2 Kings 18: Judah is Approached with War with Assyria; Whose Side is Jehovah on?

King of Judah: Hezekiah; King of Israel: Hoshea; King of Assyria: Sennacherib

We switch over to the kingdom of Judah and Hezekiah. Hezekiah did right by Jehovah:

2 Kings 18:4 – He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan.

Did Moses’ serpent staff become a god named Nehushtan? OR was Nehushtan a god all along whose power was being used by Moses wielding the staff? I earlier noted that it seemed odd that Jehovah, supposedly omnipotent, would need his priest/prophet Moses to wield something physical. After all, we are reminded that in the battle in Exodus 17 that Moses need his arms propped up to hold the staff upwards to ensure victory in battle.

Hezekiah was able to repel the king of Assyria, who at the time was able to capture Samaria and take the Israelites into captivity. He had victory against the Philistines as well.

Assyria Against Judah

14 years into Hezekiah’s reign, we are told a new king of Assyria, Sennacherib, went up to Judah. So, since Hezekiah was unlike any other king of Judah (as mentioned in verse 18:5) in being right in the sight of Jehovah, surely he could repel the Assyrian invasion?

Hezekiah sends Sennacherib a message: tell me how much to pay you to leave me be

18:14 – And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me I will bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah 300 talents of silver and gold.

So despite rebelling against Shalmaneser, Hezekiaha bends to Sennacherib. Here’s where the story becomes odd. Hezekiah takes all the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and even mutilates the house by taking gold overlay from its pillars and doors, and sent it all to Sennacherib. Apparently it wasn’t enough?

Sennacherib sends 3 men, including a messenger named Rab-shakeh and an army to Jerusalem. Rab-shakeh calls out to king Hezekiah’s house, and is answered by some of Hezekiah’s servants. Rab-shakeh seems to be speaking on behalf of Sennacherib, telling Hezekiah’s servants to ask Hezekiah why he believes he is prepared for war. He also questions why they rebel against him.

Can’t Trust Egypt

18:21 – Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.

Rab-shakeh seems to be implying that the kingdom of Judah would be relying on Egypt to come to their aid, and Rab-shakeh says the Pharaoh can’t be trusted. He questions the Jews ability to rely on Jehovah, despite the fact Hezekiah has ordered them to worship him. He seems to be offering them horses to use in battle against him, so that they don’t reach out to the untrusted Egyptians for horses and chariots.

18:25 – Am I now come up with Jehovah against this place to destroy it? Jehovah said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.

So, according to Rab-shakeh, Jehovah has sided with the Assyrians, to the point he told Rab-shakeh to invade Jerusalem. But I thought Hezekiah was a good king? Will Rab-shakeh be proven wrong? Or is the damage the kingdom of Judah did in the past so bad Jehovah will overlook the loyalty Hezekiah has given him. Judging by Jehovah’s personality, character, and past, I’d bet he abandons Hezekiah. We shall see…

The servants of Hezekiah ask Rab-shakeh to speak to them in Syrian, and not in the Jew language. They seem to not want Jews “on the wall” to hear Rab-shakeh threats.

18:27 – But Rab-shakeh said unto them, Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words? hath he not sent me to the men which sit on the wall, that they may eat their own drunk, and drink their own piss with you?

I’ve to say sometimes this book gets WEIRD, especially if he is speaking literally.

Rab-shakeh denies their request and now yells out, speaking directly to the Jews on the wall. He tells them not let Hezekiah have them put trust in Jehovah, that Jehovah will save them from Assyria, and take them to a new land just like the one they are in now. He asks them about ANY of the gods of the lands being able to save the respective nations from being defeated by the king of Assyria. It’s odd because he lists Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah, the groups that became the Samaritans, so apparently he’s defeated them too (or at least made them pay tribute to prevent invasion.)

The Jews on the wall didn’t reply to Rab-shakeh’s speech. Hezekiah’s servants return to Hezekiah with their clothes torn, and passed the message on.

2 Kings 16: Isaiah Prophecy Fulfilled; Human Sacrifice Revisited – It Works?! Reject Jehovah, Worship a King?

King of Israel – Pekah; King of Judah – Ahaz; King of Syria – Rezin

Ahaz of Judah “did not that which was right in the sight of Jehovah, like David his father.” So what did Ahaz do?

