Curious (un)Certainty

 

By: Jonathan Seidel

Natural man vs revelational man (uvikashtem potentially 48)

The Rav is famous for typologies but one he never explicitly cultivated was natural and revelational man. A true symbiotic relationship that differentiates by the capability of each. Such an archetype is best posed with the Midrashim of Abraham. 

The Midrashim tell of a humble seeker who found God. Engulfed in an idolatrous world, Abram felt there was something missing. Something about the idolatrous society did not sit well with young Abram. He was curious and began looking at the sky searching for answers. Abram was confused and believed that there was more than meets the eye. Abram was determined to figure out the truth. He pondered and pondered. Questioning whether he could salvage his scepticism. Hoping he would regain the peace of mind. He saw the sun rise each morning and then the moon rose in the evening. Each remained for an equal twelve hours. There must be two gods, the sun and the moon. Abram was unsatisfied he discerned that there was something beyond both. The perpetuated cycle was run by a greater being. 

Upon Abram’s discovery he couldn’t keep it to himself. He tried to educate others. To tell them about his discovery but they wouldn’t listen. They thought he was crazy. They surmised he either had a bad dream or was plain wrong. Abram was isolated. He had this amazing idea but no one would listen. Abram wasn’t okay with that. He wasn’t gonna sit by and decided to manipulate a situation. He decided to teach his father a lesson. Maybe if showed his father. Convinced him of this folly he would have a change of heart. Abram was alone. The sole believer but maybe there could be more. They just needed to see it for themselves. Abram decided to go with an illustration instead of mere words. He decided to test his father. When his father left him in charge of the idol shop he chastised one customer and chased away another. Abram could not handle those with such a dubious view of the world. He knew it and couldn’t hold himself back. 

To extend his enjoyment he picked up the bowl of flour the women he chased away had brought and placed it in front of the biggest idol. The idols were deployed in a semicircle. Per the customer’s wishes he placed the flour ahead of the big idol. Then Abram had an interesting idea. Annoyed at the wrongheadedness of his father he grabbed his bat and began swinging it smashing idol after idol. Pieces of clay were flying everywhere. After the second to last idol fell he stopped. He placed the bat in the only idol standing, the biggest one and with a grin left. When his father returned he shrieked. He called Abram, what happened. Abram remarked that a customer brought flour and placed it front of the biggest one. The other idols grew jealous and began fighting but the biggest one beat them all with a swing of the bat. His father retorted that idols can’t move nor can they feel or speak. Abram shot back then why do you believe in them. They are just pieces of clay instead believe in the god beyond them all. 

His father astonished decides to bring Abram to the king for some good old fashioned tutelage. Knock some sense into the boy. He brings Abram to the king, Nimrod in the capital at Ur Casdim, for the charge of heresy. Hoping Abram will relent and change his ways. Abram refuses Nimrod's request and is thrown into the furnace but emerges unscathed, Abram's father is changed believes in Abram so he takes his son back to their hometown Haran. Out of reach from Nimrod’s clutches but not enough to travel to Canaan. Abram's fame travelled from the capital. He was a miracle worker and he gained a following. Many trusted in him and many wished to follow him. Even after Abram left, his hometown had the ethic that he attempted to instil while he was there. When he left many joined him on his journey. They travelled with him and fought with him. They were inspired by the prophet and found his calling genuine. Abram enriched them and strengthened their character. The journey was one of the charismatic personality. 

The midrashim tell of a different type of Abraham. The Abraham of the biblical narrative is not the same Abraham of the biblical exegesis. Abraham of the biblical text is a listener and a follower. He listens and acts. He initiates at times but the active forefather is prominently Isaac. Abraham was seventy-five when God told him to go for himself. To leave his family behind to a place that God would show him. A destiny in the making. God called him at seventy-five but there is little shock to Abraham. A sense of comfort that finally appeared unlike Jacob who was a little taken back by the fantastic dream. Abraham had been preaching about God but had never met him. This was his first encounter. This was the prophetic call. Abraham is not startled like Moses, he knew who was communicating with him. Abraham listened to the world of God and followed through. His preaching became prophetic. Previously he spoke about God and now he spoke about his plan. A shift in his life as he moved into his elder years. 

