RUSHWAVE: Establishing Believers in the Christian Faith

from The Judgment God Desires to Withhold

Chapter 12: Why Man is Blind to His Moral Condition

We misjudge our true character because we judge ourselves by what is right or wrong in our own eyes.

If even the nicest, kindest, gentlest humanitarian is guilty of committing evils that warrant being cast into a lake of fire, why do we not see it that way? Why do we consider many others and we ourselves as good, decent people? Why do we take offense at the idea that God finds our deeds absolutely reprehensible and worthy of damnation? Examining the mindset of one particular man and how he viewed his actions will answer these questions with absolute clarity.

In the history of the world there have been innumerable massacres of innocent people. These horrific acts of barbarity have been perpetrated by different men from all nationalities, languages, social classes, ethnicities, and colors — any group with which we choose to identify has someone in it with a great deal of blood on their hands. The mindset of one particular man involved in such atrocities provides a clear parallel as to why we ourselves are deceived about our moral condition. True, we ourselves may not be guilty of committing heinous crimes like him. But the dynamics of self-deception will become evident as the historical account of his life is examined. Such examination, however, involves traveling down one of the many dark, bloody corridors of human history — the slaughter historically known as the Holocaust, and the works of one military official in the Nazi regime: Adolf Eichmann.

As the Nazis sought to conquer Europe in World War II, Adolf Eichmann was to ensure Jews residing in conquered territories were properly identified and deported to certain areas called ghettos. The penalty for leaving these ghettos was death, and the living conditions were atrocious — thousands died from disease and starvation. The ghettos served as a holding area until the Nazis determined how best to rid Europe of Jews and thereby usher in the Nazi vision of utopia: a Jew-free Europe.

Ultimately the Nazi leadership determined the “Final Solution” to the Jewish “problem” was to simply put the Jews in these ghettos to death, as well as simply kill Jews when conquering new territories. But this required a strategy on how to carry out killing on a mass scale, as well as a strategy to deal with the corpses. Several deceptive and barbaric methods were used.

One killing technique was Jews would be told to enter certain vans with the promise of being transported to another area for resettlement. But the van was actually a specially designed killing machine. Exhaust was directed to the sealed area in the back of the van where the Jews were locked in, and they died from asphyxiation. Another method was to ask ghetto captives to pack and walk to their new resettlement area. But the destination was actually a large trench where they would be murdered in a mass shooting. Another method was to herd Jews onto boxcars to be taken by train to specially designed killing centers. They would be herded into what appeared to be large bath houses, only to be locked in and killed using an insecticide gas. The corpses were then burned in furnaces.

Adolf Eichmann’s role in this extermination campaign was to manage logistics, ensuring Jews were efficiently deported to these killing centers. He had personally witnessed the use of the mobile killing vans, the mass shooting by death squads where victims were left in a mass grave, as well as the conditions at an extermination camp.

The scale of grief and terror experienced by those who were victims of this brutality is beyond comprehension not only because of its depth but because of its scope. Over 6 million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, and at the height of this slaughter as many as 15,000 people may have been murdered per day. If the victims were laid side by side instead of incinerated or buried in a mass grave, you would see nothing but corpses for over 5 miles or 8 kilometers. And that would be just one day …

As chilling and horrific as the previous accounts are, Eichmann’s conception of himself in relation to his works was far from negative. During the war while Eichmann was actively involved in managing these deportations; after the war when he was eventually captured; during the trial where he heard from witnesses and himself gave testimony; and even unto the day of his execution, he never gave any indication he believed he himself had done anything wrong — not once. He himself and others testified how he found the murders unsettling, but he viewed himself as a soldier obligated to obey orders. Far from considering himself a murderer, he believed he was a good man who was simply discharging those duties entrusted to him. He appeared proud he performed his duties so well, boasting that he was able to manage such logistical challenges with perseverance and efficiency. And he took offense at the idea he had done wrong or he was anything other than an honorable, good person. He considered the portrayal of himself as a murderer an injustice, and to find him guilty of crimes against humanity and against the Jewish people was unfair.

Eichmann was deceived about the true nature of his actions because he judged himself by a false law created in his own mind. While in a Nazi court his actions would be deemed lawful and even praiseworthy, in another court his actions were rightly considered murderous and worthy of condemnation and execution.

As was stated at the outset of this chapter, Adolf Eichmann was just one of many such men in history. The murderous campaigns of others from different times and countries could have been detailed in his place. The individual rationale for these slaughters may have been different — the perpetrators may not have believed they were simply following orders, but instead were righting a wrong, properly dealing with those who opposed their utopian ideas, etc. But the dynamics of deception on the basis of false law is the same.

We ourselves may not be an accomplice in the murder of millions of people, but we also tend to judge ourselves by the standards we establish, and everything plays out exactly the same. We take offense at anyone who suggests our works are worthy of hell. How dare anyone suggest we are anything other than a good, decent, honorable person? Such judgment is unfair, and we stubbornly maintain our innocence.

This principle of living life according to the misguided precepts of our own mind is frequently commented on in scripture. God warned the Israelites:

You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes. Deuteronomy 12:8

Despite this command, historically the Israelites fell into this pattern.

In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes. Judges 17:6

But God’s commentary on this manner of living is clear.

There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. Proverbs 14:12

We are not overwhelmed by the evilness of our deeds because we judge ourselves based on what is right and wrong in our own eyes. But like Eichmann we will one day be brought before a different court. In that day the things we deemed acceptable or even praiseworthy will instead be the source of our condemnation. The works we viewed as noble, just and righteous will instead be revealed for what they really are: dishonorable, unjust and wicked. And the sentence we will receive is death.

This fallen world reinforces our committing evil works by praising us for engaging in them. But what good are the accolades of fallen men if before God those same works arouse His fierce wrath? If we are to rightly judge our actions and character, we must understand what constitutes right and wrong from God’s perspective. For the simple truth is this: before God, we are all as deceived as Adolf Eichmann in regards to our works and moral condition.

You may not see your works in this earthly life as warranting God’s judgment in hell. You may acknowledge you are not perfect, but completely object to the idea your works are abhorrent and you are an evil person. But this perspective only confirms God’s verdict you are morally blind and lost. You do not accept God’s verdict because you are guided by the unenlightened standards of your own darkened, hardened heart.

from The Judgment God Desires to Withhold

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