Mishpatim

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts," declared the Lord. "And My ways are not your ways." - Isaiah 55:8

Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. And the people said: "All that He has commanded, we will do, and we will listen." - Ex 24:7

If one spends a while exploring the problem of theodicy - how evil can exist under God's auspices - one inevitably encounters the old defense from Isaiah: "His ways are not our ways."

This is a game-changer. All attempts to square a God-filled Universe with our ethical impulses instantly crumble, for what we consider right and wrong is not what He considers right and wrong. So we opt for a humble devotion. Since our finite minds cannot grasp the Infinite, we reason, all we can do is serve Him as best we are able and trust that He has it all figured out.

This does not sit well with me. Consider a contract, the archetypal agreement between two parties. For me to enter into a contract with another, I must have confidence that he will honour his end of the deal. This confidence must be borne of one (or both) of two factors: either I feel sure that the other guy will keep his end of the deal because he is a man of integrity and character, or I feel sure that, even if he is not such a man, the law will step in and ensure I am not shortchanged.

You see where I'm going with this. There's a deal going between man and God (several deals actually - all but one of which must necessarily be forgeries): we live moral lives, and He will bless our crops; we engage in prayer, and He will reward us with eternal paradise. This contractual agreement is the cornerstone of religious faith.

But why are we so confident that God will do as He says? God is obviously immune to outside force; "the law" cannot impel Him to act justly, nor punish Him if he refuses. We self-evidently cannot rely on any third party to ensure that God keeps his word. But if we look to His moral character for reassurance, we are less than impressed. He opens this parashah with guidelines for keeping slaves; and a few verses in He shares with us His plans to engage in multiple genocides. If He's using the same moral yardstick that we are, then He's clearly not doing a very good job of it. But if, as Isaiah implies, He has a different moral yardstick, then why trust Him at all? If He's alright with slavery and genocide, what possible reason do we have to think Him averse to dishonesty and betrayal?

Why do we trust God?