BOEK | HFD | VS | WLC | SV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
DEU | 4 | 6 | וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם֒ כִּי הִוא חָכְמַתְכֶם וּבִינַתְכֶם לְעֵינֵי הָעַמִּ֑ים אֲשֶׁר יִשְׁמְעוּן אֵת כָּל הַחֻקִּים הָאֵלֶּה וְאָמְרוּ רַק עַם חָכָם וְנָבוֹן הַגּוֹי הַגָּדוֹל הַזֶּֽה׃ | Behoudt ze dan, en doet ze; want dat zal uw wijsheid en uw verstand zijn voor de ogen der volken, die al deze inzettingen horen zullen, en zeggen: Dit grote volk alleen is een wijs en verstandig volk! |
DEU | 4 | 7 | כִּי מִי גוֹי גָּדוֹל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ אֱלֹהִים קְרֹבִים אֵלָ֑יו כַּיהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ בְּכָּל קָרְאֵנוּ אֵלָֽיו׃ | Want wat groot volk is er, hetwelk de goden zo nabij zijn als de Heere, onze God, zo dikwijls als wij Hem aanroepen? |
DEU | 4 | 8 | וּמִי גּוֹי גָּדוֹל אֲשֶׁר לוֹ חֻקִּים וּמִשְׁפָּטִים צַדִּיקִ֑ם כְּכֹל הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי נֹתֵן לִפְנֵיכֶם הַיּֽוֹם׃ | En wat groot volk is er, dat zo rechtvaardige inzettingen en rechten heeft, als deze ganse wet is, die ik heden voor uw aangezicht geef? |
2.1 In de ogen van de naties
Mozes voorzag dat de wetten die God aan het volk Israel gaf tot ontzag onder de volken zou leiden. Niet het volk, maar zijn wetten, zullen dat effect hebben.
De geschiedenis laat zien dat deze woorden van Mozes profetisch waren. Ze kregen hun vervulling in de verspreiding an het christendom en de islam, beiden mede gegrond op de Tenach.
Ook in de recentere geschiedenis spelen de wetten en inzettingen uit de Tora en Profeten een belangrijke rol bij het inrichten van een vrije samenleving. Deze rol wordt o.a. erkend door Rousseau en door John Adams, de tweede president van de VS.
Opmerking
Sacks citeert uit de Mishne Torah van Maimonides (p.58):
De hele wereld is al gevuld met de woorden van [de chrsitelijke] messias en de woorden van de geboden, en die woorden hebben zich verspreid tot aan de verste eilanden en onder tal van niet-verlichte volken en zij spreken over die woorden en de geboden van de Tora.
Als de betreffende passage in de context van het verhaal van Maimonides wordt geplaatst, klinkt Maimonides wat minder positief over christendom . Zie de passages hierna, overgenomen van Sefaria.org
One should not presume that the Messianic king must work miracles and wonders, bring about new phenomena in the world, resurrect the dead, or perform other similar deeds. This is definitely not true. Proof can be brought from the fact that Rabbi Akiva, one of the greater Sages of the Mishnah, was one of the supporters of King Bar Kozibah and would describe him as the Messianic king. He and all the Sages of his generation considered him to be the Messianic king until he was killed because of sins. Once he was killed, they realized that he was not the Mashiach. The Sages did not ask him for any signs or wonders. The main thrust of the matter is: This Torah, its statutes and its laws, are everlasting. We may not add to them or detract from them.
If a king will arise from the House of David who diligently contemplates the Torah and observes its mitzvot as prescribed by the Written Law and the Oral Law as David, his ancestor, will compel all of Israel to walk in (the way of the Torah) and rectify the breaches in its observance, and fight the wars of God, we may, with assurance, consider him Mashiach. If he succeeds in the above, builds the Temple in its place, and gathers the dispersed of Israel, he is definitely the Mashiach. He will then improve the entire world, motivating all the nations to serve God together, as Tzephaniah 3:9 states: ‘I will transform the peoples to a purer language that they all will call upon the name of God and serve Him with one purpose.’
If he did not succeed to this degree or was killed, he surely is not the redeemer promised by the Torah. Rather, he should be considered as all the other proper and complete kings of the Davidic dynasty who died. God caused him to arise only to test the many, as Daniel 11:35 states: ‘And some of the wise men will stumble, to try them, to refine, and to clarify until the appointed time, because the set time is in the future.’
Jesus of Nazareth who aspired to be the Mashiach and was executed by the court was also alluded to in Daniel’s prophecies, as ibid. 11:14 states: ‘The vulgar among your people shall exalt themselves in an attempt to fulfill the vision, but they shall stumble.’ Can there be a greater stumbling block than Christianity? All the prophets spoke of Mashiach as the redeemer of Israel and their savior who would gather their dispersed and strengthen their observance of the mitzvot. In contrast, Christianity caused the Jews to be slain by the sword, their remnants to be scattered and humbled, the Torah to be altered, and the majority of the world to err and serve a god other than the Lord.
Nevertheless, the intent of the Creator of the world is not within the power of man to comprehend, for His ways are not our ways, nor are His thoughts, our thoughts. Ultimately, all the deeds of Jesus of Nazareth and that Ishmaelite who arose after him will only serve to prepare the way for Mashiach’s coming and the improvement of the entire world, motivating the nations to serve God together as Tzephaniah 3:9 states: ‘I will transform the peoples to a purer language that they all will call upon the name of God and serve Him with one purpose.’
De passage waaruit Sacks citeert
How will this come about? The entire world has already become filled with the mention of Mashiach, Torah, and mitzvot. These matters have been spread to the furthermost islands to many stubborn-hearted nations. They discuss these matters and the mitzvot of the Torah, saying: ‘These mitzvot were true, but were already negated in the present age and are not applicable for all time.’ Others say: ‘Implied in the mitzvot are hidden concepts that can not be understood simply. The Mashiach has already come and revealed those hidden truths.’
When the true Messianic king will arise and prove successful, his position becoming exalted and uplifted, they will all return and realize that their ancestors endowed them with a false heritage and their prophets and ancestors caused them to err.
Ter bespreking
- Vragen/opmerkingen?
- Wat vind je van de gedachte van Herman Melville over Ameriakenen als het uitverkoren volk, het nieuwe Israel (zie p.60)?
- Sacks is overtuigd verdediger van de vrije westerse samenleving. Ben je het daarin met hem eens?