Although the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and seer, they did not listen and instead remained stiff-naked as their ancestors had been, rejecting the covenant they had made with God. Sometimes it is tempting and easy for us to read the scriptural history of Israel and immediately fall into the trap of self-righteousness. “With God on their side, what more could they have wanted? With God fighting for them and winning wars for them, why were they unsettled?” Such and similar questions would be quick to escape our lips. And yet, the history of Israel is the very history of humanity. Everything that Israel did has been repeated ever since by succeeding generations. Each and every rebellion of Israel that we read in the scriptures points to humanity’s constant rebellion. Humanity, as the Psalmist clearly points out (cf. Psalm 8), was put in a privileged position by God (read “covenant”) and all that God expects is for humanity to remain faithful. But time and again, just as we read about Israel, humanity has failed to live up to its call. And this is not because humanity is not aware of what God expects. Each generation has had God’s messengers remind it of its obligation. God has sent us the likes of Francis of Assisi, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa and many others who have sought to remind us of our wayward ways. But, just like Israel, humanity has remained stiff-naked and disregarded the statutes of God. Why is this?
Medieval theologians had argued that the human person is inclined to rebellion, an effect of original sin. They observed that left on his own, the human person will always tend towards doing what is evil. This defect in the post-garden of Eden human nature is repaired in baptism, when, open to the graces of God, the human person is armed and emboldened to resist the temptation to do that which is evil. In other words, as long as an individual is closed to the graces of God, evil will be within his reach and he will remain stiff-naked and rebellious.