The preacher becoming the prophet altered Abraham’s view. In his youth, he figured God and sought to spread his name to others. Once he heard from God himself he concentrated on his tribe. The universal became the particular not only in God’s mind but in Abraham’s. Whomever would follow would enjoy the benefits of a divinely ordained journey. Abraham was off and he changed his attitude. He no longer preached he followed and others followed him. The midrashic version is an Abraham who takes the leap. Who ponders the possibility of a deity. He gathers the people and educates them. When they ask how he knows, he responds with good argumentation. He used his brilliant mind to persuade the people. Following the same principles as with his father maybe a little more elaborated. While he was Abraham the miracle man he was also Abraham the teacher. It is one thing to follow someone from hearsay but he also explained the properness of God. Not just that he was saved but that he was saved. The text says "they made the nefesh" not they were merely followed. 

Concerning the “nefesh” from Haran, the midrashim say that Abraham converted the men and Sarah the women. It was a team effort. Abraham was able to convince Sarah to follow him. She trusted him and assisted him throughout. As he became more of a listener she did as well. The united front preserved their religious yearning. The early years were about teaching while the later years were about listening. Since the “nefesh” rarely come up again it can be surmised that they moved on to their own lives. After gaining much from Abraham and Sarah they set out on their own. Some stayed like Eliezer but the quantity of followers dispersed to continue their God fearing lives outside the family. There was no nation but there was inspiration. There were men like Malkitzedek who served God but few and far between. Abraham was of the few proactive followers. Of the few who God engaged with. There is no remnant of Malkitzedek learning of having a prophetic encounter only that he served seemingly the Abrahamic God. He had a tradition or figured it but could never prove it through experience. 

The Midrash seems to work back from similar cases with Gideon and Haninah. Yet the word of focus is “made”. The first we hear of Abraham is Terakh taking Abraham and then God telling Abraham. Abraham is the follower. Yet this word uniquely determines a different characteristic of Abraham. Abraham was not a follower but a leader. He converted people and  he educated them. He was proactive and assertive. The midrashim derive from this active aspect. Abraham had youthful spunk. He was ready to meet the odds and live to the potential. Abraham was a man of vigour and passion. In his younger years he pondered and assessed. He sought and endorsed. Abraham reached out and elevated. The midrashic side is not opposed to the peshat. The semantic translation offers the prophetic insight of Abraham. A listener who follows God’s promise. A man who heeded the Lord. The Midrashim tell of a curious individual seeking God. The intentional mentioning of the followers can only suggest a proactive Abraham prior to prophecy. Spreading God’s name prior to ever meeting Him.

The midrashim fill in the gaps. Where was Abraham and who was he. How did figure out God? In an idolatrous world the only possibility was through logic. He used his intellect and deduced that there was one God beyond the natural plane. He could never prove it beyond a reasonable doubt but he was determined to live by it. The idol shop narrative illustrates Abraham’s criticism of his time seeking an alternative and the furnace story illustrates Abraham’s resilience and fame. He could only grow a following if his legend had spread. Yet for Abraham it wasn’t his actions but his words that captivated them. His legend gained an audience but his teaching inspired them to stay. Abraham was a philosopher. He looked at the world and discerned that there was a God. His intellect fathomed the possibility but it was only a rational conclusion. There was no evidence nor testimony. Only a leap of rationality. A plausible conclusion to the beyond. Though unproven, it was sufficient for Abraham to preach and influence. Through renewed belief gave new insight and new foundation of value. The God of beyond was the greatest.

Until God called, Abraham was merely a man with thoughts. A man with conviction and faith. God’s intervention changes the paradigm. Abraham’s dreams have come true. His God is true. His God has answered him. He is now certain of the truth. All his hard work has paid off. He has learned the secret and he is overjoyed. He hears God and packs up to embrace the journey. From then on, Abraham is a divine servant. A messenger to fulfil his role. In God and Abraham’s last encounter, God explicitly challenges him. The akeida is the final rung. Whether one finds the akeida morally reprehensible or morally comfortable does not take away from the divine adherence. Abraham accepts the instruction and heads out. Abraham is an obedient knight. He raises the divine banner and leaps into action. God comes to him with information and advice with Sedom. Abraham’s prophetic journey reaches the pinnacle at the akeida. Following God through thick and thin. From promise to praise to purpose. His final task as a prophet is to complete an unspeakable task. A jarring expectation but one Abraham accepts eagerly. 

