But He's Good: Creation and Action

'Course He Isn't Safe, But He's Good

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

In the last post we put into context the concept of goodness in contrast to safety. God, according to Lewis, is not safe but He is good. Lewis emphasizes this theme again in The Silver Chair. Eustace and Jill entered an as of yet unidentified. Eustace accidently falls off an immensely high cliff and Jill is left alone. Dying of thirst, she is about to approach a stream of water, when she notices the Lion (Aslan, whom she does not yet know). Understandably concerned for her safety, Jill asks Aslan to promise not to do anything to her. Alsan refuses and Jill desperately asks whether he eats girls. To this Aslan replies: "I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms." Aslan does not guarantee safety! But, he is good.

As demonstrated in the last post, only God is capable of knowing what is ultimately good as only He has the breadth of vision to ascertain goodness. Humans may perceive an occurrence as good or bad, but cannot be aware of the future reactions to the occurrence. The Talmudic Sages highlighted this very theme via both concepts and stories. The midrash, commenting on God’s declaration that the whole of Creation is “Very good,” asserts that some perhaps unsavory aspects of Creation are indeed included in this declaration. Examples of this are the evil inclination (desire or lust), undue hardships, hell, and the Angel of Death. Though seemingly bad, all of these concepts play a vital role in Creation, which could not be “very good” without them. Let us see how the Talmudic Sages viewed these aspects of our world.

The evil inclination is necessary for without it, no person would build a house, marry, have children or go into business. The midrash here observes that people do all sorts of things to fulfill their desires, in a quest for honor and power, and wealth. These are all motivated by the evil inclination. Yet, this same motivation, properly channeled, entices man to take action that is positive and constructive. Without the evil inclination these ventures would not be undertaken at all. Creation would then not be “very good.”

Undue hardships are necessary, continues the midrash, because through them people achieve life in the World to Come. The commentaries offer two explanations as to why this is the case. First, through hardships one learns how to live properly in this world and thus merit life in the World to Come. Second, the hardships are thrust upon a person as a method of cleansing him or her of their transgressions and attaining forgiveness. In this way when the person is ready to enter the World to Come only good will remain. Either way, while the hardships may appear evil to us, God sends them knowing they will help man achieve the ultimate good. 

Finally, Hell (and thus Heaven) and the Angel of Death are necessary for Creation to be “very good” as a motivation for people to do what is right and good. Without the threat of punishment (and promise of reward) and death people would not act in a proper fashion. The threat of punishment and death may seem bad, but its goal is to help people achieve good.

The Talmud also demonstrates through story that what may initially seem bad can be for the good. In this way we are urged to keep at the forefront of our mind that whatever happens is for good. The first story is that of Nachum Ish Gam Zu who was sent as a representative of the Jewish community to deliver a gift to the Caeser. On his way he stopped at an inn and indiscreetly told of his mission. The people of the inn stole the gift and filled the box with dirt. Upon reaching the Caeser, Nachum Ish Gamzu presented the gift which was opened and, of course, the Caeser was insulted. He immediately ordered that Nachum Ish Gam Zu be put to death, to which Nachum replied, “This is also for good.” Suddenly, Elijah the Prophet appeared disguised as one of the officers of the Caeser. He suggested that perhaps this is of the same dirt used by Abraham the forefather of the Jews in his war against the four powerful kings. When that dirt was thrown it immediately transformed into swords and arrows. The Caeser agreed that it was worth a shot and it worked! Full of gratitude, the Caeser filled the box of Nachum Ish Gam Zu with gold and sent him on his way. Upon reaching the (same) inn, he relayed all that had happened to him. The thieves then took more of the same dirt to the Caeser, but this time it did not have the same abilities. The Caeser felt foolish and had these people put to death.

A second story features R’ Akiva who was once travelling with a rooster, and donkey and a candle. He stopped in a village and sought lodging, but no one was willing to take him in. He exclaimed, “Whatever God does is for good,” and camped out in the wilderness. As night came the wind started up and blew out his candle. Then a cat came and ate his rooster. Finally a lion ate his donkey. Unperturbed, R’ Akiva merely shrugged and said, “Whatever God does is for good.” That night bandits came and took the people of the village hostage. However, because R’ Akiva had no light or animals, he was not seen or heard. His loss saved from sharing the fate of the inhabitants of the village.

