Ignorant Enough to Know

“The first among the commandments to perform is the commandment to know that there is a God, as it is said ‘I am HaShem your God.’ (Exodus 20:2)” (Mishneh HaTorah, Positive Commandments 1:1)

R. Yeshua disagrees with Maimonides about the importance of this commandment, saying that it is more important to love God (Matt. 22:37-38), but that does not mean that the commandment to believe in God is unimportant. It is placed at the beginning of the Decalogue for a reason. This commandment is foundational because so many of the commandments are dependent on it.

It is important for us to realize that this is more than a commandment to “believe” in the sense that we believe it is the most likely situation. Maimonides says we should “know,” and the Hafeitz Hayim emphasizes our assurance even more, “The main thing, though, is to fix firmly in one’s heart and soul that this is the truth, and nothing other than this is possible.” (Seifer HaMitzvot HaQatzar, HaMitzvot-Aseh 1)

This is a very difficult position to maintain in any age, when trouble and pain come to steal our faith. It is at those times that we must fix firmly in view our choice to believe that God is God, and to remember His faithfulness to us in the past. Rashi points to past faithfulness as the reason for obedience to this commandment. We believe in God because God is our deliverer, our redeemer. It is easy to fall into the mistake of believing in God because of some philosophical argument about the First Cause, or Natural Law, but we believe in God because God acts in history, as hard as it may be to believe sometimes. We believe in God because He steps into space and time and acts to save us.

We don’t often think about belief in God as a commandment, but John uses this idea in a powerful way:

Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. (I John 3:21-23, NRSV)

The relevant passage in I John is longer than I’m going to quote here, but John points to the importance of confidence just like Maimonides and the Hafeitz Hayim. Just like Rashi, John points to God’s acts in history, though less obviously, when he mentions the Messiah, whose life, death, and resurrection mirror the Exodus appealed to in this commandment.

This may be the most difficult of all the commandments. To keep our eyes set on God at all times and overcoming doubt requires doubt so strong that it becomes faith.  I’d like to challenge you the next time you are struggling with faith: doubt your doubt. If you find yourself being a skeptic, remember that the father of the ancient Greek skeptics, Pyrrho, insisted that his students remain doubtful of skepticism. If  we dare to doubt completely, in the rubble of the world that we have torn down with our doubt we will find the faith we need to rebuild.