The reader only learns about Abraham the prophet. There is little evidence about Abram the preacher. After the akeida God doesn’t speak to Abraham and Abraham finalises his duties with Sarah and Isaac. The preacher would never revitalise but it is passed on to his to descendants. There is no knowledge of the youthful Abram from the text only legends to fill in the gaps. Yet the word “made in Haran” presupposes a different version of Abraham. A version of youthful passion and vigour. Inspiring and captivating. It was his voice and emotion that captured the hearts of those around him. He influenced them not only to become yirei elokim but also to follow him on his journey. Yet speculation can only go so far. Though the text notifies the reader that Abram was awaiting the divine voice composed when he was called and followed just as he was told. The midrashim aren’t to figure what kind person Abraham was and why he was chosen but to figure what he did before God called him. How did he have followers and how was he ready for the divine call. Contrary to figuring out a personality is their rise to stardom. 

Abram was a curious man, Abram was already an older man when he preached in Haran and left for Canaan at the approximate age of 75. Throughout his years he had pondered. He had thought. He deduced the possibility through logic. Unlike Maimonides, Abram couldn’t prove it. He had his doubts but he kept to it. It made sense to him. He concluded there was a greater deity beyond. He had never communicated with him but this deity made the most sense to serve. Abram was the epitome of natural man. A being who can use his intellect to reason of this world. He can figure and rationalise that which he visualises. Yet God was beyond his comprehension. In his own genius, he reasoned that the incarnated idols were less and therefore the true deity had to be beyond human comprehension. The deity needed to be the work of God not of man. A deity beyond his faculties. For then man is truly at the mercy of such a creator. His naturalism limited him with this revelation it humbled him. This is what to preach. To preach the beyonder. The deity that resides beyond the stars. A deity incomprehensible by mere mortals. Abram didn’t know God but he immortalised the God type. 

Abram crafted the characterisation of God. The logic was sound but yet was impersonal. He couldn’t be certain. It made logical sense but maybe he was wrong. Maybe he was shooting at nothing. There was nothing there his logic sound but the reality mistaken. Convinced of this possibility he preached to the public. Not everyone listened but some were inspired and became his pupils. The philosophical odyssey was a compilation of probable levels. Before Thales, Abram philosophically noted the divine being. It wasn’t through Aristotelian quotas. It was probably a simple logical sequence. It made more sense than the idols they worshipped. Than the superhuman modification they prayed to. Instead, Abram conceived of a plausibility. In his mind this made the most sense. Logically the true God was the beyond but he could neither prove it nor appreciate it to the fullest. Converting people to his cause meant little without a regimen. There was no command, thus serving was building alters in hope of a reply. It was logical with a hint of mysticism. There is no mention of alters but may be deduced as it was a normative function in society. 

Everything changed when God called to him. The preacher became the prophet and natural man became revelational man. Unlike natural man, revelational man has the security and truth. Abram now knew for certain that his faith was genuine. His God was real. He had responded to him and directed him into a new direction. With this Abram’s followers were overjoyed with this sequence of events. Their leader had taught them but he admittedly never met his deity but now he had and the deity led them to a new promised land. A journey of enlightenment and excellence. This deity confirmed the truth about Abram’s philosophical speculation. He was true and Abram was right but he couldn’t be for certain. The purity of Abram’s faith harkens back to his younger years where his faith was absolute. He had never met God and yet he revered nonetheless. This is best articulated by Isaac who only met God after his kids’ birth with the famine. Nevertheless, in the spirit of his father, his faith was strong. Seeing his wife’s suffering he asked God for assistance and God did just that. Isaac trusted his father and it paid off. Isaac was a semi-revelational man since he knew the truth from his father but couldn’t have known unless told by God himself. Becoming a full fledged revelational man upon God’s call to him. 

Abram transformed into a new figure. He no longer preached and simply followed the whim of God as directed. After God instructs Isaac, Isaac also becomes a follower like his father. Jacob uniquely meets God continues on his way and follows his own lead. There are few instructions but periodic for protection. Abraham is the precursor to the later prophet who is told to transmit these words to the people. Abraham listens to God most of the time with his own decisions for his family entering the scene frequently. Once God spoke to Abram he could not longer speculate, there was no longer any doubt. He knew the truth of God. His adherence was pure as God spoke to him directly. He responded to him and led him properly. Natural man is filled with passion but doubt. He reaches the edge and cannot see beyond. There is nothing more. Abram took that leap maybe there is something there. His leap of faith awaited the divine reciprocation. In time, God did answer. With that call, the end was merely a false wall. God had opened the doorway to infinity. God lifted the veil and Abram’s eyes were refocused.  He now saw what he couldn’t see before. Abram was transformed but it was merely divulging a secret that altered the perception of reality. 