2 Kings 16:3 – But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom Jehovah cast out from before the children of Israel.

So we can make the assumption that the kings of Israel passed their children through the fire. Unfortunately the author doesn’t go into any more details. Which son? Which deity required sacrifice by fire? Was it a death sacrifice or did the son just “pass through” a fire, much the way someone walks on hot coals, or runs through an open flame? How does a god, that supposedly doesn’t exist, influence a man just enough that he sacrifices his own son in a fire? Did the father receive something in return?

Can we assume HE DID? One would think that somehow, an example was made of what happens when you sacrifice your child in fire. After all, if someone saw another person sacrifice their child in fire, and nothing happened, they’d most likely not fall for the guise and not sacrifice their own child. However, we are told that MULTIPLE people, including kings of Israel did in fact, pass their children through the fire… WHY? What did they gain?

We already know that child sacrifice seems to be a norm in this part of the world at this time. Abraham was more than willing to sacrifice Isaac until an angel interrupted him. Nor can we forget the 2 Kings 3, when the king of Edom sacrificed his son (who was to be his successor) by offering him as a burnt offering on the wall. Let’s revisit this verse:

2 Kings 3:27 – Then he (king of Edom) took his eldest son that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall. And there was great indignation against Israel: and they departed from him, and returned to their own land.

Notice, once again, that by offering his own son as a burnt offering upon the wall, the Israelites ended their battle (indignation was against ISRAEL, not Edom) and returned home. So, apparently, child sacrifice, in the bible, actually works in one twisted and sick way.

Isaiah 17 Prophecy

Back to the prophecy of Isaiah. So, despite Ahaz being a wicked king, he was still able to fend off the invasion by the combined armies of the king of Israel (Pekah) and the king of Syria (Rezin).

16:6 – At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day.

Ok, the first mention of the word “Jew”. In this case, it clearly points to those of Judah and excludes those of the kingdom of Israel, so it DOES NOT mean the entirety of the lineage of Abraham. After all, it was with the king of Judah that Rezin fought against, not his ally Pekah of Israel. However they were unable to take Jerusalem, capitol of Judah. In yet another story of one of the kings under Jehovah having to bribe their enemy to prevent their defeat, Ahaz king of Judah has paid Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria to defend him from Rezin of Syria:

Damascus Falls, Isaiah 17 Prophecy Fulfilled

16:8 – And Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of Jehovah, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and sent it for a present to the king of Assyria. And the king of Assyria hearkened unto him: for the king of Assyria went up against Damascus, and took it, and carried the people of it captive to Kir, and slew Rezin.

I will cover this prophecy once again when I get to Isaiah 17, because it has implications in the modern world. Not so much the actual prophecy, but how the prophecy is being used and how the actual bible verse that tells us it was fulfilled, is being ignored. How the prophecy is being cherry picked and is being used as justification for innocent deaths and a blind eye towards the conflicts in Syria with the concept: “Well it’s bible prophecy so it’s ok.”

A Rejection of Jehovah’s Altar and Jehovah?

What happens next is pretty interesting: While Ahaz was in Damascus meeting with Tiglah-pileser, king of Assyria, he sees an altar and instructs one of his priests, Uriah, back home, to make a duplicate altar. When he returns to Jerusalem, he finds the duplicated altar and offers a burnt, meat, drink, and peace offering upon it. I will call this the Damascus altar. We also have a pre-existing “brasen” altar (verse 16:4) and he places both of them in the same locale, with the Damascus Altar to the north of the Brasen Altar.

16:15 – And king Ahaz commanded upon Uriah the priest, saying, Upon the great altar burn the morning burnt offering, and the evening meat offering, and the evening meat offering, and the king’s burnt sacrifice, and his meat offering, with the burnt offering of all the people of the land, and their meat offering, and their drink offerings; and sprinkle upon it all the blood of the burnt offering, and all the blood of the sacrifice: and the brasen altar shall be for me to enquire by.

It sounds like the Damascus Altar has taken the place of importance of the Brasen Altar, which will now simply be an item that the king “enquires” by. In other words, this one important altar has been relegated down to a divining tool. Need more proof? Look what he does to this Brasen Altar of Jehovah:

16:17 – And king Ahaz cut off the borders of the bases, and removed the laver from off them; and took down the sea from off the brasen oxen that were under it, and put it upon a pavement of stones.

