WHERE IS GOD?

After the Boston marathon bombing, the murder of school children at Newton, as well as the Holocaust and all other terrible events that compete for our attention, the question of where God is becomes an essential one – not just for us, but indeed for God Himself if He wants people to believe in Him. Psalm 115:16 quoted above gives us an initial answer, even if it is less than satisfactory for many who think that He just doesn’t care about us. Before attempting to address this most difficult issue in theology, let’s see how the issue and its Psalm 115:16 doctrine are handled in the Torah Code. We start by looking at a 9-letter ELS, WHERE IS GOD? The first word used for GOD in the Bible is the third word in Torah, ELOHIM. Using this Name, the phrase is encoded six times. Shown on Figure 1, the lowest (most significant) skip has the expected 5-letter answer THE HEAVENS cross the question in the open text in the smallest possible match of 9 rows by 5 columns (45 letters) against odds of about 84 to 1. The same things happens on Figure 2.

This Jew attempts to rationalize some answers to the question WHERE IS GOD. Genesis 32:29 reveals that an angel changed the name of Jacob to Israel because he had striven with the God (Elohim) and with man, and had prevailed. God endorsed the name change again Genesis 35:10.

       Any serious attempt to answer the question, Where is God, requires a bit of chutzpah, a Yiddish word with almost as many meanings as answers that I may propose to the question. Wikipedia offers the following choices for defining the word: audacity (for good or bad), insolence, courage, mettle, or ardor. However, Wikipedia states that the word is most often seen in negative terms. While I'm not a prophet, I would point out that my forefathers who were prophets had the chutzpah to directly challenge God when they thought He was wrong (a concept more readily accepted in Judaism than Christianity). The first incidence of Jewish Chutzpah was displayed by Abraham, who when informed about the impending destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, challenged God by asking:

"Will you also stamp out the righteous along with the wicked? What if there should be fifty righteous people in the midst of the city? Would You still stamp it out rather than spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people within it? It would be sacrilege to You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the righteous along with the wicked; so the righteous will be like the wicked. It would be sacrilege to you! Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?" (Genesis 18:23-25) 

       Abraham then entered into bargaining with God to get the number down to 10 (the number of men still required today for a Jewish minion for prayer).

       After the incident of the golden calf, Moses also argued with God and got Him to change His Mind:

Moses returned to HaShem (God) and said, “I implore! This people has committed a grievous sin and made themselves a god of gold. And now if You would but forgive their sin! – but if not, erase me now from Your book that You have written. (Exodus 32:31-32)

       There are other examples that I could cite, but the issue is this – back in Biblical days, especially at the time of Moses, clear miracles were far abundant than they are today. It's often said that timing is everything, and it has simply been far too long since God has openly intervened to reveal His continued existence. Nowhere is this more obvious than at a Passover Seder, when we remember the single greatest intervention in history of God to save our people, but when we also look back at the Holocaust and (at least silently) wonder where God was then?

         In looking over the pictures associated with Figures 1 to 3, on Figure 1 American men got back at the perpetrators of the 9-11 attack by killing Bin Laden. Allied men helped destroy Nazi Germany. But the shooter of Newtown's elementary school's children killed himself. The closest that we can come to man addressing the issue so far is failed gun control legislation that would not have prevented the shooter from obtaining his weapons. For Figures 2 and 3, the brothers who killed Martin Richard and others at the Boston Marathon were killed or captured by men. This, however, no more protects those harmed than was true when God let Cain know that Abel’s blood called out to Him from the ground. At best, in accordance with Jewish theology, I might argue that those murdered, if worthy, might be reincarnated (born again), but this isn't so easy to prove. In an age where science and technology are ever ready to provide alternative explanations to ancient miracles, and when people can have the chutzpah to refer to the Higgs Boson as “the God Particle,” it’s time for those who believe in God to follow the example of Abraham and Moses – challenge God in their prayers to do right. This goes beyond assuring revenge for those murdered – it means saving us from more murder and mayhem. Judaism does provide a hope that these prayers will be answered when God chooses to finally send the Messiah. He will not assure us that he is here to bring the sword, or division. He will not be here to be worshipped as a god. He will be as here (Isaiah promised) to be the Prince of Peace. But if he is not sent soon by God, there may not be any people left to bring peace to. It’s time for the Judge of the Earth to do justice lest He be judged irrelevant or a no more than an ancient myth. The Heavens are the Heaven of God, and the innocent murdered ones may be there with Him, but it appears that man is not yet mature enough to rule the Earth without our Father's more direct involvement.