The God of Good and Evil
O LORD, why do You cause us to stray from Your ways and harden our heart from fearing You? Isaiah 63:17
Cause – How difficult it is to think that God causes us to stray! How can it be possible? How can Isaiah, the inspired prophet, tell us that God stands behind our disobedient wanderings? We want to throw up our hands and shout, “NO!” God can’t be like this. He is good. He cannot be tempted. He rejects evil. So, why does Isaiah say something so terrible?
When we look carefully at this verse, we find that the verb ta’ah (to wander, to err, to go astray) is in a verb form that implies causation. In other words, there really isn’t any word like “cause” in this text. The verb itself implies that God causes this action. Isaiah uses the same verb in 53:6, “All we like sheep have gone astray. . .” Of course, in this passage in Isaiah, we are the ones who are responsible for this situation. But here Isaiah seems to suggest that God is responsible. It’s a problem.
It’s a problem until we realize how Hebrew works. Hebrew is a phenomenological language. It describes how things appear. It is the language of observation, not analysis. Now consider Isaiah’s statement. Aren’t there times when it certainly appears as if God is making life a twisted mess? Don’t we sometimes feel as if God is behind our disobedience? We certainly blame Him for things, don’t we? Aren’t there days when we want to shout, “God, why did you make me do this? You’re sovereign over all things. Your plans never fail. But look at me. I have wandered away from You. Didn’t You know that this would happen? Of course You did! So, why did You let it happen? Why didn’t You stop me?” At those moments we might use the same words Isaiah uses. “You, O YHWH, cause us to stray and You have hardened our hearts.”
If we read this with Greek eyes, we think of the statement as incompatible with the goodness of God. We see theological conflict. We see contradiction. We don’t see how it is logically possible to say that God is good and, in the same breath, say that He causes evil. But Isaiah does say this. He says it because he is recounting what appears to be the case, especially for men who would love to shift the blame to the Creator. Oh, does that remind you of a certain situation in Genesis? “Look, Lord, I’m not to blame here. You made this woman. You gave her to me. I followed her lead. I just did what I was supposed to do. It’s not my fault.” Maybe we haven’t really come very far from the gates of Eden after all.
Biblical Hebrew portrays a story written from the eyes of the beholder. Sometimes we need to be reminded about that particular perspective. The Bible doesn’t come to us as a neutral dissertation on theological doctrines. It comes to us clothed in human observation, filled with specifically human proclivities. When we read it, we need to account for the “human factor,” just as God does when He speaks to us through it. It’s not such a strange book after all. It’s just God telling us in our language. If God can do that, then I suppose we can speak to Him in the same language, can’t we? Just tell Him the way it is, the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) way, and see what happens.
Topical Index: cause, ta’ah, to wander, to go astray, Isaiah 63:17
This issue came up when my daughter was studying Exodus for her bible quizzing. She asked why God purposely hardened Pharoh’s heart. It got me thinking and prayer as well. After a we talked about it for a while I believe that God showed me really what was going on. Pharaoh, not unlike us today, felt that he was infact god. His country, culture and “world” made him out to be god so when someone else claimed to be god he was up for the fight. So when YHWH proceeded to do what He does, which is unfold His plan, His actions went against Pharoh’s worldview and started to cause a HUGE paradigm shift…It rocked his world!
When this happened pharoh had 2 choices, accept it or fight it…he chose the latter. I believe that it is this fighting God and refusing to accept Him for Who He truly is, causing ones heart to harden and causes one to turn from Him.
So while you can argue that through His actions God is causing one to turn astray and harden their heart against Him, is it really not caused by our reactions and refusing to accept who is really in control. Is it not caused by our stiff neck, arrogance, refussal, dissobedience and pride.
I told my daughter that there have probably been times, and as she becomes a teenager there will be more, where my actions caused a reaction in her to turn from me and harden her heart towards me, but it is at those times where we both need to turn to God and pray that we are both in His line…not our ouwn. If either one is out we must seek forgiveness from Him and the other person, or be broken beyond repair.
