Rabbi David E. Ostrich, Congregation Brit Shalom
Clergy Column for The Centre Daily Times
Published March 22, 2026
The Hebrew Prophets have great imaginations, and they often describe cosmic issues in very practical terms. Take Malachi’s image of a courtroom confrontation between God and some not-very-worshipful Israelites (3.4-24). God claims to faithfully “open the floodgates of the sky for you to pour down blessings upon you,” but the people cheat on the tithe-offerings they are supposed to bring.
The people’s complaint is that they do not see God’s moral stewardship. “It is useless to serve God. What have we gained by keeping God’s charge and walking in abject awe of the Lord of Hosts?” They continue with an argument later called Theodicy: “We see the arrogant happy: indeed they have done evil and endured; they have dared God and escaped.” Why should we serve God if God does not rule the world justly?
The Biblical understanding of God’s Justice is that obedience to God’s commandments brings reward, and disobedience brings punishment—both coming during our lifetimes. Malachi’s complainers see the arrogant and evil doing fine, and though not stated, they presumably see good people suffering and not getting the rewards they deserve. If this is so, then God is not doing what has been promised, and offering sacrifices to God seems a waste of effort.
Malachi’s answer is that God’s Justice will soon be seen—that God is preparing an “awesome, fearful day of the Lord.” Unfortunately, no schedule is given, and we are left wondering how soon this day will come. Will it be in our lifetimes or in the distant Messianic future? “Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the Lord!”
The Book of Job attempts to tackle this issue, but it provides a sort of non-answer. Despite grievous suffering, the completely righteous Job keeps his faith in God. The lesson for readers is that God’s ways are beyond our understanding—and that we should just trust in the Lord.
This answer was good enough for many believers, but others continued to be troubled by the seeming inconsistency in Divine Justice. An answer came from the Talmudic Rabbis. Wrestling with this Theodicy and with cryptic references like Malachi’s “awesome, fearful day of the Lord,” the Rabbis intuited an answer. If God is just, then the incomplete justice we witness in this world must be only one part of the story. There must be another venue or time when God makes everything right—and this time must be after we die. Thus did the Rabbis teach about Olam HaBa/The World to Come where the scales of moral justice will be righted. As Rabbi Jacob explains, “This world is like an anteroom before the World-to-Come. Prepare yourself in the anteroom so that you may enter the banquet hall.” (Pirke Avot 4.16)
The notion of an eternal reward has comforted and inspired generations of Jews—as well Christians and Muslims who adopted the belief from Rabbinic Judaism. God is just, but the timeframe for that justice extends beyond this mortal life.
Many people find this answer helpful, but many do not. They have doubts about God or about God’s record in the world—or about the ways that religions have managed themselves. They note differing religious opinions and are bothered by the lack of scientific proof. Thus are there still those among us who speak the words of Malachi’s worship-reluctant complainers: “It is useless to serve God. What have we gained by keeping God’s charge and walking in abject awe of the Lord of Hosts?”
A modern approach to this problem can be found in Milton Steinberg’s historical novel, As a Driven Leaf. Set in Talmudic times, the main character (“Elisha ben Abuya”) struggles to ascertain ultimate truth mathematically. He turns away from Judaism, embraces Greek philosophy, and ultimately fails to find the certainty he demands, Though set in the Second Century, Steinberg’s story deftly parallels the challenges moderns have faced as we have been caught between modern science and traditional wisdom. “What have we gained?” many ask, by following our traditional religions?
Among the insights I draw from Rabbi Steinberg is that this kind of transactional question may not be the best way to approach religion or life. For many religionists, it is not a matter of choosing a God Who can be “proven” or Who serves us better. Rather, religion is about trying to figure out the cosmos around us. Despite what we know or do not know, much of our searching involves intuition. As philosopher William James explains, Religion is the human response to an undifferentiated sense of reality—to the“more” (an undefinable, non-empirical feeling of a Presence). We sense a Presence, and we yearn to understand it, to approach it, and to live in a conscious relationship with it. The exact nature of the Presence is ineffable—impossible to describe, but it is nonetheless remarkably appealing and innately good. Religion is the product of this intuitive process, and there are many religious ways to reach out for holiness.
Religion is thus less a transactional relationship and more a holy seeking. We feel beckoned to approach the Infinite and receive the influence of the Infinitely Good. What we “gain” is the experience of “walking in the awe and inspiration of God.”