Page:A Jewish Interpretation of the Book of Genesis (Morgenstern, 1919, jewishinterpreta00morg).pdf/152

 The Book of Genesis

134

demn and

quick

despair

of.

matter

how

have

faith

the

to

excuse and

of

may

hopelessly wicked they that

He must

forgive.

regeneration

eventual

never

no

brothers,

his

seem, but he must

with God's help his labors will not be

in

and that in the end all men must come to know God truly and to live the life which He has appointed for men. Only he who possesses such boundless love and compassion for all his fellowmen is worthy to go upon the mission of God. vain,

Now Abraham knew people of

their behalf even with

men might

wickedness

Nevertheless

with pity and compassion

heart overflowed

the thought of their destruction

eous

the

well

full

Sodom and Gomorrah.

moved him

God Himself.

be found in the

thirty, or twenty, or

perhaps only

these ten the city should be forgiven.

loving

them, and

to intercede

on

Possibly some right-

cities,

ten.

for

the

of

his

fifty,

or

forty,

or

Yet for the sake of For, on the one hand,

few righteous men might yet convince the people of the evil of their ways, and cause them to repent and return to God. And, on the other hand, Abraham said, "Shall not And true justice the Judge of all the earth do justly?" For if God should must always be tempered by mercy. these

judge

all

men

according

absolutely

could stand before

Him

to

their

merits,

who

judgment? What man doeth good Everyone does wrong at times, for

in

and sinneth not ? no man is perfect, but only God. Au unless God forgives, Surely not to punish all men, in strict justice, must perish. ever,

is

to

God's desire, but to forgive

pardon and correct

pleaded with God.

caused

all

in



love.

And when

not to chastise in anger, but

So Abraham, we are

the generations of old, the wicked generation of

the flood, and the generation of the all

those

told,

he had made an end, God

which came after

Then Abraham saw

that he

had always judged, not

in

that,

to

Tower pass

of Babel, and

before

his

eyes.

was pleading needlessly, that (^lod strict and absolute justice, but in