The biblical text only tells of revelational man (and semi-revelational man—even as the slaves, they call out to God). The text doesn’t seem to care for the pondering Abram. The believer is the prophet. The man who meets God not the one who conjures a logical possibility. The biblical record is a book of mythology not philosophy. It is a book of a personal deity and his connection to the Jewish people. Abram’s moments staring at the stars wondering doesn’t fit the narrational prose. The purpose is the meeting of God and Abram. God coming to Abram and blessing his family as the chosen people. Abram is tasked with this mission. What came before is irrelevant. Every Jew is born semi-revelational. They learn traditions from their parents going back generations. The reader learns not of Abram’s speculation but his testimony. God calls Abram and Abram responds in the affirmative. He accepts the challenge and the journey. The reader like his forefather accepts God. He aspires to truly live by God just as his forefathers did. Live by the journey of the tradition and ancestors. The observance to God the forefathers had is an inspiration to the the descendent. God called, Abram listened. God calls and the reader answers as well. 

The biblical text though is precious and its wording is intentional. It is stylistically poetic. The point about the Haran followers may be written off as superfluous but alternatively it is incredibly necessary. Who cares that Abram had a following? Yet it why they were following them and how they began to follow him? It is this backstory the midrashim attempt to fill. How does a guy living amongst idolatry deduce God?   How does a guy who doesn’t know about God teach God? Abram’s proactive midlife emphasis concentrated on spreading the word of God. A God who couldn’t be certain but one that he believed in. It is these few words that are critical to understanding Abram’s character. Abram was a curious novice. Using his intellect to recognise what he believed to be the truth. Yet he remained in limbo since he couldn’t prove it. Nevertheless impassioned preached this truth. When God calls him the truth has set him free. It has legitimised his search for truth. The biblical record doesn’t overlook Abraham’s youth it merely makes note before moving on to the relationship between the two. Nevertheless, just as Abram pondered God so to the reader ponder’s Abram’s youth.  

God’s revelation to Abram sets off a chain reaction for his descendants to know God. To know him not as a beyond but as a personable deity. Isaac never spoke to God but reached out. Jacob sets out for Haran dreams and acknowledges he didn’t know God was there. He was unaware of the divine presence. Cradled in his natural life he did not feel the presence of God. Jacob did not think God since he had never met him. For Jacob he was shocked. Out on the road out of the blue. This was weird and uncommon. It is plausible Jacob reviewed his father and grandfather’s encounters and believed it was at certain places and this was not one of them. Jacob was also far younger than his predecessors. Jacob was shocked but yet impassioned and graced. Unlike the mystics, Jacob doesn’t expect to feel God at every turn just that God looks out for him. He makes a pact. God meets him and Jacob engages God. God returns to Jacob periodically checking up on him and instructing him. Jacob trusts God through Laban and Esau. Once God made his presence known to Jacob he reciprocated with an offer. A desire for a relationship if God assisted. As long as God held up his end of the bargain Jacob would serve him. 

Jacob was natural man until God came upon him. Each time prophecy implores the shift. The forefather is completely unaware of the divine. Jacob has heard of God from his father but he has yet to meet him. He doesn’t know who he is. This meeting rejuvenates his relation to God. Moses’ meeting at the burning bush requires a thorough introduction. A prince in Egypt and then a shepherd in Midian, Moses is unaware of the divine. The encounter is one of genuine fascination. Natural man is Truman. He lives blissfully in a world of cyclical nature. Life is just that. All that can be perceived to the naked eye or surmised by his brave intelligence. Yet there is something that gnaws at him. Something greater that what he can imagine. As if there is a conflicting element in his brain contesting he is missing something. Natural man isn’t obtuse, he merely has no way of reaching the divine. He doesn’t see the wallpaper of reality. He doesn’t know he is on a movie set. To him, the world is just as it is. If he blasted off to space he would still be in this world, there is no escaping the so-called fixture. He cannot find God therefore he need not believe in him. At least the idols are perceivable and supra-human. 

