” rule over it. There is no indication that man is powerless over evil. The following commentary for Sforno sheds some light:

Commentary:

אתה תמשול בו, it is within your power to overcome the power of the evil urge thanks to the צלם אלוקים, the divine image with which you have been provided at birth. This conforms to our sages in Sukkah 52 who have taught that were it not for this צלם אלוקים, which represents G’d’s assistance against the evil urge, there would be no way man could cope with temptation. This is what David meant in Psalms 37,33 ה’ לא יעזבנו בידו ולא ירשיענו בהשפטו, “YHVH will not abandon him to his power; He will not let him be condemned in judgment.” Sforno.

Psalm 37:31-33:

“The Tora of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall falter. The wicked watches the righteous, and seeks to slay him. YHVH will not leave him in his hand, nor allow him to be condemned when he is judged.”

The accounting of the story of Cain and his downfall is the first actual sin recorded in the Bible, other than Adam and Eve’s disobedience at that wrong tree. It is significant that G-d took this moment to teach us something. The sin of Adam was an assertion of his free will in conflict with that of his Creator. The next time, we see an overwhelming tendency to resentment and a corresponding reaction to what Cain apparently thought was injustice. For whatever reason the Creator decided to honor Abel and reject Cain’s offering. Was it a teaching for mankind? Was it to provoke Cain to react and see if he could control himself? Was it to teach about a future acceptable sacrifice? The Eternal’s ways are a mystery and looking as deeply as we can, we often do not understand. Was it that Cain felt “entitled” because he was a used to getting his way? Or was Abel often coddled and Cain held responsible by his parents? Was Cain jealous? Had he just had enough?

Sometimes we really don’t get it when things don’t seem to work out fairly. We want answers and sometimes we are left wondering and questioning why. How about the book of Job? Job complained fiercely that he was not treated justly. He dealt directly with G-d which was his outstanding grace.

And in the end he was not found guilty, but rather his self righteous, know it all friends were condemned and told to take a sacrifice to Job that he might offer it for them. But what was the trial all about anyway?

And what was the sacrifice of Isaac all about? Apparently Sarah did not live long after the event, in fact she was found in a different place where she died shortly after. See the story. Did she find out and run back to her relatives, thinking that Abraham had lost his mind and her only son was going to die? But looking at the story, it was all about Abraham’s trust that everything would work out for his and his descendant’s good. Was his trust really all that important? Did it teach Isaac anything? And how about us today? Do we learn anything?

It is easy to sweep responsibility under the rug of original sin and continually repent of a sin that has finally become so strong that it is as if many cords have attached themselves to us. The repetition of a sin or may we say, “habit” makes that tendency harder each time to resist. It becomes an addiction which without the צלם אלוקים inherent image of G-d upon man’s soul, would prove his demise into the bottomless pit of self and evil. Yet precisely at the very beginning of the first offspring of those who chose to accept the evil inclination along with the good inside themselves—we see Cain’s inborn tendency to hate and to react, acting upon him and the Creator coming up to the plate to show us a better way, the only way to overcome. To take hold of His strength.

א֚וֹ יַֽחֲזֵ֣ק בְּמָעוּזִּ֔י יַעֲשֶׂ֥ה שָׁל֖וֹם לִ֑י שָׁל֖וֹם יַעֲשֶׂה־לִּֽי׃

“Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.” Isa 27:5

There is no easy answer, but the Torah sets the standard for what YHVH wills for us. If we take Him at His Word—that He will strengthen His own image within us (the צלם אלוקים), we will win over the evil inclination that likes to bind us in the hopeless condition that the wicked find themselves. It may take time, but we will conquer.

Yours for grace to grow that good image inside us…

Ariella Tiqvah