By Matthew Paul Gliebe, Devar Emet, Skokie, IL

Readings: Exodus 10:1-13:16; Jeremiah 46:13-28;  Matthew 27:1-10

Do we ever really have a choice? At Northwestern, a common thought is: "if God, then no free will." The two, apparently, are mutually exclusive and, in other words, cannot exist together. For example, was the creation of the United States a demonstration of free will on the part of the Founders? Most American would proudly say "yes." All right, then, what about the Holocaust? We would like to believe that this was an occurrence due to man's sin and free will, not in any way part of God's plan. The truth is that such responses are lacking one key component: understanding God's ultimate sovereignty beyond space, time, and thought. Free will and God's plans do coexist. So, God will make use of us whether we want Him to or not; the question is, will we be acting in a positive manner in submission to God's plan for our blessing, or will God have to make use of us despite ourselves, leading to our own personal destruction?

In the Torah portion, we see an example of how Pharaoh was used for destruction. Here is the great king of the strongest nation in the known world humbled by an apparent wise man from the desert! Where did Pharaoh go wrong? Why didn't anybody help him? Well, in our reading we saw that his servants tried to stop him. Perhaps this was because God said He would harden Pharaoh's heart. In Exodus 8:11, however, Pharaoh "made himself hardhearted." So, ultimately, Pharaoh did choose his path for destruction. He had the opportunity to free himself from the impending doom for himself, his son, and his people. However, he proceeded to oppose God, so God simply locked Pharaoh's heart into the condition he had set for himself. There is a point at which we step so far away from where God wants us to be that God simply turns us over to ourselves and our choices. This can lead to the end of our spiritual effectiveness or even death. The only security from this is accountability and humility. Pride, according to the Bible, can become the cause of spiritual or physical death, as just discussed.

In the Haftarah portion, we find a great demonstration of God's plan. Jeremiah is prophesying about Egypt. The Egyptians are living in absolute bliss. However, God plans to take them from their comfort and punish them for their dreadful deeds in not defending Israel. Although God punished Israel for relying on Egypt, He also punished Egypt for being unreliable and breaking their promise to aid Israel. This is a demonstration on how God makes use of human will. We may choose something, thinking that such a choice takes us away from God and His plans for our lives. But in reality G-D already has not only prepared for our choice; it was part of His plan.

In the Brit Chadashah portion, we see another example of a character that God used for destruction, Yeshua's disciple Judah. According to our reading, Judah showed great remorse over all he had done. So one might ask - could he have said no? However, in every Gospel Judah is mentioned prior to his act of betrayal as the "traitor" or the "one who betrayed." In Luke 22:3, Satan entered Judah and in John 6:71, Yeshua called Judah an adversary. I believe that we can once again see the trend: there came a point in Judah's life where he permitted greed (or other sinful habits) to control his life and allowed himself to be subject to unbelief and became therefore an opponent of Yeshua, prone to spiritual possession. After he was used for evil, Judah was remorseful over his poor use of free will and decided to make one more bad decision - he committed suicide.

Never underestimate the power of God. But never underestimate either how much Satan hates you. He would love to catch you in a twisted situation like Judah, tying you with your sins and lusts. However, we don't have to fear because God has a plan for us. So, as long as we commit ourselves to spiritually growing in our relationship with God, He will actively work in us as believers, helping us to move forward in the spiritual development (not destruction) that He wishes for us. As for Judah, Pharaoh, Hitler, and other evil men of history, God has the power and the right to do with them as He wishes. In Romans 9:15-21, we see God answering our question: All are for His glory and all will give Him glory, whether by our free choice to our blessing or despite ourselves to our own destruction.