Just saw this part of the post. This is NOT the Jewish view on things. It is probably a good idea for someone who is not Jewish to refrain from saying what our beliefs are, just as I would never say what Christian beliefs are.
When we as humans suffer sorrow it is in our nature to look for the cause if not actual blame. One is never on good ground in blaming God for evil happenings.
And so I would use neither "God" or "Messiah" as being responsible for letting suffering to happen.
If one follows the Jewish mind the the conquerer of evil [the Messiah] has yet to come. So what do the scriptures say in regards to who's running the store until then? If you guessed Lucifer then go to the head of the class. permit me to quote a few lines.
...You [Lucifer] were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz and emerald, chrysolite, onyx and jasper, sapphire, turquoise and beryl. Your settings and mountings were made of gold; on the day you were created they were prepared. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for so I ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God; you walked among the fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you... (Ezekiel 28:12-15).
And again, ...Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones... (Ezekiel 26:16).
Once more, ...How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth...(Isaiah 14:12).
Earth! Here is the realm of the Dark Prince.
G-d IS ultimately responsible for suffering and evil, because He allows suffering to happen, and He created evil. Why He allows bad things to happen is not always perfectly obvious, but it is not a Jewish belief to say that evil is the absence of G-d.
In addition, the concept that Satan is a separate entity who struggles against G-d is a polytheistic belief, and Judaism is monotheistic (in fact, the first monotheistic religion). Satan is NOT a fallen angel or anything of the sort. Rather, he is an agent of G-d who fulfills a very specific mission on earth. It is important to notice however, that he answers directly to G-d and requires G-d's permission to do anything. He is only explicitly mentioned in two places in the Bible (Job and [SIZE=-1]Zechariah[/SIZE]), but show exactly what his place is in relation to G-d.
In Job, Satan comes to present himself before G-d. G-d demands of him, "From where do you come?" The Satan (notice that it is THE Satan, as satan is a noun, not a name, that means "Accusor") answers him immediately, saying that he has being going to and fro on the earth. G-d then proceeds to convene the Heavenly Court where Job is the defendent. The Satan is the prosecuting attorney, hence his name: "the accusor." It is this position that the Satan holds--a prosecutor in the Heavenly Court, trying to convince G-d that the person at issue is not worthy of G-d's kindness. The Satan is just an angel of G-d doing a job (no pun intended). Angels have no free will and are incapable of fathoming the concept of going against G-d's word.
And so no, "Lucifer" does not run the store. In fact, he is not even an assistant manager. The only person running the store, and the person who will EVER run the store, is G-d. As He told the great prophet Isaiah, "I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil; I am the LORD, that does all these things."
We are not waiting for a "Messiah" to come and conquer the "devil." We are waiting for the Moshiach, who will be King of the Jewish people and restore the Kingdom of Israel and rebuild the Temple. However, G-d will still run the store. We will simply have a new assistant manager.
I'm a Christian and some may wonder why I'm in this forum. Well I lurk here because frankly I learn stuff and I thought I'd offer a not often taken look at this topic. Many, if not most, of my Christian brothers and sister may take issue with my reading of the quoted text but that's the beauty of God. We all see him through the prism of our "fearfully and wonderfully" created hearts.
I realize too that one cannot compress evil, its origins and its impact on us within a few lines of text. But I believe it's a start. We believe in God and so when we are afflicted we turn to God and accuse and question--Why! Satan's greatest strength lies in that few in our modern age (WW2 era as well) continue to believe in his existence and so when we are faced with evil we do dot readily turn to its true author.
If I have given offense to any person by posting here please forgive me.
C
You haven't cause any offence. I would just suggest that you not post your opinion of Jewish beliefs as fact when they are actually quite the opposite.
