{"id":64114,"date":"2019-10-06T17:17:25","date_gmt":"2019-10-06T14:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=64114"},"modified":"2023-05-04T09:18:30","modified_gmt":"2023-05-04T06:18:30","slug":"pieces-of-an-infinite-puzzle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/pieces-of-an-infinite-puzzle\/","title":{"rendered":"Pieces Of An Infinite Puzzle"},"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":[460,466,547,531],"acf":{"old_id":"64114","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34250,"related_cahpter":"324","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"There may be reward and punishment - for some","content":"

Why did some kings rule for decades, while others didn\u2019t even last a full year?<\/span><\/p>\n

Like many questions, this one can have multiple answers. On the human level, sometimes a reign was cut short by a successful rebellion; however, perhaps those rebellions got a helping Hand.<\/span><\/p>\n

For instance, Abarbanel asserts that Shallum son of Jabesh was replaced by Menahem son of Gadi after just a month (15:13-14) because \u201che was punished measure for measure: he killed Zechariah, and Menahem son of Gadi killed him.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a very neat explanation, but it raises some questions. After all, Shallum was far from the only king to gain his throne through a bloody coup. Why punish him but not others?<\/span><\/p>\n

This question, too, is open to multiple answers \u2013 including a study of what motivated each of those bloody coups. E.g., Jehu annihilated Ahab\u2019s family and was rewarded rather than punished \u2013 despite his ensuing transgressions \u2013 because God had commanded those deaths.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, perhaps the apparent inconsistency itself contains an important message.\u00a0<\/span>The Tanach is full of divine providence, sometimes in the form of general promises of reward and punishment, and sometimes through narratives about specific instances.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, this perspective can lead one down some troubling mental paths. For instance, if we start trying to guess which <\/span>mitzvah <\/span><\/i>or transgression might have led to various events in our or others\u2019 lives, we would wrongly be assuming we can read God\u2019s mind, and be in danger of violating Antigonus ish Socho\u2019s dictum against \u201cserving our Master for the sake of reward\u201d (Avot 1:3).<\/span><\/p>\n

How do we look at Tanach and NOT conclude that everything that happens is a direct reward or punishment? How do we avoid concluding that a tsunami, for instance, must be someone\u2019s fault, and perhaps speculating about whose fault and why?<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps by realizing Providence is not so linear in Tanach \u2013 and neither is it straightforward in our lives.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sometimes the Bible tells us why, as when God promised Jehu his dynasty would last four generations because he followed instructions so well (10:30) \u2013 presumably to convey the notion of divine justice in the world.\u00a0<\/span>Sometimes it doesn\u2019t tell us but we can infer, by applying that notion to events in this finite body of information that we know is shared with a didactic goal \u2013 as Abarbanel does regarding Shallum.<\/span><\/p>\n

But sometimes, the bad guy rules for decades or the good guy doesn\u2019t, and we have no idea why \u2013 perhaps to convey the message that reward and punishment are only two pieces of an infinite puzzle, and that if cause and effect aren\u2019t in the book with God’s stamp, then there must be pieces we can never presume to know.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":64115,"id":64115,"title":"2kings15-puzzle","filename":"2kings15-puzzle.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/pieces-of-an-infinite-puzzle\/2kings15-puzzle\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"2kings15-puzzle","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":64114,"date":"2019-10-06 14:17:12","modified":"2019-10-06 14:17:22","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1920,"height":1056,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-300x165.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":165,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-768x422.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":422,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-1024x563.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":563,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":845,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1056,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-1200x660.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":660,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2kings15-puzzle-764x420.jpg","home_baner-width":764,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Pieces Of An Infinite Puzzle","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"There may be reward and punishment - 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