Q&A: Is There Providence?
Is There Providence?
Question
You argue that God’s providence over the world has ceased. The prophets say that there will be redemption and that God will gather us from the four corners of the earth; doesn’t that indicate providence? Even if you say that a people can return to its land after a long exile and that this does not necessarily indicate providence, if the prophets prophesied about it, that means God saw to it.
Answer
1. The words of the prophets can be interpreted in different ways. As a reminder, the Torah also says “an eye for an eye,” and there is also the passage of the stubborn and rebellious son and the idolatrous city. And indeed, Rabbi Hillel in tractate Sanhedrin thought that there would be no Messiah, and I assume he was familiar with those prophecies too.
2. If those prophecies are interpreted literally, then the Holy One, blessed be He, really does promise redemption. But even that can unfold by way of nature (through the commandment to live in the Land of Israel and preserve Judaism, etc.). So its fulfillment does not necessarily mean that He actively brought it about. It is true, however, that there is a guarantee that if we do not do it ourselves, He will bring it about through His own involvement. So His involvement in the redemption is certainly possible. I was dealing mainly with the question of whether He is involved in our day-to-day lives.