So the Brasen Altar gets mutilated by king Ahaz. Will there be consequences? Need more evidence this might be a rejection of Jehovah?

16:18 – And the covert for the sabbath that they had built in the house, and the king’s entry without, turned he FROM the house of Jehovah FOR the king of Assyria.

Did Ahaz just reject Jehovah the deity and replace the system of offerings to him for the king of Assyria? Who happened to save him from the invasion of two kingdoms of Israel and Syria?

This is food for thought as we get closer to the books of the prophets: These “kings” of foreign kingdoms… are they more than human mortals? Are they like gods? If not, why would Ahaz switch out Jehovah for Tiglath-piliser (who we ASSUME is a mortal man)? Why would a man require sacrificial offerings the way Jehovah would? What will Jehovah himself have to say about some of these foreign kings in the books of the prophets? Is it possible some have been in the Garden of Eden?

As to the question if Ahaz is punished for being wicked and for his post Damascus deeds:

16:20 – And Ahaz slept with is fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.

Could Hezekiah be the son he had “pass through the fires?” After all it doesn’t say he died from it, it could some sort of fire ritual the indigenous Canaanites had performed. After all, why have children if you are going to kill them?

2 Kings 16, in my opinion, one of the more important chapters to understand and analyze from a prophetical point of view, as well as adding context to just what these “kings” were in the bible. This chapter also points well into the future towards the context of multiple books of the prophets. I can’t wait to get to them.

 

 

Judges 17: Micah Part 1; Images of Silver; Levite Priest in a House of Gods

We are introduced to Micah from Mount Ephraim. With no details about how it happened, we are told he has returned 1,100 silver shekels which seem to have been stolen from his mother.

Judges 17:3 – And when he had restored the eleven hundred shekels of silver to his mother, his mother said, I had wholly dedicated the silver unto Jehovah from my hand for my son, to make a graven image and a molten image: now therefore I will restore it unto thee.

Graven and molten images? I thought under the law of Moses that was illegal? Considering we are in the times of “Judges” it almost sounds like it’s an “anything goes” type of era where we are told the Israelites are doing “evil in the eyes of Jehovah”. What’s interesting is that the mother was intending to make these images for Jehovah, and not any of the other gods mentioned. The silver is taken to a founder who makes the graven and molten image.

17:5 – And the man Micah had an house of gods, and made an ephod, and teraphim, and consecrated one of his sons, who became a priest.

A non-Levite priest? A house of “gods” plural? Sounds like it is an anything goes time. But wait! A quick look at the Hebrew Interlinear shows us that the KJV version is translating the word “gods” in the above verse from the same word it has used to point to Jehovah or a single god: *elohim*. In other verse, this same word *elohim* is being used to describe a single god, and in some verses, Jehovah. So which is it? Jehovah? god, gods? This is how the story gets stretched, and it’s absolutely visible when you see one word translated 3 different ways, to fit some sort of consensus of what modern translators THINK it should mean, as opposed to what the original authors INTENDED.

Then we have *teraphim* which is awfully similar to *seraphim*. Teraphim is described as “household idols”. Seraphim being, in modern religion, pointing to a high ranking angel, yet I am arguing actually means “fiery serpent” as the ORIGINAL Hebrew indicates AND how it was actually translated in KJV Numbers 21:6. Again, another instance where one word takes on multiple meanings that change the entire context of the bible stories.

In teraphim, we have a root “rapha” in Hebrew which means “to heal.” We find it in both teraphim and seraphim. Are they opposites? Teraphim heal, and Seraphim bite and hurt like they did in Numbers 21:6 as fiery serpents?

Back to the story…

17:6 – In those days there was no king in Israel, but ever man did that which was right in his own eyes.

Eventually Micah crosses paths with a traveling Levite looking for a place to stay in his travels. As if to gives some more legitimacy to his “house of gods”, Micah asks this Levite to stay with him, be like a son and a priest, to the salary of 10 shekels per year, priestly clothing and tools. The man agreed and Micah treated him like his own son. The legitimacy of Micah’s house is increased in Micah’s eyes:

17:13 – Then said Micah, Now I know that Jehovah will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest.

