PENTATEUCH: A Recap

The Pentateuch (or the Jewish "Torah") refers to the first five books of the bible which primarily tell the story of Moses - the exception of which being the first book, the book of Genesis, which deals with the creation myth, the great flood myth, and sets the foundation for the story of Abraham and his descendants - primarily his grandson Jacob (later renamed Israel) and his twelve sons becoming the "Twelve Tribes of Israel". All five books are also generally accredited to be authored by Moses according to most Abrahamic faiths, despite Moses' death and burial being described within the last chapter of the last book, Deuteronomy.

The book of Genesis is filled with a lot of outlandish and seemingly ridiculous claims (such as "light", "daytime", and "nighttime" being created prior to the creation of the sun; a talking snake that tricks the world's first woman into eating the "forbidden fruit"; the life spans of many people being over 800 to 900 years old; and a 500 year old man who manages to track down and stuff at least one pair of each "kind" of animal onto a wooden boat to survive for nine months while a global flood kills all life upon the earth); lots of stories that are presented as either "good" or "moral" despite being blatantly appalling (such as God committing mass genocide upon the earth with a global flood; a man described as "righteous" who offers up his two virgin daughters to an angry mob for them to be raped; the same "righteous" man allows his daughters to get him drunk after which he proceeds to have sex with them, impregnating them both; and God telling Abraham to commit human sacrifice with his son Isaac, with God stopping him just short of Abe plunging the knife into the boy's chest - just so he could "test" Abraham's loyalty). However, the overall theme of the book is to establish a lineage for the people of Israel for whom the authors intended to appear noble and righteous, which in contrast to modern standards of decency and morality, fails miserably.

The next important theme of the book of Genesis is establishing God's promise to Abraham to build his family into a "great nation", by "promising" him a piece of land that sadly enough people are still fighting over today. The piece of land that God "gives" to Abraham happens to already be occupied by other "heathen nations", so in turn this will justify the forcible taking of this land from people that God doesn't show favor towards. What this actually does is justify stereotyping as well as cultural and ethnic elitism, where ethnicity and a person's culture defines their worth. Despite that the authors attempt to address this very problem with the story of Abraham questioning God's plan to destroy the city of Sodom should there any righteous people found within the city, the problem is that within the real world there aren't such cases of absolutes which are rampant throughout the bible - every enemy nation of the Israelites is treated as if it were "100% wicked" just like we're supposed to believe that the inhabitants of the city of Sodom were. This doesn't even begin to cover other aspects of the problem such as the slaughter of infants, and as we will later see, even animals and livestock belonging to "heathen nations" are to be destroyed for being "defiled".

The book of Exodus introduces us to the character Moses. While briefly telling the story of his birth where he avoids a law of infanticide placed upon male Hebrew infants and how he is then raised by Egyptian royalty, the story then picks up in his adult life where he is appalled by the treatment of Hebrew slaves by the Egyptian people. Upon witnessing an Egyptian soldier strike a Hebrew slave, Moses murders the soldier, hides his body in the sand, and then flees Egypt fearing prosecution for his crime. While he's on the run God appears to Moses in the form of a burning bush and tells him that he's been appointed to lead the Hebrew people out of their slavery in Egypt and into the "promised land". Arming Moses - as well as his brother Aaron, who's been chosen to speak for the Israelites - with a bunch of magic tricks, God guides them as they free the Hebrew people from their slavery in Egypt and then trek across the desert for the next forty years where most of the original generation die off - or are killed by the numerous plagues God thrusts upon them for mostly trivial things like whining about not having enough water to drink.

The underlying theme of the book of Exodus is to demoralize believers into believing that although they are God's chosen people, they are actually unworthy of being so; they are in fact stubborn, disobedient, and whiny and they need the church to lead them. It would be easy to develop an ego in conjunction with the cultural and ethnic elitism that the Pentateuch promotes, so therefore the solution is to crush the individual's self-worth. Beginning with Moses' brother Aaron - the head priest - constructing a golden calf for the Israelites to worship after Moses seemingly went missing atop Mount Sinai for forty days while chatting with God, we begin to see two issues emerge.

