R.C. Trench writes of “the proverbs that have grown out of an incident, which contain an allusion to it, and are only perfectly intelligible when the incident itself is known.” He cites an example in the Spanish proverb, “Let that which is lost be for God.“
The story of this proverb’s birth is given by a Spanish writer, cited by Trench: “The father of a family, making his will and disposing of his goods upon his deathbed, ordained concerning a certain cow which had strayed, and had been now for a long time missing, that, if it was found, it should be for his children, if not found, for God: and hence the proverb…”
Trench continues: “The saying was not one to let die; laying bare as so wonderfully it does some of the subtlest treacheries of the human heart; for, indeed, whenever men would give to God only their lame and their blind, that which costs them nothing, that from which they hope no good, no profit, no pleasure for themselves, what are they saying in their hearts but that which this man said openly, ‘Let that which is lost be for God.’ “
“You place defiled food on my altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible. When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?… Now implore God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?” — says the Lord Almighty” (Mal 1:7-9).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One