What’s of note is that, despite ALL the previous instances we are told that Jehovah has done good for this people, they are still polytheistic in nature, much like their Canaanite relatives. Is it really hard to understand? There are a bunch of different gods and rather than put all your eggs in one basket, you worship as many as you can hoping ONE of them will provide. Question is, again, why do they keep turning away from Jehovah if (as we are told but not really believable in my eyes) that he can be a good enough god that they wouldn’t need to worship others?

Are the other gods less demanding? Jehovah wants the first born, silver, sacrifices, burnt flesh offerings to savour, full admiration of his people to the tune of scheduled feasts and holy days, strict food rules and observances. Why would the Israelites put Jehovah on the same level as (what we are told) are other wicked gods/devils? Is it because they think Jehovah is one too? It’s too bad the author doesn’t get into this topic. Instead we are told the Israelites are just disobedient, but not really told why, so we assume they are just wicked by nature.

Judges 16: Samson Part 3; Samson’s Strength Revealed & Samson Dies. Wicked Gods & People

Samson goes to Gaza and lays with a prostitute. The people of Gaza are told that Samson is in their city and decide to wait it out until the morning to kill him. Samson was one step ahead, he woke up at midnight and proceeded to tear out the gate of the city and the two posts that held it, and carried it to the top of a hill before Hebron. And no one noticed or gave chase? No night’s watch to alert those who wanted to kill him?

We meet Delilah, she is a Philistine from the Valley of Sorek, and Samson either slept it her to, or he was in love with her. Philistine lords ask her to get to the bottom of where his great strength comes from. We get a back and forth between Delilah requesting this information, and Samson deceiving her.

1. Attempt #1: Samson tells her if they bind him with 7 green withs, he will lose his strength.
   • Delilah ties him up as such, as Philistines waited outside the room. She tells Samson the Philistines are coming and he breaks through the binds
2. Attempt #2: Delilah asks again, this time Samson tells her he needs to be tied up with new ropes to lose his strength.
   • Delilah ties him up with new ropes, as Philistines waited outside the room. She tells Samson the Philistines are coming and he breaks through the binds.
3. Attempt #3: Delilah once again bothered that the man who loves her isn’t telling her the truth, asks again and again for days. Samson gives in, and tells her it’s his long hair and beard, and if he is shaven, he will lose his strength.
   • Delilah receives payment from the lords for finding the truth. She has 7 locks of his hair shaven off and he loses his strength. She tells Samson the Philistines are coming so he gets up to face them and they capture him.

Samson is captured and the cut out his eyes, because Jehovah was no longer with him, he had left him after his hair was cut. He was imprisoned and eventually his hair began to grow back.

Judges 16:23 – Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.

We meet a/the god of the Philistines: Dagon. Is Dagon one of the “sons of the Most High” in Deuteronomy 32 who received the Philistines as his inheritance the way Jehovah received the Israelites? Recall that the god of the children of Ammon was Chemosh, who I argue is also one of the “sons of the Most High” who received an inheritance.

Also note the use of the word “your god” and “my god” in reference to both Jehovah and the other gods mentioned. Has anyone said “Jehovah is the only god in existence?” No, we hear of other goods that have names, just like Jehovah.

During the celebration, Samson is brought out and placed between two pillars. He asks the young person holding him by the hand (due to his blindness) to tell him where the pillars of the house were, and he leaned on them.

Samson then makes a final plea to Jehovah, who left him, to return one more time and give him strength so he can take revenge on the Philistines for gouging his eyes out. With all his might he pushed the pillars down, causing the building to collapse and kill everyone inside, including Samson. We are told he killed more people in this one event than he did in his entire life.

Samson’s people take his body and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol. Samson judged for 20 years.

Side Note: It should be noted that many of these “patriarchs” of the Abrahamic faiths are not really role models: Sleeping with harlots, having multiple wives, deceiving their fathers (Jacob), and sacrificing their own children to the god the Abrahamic faiths call THE god). I recall as a young Christian being told these stories and how great these men were because they were faithful to god. What a surprise that they are, by today’s standards, WICKED MEN (as even Jacob admitted to the Pharoah) and their god is constantly rewarding them and coming to their side.

What does that say about Jehovah? Is he a wicked god with wicked children? I’d say the answer is YES, considering all the bloodshed and heinous “justice” meted out. In fact, he sounds NO DIFFERENT than the Canaanite gods and the Israelites sound NO DIFFERENT than the Canaanite people who Jehovah accused of being wicked.

