"וְהָאֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה שֶׁיִּרְאוּ מִלְּפָנָיו"

I have been reading a book along with an old camp counselor of mine in an attempt to understand the core principles of Judaism. The book is entitled Beyond a Reasonable Doubt: Convincing Evidence of the Truths of Judaism, and it is written by Rabbi Shmuel Waldman.

Tonight Rachel and I finished reading the first chapter of the book called "Compelling Evidence of a Creator". The entire first chapter was dedicated to "teleological proof", which aims to show the plan and purpose of all creatures on this earth, which is considered the most effective way of proving the world has a Creator. The chapter went through many organisms- oranges, bananas, carnivorous plants, insects, birds, bats, and the human body- and discussed how the incredible depth of their design cannot be attributed to chance, but must be the work of God.

Towards the end of the chapter was a quote from Kohelet 3:14, from the Neheneh section: "יָדַעְתִּי כִּי כָּל אֲשֶׁר יַעֲשֶׂה הָאֱלֹהִים 
":הוּא יִהְיֶה לְעוֹלָם עָלָיו אֵין לְהוֹסִיף וּמִמֶּנּוּ אֵין לִגְרוֹעַ וְהָאֱלֹהִים עָשָׂה שֶׁיִּרְאוּ מִלְּפָנָיו
 "I knew that everything God made, that will be forever, we cannot add to it, nor can we subtract from it; and God made it so that they fear Him." 

The book brought in this quote as a way of suggesting that God created this world in such a way that we can see His presence if we simply open our eyes to Him; we have the ability to see the existence of God through the things we encounter everyday, something like a simple banana- "and God made it so that they fear Him."

We haven't brought up the concept of the existence of God in Kohelet,  and this wasn't something I had noticed or thought about when learning Perek 3. I found this to be really interesting.

I've really enjoyed this book so far, and I can't wait to see what the rest of the chapters bring. In case y'all are interested in reading it: http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Reasonable-Doubt-Convincing-Evidence/dp/1583306498