Mesillat Yesharim
I shall delight in Your statutes; I shall not forget Your word. Psalm 119:16 NASB
Delight – Moses Luzzatto published Mesillat Yesharim in 1740. His insights into the relationship between righteous acts, joy and obligation are just as important today as they were two hundred and fifty years ago. Luzzatto argued that human beings are driven by the pursuit of pleasure, the impulse to find ultimate joy in living. There is nothing wrong with this desire. In fact, without it life would be meaningless. Life’s big question is to define the proper object of this pursuit. According to Luzzatto, joy is achieved through the pathway of the commandments. They are designed to bring human beings into the presence of the divine and according to Scripture, this is ultimate joy. We may be distracted by all kinds of other substitutes, and certainly the world offers them on a daily basis, but true joy, joy that fills our souls to the brim, is found in the experience of God’s graciousness and abiding presence. This is what makes us really human and it is this that every one of us seeks. Once tasted, nothing else will do.
But Luzzatto makes a crucial observation. “For this world is the only place where the Mizvot can be observed. Man is put here in order to earn with the means at this command the place that has been prepared for him in the world to come. In the words of our Sages, ‘This day is intended for the observance of the Mizvot; the morrow, for the enjoyment of the reward earned by means of them.’”[1]
Before you raise theological objections to the idea of “earning” a place in the olam ha’ba, consider the greater impact of Luzzatto’s observation. Ira Stone’s commentary makes it clear.
- “the goal of achieving joy expresses itself through the commandments.”
- “the idea that joy comes to us in the form of commandments is counterintuitive,”
- “there is neither perfection nor addition after death.”
- “that state in which man departs will remain with him for eternity.”
- “one who becomes a blot on the face of God does so only in this world and can rectify that situation only in this world.”[2]
John the Baptist said the same thing. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Yeshua echoed the same thought. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day that we enter into the grace (favor – hen) of the Lord. What is done today brings us closer to joy. What is not done today will remain with us for eternity.
Now we know why David uses the word sha’ah in his poem. He delights (sha’ah) in the commandments because the commandments are the way to joy. Without them, ethical behavior devolves into personal opinion (see my analysis here). But with them, you and I can know the way to God’s heart and we discover that the favor He poured out upon us has a purpose, to provide us with the motivation to direct that inherent pursuit of ultimate joy toward Him.
Let’s not be foolish. We are grateful for forgiveness, but gratitude is not enough motivation to overcome temptation when joy is at stake. As human beings, we desperately desire to live satisfied and satisfying lives. What presents itself as a means of achieving that goal is powerful, sometimes so powerful that we overlook the commandments and ignore their demands simply because we need emotional care. The more we hurt, the more we seek the goal of ultimate joy. Each slice of satisfaction we are able to feel increases our desire for more. God knows all this. He promises that the way of the righteous, mesillat yesharim, the way of Torah, will bring us the kind of joy we truly desire. He promises, but we do not always believe Him.
Our problem is not ignorance of the Way. Our problem is not reticence on the part of the Divine. Our problem is not lack of motivation. Our problem is trust. If we trust His promises, He gives us ample instruction to achieve the goal we really desire. If we do not trust His promises, we are left to devise ways to achieve that goal without Him. And all of this struggle can be worked out only here, only now. When it comes to this issue, the issue of trust, there is no tomorrow. Day 12.
Topical Index: trust, delight, commandments, eternity, Luzzatto, Psalm 119:16, sha’ah
[1] Moses Hayyam Luzzatto, Mesillat Yesharim, p. 17.
[2] Ibid., Stone’s commentary in various remarks pp. 17-25.
Amen. It seems to me that there is no faith in the world to come: the angels know nothing of faith. There is no room left for faith when we are face to face. At that point, reality is overwhelming. Much as I complain about the seeming lack of underpinning for my relationship with the Unseen and Unknown, if He were any more present at all, I would have no room left to choose Him. Without faith it is impossible to please Him, however. For me, anyway. Other creatures, who exist to do His pleasure, are in a different position of choosing, for sure. My love is demonstrated by my being, literally, free to choose Him. Or not. That is something that is simply not possible in His Presence. The tremendous strength of will involved in that covering cherub’s actually accomplishing that could have only been possible in the thick darkness surrounding that Throne. Somehow, enough was a mystery, was not revealed, where it was still possible to have a choice based on trust. I cannot read minds. If I could, trust would no longer be possible; I would already know. If I were just part of some amorphous stream or cloud of consciousness, there would be no individuality left; no ME left; no position of personal probability left as a launching pad for trust. Love must have trust, but trust is only possible under certain conditions. You said “When it comes to this issue, the issue of trust, there is no tomorrow.” Now is the day of our salvation. Today, harden not your hearts. Tomorrow may never come. When I am already wrong, only grace can set me back on the track, the Way, but grace is only possible where I still have freedom of choice. To be free to choose, I have to be able to trust, but to be able to trust, there has to be elements that have not been revealed. Yet. If I need to know it all up front, before I whip out my checkbook, I run the risk of “ever learning, but never coming to the truth.” At some point, I must learn how to jump. I cannot wait until Next Time to get that one down. I have to learn free fall here. Now. Trust. “I’m jumping, Daddy. Catch me! Whee!” The joy of the Lord can only be the exhilaration of sheer trust. Thrill seekers, eat your heart out! Trust is hardcore fun!