Deuteronomy 28: Blessings and Scorched Earth Curses

Deuteronomy 28:1 – And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of Jehovah thy god, to observer and to do all his commandments which I commanded thee this day, that Jehovah thy god will set thee on high above all the nations of the earth:

Moses then goes on to list a variety: blessed in the city and the field, blessed in the fruit of their children, the ground, the cattle, and flocks, blessed with food gathering and reserves, and their enemies will be smitten.

As to dismiss the concept that rain is product of atmospheric conditions as we know it today:

28:12 – Jehovah shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend to many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.

We know that, in previous books, the Egyptians were blessed with crops, fed by the river (the Nile). Yet they didn’t worship this deity? The rain still fell somewhere to feed the Nile that fed the Egyptians. So is this a way of putting fear into the people that this deity controls the rains, when in fact we know today that atmospheric conditions control where and when rain falls?

What comes next in this chapter is bothersome to me. These people, as previous verse stated, weren’t in any way special for what they had done up to this point, they were an “inheritance” but this deity STILL NEEDS to convince them to stick around. So let’s see what Moses has to say:

In 28:1 Moses tells them that “Jehovah thy god will set thee on high above all nations of the earth.” In verse 28:9 he tells them “Jehovah shall establish thee an holy people unto himself”

In 28:10 Moses tells them “And all the people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of Jehovah; and they shall be afraid of thee”.

I’ve made the argument and proven that words like “all” and “forever” don’t have the same denotation as we know them today. Did Moses know there were people in the Americas, or Asia proper, at the time he wrote this and was he referring to them as part of the “all”? Was he referring to “all” KNOWN peoples, like those around them and who they had interacted with in the past. Was he referring to peoples like the Olmec or Maya Indians who were already evolving their cultures at the time this text was written?

So far the only people that needed to be afraid of the Israelites where those they were about to go to war with, and this may be just what Moses was referring to. In verse 28:7 he tells them “Jehovah shall cause thine enemies to rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways.”

I flag this point about this “special” people at this time because I will be bringing it up and analyzing it again and again, especially in regards to how the concept is used today, affecting peace in our world.

So far the previous portion of Deuteronomy 28 has been about all the GOOD things that are going to happen IF they follow the law. Let’s repeat that, these blessings HAVE CONDITIONS. They are not perpetual or everlasting, the law is also stating that there needs to be reciprocity. So now on to the curses:

In a nutshell, everything that was to be blessed, can also be cursed. But just not cursed, but total destruction:

28:20 – Jehovah shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of they doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.

Once again, no correction, no time out, no rehabilitation, no penance, no forgiveness. DESTROYED.

Pestilence, consumption, fever, inflammation, burning, the sword, blasting, mildew.

VERY IMPORTANT to flag for future verse interpretation: 28:23 – “And the heaven shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.”

What would cause the air to turn to brass, or a color like brass? Cataclysm from a volcano? Ashy red sky due to ash and smoke? What would cause the earth to be like iron? The color of iron OR the consistency of iron: hard, unbreakable. Scorched earth? Is this the first warning of a scorched earth policy Jehovah will utilize? Look at this verse and try to imagine what Sodom and Gomorrah might have looked like with fire and brimstone raining from the sky to the ground. “Iron and Brass” will be found in the books of the prophets as well as in the New Testament and the Book of Revelation. And I’m looking forward to analyzing more into this “iron and brass” CLUE.

More punishments: Their carcasses will feed the carrion birds, smitten with the botch of Egypt, unhealable hemorrhoids, scabs, and itch. Madness, blindness, astonishment of heart. Groping like the blind at noonday.

More: A man will marry and another man will lay with his wife, you will build a house and not live in it, you will plant a vineyard but not gather it. Ox will be slain in front of you, before you could eat it, donkey will taken away and not returned, sheep given to enemies. Children taken by other people and not rescued. A foreign nation will eat up all your fruit of the land.

More body punishment: Knees and legs smitten with sore botches that can’t be healed, from head to toe.

Here’s a zinger:

28:36 – Jehovah shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.

So Jehovah is going to put them in a situation where they do worship other gods. Is this a punishment for them if those other gods aren’t afflicting them with curses?

