{"id":79853,"date":"2020-09-12T22:19:53","date_gmt":"2020-09-12T19:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=79853"},"modified":"2020-09-12T22:19:53","modified_gmt":"2020-09-12T19:19:53","slug":"putting-god-to-the-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/putting-god-to-the-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting God To The Test"},"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":"79853","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":62571,"related_cahpter":"567","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"So that they can learn what\u2019s in it for them...\r\n\r\n","content":"

The dominant theme in Malachi 3 is the Jewish people responding to God\u2019s plaints with questions, as if they do not know how they are to improve (v. 7), or why improvement is even needed (v. 7, 8, 13): \u201cHow shall we turn back?… How have we been defrauding You? \u2026 What have we been saying among ourselves against You?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Are these responses a ploy, and in fact the people know only too well what is required of them? Or are they sincerely unaware of Divine expectations and require that someone \u201cspell things out?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In terms of the sins listed in v. 5, it appears that the Jewish people would be hard-pressed to proclaim their innocence: Who 1) practice sorcery, who 2) commit adultery, who 3) swear falsely, who 4) cheat laborers of their hire, and 5) who subvert (the cause of) the widow, orphan, and stranger\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Since transgressions 2 through 5 are often categorized as \u201c<\/span>mitzvot sichliot<\/span><\/i>\u201d (commandments that can be logically deduced, rather than introduced only via Divine revelation,) it should be obvious that a proper society must be free of such iniquities.<\/span><\/p>\n

But withholding tithes that constitutes \u201cdefrauding God\u201d (verse 8), and: \u201cYou have said: It is useless to serve God. What have we gained by keeping His charge and walking in abject awe of the LORD of Hosts?…\u201d (verse 14) are much more subtle transgressions. In these latter two cases, the people could have been unaware that these were sins, and when they are accused, become flustered and blatantly deny their guilt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A basic explanation for violating Torah norms is that fulfilling commandments requires faith that the imposition of personal limitations are \u201cworthwhile.\u201d The reason why individuals transgress what is mentioned in verses\u00a0 5, 8, and 13, might be because they believe that nothing \u201cis in it for them\u201d and being faithful to the commandments would compromise their own happiness and livelihoods. Therefore, God says: \u201cPut Me to the test\u201d (verse 10).<\/span><\/p>\n

The Talmud in Ta\u2019anit 9a states that although the bible usually prohibits \u201ctesting\u201d God, as proscribed in Deut. 6:16: \u201cDo not try the LORD your God;\u201d\u00a0 the above verse posits the exception to the rule. In this case of the separation of tithes, it is God Himself who proposes that the people do so.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although ideally, commandments are fulfilled \u201cfor their own sake,\u201d some individuals need empirical evidence to at least start them on the road to observance, and the prophet suggests that God is prepared to provide such facts with regard to natural bounty.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":79854,"id":79854,"title":"mal3-tithe","filename":"mal3-tithe.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/putting-god-to-the-test\/mal3-tithe\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"mal3-tithe","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":79853,"date":"2020-09-12 19:19:36","modified":"2020-09-12 19:19:45","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":3300,"height":2550,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe-300x232.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe-768x593.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":593,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe-1024x791.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":791,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1187,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1583,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe-1200x927.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":927,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe-544x420.jpg","home_baner-width":544,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Putting God To The Test","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"So that they can learn what\u2019s in it for them...","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":79854,"id":79854,"title":"mal3-tithe","filename":"mal3-tithe.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/putting-god-to-the-test\/mal3-tithe\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"mal3-tithe","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":79853,"date":"2020-09-12 19:19:36","modified":"2020-09-12 19:19:45","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":3300,"height":2550,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe-300x232.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":232,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe-768x593.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":593,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe-1024x791.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":791,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1187,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1583,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe-1200x927.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":927,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/mal3-tithe-544x420.jpg","home_baner-width":544,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79853"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79853"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79855,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79853\/revisions\/79855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}