In the beginning
In the beginning of God’s creating in the Hebrew Bible, the earth was empty, void and dark, one could even describe it as chaos. But then, God spoke, and everything changed. He created light, separated the waters, brought forth the land and the sea and all that was on and within. Everything was declared to be tov. But what does that really mean? If this is the truth of the beginning and it forms the basis and foundation for everything we believe, then we had better be diligent in defining and understanding the true meaning. English translators have chosen the word ‘good’ for the Hebrew word tov, but I fear that we might be a little lost in translation.
Some consider defining tov through what we see and learn at creation. Everything created was and still is necessary for producing life and contained the potential for more life within. If creation, working together, is producing life, then it is fulfilling the purpose for which it was created and thus it is tov. Everything also was beneficial for man which was the culmination of God’s creation. Man was also tov. However, quite quickly when a man was created and placed in the garden to work it, we are told, it is not tov for this man to be alone. He needed a suitable helper corresponding to him and so God formed woman because it was not beneficial for man to be alone. We’ll discuss the significance of this and their creation in another post. But right now, our continued focus is on tov. Let’s put together a working definition of tov as functional, fulfilling, life producing, beneficial, necessary, obedient. Can we assume then, that “not tov” can help us define it’s opposite, ra?
Ra is the Hebrew word that is translated as evil in our English Bibles. But again, we must ask ourselves what is ra? We first see ra when God refers to the tree of the knowledge of tov and ra. So, is safe to assume that ra is the opposite of tov, how then might we define it? Dysfunctional, unfulfilled, life destroying, dangerous, harmful, disobedient.
Many people believe that ra or evil is synonymous with the devil or Satan. However, this dual power is nowhere to be found in the Tanach. We’ll address hassatan later, so be looking for that in a future post. However, did you know that Isaiah 45:7 says, "I God, form the light and create darkness. I make peace and I create evil. I am the Lord who does all of these." Wait, what!?! Have you ever considered that before? Yes, I know Christianity will tell you that God allows or ordains the devil in his wickedness. But if there really is no such thing as the devil and God is actually the one that creates evil… well, that’s a little different than what they teach in sunday school, right?
Western philosophies see good and evil as opposing opposites, dualism. However eastern traditions view it as equals and necessary for perfect balance. You can’t have one without the other. Just like you can’t have light without darkness, north without south, cold without heat, short without tall and so forth. Is God giving us a glimpse here into his nature? Is He the perfect balance of tov and ra? Can He be functional and dysfunctional, beneficial and harmful, life producing and destructive IN PERFECT BALANCE? Can we? What happens if tov and ra become unbalanced? I encourage you to really think critically about this concept and join us for our next post!