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How can people 'war against God' without being dismissed as insane? The shiur develops a yesod from the Rambam (רמב"ם) about spiritual intermediaries: people mistakenly believe God has delegated independent power to celestial forces, making them think they can fight these 'separate' powers. The suspension of the sun and moon during Joshua's battle demonstrates that all forces are direct manifestations of divine unity, not independent powers to be conquered.
This shiur addresses a fundamental question that emerges from the conquest narratives: what does it mean for people to 'fight God,' and why aren't such people simply dismissed as insane? Rabbi Zweig examines three historical instances where people 'warred against God': the Tower of Babel, Pharaoh's resistance to the Exodus, and the Canaanite kings who united against Joshua and the Jewish people. The shiur explores why these conflicts required miraculous divine intervention, particularly the suspension of the sun and moon, and the phenomenon of stones falling from heaven. The analysis begins with the Rambam (רמב"ם)'s explanation of how idol worship developed. Originally, all people recognized that Hashem (ה׳) created the world, but they believed they needed to approach God through intermediaries - celestial bodies and spiritual powers that served as a hierarchy between humanity and the divine. This evolved into worship of the intermediaries themselves, and eventually into the belief that these powers could be fought and dominated by human beings.
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