Originally Posted by followingtheway View Post
3*]Do Jews believe in Angels?
4*]Do Jews believe in Devils or Demons?
Bezant: 3 - Yes.
Bezant: 4 - That was a question I was going to ask sometime this week
Yes - to both questions. The accuser, or Ha-Satan, is sometimes known as the adversary. HaSatan is the adversary to humans, not to God. Many Jews believe that “the adversary” is simply a personification of our inclinations to evil. Judaism teaches us a path through Torah precept how to overcome the evil incliation. Judaism teaches us how to be accountable for our behaviors, accept responsibility when we do wrong, make amends and choose to do better in our walk with God through Tikkun Olam. ( working as partners with God and fellow humans to repiar and restore the world to righteousness, justice, mercy and harmony) HaSatan can be thought of as the outward projection and manifestation of the impulse to think for self alone and above all else with immediate gratification, If one believes that you are powerless to master the evil inclination IMHO that would make one an easy target for being led blindly. Humans are more powerful than HaSatan in the Tanakh, and like all angels, have no ability or authority to do anything other than what God wills.
“The rabbinic duality of yetzer hara, the so-called “evil inclination,” and yetzer hatov, the “good inclination,” is more subtle than the names connote. Yetzer hara is not a demonic force that pushes a person to do evil, but rather a drive toward pleasure or property or security, which if left unlimited, can lead to evil (cf. Genesis Rabbah 9:7)”.
myjewishlearning.com/life/Life_Events/BarBat_Mitzvah/About_BarBat_Mitzvah/Age_Requirement/Good_Inclination.shtml
In other words, and from what I understood, that the evil inclination can be a motivator but unharnessed can lead one to sin/ or worse - toward committing evil/ a lot evil. Too much of anything can be bad for someone. In Genesis, after Cain killed his brother Abel, God said "“Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you,
but you must rule over it. In the same vein - in Genesis 1 the same verse pops up, "8 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and** subdue it. Rule over **the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
When one becomes obsessed over anything (doesn’t matter what it is) or when someone can not control their impulses - then evil will come into play. Can our obsession lead to being demonic, sure. We were initially created to do “good” - as Genesis states in creation, "Vayar Elohim et-kol-asher asah vehineh-tov me’od - God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good. " The same Hebrew root is behind the tree of knowledge of good and evil (“etz ha’da’at tov vara”) - meaning our “eyes” became open to both good and evil - inclinations, as scripture states, God said, ‘Man has now become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now he must be prevented from putting forth his hand and also taking from the Tree of Life. He [can] eat it and live forever!’
Do the Jewish people believe in bad angel verses good angels? The question is, can an angel have the ability to be an Accuser toward someone? Yes. As it states, "“But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set.” (John 5:45-46). Another scriptural point is in Exodus 23, “20“See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. 21 Pay attention to him and listen to what he says.
Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. 22 If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you.”
There are scriptural points - but I hope you get a little understanding of it. There is a website that is very good for looking up information:
myjewishlearning.com
Reference:
Q: What is the position of Judaism on spiritual warfare?
Christianity teaches that there is spiritual warfare unseen around us. Does Judaism believe in spiritual warfare? I really think that with terrible events like the Holocaust; there is an unseen battle raging between God and his angels and Satan and his demons. Thoughts?
religionfaq.org/Judaism/
Some additional information on the side:
One Teaspoon, Or Two?
torah.org/learning/perceptions/5764/netzavim.html
The Birth of the Good Inclination
In rabbinic texts, the distinction between childhood and young adulthood is the birth of the yetzer hatov, the good inclination.
myjewishlearning.com/life/Life_Events/BarBat_Mitzvah/About_BarBat_Mitzvah/Age_Requirement/Good_Inclination.shtml
