God Reveals That All of History Was Planned in Advance

Abraham asked: "O Eternal, Mighty One! What is this picture of the creatures?"

God answered: "This is my will with regard to those who exist in the divine world-counsel. It seemed well-pleasing before my sight, and then I gave commandment to them through my Word. Whatever I had determined to be was already planned beforehand in this picture, and it stood before me before it was created, as you have seen."

Everything was predetermined. The rise of evil. The coming of the righteous. The whole course of creation laid out in advance like an architect's plan. In the rabbinical tradition, Israel's election is spoken of as predestined before the creation of the world, along with certain other things: the name of the Messiah, the Torah, and repentance. But as Rabbi Akiva said, "Everything is foreseen, but free will is given."

Abraham pressed further. "O Lord, mighty and eternal! Who are the people in this picture on this side and on that?"

God answered: "Those on the left side are the multitude of peoples who have formerly existed and who are destined after you, some for judgment and restoration, others for vengeance and destruction at the end of the world."

"But those on the right side of the picture, they are the people set apart for me from among the peoples alongside Azazel. These are they whom I have ordained to be born of you and to be called My People."

Right and left. Light and darkness. God's people and the nations. The cosmic picture was divided down the middle, and Abraham's descendants stood on the side of the righteous. But even among the nations on the left, some were destined for restoration. The judgment was not absolute for all. Some would survive. Others would be destroyed. The picture was more complex than a simple division could contain.

And I said: “O Eternal, Mighty One! What is this picture of the creatures?” And He said to me: “This is my will with regard to those who exist in the (divine) world-counsel,8 and it seemed well-pleasing before my sight, and then afterwards I gave commandment to them through my Word.9 And it came to pass whatever I had determined to be, was already planned beforehand in this (picture), and it stood before me ere it was created, as thou hast seen.”10

Or possession . Leviathan’s dwelling is “in the lowest waters” (Pirke de R. Eliezer ix.). All th e great sea-mon sters in the sea are Leviathan’s food, one being devoured every day (ibid.). “and between its [Leviathan’s] fins rests the middle bar of the earth” (op. cit., ibid.). When Leviathan is hungry, one haggadic saying runs, “it sends forth from its mouth a heat so gr eat as to make all the waters of the deep boil.” [The two great monsters in the original form of t h e legen d were Behemoth (the male) and Leviathan (the female): cf. Job xl.-xli.; 1 Enoch lx. 7 f.; Ap. Bar. x x i x . 4. In th e Rabbinical form of the Haggada (cf . T. B. Baba bathra 74b) each mon ster was multiplied into a pair, male and female; but they were ren d e r ed i n c ap able of producing an y progeny, lest by so doing they should “destroy the world.” The female leviathan was kille d a n d r e se r v ed for the righteous in the world to come; the male leviathan will not be slain till th e last ; see fur th er 4 Ezra vi. 49-52, and th e writer’s discussion in E.A., pp. 90 ff., with references. A, sources. The heavenly Paradise is ref er r ed to wh i ch i s to be the abode of the righteous (“those wh o beh aved righteously”), whose fruits are “incorruptible” (4 Ezra vii. 123), wherein is “the tree of life” (Rev. ii. 7) whose “leaves are f or the healing of the nations” (Rev. xxii. 2). In 2 Enoch viii. 2 the seer describes how he saw in Paradise “all the trees o f beautiful colours and their fruits ripe and fragrant, and all kinds of food which they produced, springi ng up with delightful fragrance.” N ote that P aradise is here located on the earth, though the transcenden tal Paradise is meant: see E.A., p. 196. The bracketed clause is omitted (accidentally) in S. The whole world is divided into two parts; the people of Go d on th e righ t half, and the nations on th e left. The latter (= th e heathen) arc Azazel’s portion (cf. chap. xxxi.). Emended text (Bonwetsch); MSS. read in the light. N o t e t h i s h ypostasising use of Word developed from such passages as Ps. xxxii. 6; cf. Heb. xi. 3, 2 Pet. iii. 5, 4 Ezra vi. 38. The whole conception is s t r o n g l y p redestinarian; the whole course of creation—the rise of evil, and the coming of the r i gh t e ou s— i s predetermined; cf. 1 Enoch xciii., cvi. 19, cvii. 1, and Charles’s note on 1 Enoch xlvii. 3. A strong expression of this idea occurs in 4 Ezra iv. 36, 37. For the “picture” of our passage we may perhaps compare the “pattern” ( ßB@*g\(:") of Heb. viii. 5 (Ex. xxv. 40, xxvi. 30, Acts vii. 44). In th e Rabbinical literature Israel’s election is spoken of as p red estined before the creation of the worl d, and th is idea is applied to certain other thin gs, such as the name of the Messiah , the Torah, an d

repentance. In such connexions they often employ the figure of an architect and plans. One passage (Gen. rabba i .) runs: When a man erects a building, at the time when the building is erected he enlarges it as it is erected, or other w is e he en larges it below, and contracts it above: but the Holy One . . . does not act thus, but “the heavens” (which He created) were the heavens which had as cended in (His) thought, and “the earth” (which He created) was the earth which had ascended in His thought. It was, however , the Essenes who insisted on an absolute predestination. The Rabbis, while allowing for a certain amoun t of predestination, emph asised man’s moral freedom: “Everything is foreseen, but free will is given,” as Aki ba said.

And I said: “O Lord, mighty and eternal! Who are the people in this picture on this side and on that?” And He said to me: “These which are on the left side are the multitude of the peoples which have formerly been in existence and which are after thee destined,1 some for judgement and restoration, and others for vengeance and destruction at the end of the world.2 But these which are on the right side of the picture—they are the people set apart for me of the peoples with Azazel. 3 These are they whom I have ordained to be born of thee and to be called My People.