After reading chapter 25:
*So, Israel was staying in Shittim (Please, let's not get all junior high here.) Some of the men got invited to BBQs (sacrifices to other gods) by the Moabite women, and they went. Not only that, they also had a very good time with those Moabite women. They ate the BBQ and bowed down to Baal of Peor, who may have been the egyptian sun god Horus. Boy was Yahweh mad! He told Moses to kill all the people who had done this.
*Then an Israelite man had the effrontery to bring home a Midianite woman in front of everyone!
Phineas, the son of Eleazar the high priest, took a spear and drove it through both of them while they were together in the tent. This stopped a plague which had apparently been happening at the time, but not before 24,0000 people died. (A nice round number. )God told Moses that Phineas had appeased his anger, so he made an everlasting covenant with him that his descendants would be an everlasting priesthood, even though he had already been covered under the same promise made to Aaron.
*Is anyone else wondering how we got from Moabites to Midianites one setting? As far as I know they are not the same thing. Now Yahweh tells Moses to treat the Midianites as enemies because their deceit caused the Israelites to worship Peor, which brought the plague.
Showing posts with label plagues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plagues. Show all posts
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Wrapping up Exodus
*In this book, we find no information about Satan, demons, heaven, hell, or an afterlife. People still lived an unusual length of time, into their 130's. Rewards and punishments are earthly. Death and excommunication are common forms of punishment.
* Angels rarely appear. Sometimes they are called Angels of the lord and speak to Moses. One was around the burning bush. One is called the destroyer, and kills the Egyptian first born. The one that will go ahead of the Israelites and pester the people in the promised land is called God's terror and the hornet. Angels no longer appear in human like bodies.
*There is no concrete extra- biblical evidence for any of the events or main characters. The Pharoahs of Exodus are not named and it is impossible to know who they might have been. The archaeology of the relevant time periods give no indication of any event similar to the exodus. There is no evidence of a series of plagues or the sudden departure of over a million people. There is no evidence that Moses ever existed. There is no physical evidence that over a million people and their flocks, wandered around in the desert at that time. If nothing else, there should be numerous piles of quail bones.
*The events surrounding the Exodus would have caused a major economic collapse for the Egyptians. There is no evidence of such a collapse. Over a million people (The population of Austin, Texas.) living, camping, and traveling together in the desert is a practical impossibility.
*The book speaks of Moses and the events in Exodus in third person, and displays knowledge of events beyond the lifetime of Moses. It can not have been written by Moses. If it was, it would not have been written in Hebrew. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Israelites originated in Canaan and did not spend any significant time in Egypt. Also, the book does not claim to be the word of God.
*The Israelites are said to be hungry and are given manna from heaven, yet they have animals enough for a significant number of sacrifices. They also have flour for unleavened bread.
*The tabernacle and religious paraphernalia is very similar to those things used by other ancient religions. The verses claimed to be the Ten Commandments do not appear to be anything like the traditional commandments we have come to know. Three yearly feasts and the observance of the Sabbath have been instituted and an elite priesthood has been established.
Note: I thank you if you have been reading along. Please feel free to share this site with others you think might be interested. Next up- Leviticus. That promises to be interesting. As with Genesis and Exodus, I will try to read it as though I am encountering it with fresh eyes. We will keep looking at how it measures up to reality.
Edited to add an interesting video that I've watched recently: Matt Dilihunty in Atheist Debates- Patterns of Evidence: Exodus.
* Angels rarely appear. Sometimes they are called Angels of the lord and speak to Moses. One was around the burning bush. One is called the destroyer, and kills the Egyptian first born. The one that will go ahead of the Israelites and pester the people in the promised land is called God's terror and the hornet. Angels no longer appear in human like bodies.
*There is no concrete extra- biblical evidence for any of the events or main characters. The Pharoahs of Exodus are not named and it is impossible to know who they might have been. The archaeology of the relevant time periods give no indication of any event similar to the exodus. There is no evidence of a series of plagues or the sudden departure of over a million people. There is no evidence that Moses ever existed. There is no physical evidence that over a million people and their flocks, wandered around in the desert at that time. If nothing else, there should be numerous piles of quail bones.
*The events surrounding the Exodus would have caused a major economic collapse for the Egyptians. There is no evidence of such a collapse. Over a million people (The population of Austin, Texas.) living, camping, and traveling together in the desert is a practical impossibility.
*The book speaks of Moses and the events in Exodus in third person, and displays knowledge of events beyond the lifetime of Moses. It can not have been written by Moses. If it was, it would not have been written in Hebrew. Archaeological evidence suggests that the Israelites originated in Canaan and did not spend any significant time in Egypt. Also, the book does not claim to be the word of God.