In both of these tales the Talmud warns against the mistake of jumping to hasty conclusions. It would certainly have been understandable if both Nachum and R’ Akiva had bemoaned their unfortunate fate. However, because both understood that God has a longer and more global view, they were able to exhibit patience until the ordeal played itself out. Of course, it is not always that we get to see the ultimate good that God may have in store. Nonetheless, we are urged to trust that God may not be safe, but He is certainly good.

One further point should be made with respect to Mr. Beaver’s (Lewis’) formulation. The complete quote of his statement is, “But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” Why emphasize again that Aslan is King? I believe this is done to stress our primary teaching: only God, before whom all of nature bows, can know what will ultimately be good. The Talmud again accentuates this point. Reacting to the verse in Zechariah which declares, “On that day God will be One,” the Talmud marvels, “Is He not One nowadays?” To this the Talmud responds, the World to Come is unlike our world. In our world we bless God when we hear good tidings saying, “Blessed is He, who is good and does good to others.” However, when we hear bad tidings we bless God saying, “Blessed in He the true judge.” In the World to Come all will be, “Who is good and does good to others.” When God is recognized by all as the true king, we will see that all of His actions are for good, and respond appropriately. 

But He's Good: Aslan

'Course He Isn't Safe, But He's Good

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

What are the dominant characteristics that we attribute to God?

Certainly there are many possibilities. The bible records that God Himself enumerated 13 Attributes of Mercy which are, in part or as a whole, invoked by later prophets. These include that He is merciful, gracious, slow to anger and so on. We may turn to the amidah the center of the Jewish prayer service in which we praise God as, “great, mighty, and awesome.” But, perhaps an even more dominant trait, one that appears throughout the bible, is that God is good.

The Psalmist calls out to the crowd that has gathered to praise God with the opening, “Praise the Lord, for He is good, for his kindness is everlasting.” Indeed, at pivotal moments of Jewish history, great leaders have utilized this exhortation. King David calls upon his people to praise God when he brings the Ark of the Covenant to the capital city of Jerusalem using this same verse. When his son, King Solomon, brings the Ark into his newly built Temple, it is with these very words that God’s presence becomes apparent. Many years later Jeremiah, at the moment when the Babylonians are besieging Jerusalem, about to fulfill the prophecies of doom which he himself delivered, comforts Israel:

So says the Lord, there will again be heard in this place… in the cities of Judea and the courtyards of Jerusalem that are desolate without men, without inhabitants, and without animals: the voice of happiness, the voice of rejoicing, the voice of the groom, the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, “Praise God the Lord of Lord of Hosts, for the Lord is good, for His kindness is everlasting!” (Jeremiah 33:10-11)

Finally, upon laying the foundation for the second Temple, the priests and Levites sang in praise of God, for He is good for His kindness is everlasting.

Indeed, God’s goodness is so integral that it was fully imbued in our world. In the first chapter of Genesis, God sees each item he has created and declares it good, and when creation is complete he declares it very good.

What is goodness? A child may think that eating candy instead of vegetables is good because the child appreciates the sweet taste of the candy. Adults, however, are charged with restraining a child from acting this way. Adults understand that such goodness is fleeting and, ultimately, will not provide true goodness. Taking this argument to its logical conclusion we must realize that only God has a fully expansive and utterly comprehensive knowledge and vision. Thus, it is only He who can determine what is truly good. While mere humans may regard a particular event as good, bad or dangerous, only God can properly characterize the goodness of any occurence.

This lesson of determining ultimate goodness is one of the first taught to the Pevensie children during their adventures in Narnia. As the Beavers prepare them to meet the mysterious Aslan we find the following back-and-forth.

[Mr. Beaver] “I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-beyond-the-Sea. Don't you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion - the Lion, the great Lion."
"Ooh!" said Susan, "I'd thought he was a man. Is he - quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion."
"That you will, dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs Beaver; "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else just silly."
"Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy.
"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver; "don't you hear what Mrs Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."

Aslan is not safe because safety implies that nothing will occur that you perceive as bad or dangerous. But he’s good and only under his guidance can the ultimate good be achieved. This contrast between safe and good has been the kernel of many a Christian sermon. I particularly like this one from Pastor Robert Marsh, especially as he reaches out to comfort those who may not feel particularly safe during “The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” However, centuries ago the Talmudic Sages told stories and taught lessons emphasizing this very theme. We will explore some of these in our next post.