The first issue we see is that "holy men" aren't held to the same standards as others. Aaron breaks the second commandment while 3,000 other Israelites are slaughtered; Moses, breaks the eighth commandment ("thou shalt not kill (murder)") without any repercussions; both of Moses' siblings (Aaron and Miriam) complain about Moses breaking one of God's laws, yet God only punishes Miriam (who is stricken with leprosy), absolving Aaron, possibly either because he was a priest, male, or both.

The second issue however is probably the most touted "sin" in the Pentateuch, as well as the first two of the "ten commandments", that a person is not to worship other gods, nor create a "religious idol". These commandments are reinforced more so than any of the other eight (including the commandment to observe the sabbath, which is also repeated many times throughout the Pentateuch) with the punishments being excessively violent and extreme - where in cases where an entire city worships other gods, God commands that every living breathing thing, including livestock, are to be killed and the city is to be burnt to the ground, never to be rebuilt. Why such an excessively violent response, and why is it so overstressed the importance of never seeking after other gods? The most likely explanation is that the supernatural events as depicted in the bible simply either did not happen as the bible depicts them, or that they were not widely witnessed as the bible suggests.

Think about it carefully. If the Israelites did in fact witness all of these spectacular "miracles", plagues, and had seen various masses of people die believing that they were smote by God's wrath, what real motivation would they have to worship "false gods" or idols, which apparently wouldn't display any such supernatural ability? Why was it such a rampant problem of people constantly worshiping "false gods" when there were all these "miraculous" supernatural events caused by God occurring all around them? The simplest explanation is obviously that they either did not witness anything supernatural, or that the story of the exodus was heavily embellished, if not completely fictitious, to begin with. If the Israelites didn't actually witness any supernatural occurrences, or "miracles", then it would put their god belief on a level playing field with any other - simply being a matter of faith, not reason.

When you're dealing with faith based beliefs rather than beliefs based upon evidence, reason, or even personal experience, it is then easy to see why there would be so much concern about the exposure to other faith based belief systems. Both religions would be on an equal footing in regards to what reasoning (or lack thereof) there was to believe. One of the key components to controlling the thoughts of others is to limit their information to the outside world. Even today groups like Amway, Alcoholics Anonymous, and various political groups discourage their members from exposure to any mainstream media that is critical toward the group.

Often times in conjunction with limiting the exposure to the outside world, another tactic of controlling the thoughts of others is to undermine the credibility of or to silence those outside of or those who oppose the group. In the book of Exodus, Moses gives blessings to those who showed no mercy toward their siblings, children, and neighbors by slaughtering them by the thousands, simply because they had worshiped Aaron's golden calf. Later on, after the Israelites sacrificed to other gods at Baal Peor, Moses ordered the leaders of the tribes who worshiped the other gods killed, and their corpses hung up "against the sun". In the same chapter, Moses orders the genocide of the Midianites for tempting the Israelites into worshiping other gods, and when the Israelites slaughter the Midianite men, Moses becomes enraged when he discovers that the women and children were captured and spared. He orders that they should all be killed - except for any girls who are still virgins, whom the soldiers may "keep for themselves".

Although there are several scattered narrative stories in the books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, overall the main objective of these last three books are to detail the various laws and commandments that the Israelites are to follow - and the deadly punishments that accompany them.

The most common punishment for breaking God's commandments is death by stoning - a brutal method of capital punishment where the condemned is repeatedly hit with stones until they die. Among the "sins" God deems worthy of such a brutal death:

• worshiping other gods, or enticing others to do so
• cursing your mother and/or father
• homosexuality
• bestiality (both the offender and the animal)
• any man who sleeps with a married or engaged woman
• any married or engaged woman who sleeps with a man who is not her husband, or husband to be
• any woman who is raped in a city if she doesn't scream loud enough
• practicing magic or witchcraft, or being a spiritual medium
• doing any work on the sabbath
• blasphemy. or cursing the name of God
• a man who has sex with his either his mother, his daughter in law, or his father's wife
• being a rebellious child
• a wife who's virginity prior to marriage is questioned and whose father cannot provide bloody bedsheets as evidence
• false prophets

Moses attempts to justify these extreme, brutal, violent, and fatal punishments for these predominately non-violent offenses by insisting that such excessive punishments will instill fear into the Israelites, thereby discouraging them from committing such "crimes" in the first place. This is further compounded by some of the ridiculous methods of determining guilt for such "crimes" (such as bloody bedsheets being a "proof" of virginity; or defending your home against an intruder being considered a murder, determined by whether it occurred during the daytime or not).