*The Israelites are said to be hungry and are given manna from heaven, yet they have animals enough for a significant number of sacrifices. They also have flour for unleavened bread.
*The tabernacle and religious paraphernalia is very similar to those things used by other ancient religions. The verses claimed to be the Ten Commandments do not appear to be anything like the traditional commandments we have come to know. Three yearly feasts and the observance of the Sabbath have been instituted and an elite priesthood has been established.
Note: I thank you if you have been reading along. Please feel free to share this site with others you think might be interested. Next up- Leviticus. That promises to be interesting. As with Genesis and Exodus, I will try to read it as though I am encountering it with fresh eyes. We will keep looking at how it measures up to reality.
Edited to add an interesting video that I've watched recently: Matt Dilihunty in Atheist Debates- Patterns of Evidence: Exodus.
Friday, September 4, 2015
Exodus chapter 10
After reading chapter 10:
*God tells Moses he has hardened Pharoah's heart so that some day the Israelites will have exciting stories to tell their grandchildren. Then Moses and Aaron go threaten Pharoah with locusts like he had never seen before. Pharoah's officials advise him to let the Israelites go, Egypt is already ruined because of them.
*Pharoah tells Moses and Aaron they can go worship their God. Then he asks, "By the way, who is going with you?" Moses says that all the Israelites and their livestock are going to celebrate a festival to Yahweh. Pharoah thinks they are up to no good and says only the men can go. Then Moses and Aaron are kicked out. Moses stretches out his magic hand and God made an east wind bring in hordes of locusts. They covered everything. They ate everything that had been left after the hail. Even though the hail had supposedly stripped all the leaves from the trees, this time they were really really destroyed. Pharoah called Moses and Aaron back and asked them to pray for the locusts to go away. They did, and God sent a west wind to blow all the locusts into the Red Sea. Pharoah still would not let Moses and his people go.
*God tells Moses to stretch out his hand toward the sky and a darkness that can be felt will cover Egypt. The darkness was so thick that none of the Egyptians could see anyone else for three days. The Israelites, however, had light where they lived. Then Pharoah told them they could all go to worship Yahweh, but they had to leave the animals behind. Moses said all the animals must go because they had no idea what God would want for a sacrifice once they got to the desert. (Excuses, excuses.) Pharoah wasn't willing to let all those people and animals go. Pharoah told Moses to go away from his sight and never come back or he would be killed. Moses said, "As you wish."
* I notice that in the last few chapters Moses is no longer using his staff, but his hand. He also appears to be relying on Aaron less. I wonder where Moses was staying during this time. Did he travel back and forth constantly between Goshen and the capital city where the Pharoah lived? Or did he camp out in front of the palace?
Last edited 9/12/15
*God tells Moses he has hardened Pharoah's heart so that some day the Israelites will have exciting stories to tell their grandchildren. Then Moses and Aaron go threaten Pharoah with locusts like he had never seen before. Pharoah's officials advise him to let the Israelites go, Egypt is already ruined because of them.
*Pharoah tells Moses and Aaron they can go worship their God. Then he asks, "By the way, who is going with you?" Moses says that all the Israelites and their livestock are going to celebrate a festival to Yahweh. Pharoah thinks they are up to no good and says only the men can go. Then Moses and Aaron are kicked out. Moses stretches out his magic hand and God made an east wind bring in hordes of locusts. They covered everything. They ate everything that had been left after the hail. Even though the hail had supposedly stripped all the leaves from the trees, this time they were really really destroyed. Pharoah called Moses and Aaron back and asked them to pray for the locusts to go away. They did, and God sent a west wind to blow all the locusts into the Red Sea. Pharoah still would not let Moses and his people go.
*God tells Moses to stretch out his hand toward the sky and a darkness that can be felt will cover Egypt. The darkness was so thick that none of the Egyptians could see anyone else for three days. The Israelites, however, had light where they lived. Then Pharoah told them they could all go to worship Yahweh, but they had to leave the animals behind. Moses said all the animals must go because they had no idea what God would want for a sacrifice once they got to the desert. (Excuses, excuses.) Pharoah wasn't willing to let all those people and animals go. Pharoah told Moses to go away from his sight and never come back or he would be killed. Moses said, "As you wish."
* I notice that in the last few chapters Moses is no longer using his staff, but his hand. He also appears to be relying on Aaron less. I wonder where Moses was staying during this time. Did he travel back and forth constantly between Goshen and the capital city where the Pharoah lived? Or did he camp out in front of the palace?
Last edited 9/12/15
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Exodus chapter 9
After reading chapter 9:
*God tells Moses to tell Pharoah there will be a plague on all the livestock if he doesn't let the Iraelites go. The Israelites' animals would not be affected. The next day, all the Egyptian livestock died, the Israelite livestock did not die. Pharoah still would not let the people go.
