{"id":68253,"date":"2020-01-07T12:11:25","date_gmt":"2020-01-07T10:11:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=68253"},"modified":"2023-07-31T14:21:53","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T11:21:53","slug":"the-inscrutability-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-inscrutability-of-god\/","title":{"rendered":"The Inscrutability Of God"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[459,619,581],"acf":{"old_id":"68253","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33877,"related_cahpter":"389","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"My way is the high way","content":"

Our chapter includes a prophetic statement of fundamental theological importance: <\/span><\/p>\n

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways\u2019, declares the Lord, \u2018As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts (Isaiah 55:8-9). <\/span><\/p>\n

We have here a classic Scriptural statement of the belief in the inscrutability of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maimonides elaborates on this principle and its implications in his Mishneh Torah (Laws of Repentance 5:5, see also his Guide for the Perplexed 3:20): The Holy One, blessed be He, does not know with a knowledge that is external from Him as do people. Rather, He and His knowledge are one. Human understanding cannot completely grasp this concept. For just as it is beyond the ability of a person to comprehend and conceive the essential nature of the Creator, so too it is beyond one\u2019s ability to comprehend and conceive of the Creator’s knowledge. As God says: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts.\u201d Nevertheless, people have freedom of choice.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, Rashi interprets Isaiah 55 verse 8 by reference to verse 7: <\/span><\/p>\n

My thoughts are not the same as your thoughts. For this reason, I tell you: \u201cLet the wicked forsake their ways and the man of iniquity his thoughts\u2026 (55:7) <\/span><\/p>\n

meaning, to do what is right in My eyes. Rashi refers to the midrash on our verse (Tanhuma Buber Vayeshev 11). \u201cNeither are your ways My ways\u201d (Isaiah 55:8). This may be compared to a human king. When he judges someone, he asks whether the accused killed the victim or not. If the accused confesses, the king has him executed. But the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He, are just the opposite. For God shows mercy to the one who confesses his sins, as it says: \u201cWhoever conceals his sins will not succeed. But the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy\u201d (Proverbs 28:13).<\/span><\/p>\n

The Midrash (Pesiqta Rabbati 44) relates Isaiah\u2019s prophecy to a basic Rabbinic statement on repentance. If a person sins intentionally planning to repent later, he will not be given the opportunity to repent (see Mishnah Yoma 8:9). Such a sinner is like one who immerses in a mikveh <\/em>(ritual bath) to cleanse himself of impurity, while continuing to hold in his hand the same impure reptile from which he contacted impurity. Let him first cast away what is impure and then immerse and be purified. This is as Scripture says: \u201cLet the wicked forsake their ways\u2026Let them turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on them\u2026for He will abundantly pardon\u201d (Isaiah 55:7). Rabbi Tanhuma bar Abba (5<\/span>th<\/span> century CE), who often opens and closes Rabbinic discussions, adds a more general observation: \u201cFor My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways\u201d (Isaiah 55:8). From this verse we learn that the very nature of the Holy One, blessed be He, is simply not at all like human nature.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":68254,"id":68254,"title":"is55-bregman","filename":"is55-bregman.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-inscrutability-of-god\/is55-bregman\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is55-bregman","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":68253,"date":"2020-01-07 10:11:11","modified":"2020-01-07 10:11:23","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1323,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman-207x300.jpg","medium-width":207,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman-706x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":706,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman-706x1024.jpg","large-width":706,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":1058,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":1323,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman-827x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":827,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman-289x420.jpg","home_baner-width":289,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"The Inscrutability Of God","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"My way is the high way","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":68254,"id":68254,"title":"is55-bregman","filename":"is55-bregman.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-inscrutability-of-god\/is55-bregman\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"is55-bregman","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":68253,"date":"2020-01-07 10:11:11","modified":"2020-01-07 10:11:23","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1323,"height":1920,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman-207x300.jpg","medium-width":207,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman-706x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":706,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman-706x1024.jpg","large-width":706,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman.jpg","1536x1536-width":1058,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman.jpg","2048x2048-width":1323,"2048x2048-height":1920,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman-827x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":827,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is55-bregman-289x420.jpg","home_baner-width":289,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68253"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68253"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68253\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":116896,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68253\/revisions\/116896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}