Again, it begs the question as to why such a seemingly trivial "crime" of worshiping other gods requires such a violent and fatal punishment, and why was it apparently such a widespread concern during an age when God supposedly displayed his supernatural powers regularly.

If the supernatural events described in the Pentateuch didn't actually occur as described the answer becomes simple and obvious - since belief in a god couldn't be backed with reason or evidence, the next best course of action would be to coerce belief and obedience using fear, intimidation, violence, and brutal public execution. Once obedience is secured to a god who apparently only speaks through a select few people, and only "directly" to one person, it begins to make sense why "ordinary people" are also threatened with death for approaching the mountain where Moses apparently communicated with God and prevented from touching or entering the tabernacle to begin with, while those who are in the "inner circle" (the ruling priests and the tribe of Levi) become the sole beneficiaries of the various mandatory animal sacrifices and tithes (religious taxes) imposed upon the "ordinary people".

When the Pentateuch is read without the blinders of automatically believing in its veracity just "because it's the bible", it's quite easy to see that quite simply these books serve as a justification for the Israelites sense of elitism and entitlement over other cultures, and as a set of laws to prevent critical thought which would crumble the foundation of faith-based government. The Pentateuch basically says that their god told them that they're the best, that they're descended from a righteous lineage, and therefore they have every right to kill and slaughter any nation who stands in their way in their quest to conquer the land of Canaan - because their god said so.

LEVITICUS: An Apologist Rebuttal

In Leviticus: Chapter 10 we read about an utterly violent, brutal, and savage death by immolation dealt out by God to Aaron's two sons Nadab and Abihu. I mentioned in my "thoughts" section, that I was curious as to what the traditional apologist standpoint was on this issue, and I consulted the Christian apologist website GotQuestions.org to see what their stance on the matter was. I wasn't very surprised to see that they favor the old "times were different back then" line, but I can't justify this stance at all. Due to the scope of their explanation, I have chosen to address it in its own post rather than to have written a lengthy rebuttal in the midst of my thoughts on Leviticus: Chapter 10.

I will address the entire argument as presented here at: http://www.gotquestions.org/SAB/SAB-CS-Leviticus.html, point by point:

Leviticus is a popular book for skeptics to quote when attacking the Bible.

Already GotQuestions.org is resorting to weasel words defining skepticism as an "attack". Skepticism in it's ordinary meaning refers to:

• an attitude of doubt or a disposition to incredulity either in general or toward a particular object
• the doctrine that true knowledge or knowledge in a particular area is uncertain; or
• the method of suspended judgment, systematic doubt, or criticism that is characteristic of skeptics (Merriam–Webster).

You can assert that something is true, for example, that every house on your street had an igloo in its back yard last July. The skeptical response that the temperature in July would make it unlikely to maintain an igloo is not an "attack" it is an observation, as it does not rule out the possibility of a counter explanation - like perhaps, that everyone in the neighborhood had installed refrigeration units in their back yards.

The use of the word "attack" is to bait the reader into feeling that questioning a claim in the bible is an "attack".

The lengthy lists of rules and regulations are much easier to misrepresent than other sections of Biblical text, especially when separated from scriptural and historical context.

First off, I find this a bit coincidental that many religious people also heatedly debate the "rules and regulations" from the book of Leviticus (as well as Exodus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers) to defend their stances on issues such as homosexuality, slavery, and misogyny. Secondly there is very little historical evidence or reference for the book of Leviticus outside of the bible itself.

There is no question that some of what is described in Leviticus would be considered harsh by the standards of modern society. There is, however, a proper perspective with which to examine these descriptions.