“there is neither perfection nor addition after death.”
“that state in which man departs will remain with him for eternity.”
^^These scare me. What if I died today? I am nowhere near where I need to be…I have so much work to do…
Fear makes it hard to have joy…
Not trying to be negative. Just sharing thoughts this post brought to mind. There is a lot of wisdom in here. Thank you Skip.
Anne, I am in shock also….what I want to know is where did he get this concept in scripture. I am completely stumped of any scripture that says this. I know we will be judged by what we do here but I can’t get over we won’t be doing Torah in the world to come or learning more how to walk in it with more understanding. I thought that Torah is the instructions of YHVH’s Kingdom. If any one has scripture about this, I would very much like to read and study this out. Thank you.
@ Nita As I understand it, Luzzato is doing a midrash on Deut 7: 11 “ which I command you THIS day to do them”and his logic follows that it will not help to leave doing your righteous deeds for the world to come, since everyone in the world coming will only be living uprightly. Scripture is quite clear on the fact that Torah will be going forth from Zion and Torah will be the only Kingdom reign and rule. There will be no opposition to righteousness like we have now. Since everyone in the world coming will be living and doing Torah, the only difference one can make in choosing between righteous or not/ holy or profane/ clean and unclean is now! Luzzato says to prepare for the world to come by ACTING in this world and he does the following comparisons: 1. “ he who took trouble on the eve of the Sabbath can eat on the Sabbath, but he who has not troubled on the eve of the Sabbath, what shall he eat on the Sabbath? 2. this world may be compared to the land, and the world to come to the sea. If a man lay not up provisions while on land, what will he eat when at sea? 3. the world to come is like a wilderness and this world like inhabited land, if a man does not make preparation for himself from the inhabited territory, what will he eat in the wilderness?”
The same idea goes for repentance. What will you have to repent of in the world coming if everyone and everything around you is holy, clean and upright, something acquired for being in the His presence?
Thanks, Luzette. I could not have explained it any better.
Thank you so much for taking the time to respond. It definitely helps me understand the midrash better. And I get the, ‘act now’ and don’t save your acts of righteousness for the life to come. Totally. However, these still don’t make sense to me:
“there is neither perfection nor addition after death.”
“that state in which man departs will remain with him for eternity.”
If, in the world to come there will be no opposition to righteousness and everyone will be keeping Torah perfectly- then who on earth will even make the cut? I know very few people who keep Torah perfectly as of now…in fact, I know of no one. So if ‘the state in which we depart remains with us for eternity’ that would mean the olam ha’ba would be either full of people who tried to keep Torah but still failed to here and there (doesn’t sound like what Scripture describes), OR- next to no one would even pass on. Was there ever a sinless person other than Yeshua? So these statements have thrown me for a loop. I’m trying to understand how they could be true. If there is NO room for improvement, then how can you have a new heaven and a new earth full of people keeping Torah perfectly? I can’t name one person I know right now who does.
:-/
But YHVH is merciful, otherwise you are correct. None would enter. And since He is merciful, perhaps there is much more to the life after death than we know. The point is that we DON’T know, and therefore, we must live as if there is nothing else.
Thank you. Yes He is. And I see. We have to go with what we know. And what we know is that we get a shot at walking the path of righteousness- here and now.
Anne, I don’t claim to have any revelation or specific proof text on the question at hand, but here’s my take, for what it is worth. I hope it helps.
When the Kingdom finally and fully arrives, those who have begun keeping Torah and striving for righteousness through good deeds, sacrifical giving, practicing Chesed, overcoming the flesh, taming the yetzer ha’ra, etc. will have both rewards and positions of authority over those who were believers in Messiah, but didn’t observe or teach Torah (Matthew 5:19), as well as over the multitudes of unbelievers who managed to remain alive thru to the end of the Great Tribulation and the beginning of the Millennium. Of course, those Torah observant Jews and righteous patriarchs throughout all history whose understanding and practice of spiritual matters far exceeds whatever we Gentiles grafted into Israel could attain (due to our late start, Greek influence and heritical conditioning), would be further along the path to perfection, but not there yet by any measure. While it may take a few only a few years, some a few decades, others centuries, it may well take some up to the end of those 1,000 years daily practicing the Torah and being instructed by both Moses, the prophets and Yeshua himself to come into the fullness of the promise of being a “perfect” man/woman and to mirror Master Yeshua fully to the satisfaction and the glory of His Father. But, still not all will come to that intended end, but will come to a sad end. Yeshua, that great shepard, will help those to full glory who want to fulfill their ultimate purpose and those who don’t —will rebel, fall away and will lose their lives in that last great battle between good and evil (Rev 20:8-9), even though they tasted the full fruits and glory of both Torah, the Kingdom and God. Now that makes me shudder.
I wanted to also say, thank you Luzette. Your addition really helped me understand this issue better.
