Q&A: Judge of All the Earth
Judge of All the Earth
Question
How does the Rabbi understand Abraham's question, "Shall the Judge of all the earth not do justice?" Does morality obligate even without the Holy One, blessed be He? And if not—if morality is something that obligates only as a result of the will of the Holy One, blessed be He, and without Him there is no meaning to moral obligation—how is it possible to "ask" the Holy One, blessed be He, about His not being subject to morality?
Answer
What is the problem? Even if morality obligates only by the power of the Holy One, blessed be He, Abraham is asking Him about inconsistency.
Discussion on Answer
What do you mean, he doesn't know that he's speaking with God?
"And behold, three men were standing over him"—one of them was the Lord, and he did not know this throughout the whole event.
The Torah tells us that this was the Lord, and tells us his inner dialogue, but Abraham did not know.
So could it be that God became incarnate in Jesus??
If you find snakes that tempt human beings and donkeys that talk, then anything is possible.
Abraham doesn't know that he's speaking with God.
He does understand that he's speaking with someone who has the ability and who has come to do justice. So he tries to manipulate him by means of flattery combined with a claim about what the proper act is.