I have always had a problem with these kinds of arguments to defend the wrongs of the past. Most often this argument comes up in the defense of human injustices such as slavery. Quite often an apologist will say something to the effect of that slavery was condonable back in biblical times because it was somehow different than the more modern slavery of African Americans in the American south 150 years ago. However, the bible makes it very clear that only the "slavery" of Hebrew males - as a payment of debt - was looked at differently (Exodus: Chapter 22) than the injustices we think of when dealing with African American slavery. The bible condones beating slaves - as long as they don't die for a couple of days - stating that slaves are considered "property", and that any spouse a slave takes while serving as a slave themselves is doomed to a lifetime of slavery.

No matter how you try to justify it, dehumanizing and oppressing other people has never been humane by any stretch. Beating another person for whatever reason besides reasonable self defense is also inexcusable no matter what justification you try to apply. Just because these activities were viewed as acceptable in the past does not mean they were right by any means.

A biblically-based, historically informed approach to understanding the book of Leviticus provides insights on the meaning and purpose behind it.

The skepticism in question - of analyzing particular quotes - is also "biblically based", and furthermore a differing of opinion on meaning does not change the basis. Again, "historically" there is no evidence to support the claim of millions of Hebrew slaves escaping from Egypt and wandering the desert for forty years outside of biblical texts, so the "history" angle is rather moot in this regard. Most biblical scholars view the books of Leviticus and Exodus as either non-historical or greatly exaggerated, and more of a collection of parables and metaphorical lessons.

It is important to remember that much of Leviticus is God’s response to sin. God has the sovereign authority to impose laws, as well as consequences for those who violate them.

As for the book of Leviticus, I am not arguing what exactly God is punishing, but the cruel and over excessive methods he chooses to punish people with. Setting two young men on fire for making a simple mistake of using the wrong flame to light incense with is beyond excessive - it's cruel, sadistic, and unnecessary. Even if God feels he must kill someone for making a very human error, why couldn't he spare the two young men with less excruciating deaths? Why must he threaten the surviving family members with death themselves if they even dare to show any grief or mourn?

There is no argument to defend the sadistic death of immolation when God is allegedly endowed with the powers to kill people in far more humane methods - even a quick, yet massive, fatal heart attack would surely be far less traumatic than immolation.

One cannot reject this out of hand without rejecting the entire idea of law and order.

GotQuestions.org completely misses the entire point here and tries to insinuate that someone who opposes condemning someone to die in the electric chair is opposing the death penalty outright. This is a typical apologist tactic of trying to paint the only options as being only either black or white.

Just as modern laws prohibit certain actions, and assign penalties to violators, so did the laws described in Leviticus.

However "modern laws" take into account the circumstances surrounding the violation. Two people can break the same law and get served vastly different penalties. A shoplifter without a criminal record probably won't serve any jail time and might not even be arrested, whereas a first time shoplifter that does have a criminal record is more likely to get a more severe punishment. Police officers often get much lighter punishments if they commit a crime versus a regular citizen.

God’s overall purpose in creating these laws was to set the Israelites apart from the other nations around them.

So God is trying to prove that one group of people are superior to the rest? Placing a value upon people by birthright sounds akin to me like what the nations of Germany and Italy tried to assert in the 1930's.

God made it clear that He expected obedience to His authority; those who violated the laws had every reason to expect a strong response.

Actually, according to Leviticus: Chapter 4 not everyone who violates a law might realize what they have done. Chapter 4 is all about unintentional and accidental "sins", and Leviticus: Chapter 5 even makes it clear that someone is still guilty even if they don't realize it.

Historical perspective is especially important when reading Leviticus. Modern society enjoys a level of technological and social stability that ancient peoples did not. Actions that have little effect on modern society might have been dangerously harmful in millennia past.

This doesn't justify setting two young men on fire for using the wrong flame to ignite incense, and further threatening their surviving family not to mourn lest they be killed themselves.

In the days of the ancient Israelites, the survival of your family depended on all of the families around you working towards the same goals, by the same rules, and without undermining the system.

When you have a magical being that provides you with food and water in the desert, protects you from invading armies by raising magical staffs, and threatens you with death for a myriad of trivial "crimes", your survival would be more apt to depend on not angering him by something like using the wrong flame to light his incense than it really had to do with the actual laws themselves.

Adultery was not merely a moral problem in that day. Undermining the family threatened the safety and welfare of the entire culture.