It is not impossible for natural man to assume the divine. By Leibniz, he can rationalise the plausibility of a deity. Yet not the deity’s will. Natural man in a moment of reflection can smash the idols and recognise something beyond. There is an ultimate other beyond the stars. It is the sole plausible explanation for a genuine deity. Such an accusation is merely a figment of hope not certainty. That is the basis of faith. Natural man doesn’t automatically ignore the divine. He simply has no relation other than his faith. He knows of a possibility whether he Abraham or Jacob, Isaac or Moses. Abraham is the quintessential natural man since he has nothing to go on (though there may have been a family tradition back to Shem) and yet deduces his belief. Jacob alternatively knows but has never met charging him a believer with no recognition. Isaac similarly to Jacob knows but has never met yet inquires of God prior to their meeting. Isaac leaps to God while Jacob allows God to come to him. Jacob learns something new about God, he is everywhere and always watching. Of course Moses is perplexed but God reassures him and brings him into the fold. Being around the Midian priest may have affected Moses but the call from God altered the schematics. He found a new way for his tribe. 

Everything changes when God appears. Abraham confirms his long held faith into certainty. Into a stronger faith and devotion. For Isaac it confirms his God aided him with his wife’s trouble. Jacob recognises the greatness of God so he asks for protection and Moses is subdued into leadership. Revelational man cannot undo his meeting with God. Jacob has met God and he is inspired. God has promised him and he will in return devote himself. Abraham has searched for Him and finding Him means he will follow Him. For Abraham, revelation is acceptance of the truth he yearned for while for Jacob revelation is acceptance of protection. Unlike Abraham, Jacob did not seek God but rather God sought him. In the same manner, the first verse about Abraham, God seeks him out not the other way around. The same goes for Moses. Only Isaac seeks God out, and he does so twice. The midrashim interpret Abraham seeking out God but the text is not explicit about it. The biblical text is about revelational man. The midrashim are about natural man. The text makes a small note of plausible natural man but doesn’t do it justice. Only Isaac who learned of God from the quite traumatic experience, did reach out first. Isaac trusted his father and God but it was Isaac who sought out God first. Isaac reached out and Jacob makes a deal. Both choose to engage with God instead of a divine overhaul or coercion. 

The text paints Abraham as a good listener. God calls, Abraham answers. This is the normal order. God comes to Adam and Noah so too with Abraham. Same theme different player. God has chosen Abraham but the midrashim zero in on the pre-revelational life. The midrashim provide a proactive divinely-related picture of Abraham’s pre-revelational life. This is not solely to soothe a perspective but align it with the actions of his son and grandson. Both Isaac and Jacob choose God while God chooses Abraham. On the face of it, it is the corollary to being chosen that successors will choose but such also begs why didn’t Abraham choose or did he? The stories accumulate to Abraham’s philosophical proof for God to then merely believe until God revealed himself. Yet these legends aren’t only for historical marks but value aspects. Isaac and Jacob chose God but that also came with God’s will. For them it wasn’t about the truth of the deity but the deity’s value. Would God help Rebecca and would he protect Jacob? Jacob doesn’t say if you are true but if you will help me. Jacob’s pact with God is built on benefit rather than veracity. The text cares little for the prospect of truth. It is not if God exists but rather how God relates to the people. The first sentence in the Ten Commandments is not I am God who exists but "I am Hashem who took you out of Egypt". 

The God of the bible is one of personable relatability. One of care and character. That is not the God of the Abraham midrashim. The midrash tells of truth and viability. Challenging the ethos of the time and conjuring a new model. The midrash is the pinnacle of natural man while the biblical text is the pinnacle of revelational man. Each text has a separate function and a different goal. There are naturalistic aspects but the underlying theme is the connection to God. The worthwhile effort to heed his will. The midrashim add the element of a life absent that will. Kohelet most resembles this fierce struggle. What is life without the revelational aid. Life is possible, Moses in his youth acts to aid others. Kohelet has everything and yet is missing something. It is the complexity of his situation that deepens his depression. Job and even Jeremiah are the foils for Kohelet. Simple faith and continued reverence hold tight. Kohelet’s answer is to obey God and commandments. To be revelational man is the key to life. Yet the small pockets of natural man that persist in the ex-Egyptian prince’s mind. His continued assistance to others on the basis of his own moral code. Doing right by others on account of his belief. Whether they be a Jew or a Midian. The downtrodden must be protected. This becomes a highlight in the biblical record later on. 