Thank you Luzette. Your comments really helped me have more understanding of what he meant. I appreciate your kindness to take the time to respond and you made it very understandable. Sincerely, Nita
Nita, I just wanted to say there’s a couple things I think I can know with reasonable certainty about the world to come, and that is that salvation is what gives us a fresh chance to start over. I am told by Scripture that I can expect a new nephesh (body-mind-soul) then to work out of. One that has no curse on it. The curses tie me to my past relationship with sin. Without that, I get to start over from at the line, instead of behind it. Those whose hearts are shown by their best efforts toward righteousness are those who are going to be happy to be able to. Those who have not been sorry for the breaking of the Law, repented and forsaken that sin, and then sought to implement the Law in their life, much less been curious enough to even look and see where they were messing up, are still going to be identifying with disobedience. If we don’t treat it as the most important thing in our life at every given moment, how do we expect G-d to be able to? He puts into it what I do, but at the same time, my best is enough, as He can and does do the rest. I don’t think people are sweating near enough for what they will wish they had later. But, that’s just me. I am going to get back to sweating! Its happy sweat, though, because my salvation is HIS business. His forgiveness, however, is MY business to appropriate (ask for). Obedience then comes naturally, so to speak, for love (which is what obedience to the Law restores me to) is what I truly want, when I know what it is, and can get it. That is how I was made. Without any sin in my life, and nothing in me left that will want to sin, I will finally get to enjoy being righteous, for I have been restored to the love (righteousness) that comes from Him; and then I will know who I really am. Love is what shows me that. Hurray for salvation! I cannot save myself (restore relationship), but I can stay there (obey the Law) once I am. Repentance and forgiveness leaves me free to be righteous (love and be loved), which means free to be me! And it starts now; it just gets finished later!
Laurita, I think Anne and my concern was what you said in your last sentence “I just get finished later!” In the quotes from Luzzatto that Skip used: ” There is neither perfection nor addition after death. That state which man departs will remain with him for eternity.” Those two quotes seem to go against your last sentence. Those two quotes were our concern. It all sounded so final. Luzette helped explain where Luzzatto was coming from when he made those statements.
Sorry, I just realized I misquoted you, Laurita. I should have said “it just gets finished later.” My mistake.
Nita, I understand what you are asking. I haven’t studied Luzzatto, so I am learning where he is coming from from the rest of this community, for sure, and I appreciate that! But where my understanding is right now, is that salvation from my sins is not just a later thing. I get forgiven and delivered now, which is to say, when I repent for bitterness, say, I get released from the curse that bitterness brings to my life and the life of those around me who are defiled by my bitterness. At the Second Coming and the Resurrection, though, I get a brand new nephesh that has no traces that bitterness ever was, and that new nephesh also will not want bitterness. Now, theoretically, I could choose sin again, then, but if I have learned to thoroughly hate sin in this world, eternity will be safe with me in it, because there will be nothing left in me that would ever want to rebel again. I think the Judgment is also about determining those who have separated themselves (repented) from sin, and therefore hate it, thus making them safe subjects of the Kingdom for eternity. But, I can start to be free now, and to obey now. That choosing is what sets my heart. My heart must be set now, and it takes repentance AND obedience to set it firmly into the restoration of relationship, so that I can be trusted in that Kingdom. There is more mystery still, though, for me, than understanding. I just have to hold tight to Him!
Appreciate your comments and certainly can relate. Have had a relationship with YHVH and walking Torah as I learn for a long time. Thank you for taking the time to share and comment. Sincerely, Nita
“true joy, joy that fills our souls to the brim, is found in the experience of God’s graciousness and abiding presence.” Yes, to comprehend His chesed and Presence in our lives is joy beyond expression. That comes from knowing and obeying His ways, to reciprocate what we have received from Him. We can only give what we have.
‘This day is intended for the observance of the Mizvot; the morrow, for the enjoyment of the reward earned by means of them.’”[1]
Absolutely! Rewards come AFTER performance.
Living our lives to the fullest is walking (action) His ways, doing His will- “What is not done today will remain with us for eternity.” That is reality! The dead cannot re-do their past. While there is time, we would desire to please Him now. Do not boast of tomorrow.
To reiterate- “the favor He poured out upon us has a purpose, to provide us with the motivation to direct that inherent pursuit of ultimate joy toward Him.”
“Each slice of satisfaction we are able to feel increases our desire for more. God knows all this.” Amein! That desire to fulfill His will and purpose in our lives brings forth such satisfaction only He can give, we only have to place our trust and belief in Him. HE will work in amazing ways!
Shalom!
Besides following His words, doing justice where/when we can, doing acts of service, living by the Spirit, and like obedience to the whole Scripture, how is Torah different?
Paul teaches us not to get back into bondage again, but I’m figuring you are talking on something else here.
I’ve read many but not all Dr Skip’s notes.
Any good links to help me out?
sincerely, jamie
Torah contains the specifics about all the general actions you describe AND rituals of religious significance for atonement AND a shared history of cultural absorption. Torah is much more than just legislation. It is the experience of those who were being taught a new culture, a new way of thinking about all their involvement in the world.