28:37 – And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and byword, among all nations wither Jehovah shall lead thee.

Once again, as with Moses convincing Jehovah that other people will gossip and thus Jehovah worrying about what other people think, the purpose of this punishment is to embarrass the Israelites in the eyes of the nations around them.

I’ve got to stop here because the rest of chapter 28 is just more and more of the same threats, adding nothing to the analysis except to reinforce that this deity is ready and willing to punish this peoples until they meet their final destruction, being tortured in the process. The next blog post will focus on a pretty disturbing part of Deuteronomy 28

HOWEVER, if you continue reading Deuteronomy 28, Jehovah’s threat is pretty much what happens in the remainder of the Old Testament as found in Kings and Chronicles and the books of the prophets.

IT’S ALMOST AS IF: THE TEXT WAS WRITTEN LONG AFTER THE EVENTS TRANSPIRED. Or the events didn’t transpire and the text is written to EXPLAIN the world at the time it was written, with allegorical scorched earth explanations, failed nations and kings, geographical and cultural specifics used to teach the generations about the “world” they live in. It wouldn’t be the first time such a text was written.

Deuteronomy 23 & 24: Entering the House of the Lord & other Rules

Deuteronomy 23

We are given a set of rules on who can and can not enter the house of Jehovah, plus a few other rules (like how to defecate outside of the camp, using a shovel to cover up what you leave behind verse 23:13).

Not allowed to enter:

• Men with damaged or cut off private parts
• A bastard, even to his 10th generation
• Ammonites or Moabites forever
• Egyptians and Edomites are not to be abhorred, but they must wait for the 3rd generation of children before they can enter

The house of Jehovah and the camp is to be considered “holy” verse 23:14 and unclean things need to be kept out. This includes:

• Whore daughters or sodomite sons
• Usury (charging interest) to the brothers
  • But its ok to charge interest to foreigners
• Vows and offerings promised are to be fulfilled and “thou shalt not slack to pay it”

Chapter 23 ends with a rule that you are allowed to eat grapes out of the vineyard of your neighbor while you are there but you are not allowed to put any in a vessel (to take)

Deuteronomy 24

• A man can divorce his wife, she can remarry, but if her 2nd husband also hates her and divorces her, the first man can not remarry her
• A newly married man must stay at home for 1 year, including away from war
• A man who steals another Israelite to sell, shall die
• The people need to take heed of the plague of Leprosy and follow the instructions previously mentioned (Leviticus 13)
  • Recall that a priestly ritual needs to take place to “cleanse” the leper, not by any sort of applied medicine
• If you lend something to someone, you must wait for the person to hand you the “pledge of the loan” article, you can not enter his house to retrieve it
• A poor hired servant is not to be oppressed

Deuteronomy 24:16 – The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

Recall in Numbers 16:31 when women and children suffered death when their fathers rebelled. Apparently it was ok to kill children for what their fathers did, then.

Deuteronomy 24 ends with some rules regarding harvests, olive trees and grape vines: leave excess or forgotten harvests for the stranger, fatherless, and widows who may be in need of it.

Deuteronomy 15: Debt Release and Slave Ownership

Every 7 years is a release of debt for the Israelites, in a sense.

• If you lend to an Israelite you can release the debt
• If you lend to a foreigner you can keep the debt in place (exact it again)

The are allowed to lend to other nations, but not borrow (and likewise they will reign over other nations, but not be reigned over.)

Any of the people (the verbiage says brother, can we assume this includes women also or is it specifically saying men only?) need to be helped if they are poor. The Israelites are to give to him as is needed and be happy about it.

Hebrew Slavery

If the are sold other Hebrews as slaves, they are to not only release them after the 7 year release, they are also to give him things of which they own, so they do not leave empty handed. It also up to the slave to decide whether they stay or not, if they like their situation they can declare as such.

15:17 – Then thou shalt take an awl, and thrust it through his ear unto the door, and he shall be thy servant for ever. And also unto thy maidservant thou shalt do likewise.

So if it’s any recompense, the Hebrew has a choice. What if the person is a stranger/outsider? Note the symbolic gesture of basically pinning down the servant to the house by running an awl through the ear and into the door post/door.

Moses reiterates that the firstlings of the flocks belong to Jehovah, and they are to be sacrificed and eaten at the appropriate time and place. Why does Jehovah not specify the place? Does he not know because the events of the land of Canaan have yet to play out?

