Our Place in Genesis 3
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20 NASB
Woe to those – hoy ha ‘omerim. “Woe to those who call.” Isaiah’s pronouncement pushes us back to Genesis. And it’s not just Havvah who stands before the tree. Suddenly we realize that we are right there beside her, doing exactly what she did—and not because we were seduced. We act like she did. We have determined that evil is good, dark is light, and bitter is sweet.
Did you ever ask yourself the surprisingly difficult question: How does one choose evil? How do we commit sin? The will can choose, by its very nature, only that which is good. I am personally convinced that the exercise or use of free will in a given situation of guilt is that the will, desirous of some evil which has good aspects (if I steal your money, I will be rich), forces the intellect to concentrate on the good to be acquired in the evil act, and to turn away from the recognition of evil. This urges the intellect to rationalize that which was originally recognized as evil. While I am doing something wrong (in the act of doing it), I cannot be squarely facing its evil aspect; I must be thinking of it as good and right. Consequently, free will is probably exercised in the act of coercing the intellect to rationalize rather than in the execution of the act itself.[1]
“When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise,” is the rationalization of evil for beneficial effect. The only way Havvah can act in opposition to God’s desire is to convert the disobedience into something good! Human beings rarely if ever do something evil for the sake of evil alone. They do something evil because they have converted the act into something good for them. They have inserted personal evaluation into the ethical equation. Before she even eats of the fruit, Havvah has convinced herself that doing so will benefit her. This is the justification for her decision. And it is the justification for ours.
Think about the last time you chose to act in a way that you knew was contrary to Torah and Yeshua’s halacha. Why did you go ahead anyway? Because you first convinced yourself that what you were about to do was justifiable, that is, it met some greater need at the moment that blocked the voice of accusation. This ethical maneuver prevented you from acting according to your understanding of Torah because you converted what you knew to be evil into something good. Then you were free to act upon it. You decided at that moment that this was good for you, and that’s why you could go ahead even though your conscience would later condemn you. And this is why disobedience is possible.
The story of the Garden is not just about the “Fall of Mankind.” It is an insight into the dynamics of choice, the necessity of personal insertion into God’s commandments, and the mutation of evil into good. It is about every one of us whenever we stand before the temptation of experiencing something forbidden. It is about the seduction of the yetzer ha’ra, convincing us that at this moment what God says is no longer good. Hand in hand we stand, listening to the subtle argument of the creature within us, until we are justified in reaching out for something we know we should not have.
And the rest is history.
Topical Index: woe, good, evil, rationalization, Genesis 3:6, Isaiah 5:20
[1] John Powell, why am i afraid to tell you who i am, pp. 115-116.
Hi All,
I need to know if anyone out there has a background in manufacturing retail clothing, particularly for the athletic market. If you do, would you please contact me by email? Skip
“Consequently, free will is probably exercised in the act of coercing the intellect to rationalize rather than in the execution of the act itself.” Thank you, Skip and John Powell. This supplies a missing piece of the free will puzzle for me. I can see that all sin is coercion, as well as the fruit of coercion. The free will got lost somewhere back there, before the execution, and I think you two may have pinpointed where. The battle between good and evil is won or lost in the heart and mind, that I am sure of. By the time we see fruit (action) the deed has already been done, as the Sermon on the Mount also brings out. Subscription to the tyranny of sin or the obedience of YHVH happens before the act. “As a man thinks in his heart” (setting of the paradigm), well, the rest is a foregone conclusion.
Witness the struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane. By the time we see the trials and the cross, we are watching an outcome that has already been battled for and chosen. I am slowly learning that “the set of the sails determines the gales” (a really great poem) and that time in my prayer closet before the day begins is what is going to make or break the day, as a rule.
Can anyone please explain where Romans 14:23 “…and whatever is not of faith is sin” fits into an equation of choosing good vs. evil? It doesn’t say that whatever is not of Torah or God’s commandments is sin.
We would have to start by asking how Paul views “faith.” Given his rabbinic background, it’s unlikely that he saw “faith” as a set of proportions (creeds) that required mental assent. More likely he saw faith as the actions accompanying devotion to YHVH. As he proclaims in his defense before Felix, he views this as Torah obedience, including the oral Torah. Paul is thoroughly Jewish and his idea of faith is in that context. You might search other Pauline passages on this web site for more information, or take a look at Tim Hegg’s book and the work of Brad Young – cited on my recommended reading list
Thank you so much!, – will do!
How do we access your recommended reading list Skip?
easy. Right on the home page of the web site.
I don’t agree with the premise “the will can choose, by its very nature, only that which is good”. There is no real choice in any statement that includes an “only that” option. While I agree that many, maybe even most, go the route of these metal and moral gymnastics to justify their sin, but there are other options as well. I’m proof that it doesn’t take great intelligence or a vivid imagination to sin and to NOT have to be able to justify anything to anyone, including myself or God. For me, all it takes is a blind disregard for the reality of the consequences. However the willingness to do whatever it is that I want to do, regardless of the cost, is perhaps just another definition of insanity. I don’t have to trick myself into doing wrong or to justify myself, either before or after, but I do have to either lie to myself about the consequences or deny them altogether. But maybe that is just me and my uniqueness shining darkly…as well as the reason why I end up in the ditch so often. Whichever option we choose it gives us insight to examine how we be… (BElieve, BEhave, BEtray).
When I give myself to my lesser lovers (sin or disfunction)regrettably it is not about the good but the sensations, the payoff…I agree the soul does far to often chose that which is not good knowing full well it is wrong, it just wants the payoff. Eve knew full well it was a sin, that it was forbidden. She just wanted to be like God knowing things for herself. The lesser lover she chose (in my mind) was knowing things independently from God. Independent Human reason brings death, while reason in relation to the Spirit bring life and peace.
I have never met a thief, a lier or a con-man who did not completely rationalize their behavior. The need for Torah ; a standard of behavior outside our personal desires or expectations is obvious to me.
Hello Olga,
I’m not qualified to give a final word on your question, but I have found it beneficial to view the English word faith from translations of the Hebrew word emunah: steady, stability, faith (ful, ly, ness), truly, truth, verily.
If “Torah, God’s Word is Truth” then perhaps we could be helped by rethinking what the verse does say.
Thank you, Patricia! It makes sense.
“The only way Havvah can act in opposition to God’s desire is to convert the disobedience into something good!”
This bothers me a little, because how would she know what was good and what was evil before she had the Knowledge of Good and Evil? Wouldn’t she be making a choice based on something else, such as the desire to discern good and evil? (v. 6)
It isn’t a matter of knowing good and evil. It’s a matter of doing what God instructs, that is, doing RIGHT or WRONG. If she does what is RIGHT, then it is GOOD. But in this case, what she does is decide that what God (or Adam) told her was WRONG isn’t so, and her action (of disobedience) is, in her mind, not WRONG. The verse suggests that she views the tree and her desire as something GOOD, and therefore RIGHT.