How does adultery - as it is defined in the book of Exodus - threaten the safety and welfare of the entire culture? Men of these days were polygamists, had slave girls in their concubines, and were expected to take their brothers wives as their own if they died without bearing children? Why is death the appropriate punishment and not perhaps being exiled?

Modern critics would do well to note the concept of martial law. When the stability of modern life is interrupted by disaster, it is necessary to take a much harsher stance towards lesser offenses, for the sake of preserving the society.

Such as setting people on fire for using the wrong flame to light incense, stoning people for working on Saturdays, and having to slaughter a bunch of animals if you accidentally touched an insect.

Once again, GotQuestions.org is missing the point.

Ancient peoples lived under these conditions almost constantly.

The Israelis in the book of Leviticus had more to fear from angering their deity and getting set on fire than from actually endangering their society by breaking one of God's laws.

The laws of Leviticus were not especially cruel for their time;

Setting two young men on fire and forcing their father and brothers not to grieve under the threat of their own deaths is "not especially cruel"? Perhaps we must have very strong disagreements on what constitutes cruelty.

Even barring the punishment of death itself as a factor, there are far less cruel ways to execute people - even in ancient times - than by immolation and stoning.

in fact, the emphasis on truth, order, and evidence set the Israelites ahead of their more volatile neighbors.

Evidence? Obviously, we must have missed the section of Exodus: Chapter 22 where a man who defends his home against a burglar in the daytime is automatically presumed to be a murderer; or Exodus: Chapter 21 where a person who's innocent of the accusation of murder will have to rely on God to hide him in order to avoid a stoning. Evidence plays no role in either of those laws.

In a general sense, objections to capital punishment are objections to the death penalty itself.

Again, this is complete nonsense. One can be opposed to capital punishment via the electric chair and still be in favor for the death penalty by other means.

God, being the author and creator of life, has the sovereign right to determine what happens to that life.

Not necessarily. If you or I create something, we are not automatically entitled to destroy it by any means that we see fit. I can build my own house, but that doesn't mean that I'm legally entitled to set it on fire - that is arson.

One’s opinion about the death penalty will determine whether or not these punishments are considered “cruel” or not. “Cruel” is a subjective term that, in reality, has nothing to do with whether or not these punishments were “justified” or not.

While the concept of cruelty is indeed subjective, we can reasonably consider an action cruel when the one committing the act has other less painful methods at their disposal and/or has the ability to minimize the suffering of the offender, or in the case of Aaron and his surviving sons - innocent bystanders. God clearly has other execution methods he could have doled out rather than immolation, and denying grief to the immediate family is a sure sign of a lack of compassion.

The ancient Israelites would probably react to these claims of “cruelty” in the same way modern Americans would if someone claimed that placing thieves in a cage (jail) was “cruel.”

There is a lot less permanent consequences from jailing someone than setting people on fire or stoning them. I think even the "Ancient Israelis" would choose "life in a cage" rather than to die by stoning or immolation.

Leviticus 8:24; 14:14; 14:17; 14:25 - "Use of blood, animal sacrifice in rituals"

This is an example of how cultural changes affect our opinion of cruelty. In our modern society, many people feel that it is “cruel” to even keep animals as pets, use them for food, or for clothing. The luxuries of modern farming, synthetic fibers, and so forth were not available to the ancient Israelites. The use of animals for food and as sacrificial offerings was a common and unremarkable part of ancient society. One might as well expect a culture two thousand years from now to think of us as cruel for ever eating an animal in the first place. The “cruelty” of these passages is entirely a question of subjective preference.

The problem with this argument is that the animals in question are not being slaughtered primarily for food and clothing, they were being used as "substitute" scapegoats for the mistakes of people. Most of the parts of the animals that are brutally slaughtered in Leviticus are simply burned on the altar because God finds it "pleasing". The animal skins and meat are not being given to the poor, most of it is burned and discarded, and what little God allows to be used for food or clothing, is strictly for priests. Commoners get a stoning if they consume any of these animal sacrifices, and even the priests themselves will be excommunicated if they eat in the wrong location.

Leviticus 10:1-2 - "Nadab and Abihu"

The event described here is straightforward: two men did something explicitly forbidden by God, and were punished by God for it. See above regarding the rule of law.

