No Chance in Hell
Can mankind be just before God? Can a man be pure before his Maker?
He puts no trust even in His servants; and against His angels He charges error. How much more those who dwell in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, who are crushed before the moth! Job 4:17-19 NASB
How much more – “There are situations when the relationship between law and inwardness, discipline and delight, becomes gravely unbalanced. In their illustrious fear of desecrating the spirit of the divine command, the Rabbis established a level of observance which, in modern society, is within the reach of exalted souls but not infrequently beyond the grasp of ordinary men.”[1]
Perhaps you are one of the ordinary men. Do you find that meticulous observance of the Torah commandments is often just beyond you? Have you thought about life as an Ultra-orthodox Jew—and shuddered? Yes, Torah obedience is possible. God would not have commanded something that men could not do. But Job’s questions haunt even the most religious soul. Do we really think we can stand before God justified? Are we so foolish as to believe that God doesn’t account for our impurity? Since when does an all-knowing Being forget? No, says Job. If God holds even the angels accountable, how much more will He bring swift judgment against those who occupy houses of dust? In the modern vernacular, we have no chance in hell (literally as well as figuratively).
Kal va-chomer (simple and complex, literally “light and heavy”) is reasoning from something known to something less known, from something obvious to something less obvious. This principle often employs the phrase “how much more.” You can see this principle at work in Yeshua’s statements about a father who gives something to his son (Matthew 7:9-11). If an earthly father knows how to give good gifts, how much more will your heavenly Father know what to give.[2] But here, of course, is the flip side of the father of good gifts. If God doesn’t excuse even heavenly beings, how much more will He not excuse us? This is the terrifying judgment of the ancient world. Yes, God loves, but His love does noterase His justice. Oh, how we might wish that “how much more” were only true of those blessings, pounded down, spilling over!
This is a time of religious reflection. The holidays are upon us with all their merriment and pleasure, but in the dark corners of our lives, “how much more” sits waiting. Waiting for what? Perhaps for that moment when we realize that “few are guilty, but all are accountable.” Or did you think that Jesus made it all go away?
Topical Index: how much more, rabbinic exegesis, kal va-chomer, justice, Job 4:17-19
[1] Abraham Heschel, God In Search Of Man: A Philosophy of Judaism (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1955) p. 342.
[2] As another example, consider Yeshua’s observation that if it is appropriate to call the Master of the house of ha-satan by the demonic name, how much more obvious is it to call the servants in his house by the same name? In other words, those who serve the devil are of the same character as the devil. And those who serve God will be of the same character as God. In this interchange with his detractors, Yeshua employs this rabbinic principle to demonstrate the fallacy in their argument that he is from the devil. How can that be possible when he does good works? These detractors all knew the principle. Yeshua merely used it against them.
