Deliver Us from Evil

October 10, 2021

Today's message was the 5th in a 6-part series about the Lord's Prayer. Today's section of the Lord's Prayer was "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from (the) evil (one)." The message is here.

Pastor Patrick has taken to opening each of these Lord's Prayer messages with a broader question about prayer. Today's broader question was "Does God Always Answer Prayer?" Patrick's answer was "yes, but how?" I would have said "no" in the sense of direct intervention, but Patrick offered that "no" or "wait" are, in fact, answers. Answers that we may not like. I think it's dangerous to suggest that God does intervene on a petitioner's behalf. Far too many people have left the faith over "un-answered" prayers. Patrick put it this way, "when God's answer is no, some people walk away from Him." Suggesting that prayers work directly creates expectations that will not be met, by and large. Patrick mentioned that we often negotiate with God in prayer or thought, e.g. "if You _____ I will _____." The Torah warns against making vows with God. And in a common Torah approach, rather than outlawing entirely the undesired behavior, it establishes rules around its use that eventually lead to its going away. See Numbers 30:1-16 (the Nazirite vow). In short, if you make an oath with God, you darn well better uphold your end. Think of your vow as a command from God.

Additionaly, let's do note that the God of the Torah is open to discussion. Abraham argues with God about destroying Sodom, and he is successful in getting God to lessen His requirements for saving Sodom. In another example, Moses talks God out of destroying the Israelite people in the wilderness by arguing "what would the goyim (other nations) think?"

The Lord's Prayer being a model for prayer, not a prayer to be memorized, was a revelation to me - as much of the Torah has been.

One of the big-picture battles that the Torah recognizes is the battle between good and evil. Further, the Torah recognizes that evil comes from a combination of temptation and the recognition that by nature all human beings have an "evil inclination" (yetzer hara). And further still, temptation is often brought to fruition by lies and deception (hence the Commandment not to lie). For the record, the Torah also talks of a "good inclination" (yetzer hatov). As Patrick pointed out, we need shielded from temptation.

And speaking of shields, let's not forget about "our God-given armor from evil" (Eph. 6:13) that harkens back to Torah references to God's own armor and armor provided to mankind (e.g. Genesis 15:1; Exodus 28:2, 4, 15, 22-30, 38; Leviticus 8:6-7).

The story of Joseph vis-a-vis his brothers is illuminating in regard to temptation. Here, it's a case of self-deception. The brothers are tempted by opportunity and while fixated on their issues and in total disregard for other facts like Joseph's age (innocence), orphaned, and overly protected by his father's actions (not Joseph's own doing). Of course, Joseph could have played it cooler, but that's a side issue. Being delivered from temptation and sin has been recognized as key since the late Bronze Age. By the way, Joseph has his share of temptations as well (e.g. Mrs. Potiphar); it's a rich story.

There are interesting discussions about whether the petition is to deliver us from "evil" or from "the evil one." No clear winner emerges. In some translations of Luke, the second phrase does not even appear in either form. Generally speaking, their is no devil in the Torah. There are some references to "ha sa-tan" (Numbers 22:22, 22:32), but the usage, particularly elsewhere in the Old Testament, is more in keeping with a job description like an adversary or an accuser, often presenting choices (tempting), see Psalms 109:6. I've come to think the Torah is far more concerned about the evil that comes from within, that yetzer hara, than from without.

Interestingly, the Greek Septuigant translated sa-tan to diabolos a few times, perhaps incorrectly leading to the Devil idea. We don't know what Hebrew/Aramaic words Jesus may have used. The closest Judaic notion to a devil is to an angel sent from God, but I don't think that is Torah-based. Additionally, Judaism does not seem to identify one opposing force. Most "angels" in the Torah are more accurately called messengers or spokespersons.

I'd say the bottom line is to be prepared to recognize/see the evil in any person, including in yourself.

It is possible to translate temptation as test, as in "lead us away from tests." This takes us back to such stories as the Binding of Isaac, the test God put Abraham through. Being tested, or certainly being judged, is not something moderns appreciate. In fact, there is clear evidence that today's growing rejection of religion is based on not wanting to be judged in any way. In my opinion, it's why growing churches tend to overly focus on "love and forgiveness" rather than commandments and judgments - they know the latter will turn people away.

Speaking of God's testing Abraham... If God is omniscient, why does He have to test anything or anyone? The answer I've come to appreciate is that given Free Will, God is not entirely able to know ahead of time what man will do. An alternate argument is that the story of the test is told for our benefit in order to learn something and not because God needed information. If you're keeping track, here's another biggie we can add to our list of topics for another time.

Here's a daily prayer of practicing Jews: "Do not let us be overcome by sin, disobedience, or iniquity, not by trials, nor by disgrace; and do not let the evil inclination rule us. Distance us from harmful people and harmful friends, rescue me today and every day from my evil inclination, from an evil friend, from an evil neighbor, from an evil incident, and from the destructive adversary."

Tangentially, I ran across the following chart of the cost/reward timing of good and bad habits. Good habits are an effective way to avoid temptation.

	Present	Future
Good Habits	Often negative to no reward	Great reward
Bad Habits	Lots of reward	None to negative reward

Here are some interesting reads I stumbled across in preparing this essay:

The Temptation: Parshas Vayeishev
Temptations
Temptation
Temptation and Evil
Saying No To Temptation
Aramaic Word Study – TEMPTATION
Word Study: Lead us not into Temptation
Can The Torah Help Us Overcome The Temptation Of Instant Gratification?