.
One has to ask, in point of fact there has been more than one rabbi ponder:
How is it that so many of Moses' people were caught up in the Holocaust?
Where was God during all that? Why didn't He step in and do something to
protect His chosen people?
To find an answer to that question one need look no further than Ex 34:6-7,
Lev 26:3-38, Deut 27:15-26, and Deut 28:1-69. In other words: the Jews,
as a people, brought it on themselves in accordance with the covenant that
their ancestors agreed upon with God as per Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy.
A covenant is essentially a contract. Well; if God were to fail to fulfill His end
of the agreement; then He would be in breach of contract; which is not only
unethical, but also uncivil. Long story short: the covenant requires Him to
lower the boom on His people for failure to honor their end of the
agreement; and you can see the extent of the damage for yourself in the
scripture references in the above paragraph.
There are numerous blessings that God is contractually obligated to fulfill
too; so the covenant isn't all one-sided; viz: compliance with the covenant
accrues blessings; while breaching the covenant accrues curses. Anybody
who has read the Old Testament can attest that God came down on His own
people quite often for breaching the covenant; and just as often quite
cruelly. The curses that Lev 26:3-38, Deut 27:15-26, and Deut 28:1-69 list
are very disturbing; and when examining them, one cannot help but realize
they're reading a synopsis of the Jews' history.
The status of God's chosen people has its advantages; but also its
disadvantages; viz: the status of God's chosen people is not something to be
proud of; but rather, something to fear because the covenant's God is not
the kind of judge influenced by favoritism. No; if anything, Moses' people
run the risk of being judged even more severely than Gentiles because of
their privileged position and the insider's knowledge they were given of His
likes and dislikes.
• Amos 3:1-2 . . Hear this word that Yhvh has spoken against you, O
children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land
of Egypt, saying: You only have I known of all the families of the earth:
therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. (cf. Luke 12:42-48)
_
One has to ask, in point of fact there has been more than one rabbi ponder:
How is it that so many of Moses' people were caught up in the Holocaust?
Where was God during all that? Why didn't He step in and do something to
protect His chosen people?
To find an answer to that question one need look no further than Ex 34:6-7,
Lev 26:3-38, Deut 27:15-26, and Deut 28:1-69. In other words: the Jews,
as a people, brought it on themselves in accordance with the covenant that
their ancestors agreed upon with God as per Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy.
A covenant is essentially a contract. Well; if God were to fail to fulfill His end
of the agreement; then He would be in breach of contract; which is not only
unethical, but also uncivil. Long story short: the covenant requires Him to
lower the boom on His people for failure to honor their end of the
agreement; and you can see the extent of the damage for yourself in the
scripture references in the above paragraph.
There are numerous blessings that God is contractually obligated to fulfill
too; so the covenant isn't all one-sided; viz: compliance with the covenant
accrues blessings; while breaching the covenant accrues curses. Anybody
who has read the Old Testament can attest that God came down on His own
people quite often for breaching the covenant; and just as often quite
cruelly. The curses that Lev 26:3-38, Deut 27:15-26, and Deut 28:1-69 list
are very disturbing; and when examining them, one cannot help but realize
they're reading a synopsis of the Jews' history.
The status of God's chosen people has its advantages; but also its
disadvantages; viz: the status of God's chosen people is not something to be
proud of; but rather, something to fear because the covenant's God is not
the kind of judge influenced by favoritism. No; if anything, Moses' people
run the risk of being judged even more severely than Gentiles because of
their privileged position and the insider's knowledge they were given of His
likes and dislikes.
• Amos 3:1-2 . . Hear this word that Yhvh has spoken against you, O
children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land
of Egypt, saying: You only have I known of all the families of the earth:
therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. (cf. Luke 12:42-48)
_