{"id":77627,"date":"2020-07-19T14:08:16","date_gmt":"2020-07-19T11:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=77627"},"modified":"2020-07-19T14:08:16","modified_gmt":"2020-07-19T11:08:16","slug":"stooping-to-reward-and-punishment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/stooping-to-reward-and-punishment\/","title":{"rendered":"Stooping To Reward And Punishment"},"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":[],"acf":{"old_id":"77627","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":62571,"related_cahpter":"527","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The prophet stops at nothing\u00a0\r\n\r\n","content":"

In Chapter 9, Amos mentions how those whom God has targeted as evildoers will adopt two divergent strategies when they realize \u201cit is time to pay the piper.\u201d Some will engage in a futile attempt to escape and hide from punishment, (v. 1-4.) The geographic extremes to which such individuals will unsuccessfully go, are reminiscent of verses in Deuteronomy that describe how God\u2019s Torah is very \u201caccessible\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

Deuteronomy 30<\/span><\/p>\n

12 <\/b>It (<\/span>the Torah<\/span><\/i>) is not in the heavens, that you should say, \u201cWho among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us…?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

13 <\/b>Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, \u201cWho among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us…<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Amos 9<\/span><\/p>\n

2<\/b> …[I]f they ascend to heaven, from there I will bring them down.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

3 <\/b>[I]f they conceal themselves from My sight At the bottom of the sea, there I will command the serpent to bite them.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


\n<\/span>Others, instead of fleeing, will engage in denial, again reminiscent of a portion of Deuteronomy describing individuals who believe that they will be able to blithely stare punishment in the face and emerge unharmed \u201con the other side\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

Deuteronomy 29<\/span><\/p>\n

17 <\/b>Perchance there is among you some man or woman, or some clan or tribe, whose heart is even now turning away from the LORD our God…<\/span>18 <\/b>When such a one hears the words of these sanctions, he may fancy himself immune, thinking, \u201cI shall be safe, though I follow my own willful heart\u201d\u2014to the utter ruin of moist and dry alike. <\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

Amos 9<\/span><\/p>\n

10<\/b> All the sinners of My people shall perish by the sword, who boast, \u201cNever shall the evil overtake us or come near us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While invoking the dynamic of \u201creward and punishment\u201d is hardly a religious ideal, since in order to encourage group conformity with spiritual expectations, one is promoting a blatantly ulterior motive rather than idealist compliance, the prophet apparently stops at nothing in order to advance his program.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps he hopes that the Rabbinic dictum stated in Pesachim 50b: \u201cRav Yehuda said that Rav said: A person should always engage in Torah study and performance of the Commandments, even if he does so not for their own sake, as through the performance of Commandments not for their own sake, one gains understanding and comes to perform them for their own sake\u201d will ultimately come to pass, and therefore states that God sees fit to guarantee the Jewish people\u2019s ultimate preservation: <\/span>\u201c<\/b>I will not wholly wipe out the house of Jacob \u2014declares the LORD. For I will give the order and shake the house of Israel\u2014 through all the nations\u2014 as one shakes (<\/span>sand<\/span><\/i>) in a sieve, and not a pebble falls to the ground\u201d (verses 8-9).<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":77628,"id":77628,"title":"amos9-carrot and stick","filename":"amos9-carrot-and-stick.png","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/amos9-carrot-and-stick.png","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/stooping-to-reward-and-punishment\/amos9-carrot-and-stick\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"amos9-carrot-and-stick","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":77627,"date":"2020-07-19 11:08:05","modified":"2021-12-23 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