600,000 Traditions That Establish the Truth of the God of Israel

Believing in God:

I have written previously on the whole question of God’s existence (see ‘Does God Exist’ - http://circumcisedheart.info/DoesGodExist.pdf). In this article I put a lot of weight on scientific evidence; on design issues such as the Anthropic Principle, and to a lesser extent on archaeological verification of the Hebrew Bible and its narrative that confirms the involvement of the Creator in the affairs of man.

However, this argument in many ways is quite intellectual and perhaps not as easily comprehended as we might wish.

Recently I have been listening to a series of lectures on HashKaffa (Jewish Philosphy) by Rabbi Shimon Kessin. In one of them he raises this question and suggests another approach which is perhaps more readably grasped by a broader range of people, especially those currently with less scientific literacy than might be ideal, to grasp the main arguments of my article.

His argument begins with an event that was nation-forming it its significance and impact. This life-changing and nation-forming event was the Exodus and the recording of the Torah (the 5 Books of Moses).

As Rabbi Kessin explains, the Torah was a revelation given to many thousands of people at the same time. They knew that Moses was a Prophet of God. There was no question – they experienced the reality of God and the reality of the 2 Tablets (The Ten Commandments). There was no question, no argument, no logic or spiritual vision that could shake the nation of Israel’s experience and conviction that God had visited them, and that the Torah of Moses was the very words of God.

Rabbi Kessin argues that 600,000 Israelites experienced these events. While many Biblical scholars today would question the actual numbers present, there is little doubt that they were a great many and most likely at least many ten’s of throusands.

But this was the truth and experience of the first generation of the Exodus who all stood at the foot of Mt Sinai. This was some 3200+ years ago. What about their children, and their children’s children, and so on?

Consider their children.

A son asks his father 'was it true?'. And his father says 'yes'. But can he believe him? His father is just one person, even though he swears it was all true. But then the father tells the son to go ask anyone else of his father’s generation who were there, and there were many thousands. The son asks around and they all confirm the story and the truth of Torah.

So the son, and the son’s generation all believe and in turn, they all share the truth with their children. These children ask the same question and get the reply that they too can ask any of their parent’s generation who will all share the same story. Although a generation removed the message remains just as powerful and true.

And so a tradition was born within the nation of Israel. A father would share with his son, a mother with her daughter perhaps, and this continued generation after generation, and as a truth, it could only grow as the nation of Israel grew. It was an unbroken change of revelation. It was an event unique in the history of mankind. Never before and never since has a whole nation experienced such a move of God. No other religion can claim such a powerful testimony and heritage. No religion that is descended or derived from this revelation can ever really present a new reality or revelation that conflicts with this national experience.

Anything presented to the Nation of Israel that totally conflicts with their national identity formed by this awesome revelation would be rejected and quite rightly so.

This message has witnessed to the truth for thousands of years and has been at the heart of the nation of Israel. Rabbi Kessin argues that this message has remained virtually unchallenged and consistently shared amongst the Jewish people until only a few hundred years ago when some Jews tried to start a new tradition.

And further the recording of the Torah, being an integral part of this national revelation, means that its criteria for determining the veracity and authenticity of any who may come along and present themselves as prophets cannot be questioned. No prophet can arise who has the power and authority to change the instructions, the teachings of Moses. All future prophecy and words of Truth, if they are to be believed must conform to the rules clearly articulated in the Torah.

Or to state this another way, any new leader who comes along and proclaims that he is a prophet, and any revelation he gives, can only be secondary to the revelation that the nation experienced.

While a new Prophet of prophets may arise and share important revelations for their time, or for the future beyond their lifetimes, such revelation must remain consistent and in accord with the original revelation of the Torah. The have presented this understanding in a little more depth in my 'Understanding the Bible 101' - see http://circumcisedheart.info/Understanding%20the%20Bible%20101.pdf

So firstly, I find this a fascinating approach to demonstrating the reality of the God of Israel. Many, many thousands witnessed a significant number of miraculous events and accepted that the Torah presented by Moses was from God Almighty. The transformational power of that great cloud of witnesses has travelled down to us through a great many generations.

Of course this is not a slam-dunk proof and it will not convince all, but for those who do believe in the God of Israel it should serve as strong rational and empirical support to their faith.