Interesting as always. The late Lord Sacks used to make an analogous (I think) point about the Jews as the "chosen people", arguing that this wasn't a privilege but a responsibility and a burden: "God asked us to be His ambassadors down here on Earth, which is probably the most challenging vocation anyone has ever been given". And I think there's something primal in all of us, isn't there, that knows somehow that something which is easy is not ultimately satisfying or as worthwhile as something at which you labour.
Absolutely right. The ancient Jews did not “struggle with God,” whence the name Israel, for their own good only, but as the priestly nation chosen to mediate for the entire human race.
Interesting as always. The late Lord Sacks used to make an analogous (I think) point about the Jews as the "chosen people", arguing that this wasn't a privilege but a responsibility and a burden: "God asked us to be His ambassadors down here on Earth, which is probably the most challenging vocation anyone has ever been given". And I think there's something primal in all of us, isn't there, that knows somehow that something which is easy is not ultimately satisfying or as worthwhile as something at which you labour.
Absolutely right. The ancient Jews did not “struggle with God,” whence the name Israel, for their own good only, but as the priestly nation chosen to mediate for the entire human race.