While the English translation of the texts in Exodus make no distinction between the Hebrew words for “harden,” Hebrew uses 3 different words with 3 different implications. In most of the 19 occurrences of these words, the one that predominates is a word that really means that God allowed the person to do what they were inclined to do anyway. In other words, God took away the restraint of His hand. He let the real desire of the heart come forth. Quite a bit different than our idea that God CAUSED the hardening.
most excellent brother Tim.. I was thinking of old man Pharoah (myself). Today, if you will hear his voice- “harden not your heart!” the scriptures tell us (everyone). G-d’s word is universal in its appeal but (at the same time) individual in its application. G-d spoke to Pharoah through Moses. G-d used a man to “speak” to a man. This is how G-d operates. G-d always speaks to a human heart through a human heart. Amen and I’ll through in a Hebrew “selah”- on top of this as well.
The Bible was written by men. (gasp!) That’s right.. written by a wide cross-section of ordinary men filled and used by the Ruach Hakodesh (holy breath) to pen G-d’s words. A variety of men across a wide period of time and sometimes unknown to each other, especially the ones who preceded in chronos time the ones who came after them.
And yet the scriptures knit together in marvelous harmony and compliment one another. As it has been “observed” – the best commentary on the Bible is the Bible. It is G-d’s book. (please notice the period at the end of the previous sentence- G-d “sees” it. I just want to assure you- our Father is a G-d of the details, yes, every jot and every “tittle” (for all you Hebrew affecionados). Every detail matters. -Names, dates, places, times- our Bible is a seamless robe of G-d revealing Himself to us. We do err -not knowing the scripture, or the power of G-d. (Remember- He created this world by speaking!) Excuse me.. (whoah!)
When G-d speaks, things happen. And the “word of the LORD” came unto__________. And G-d said______. Yeshua (G-d with a human face) said -the words I speak unto you __________. (Remember?) There is a life-giving, life-sustaining force in His words found in His book. It is (in its entirety- His revelation of Himself to us and His revelation of who we are and who we will be. Yes, brother Skip, the way we know our “future” is by looking at our past. We (together) are Adam.
YHWH through Moishe (Moses) spoke to Pharoah (the big cheese) ten times. He was given “opportunity” to respond ten times. He had ten opportunites to “repent”, but he chose to “harden his heart” and we know (from “it is written”) his end. Not a pretty sight at all.
Does all this matter to me? Do I (the not-so-big-cheese) listen when G-d speaks to me? (that’s right- through another of my own kind). It could be Skip, could be my wife, could be my children, could be my neighbor, could be through His living Word. It has been said, (and I’m starting to “come around” to the idea- G-d is constantly “speaking” but we have (just like Pharoah) hardened our own hearts and have become deaf to Him.
“Faith” comes by hearing the Book says. The quality of my hearing determines the quality of my life. (Excuse me one moment..I feel a pressing need to ask-) – Father…… help me to hear you. Clean my ears, and tune my heart to “see” you and to hear you when you speak to me. I give unto you what is yours by right of creation and by right of Calvary and that is my entire existence, past, present and future. I freely and fully give unto you, all that there is of me in entire, absolute , absolute surrender and come to you as a beggar comes before a King. I fully, freely, gladly confess Jesus Christ is (now) LORD, to the glory of G-d the Father. I would ask you my holy Father to break me, make me and mold me into the image of the holy and compassionate Son, Jesus Christ, the only righteous ONE. I bless your name for you are the G-d who hears and answers prayer, especially our prayers of repentance. Cleanse me once again with the blood of the Lamb shed for me on the execution stake and fill me and use me today in the way you see fit to do so. Inhabit my habitation and wear me holy LORD, like a suit of clothes. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. May my heart be filled to overflowing with your praises today. I ask these things at your invitation and because Calvary made this prayer possible. Amen.
Thank you Skip for your further elucidation of “harden.” This I believe, also “ties in” with the “yetser ha’ra” or desires of our heart. Does our heart truly desire Him? -A “chorus” from long ago:
Longing, longing for Jesus,
I have a longing in my heart for Him;
Just to be near Him, to feel His presence,
I have a longing in my heart for Him.
This blog further shows the connection also to Isaiah 45:7.