{"id":62425,"date":"2019-09-04T18:34:34","date_gmt":"2019-09-04T15:34:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=62425"},"modified":"2023-03-30T07:54:26","modified_gmt":"2023-03-30T04:54:26","slug":"temptation-rationalization-persuasion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/temptation-rationalization-persuasion\/","title":{"rendered":"Temptation, Rationalization, Persuasion"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[506,386],"acf":{"old_id":"62425","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34250,"related_cahpter":"300","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"How we get swayed from what we know we should do...","content":"

Following the man of God\u2019s prophecy at Bethel, King Jeroboam invites him over for refreshments. The invitation is declined, however: \u201cI will not\u2026 eat bread or drink water in this place, for so I was commanded\u2026\u201d (13:8-9). The word of God is strong in this man: he delivered His message, he successfully entreated Him to heal Jeroboam\u2019s arm, and he expresses loyalty to His command.<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet \u2013 an old, possibly false,\u00a0 prophet manages to break down his defenses so that the man of God disobeys his God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like Jeroboam, this second prophet extends an invitation; unlike Jeroboam, he won\u2019t take \u201cno\u201d for an answer. \u201cI am a prophet, too, and an angel said to me by command of the LORD: Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water\u201d (v. 18). But the verse lets the reader in on a little secret: \u201cHe was lying.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t even seem like such a secret. Wasn\u2019t this an obvious ploy? How could the man of God possibly have believed a claim of contradictory prophecy from some guy on the street? Who was this alleged prophet anyway, and why would he lie?<\/span><\/p>\n

Why, indeed, do any of us flout rules we know we should obey? And why do we egg each other on to do so?<\/span><\/p>\n

Abarbanel suggests the elderly prophet was worried about the hungry hero, and figured God\u2019s command wasn\u2019t meant to include stopping to eat and drink with the likes of him. \u201cGod prevented him from eating <\/span>there<\/span><\/i> \u2013 with those sinners.\u201d I, however, am a prophet! The decree didn\u2019t include eating with me! And God wouldn\u2019t want you to starve!<\/span><\/p>\n

It can be so easy to rationalize, so easy to think we know all the intentions behind a rule and how it doesn\u2019t apply to us. The Talmud (<\/span>Sanhedrin 21b) a<\/span>sserts that Solomon himself, wise as he was, made that very mistake<\/span>, and it was his downfall as it was the downfall of this man of God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Malbim further suggests that the man of God was himself unclear on the exact parameters of God\u2019s command; while he initially applied a more stringent interpretation, he was easily swayed to leniency under the influence of his new friend.<\/span><\/p>\n

One wonders how a prophet could have been unclear about his own prophecy \u2013 but perhaps that just illustrates how powerful the temptation can be to look for loopholes even when we really know better, to pretend we think it\u2019s okay to do what we want. And of course, how powerful the influence of others can be in swaying our views on proper conduct.<\/span><\/p>\n

But no other can know our responsibilities like we can. The man of God is punished and the elderly prophet who swayed him is not, Abarbanel argues, because the elderly prophet simply tried to help; he truly didn\u2019t know better. The man of God, however, received a command and was responsible to uphold it regardless of temptation, rationalization, or persuasion.<\/span><\/p>\n

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