Also, any flock with blemish are not to be sacrificed to Jehovah, he demands perfection. Blemished, lame, or blind animals get a pass.

Modern Times

Obviously animal sacrifice isn’t practiced (as far as I know, I do know there are some in modern day Israel trying to bring back the Levitical priesthood complete with animal sacrifices and without the ark or “Jehovah’s name” as directed by Jehovah.) today but I have to wonder about debt. Why is there no debt forgiveness among the Abrahamic religions today? Debt forgiveness is in the hands of the government, and even then it’s not as cut and dry as having it happen every 7 years.

It does look like Jehovah is trying to set up a society that takes care of it’s own by setting up structures to help the poor and possibly over extended debtors. The moral hazard of lending to someone only to have it washed away as the 7th year nears, and done with glee probably wasn’t too popular with those constantly lending out only to have the debt not be fully repaid.

In modern times we see the disparity between rich and poor and how it can divide the country among political and ideological lines. There are those that demand a Jehovah like structure where debt (like student debt) is forgiven, where living wages (free money without working) get passed on to those who are poor, and high tax rates to force the rich to pay for these systems. Problem is, in the Old Testament, Jehovah tries to encourage this behavior by promising the people that he will bless them materially. Today, we don’t have a deity telling us to go ahead and help the poor because more wealth is headed our way. We know the economic system can end up on shaky ground and make someone poor real quick. The mathematics of giving away money and not having it return can mean disaster for personal and corporate wealth.

Again, another giant disparity between the realities of modern world economics and economics and equality as portrayed in the Old Testament.

Deuteronomy 14: Food laws, Contradictions?!

Inheritance or Chosen?

Deuteronomy 9:26 – (Moses to Jehovah) I prayed therefore unto Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah god, destroy not THY PEOPLE AND THINE INHERITANCE…. (9:29) Yet they are thy people and THINE INHERITANCE.

Compared to:

Deuteronomy 14:2 – (Moses to Israelites) For thou art an holy people unto Jehovah thy god, and Jehovah hath CHOSEN thee to be a peculiar people unto himself, above all the nations that are upon the earth.

So which is it, did Jehovah inherit this people? Or choose them? Can’t be both. Unless he was able to choose them as part of his inheritance (and again, from who in the world did he “inherit” from if he’s the most supreme god?) Also, note the subject – direct object in each verse. When Moses speaks to Jehovah, the Israelites are an “inheritance.” When Moses speaks to the Israelites, the Israelites are “chosen.” Moses is playing some word game here, again, seemingly trying to sell to the Israelites that they are special and merely not part of some inheritance. Verse even acknowledges there was nothing special about these people, they didn’t actually do anything to deserve the new land.

Ok to eat unclean animals or not?!

Deuteronomy 12:15 – Notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates, WHATSOEVER THY SOUL LUSTETH AFTER, according to the blessing of Jehovah thy god which he hath given thee: THE UNCLEAN AND THE CLEAN MAY EAT THEREOF, as of the roebuck, and as of the hart.

Compared to:

Deuteronomy 14:7 – Nevertheless these YE SHALL NOT EAT of them that chew the cud, or of them that divide the cloven hoof; as the camel, and the hare, and the coney: for they chew the cud, but divide not the food; therefore THEY ARE UNCLEAN TO YOU.

So which is it? Can they eat whatever their soul lusteth after, including unclean animals? Or are they not to eat unclean animals? No contradictions in this bible?

It reminds me, again, of the Noah story, where, when referencing Elohim, everything is there for man to take in the recently flooded world. However, when the Noah story references Jehovah, he lays down food laws immediately. So which is it, everything, or only certain things?

The “name” of Jehovah at a certain place is referenced again. The people are to eat the tithes and firstlings in his names presence. However, if they are too far to transport these items, they are allowed to convert the offerings into money, which they take to this location, and then purchase tithing and firstling offerings for consumption, instead of bringing their own.

Also, the Levite within their city is not to be forsaken, and every 3 years their tithe should be gathered, and placed so that the Levite, stranger, fatherless, and the widow, can take and eat from their gathering. Definitely a noble concept for those less fortunate within the society.

However, I ask, why every 3 years? Why not every day?

