There are two different sources from which such unbelief springs
forth—limitation of God’s powers and limitation of man’s capacities.
The one of these sources leads to a denial of God’s Omniscience, whilst
the other deprives man of his freewill. There are some who argue that
God is too high to notice the ways and the acts of individual men, and
that these must be utterly insignificant in comparison with God’s
greatness. “They crush thy people, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage.
They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless. And
they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob
consider” (Ps. xciv. 5–7). “And thou sayest, What doth God know? Can he
judge through the thick darkness? Thick clouds are a covering to him,
that he seeth not; and he walketh in the sphere of heaven” (Job xxii.
13, 14). The very words which the Psalmist addresses to God with a
heart full of gratitude, “What is man that thou art mindful of him, and
the son of man that thou visitest him?” (Ps. viii. 5), are uttered in a
rebellious spirit by the unbeliever, who thus “sets limits to the Holy
One of Israel” (Ps. lxxviii. 41). But the power of God is not limited,
nor is His wisdom or His goodness; He is not only “the God of heaven,”
but also “the God of the earth.” He who has created everything has
certainly a knowledge of everything. “Lift up your eyes on high and see
who hath created these things. He who bringeth forth by number their
host, calleth all of them by name; not one of them escapeth the
knowledge of him who is great in might and strong in power” (Isa. xl.
26). The Psalmist thus replies to those who deny God’s Omniscience:
“Consider, ye brutish among the people; and ye fools, when will ye be
wise? He that planted the ear, shall he not hear; he that formed the
eye, shall he not see? He that chastiseth the nations, shall he not
correct, even he that teacheth man knowledge? The Lord knoweth the
thoughts of man, however vain they be” (Ps. xciv. 8–11). It would
indeed be absurd to imagine that the Creator of all things should not
take notice of everything that His hands have made. What difference can
it make to the Almighty whether He provides for the whole human race or
for one individual man? It would be attributing to the Divine Being
human weakness and false pride if we assumed that He is too great to
take notice of any single creature of His! Rabbi Jochanan said wherever
in the Bible we find a description of the greatness of God, there we
find His meekness. Thus, e.g., it is said in the Torah: “For the Lord,
your God, he is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the mighty, the
great, the strong, and the terrible, who regardeth not persons, nor
taketh reward. He doth execute the judgment of the fatherless and
widow, and loveth the stranger in giving him food and raiment” (Deut.
x. 17, 18).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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