Moses like Jacob, lives a life of value not in search of truth. He doesn’t seek the truth of the divine. He acts righteously and the divine appears to him. The divine chooses him for his impeccable character. Abraham is the outlier. Abram is the philosopher while Moses is the ethicist. Abram contemplates the truth while Moses lives his life. The biblical text has no use for Abram the philosopher but only Abram the believer. The believer who follows God, invites strangers into his home and saves his nephew from certain death. Abram the philosopher is a nice story but not one of the biblical heroes. Not one of necessary remembrance. The Abrahamic natural man and the Mosaic natural man differ heavily. One is in search of God and one awaits God. One a theologian and the other a moralist. The theologian becomes a prophet and dispenses with his God-talk. Such a model is irrelevant. Natural man can either spend his time pondering the cosmos or he can live by example. Moses’ youth is recorded but not Abraham’s. The latter’s is animated by legends but yields little in the face of the revelational tradition. Moses is proactive not in preaching but in acting. This is the legacy the Torah portrays Abraham. Abraham the prophet of ethical action not of questioning reality. 

Natural man ought not be rejected outright. The midrashim do paint a picture of an Abraham for the struggling Jew. There is a way to recognise the divine. There is a tradition for natural man to conceive of the possibility. Absent revelation there is no meeting of the divine will. God will not reveal himself to man anymore. This creates an issue of realising the divine. At least with the Abraham model, one can along the lines of the philosopher deduce the plausibility. Yet this only reaches a certain threshold. Deducing a plausibility is only a possibility. Yet even more so it cannot bring revelation. Knowing the deity is real or believing him to be real does not lead to his will. Unless he implores his will there is no knowledge. That is the difference from preacher to prophet. From truth to value. God meets Abram and teaches him his will. God enjoys Moses’ will so he calls upon him and shares his ideals. Prophecy teaches the ultimate link to God and his will. The text only cares for the divine will not the tenets of divine existence. Moses embodies the natural to revelational shift. As his life as natural man sharply differs from Abraham. Born in Egyptian idolatry, Moses does his thing. While he did have Jewish parents it is not clear that he is knowledgeable of the divine. 

Moses’ charming character and amazing traits come from his adopted mother. He was raised by Pharaoh’s daughter who just as she took pity on him helpless in the Nile so too he did on the helpless in society. His actions mirrored his protector’s. His life of good grace and kindness was not of Jewish heritage but of his adopted mother’s ways of good. Mercy is the way of Moses. Doing good because it is good is the way of Moses. Natural man is able to figure the adequate nature of life but he is missing something. Moses lived peacefully in Midian but when God met him, he realised there is something more. Even after he had rejected God’s offer, God persisted and he relented. His new mission was about to start. To help his people and redeem them. A relation with God was absent in his life and now fulfilled could endeavour to redeem the slaves and build a new nation. Moses transitioned from shepherding sheep to shepherding slaves. Moses is the epitome of natural man not Abraham. Abraham the philosopher has no place in the biblical tradition. Moses’ kindness without revelation does. Moses lives in the spirit of God. Bilaam was a prophet but a wicked man. Moses in his youth was not a prophet but a righteous man. Revelation is truth for Bilaam but value for Moses. Abraham’s journey is not just confirmation of the divine truth but the divine will. Abraham follows God not because he exists but because his will is true. His followers are inspired by his manner and character not his evidence. 

Prophecy is not automatically the goodness of the person. God came to Laban as well though only to tell him to stay clear of Jacob. Revelation is the opportunity to heed the divine command. God appears before Abram electing him with a promise. Abram could say no but he accepts. Isaac listens to God to stay in the land and Jacob makes a pact. Moses finally relents but Bilaam doesn’t listen. Bilaam’s persistence leads him to his desired location but not his desired goal. Revelation for Bilaam is divine existence not divine will. Bilaam knows of the true God but cares little for his ideals. Moses knows not of the true God but yet lives by his ideals. Bilaam has encountered God but fails to live up to the divine value. When his needs are pressing he places them ahead of God. God to him is a friend not a master. Bilaam accepts God’s advice but at other times ignores it. Moses does listen to God not always so cleanly but does so. Abraham is smooth with divine commands. God says so he does it. God comments about Sedom he inquires. Abraham unlike Moses doesn’t challenge God. For Abraham, God is the master and he follows but for Moses God’s mastership is a two-way street. Moses like later prophets do inquire of God. The midrashim take it further in some instances of Mosaic protest. 