Numbers 7 – 8; Anointing of the Altar; The Levites Perform; More on Jehovah

Numbers 7

Numbers 7 describes the anointing of the Altar, and all the families, princes, and offerings made.

Each day a Captain from each of the 12 tribes gives their offerings. After looking it over, once again I conclude these people were NOT poor, subsistence pastoralists. Plenty of silver, cattle, gold, and flocks to offer. Plenty of SHEKELS.

Shekels: So were these shekels only to trade amongst themselves? Were shekels used to trade with foreigners? Why would a tribe of people under one god need a currency? After all, imbalance in a currency means there are rich and poor; the haves and have nots. Apparently this god is ok with this type of societal structure.

Compare this to the teachings of modern Christianity where such items are not of importance. This, to me, is a giant contradiction between Old Testament and New Testament.

So after 12 days of lavish offerings…

Numbers 7:89 – And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spoke unto him.

From a mountain/volcano top down to a mercy seat after 12 days of offerings. These are the actions of the god who supposedly created the heavens and the earth. This god requires extravagant offerings before he could speak from the mercy seat.

Compare this to the Jehovah in Genesis, and tell me they are the same. My thesis that the Jehovah in Genesis is not the Jehovah in Exodus/Leviticus/Numbers stands. This Jehovah requires rituals and offerings to “charge” himself to a point where he can speak out.

Numbers 8 – The Levites Perform their Duties

Remembering that much of what we’ve seen in previous verse was instructions on what to do in the future, we now see the Levites in action, following their orders. Much of Chapter 8 is just repetition and description of these instructions.

Fortunately, no one brought strange incense or touched something they shouldn’t have, so it looks like everyone survived this ritual. This may sound facetious, but I was truly expecting another set of events. After all, NO ONE is perfect. We are all human. We all make mistakes, we trip, we stumble, we forget, we confuse. You do any of these in certain situations under this god and you end up dead!

Levites seem to have performed as planned.

Numbers 8 – Jehovah Boasts; My Response!

Again, as if he needs to remind the Israelites about his deeds:

Numbers 8:17 – For all the firstborn children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every firstborn in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself.

Is this supposed to impress the Israelites? Sure, they lived under duress of servitude to the Egyptians, but even as they wandered the wilderness after being carried out of Egypt, they WISHED TO BE BACK IN EGYPT! So it’s obvious their conditions weren’t ideal, but they were conditions they were ok with.

What does this tell me? They probably had decent relations with Egyptians. So here comes a god that kills all the first born of people the Israelites probably didn’t really hate to the point they would want the first born killed. I’m sure the Israelites were well intimate with Egyptian families. After all, not all Egyptians were Pharaohs, there were common people in Egypt! It takes one sadistic person to call for or enjoy the death of INNOCENT CHILDREN. Do I think the Israelites wanted to see their Egyptian counterparts lose their first born? They were human after all, and the concept of childhood innocence probably wasn’t lost on them. When you hear a baby cry, mankind, regardless of color or creed, run to the call. Jehovah was fine with killing them. Jehovah is NOT mankind.

But Jehovah killed them all, and now he boasts about this genocide. Most would say he did a good thing, I say he did a bad thing and is boasting about it to remind the Israelites of the fear they need to live under so the same doesn’t happen to them.

There are people in my life I really do not like, in fact, it borders on a type of hate that I know is not good for me, but it’s there. I have to be honest. To be more honest, regardless of how much I dislike these people, I DO NOT WANT TO SEE THEIR CHILDREN KILLED!

I probably wouldn’t have revisited this vile set of actions by Jehovah, if he hadn’t boasted about it to the Israelites. It caused me to ponder further, re-evaluate the story, and realize more and more about Jehovah and his personality.

Did Jehovah ever feel remorse for killing so many innocent people in Egypt? He didn’t show any remorse about killing Aaron’s sons.

Surprisingly, The Book of Numbers is doing a great job quoting things that make me look back and evaluate Jehovah’s past and present actions. The chapter ends with more mundane details on the Levites within the Tabernacle, details no longer applicable to the modern world.

Here’s one good thing: Those serving in the Levitical priesthood get to retire at age of 50 from serving within the tabernacle. BUT, they must continue to service those who do serve within the tabernacle.

Ask yourself this: Are These a FREE PEOPLE?!