*Then God told Moses to take soot from a furnace and toss it into the air in front of Pharoah. The soot would become fine dust and cause festering boils on all the men and animals in Egypt. (Wait a minute, weren't all the animals dead from the previous plague?) Even the magicians had boils. Pharoah still would not let the people go. Today we know that boils are caused by bacteria.
*Now God tells Moses to tell Pharoah he hasn't seen anything yet. God is now going to unleash the full force of his plagues. If he wanted to, he could wipe them out. In fact it was God who made them great, just so he could perform this demonstration of his power. The next show would be the hailstorm of all hailstorms. They better bring their livestock and slaves indoors. (Um, what livestock??) So, Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky and there was a violent hailstorm. All the livestock left outdoors was struck. (again) Everything growing in the fields was beat down and all the trees were stripped, but not where the Israelites lived. We are told it was just the barley and flax that had been destroyed, not the wheat and spelt.
*Pharoah summoned Moses and Aaron. He said, "Yahweh is right, we are wrong. Make it stop hailing and you can go." Moses went out of the city and spread his hands toward the lord (Where is that?). The hail stopped and Pharoah changed his mind. He wouldn't let the Israelites go.
*God tells Moses to tell Pharoah there will be a plague on all the livestock if he doesn't let the Iraelites go. The Israelites' animals would not be affected. The next day, all the Egyptian livestock died, the Israelite livestock did not die. Pharoah still would not let the people go.
*Then God told Moses to take soot from a furnace and toss it into the air in front of Pharoah. The soot would become fine dust and cause festering boils on all the men and animals in Egypt. (Wait a minute, weren't all the animals dead from the previous plague?) Even the magicians had boils. Pharoah still would not let the people go. Today we know that boils are caused by bacteria.
*Now God tells Moses to tell Pharoah he hasn't seen anything yet. God is now going to unleash the full force of his plagues. If he wanted to, he could wipe them out. In fact it was God who made them great, just so he could perform this demonstration of his power. The next show would be the hailstorm of all hailstorms. They better bring their livestock and slaves indoors. (Um, what livestock??) So, Moses stretched out his hand toward the sky and there was a violent hailstorm. All the livestock left outdoors was struck. (again) Everything growing in the fields was beat down and all the trees were stripped, but not where the Israelites lived. We are told it was just the barley and flax that had been destroyed, not the wheat and spelt.
*Pharoah summoned Moses and Aaron. He said, "Yahweh is right, we are wrong. Make it stop hailing and you can go." Moses went out of the city and spread his hands toward the lord (Where is that?). The hail stopped and Pharoah changed his mind. He wouldn't let the Israelites go.
Exodus chapter 8
After reading chapter 8:
*Seven days passed from the Nile turning into blood. God told Moses to tell Pharoah to let the Israelites go or there would be a plague of frogs. Then God told Moses to tell Aaron to stretch his hand over the waters of Egypt and frogs came up and covered the land. Pharoah's magicians were able to do the same thing. Pharoah asked Moses to pray to Yahweh to get rid of the frogs, then he would let the people go. Moses gave Pharoah the honor of choosing the time that the frogs would leave. For some crazy reason, Pharoah said tomorrow instead of right now. So, Moses asked God to get rid of the frogs and they all died, except for the ones in the Nile. However, Pharoah would not let the people go.
*Next, God told Moses to tell Aaron to stretch out his hand over the dust and it would turn into gnats. Aaron did that. Pharoah's magicians were not able to match that trick. They told Pharoah it was the finger of God, but he still wouldn't let the Israelites go.
* I still don't get why God couldn't talk to Aaron directly. Maybe it has something to do with Moses being the favored younger brother.
*Seven days passed from the Nile turning into blood. God told Moses to tell Pharoah to let the Israelites go or there would be a plague of frogs. Then God told Moses to tell Aaron to stretch his hand over the waters of Egypt and frogs came up and covered the land. Pharoah's magicians were able to do the same thing. Pharoah asked Moses to pray to Yahweh to get rid of the frogs, then he would let the people go. Moses gave Pharoah the honor of choosing the time that the frogs would leave. For some crazy reason, Pharoah said tomorrow instead of right now. So, Moses asked God to get rid of the frogs and they all died, except for the ones in the Nile. However, Pharoah would not let the people go.
*Next, God told Moses to tell Aaron to stretch out his hand over the dust and it would turn into gnats. Aaron did that. Pharoah's magicians were not able to match that trick. They told Pharoah it was the finger of God, but he still wouldn't let the Israelites go.
* I still don't get why God couldn't talk to Aaron directly. Maybe it has something to do with Moses being the favored younger brother.
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