The Torah is undoubtedly a text of revelational man. Abraham’s first appearance is as revelational man. The text narrates the divine relationship with the people. Yet there are hints of natural man most prominently with Moses. For eighty years he is unaware or little aware of God. His lives by value and God implores him with his values. Moses’ elevation to the revelational prose is his connection with God. It is to live earnestly prior to prophetic realisation. The divine encounter is to align wills not to be overwhelmed with one. It only elevates Moses’ mission and purpose. Sinai revelation is bringing the experiences of old with the divine ideals. God is of relationship not existence. Recall the harsh slavery and He who redeemed you. By virtue of historical memory be kind and good. Make the pact with God. Enjoy the experience and learn from his will. The divine connection is a new outlook with a refined experience. The midrashim point to an exegetical layer but not to the textual information. The Torah hints to the natural man's youth but never recognises it fully. It is not inscribed nor beneath the text. It is an extrapolated aspiration. Mending the the biblical text with an awesome childhood experience. Did Abram find God, seemingly so and he preached it but it is of little consequence to the revelational order. The text told is of God unveiling himself to Abram. 

For Moses as well, he lives with Jethro for forty years. Midrashim tell of his kingship in Ethiopia but it is of little purpose if it has little to do with his ascension to meet God. The text skips a chunk of his life till the encounter with God to then lead and redeem the people. Natural man exists in the margins of exegetical sources. It is parcel of a genuine search. An individual seeking the divine. A concept quite common for the modernist. A Kierkegaardian theme inspired for the naysayers to traditional argumentation. To the faith in tradition. Rather each is to find God. Kierkegaard reignited the Abrahamic youthful spirit. Instead of finding God on the back of tradition do it without tradition. To feel God is to know not the other way around. Natural man is the sceptic who empirically challenges the infinite. Yet the Torah besmirches this view. The Torah is filled with revelational men. The prophets and the Israelites at Sinai. Those who heard Isaiah and saw the fire of Elijah. The Sages of last millennium focused on midrashim not as a way to undermine Tanakh but to imbue the non-prophetic Jew with spiritual audacity. To inspire a flame of connection in a time of little linkage. The spirit of God wasn’t felt and the troubles of the time elevated the difficulty. The rabbinic genre taught the sermonical stories of young Abram to enrich the spirits of Jews figuring their connection to God. 

Maimonides in his Mishneh Torah writes that Abraham began pondering God day and night from his baby years, Ra’avad states Abraham found God at three years old. Tosafot explains the age discpenciey that he left Haran twice once at fifty-two and one at seventy-five and Maharsha brings it all together that Abraham found God at three but fully recognised him at fifty-two. The rabbinic insistence on this mere aggada means more then it lets on. The aggada is not solely some rabbinic addition that is cute and informative. It is inspirational. It is necessary for the greatness of Abraham. Yet it is also for the understanding of a non-prophetic connection to God. It is a bit of a jab at non-believers as it implies that Abraham figured God out as a baby. Of course God was real what other possibility could there be. The rabbinic identity is one of lacking divine sensation. A world devoid of divine intervention (at least knowledgeable and accurately count it). Rabbinic expositions of the text thereby add a fond proto-kierkegaardian theme. It is not entirely a leap of faith, it is a logical conclusion based on the rational faculty. Yet the faith did not bring the creed. The faith inspired a creator but this is only second rate to the divine calling. The rabbinic world can assist natural man in locating the divine but how someone relates to the divine is quite a different story. Abraham could configure the divine truth but not the divine word. It was only with the prophetic inspiration, only with the divine command that he could not only be certain but follow the divine accordingly. 

There is a nice lesson here. The midrashim line up young Abram’s epiphany and drive to preach but pales in comparison to his decision to follow God. In this sense the midrash seems to end on a sore note since there is no prophetic inspiration. One can wait and wait but he has yet to call. Though on the other hand natural man is not cursed. He can find God, he can tap into revelational man since he the child of prophets. He is a descendent to the national revelation and the divine word. Unlike the forefathers "they didn't know Hashem's name". He doesn’t need God to appear before him and request him since his heritage already directs him to the divine word. While he fails to seek the divine spiritually, he finds God in the Torah. He finds God in the halakha. Revelational man has a means of connecting through his tradition. He is natural man insofar as he fails to accept his tradition to which he is transformed into revelational man. Through Torah and Tefilla he encounters Hashem.