Once again, GotQuestions.org completely misses the point. It is unclear whether Nadab and Abihu's "crime" was an honest mistake, carelessness, or intentional. Regardless of that setting them on fire is far too excessive, as is forbidding their immediate family to grieve over their losses.

Leviticus 20:9 - "Death penalty for cursing one’s father and mother"

The Hebrew word qalal is translated here as “curses”. In context, it implies a severe hatred accompanied by an insult to someone’s reputation. The word is similar in meaning, therefore, to “blasphemy”. God had given a clear and direct commandment to honor parents, not to curse them. As with other offenses, this extreme level of rebellion represented a direct threat to the stability of Israelite culture. The harsh response was in response to the harshness of the offense and its potential social harm.

Completely left out of context is what the parent may have done to cause the child's scorn. Parents who abuse their children physically, mentally, sexually, or emotionally don't deserve a mandatory respect from their children simply by their biological linkage.

Leviticus 20:12-16 - "Death penalty for sins of incest, sodomy, bestiality"

See above about cultural stability and God’s purpose for the law. These kinds of actions were allowed, and even encouraged, by some surrounding nations. Much of this was because of their worship of false gods.

Once again, GotQuestions.org stoops to "weasel wording". "By some surrounding nations"? Which surrounding nations? What did they "encourage"? Incest? Bestiality? Sodomy? Aside from the biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (which no evidence for their existence exists outside of biblical texts) I'm not aware of any religions in the bronze age that encouraged bestiality or sodomy, nor any that encouraged incest to a significant degree aside from what was acceptable to the Israelis (Abraham and Sarah were half siblings; Jacob and his wives Leah and Rachel were first cousins; Lot's daughters who had sex and were impregnated by their father; etc.)

The assertion of "false gods" is also laughable as deities are not a provable concept, and thus there's no way of determining which gods are "real", "false", or "imagined" outside of personal faith.

God made it clear that these actions were not only immoral, but abhorrent. There was to be no mixing of immoral pagan practices with God’s commandments.

Much of the bible is borrowed from earlier pagan religions, numerology, and astrology. Even our modern Christian holidays - including Christmas and Easter - are clearly littered with pagan practices: Christmas trees, Easter eggs, fertility (Easter), and winter solstice (Christmas) amongst them.

These kinds of sins also created the kind of dangerous instability that threatened Israelite culture.

I fail to see the "danger" this poses, and again this sounds more like elitism and fascism in its wording here.

Leviticus 20:27 - "Death penalty for 'mediums' and 'wizards'"

See above about the purpose for the law. Such actions were a form of idolatry, specifically prohibited by God’s law.

Again, refer to my answer above as well.

Leviticus 21:9 - "Death penalty for daughters of priests engaging in prostitution"

See above about the purpose for the law. Temple prostitution was a common element in false religions.

Weasel wording again. Please state sources to back up your claim if prostitution being a "common element" of "false" religions.

Prostitution was already prohibited; this law made it clear that the families of religious leaders could not expect special exemptions. They would be held to the same or higher standards than the people, helping to prevent the kind of abuse of power common in ancient theocracies.

Except for Judah's story in Genesis: Chapter 38 where Tamar escapes being set on fire from prostitution simply because she's carrying her father-in-law's baby.

Leviticus 24:14, 16, 23 - "Death penalty for blasphemy"

See above about the purpose for the law.

See above to why this is ridiculous.

Leviticus 26:16, 22 - "Punishments from God for disobedience"

See above about the purpose for the law. This part of Leviticus extends the responsibility for obedience to the entire nation, as well as the individual person. As with other aspects of the law, God has given his commandments, and is now giving the penalties for violating them. As with many of the points above, one has to objectively examine the text; part of this is recognition that severe punishments are not necessarily wrong.

Again, severe punishments are wrong when there are more humane ways to go about it. Even if we stick with capital punishment, there is a major difference between the methodology of lethal injection verses setting someone on fire.

Concluding thoughts about Leviticus:

The Skeptic’s Annotated Bible considers all of the above “cruel”. Christians should be willing to admit that much of what appears above is harsh and restrictive. However, the basic concept of law is one that even the skeptic has to accept. If societies have the right to determine laws and punishments, then so does God. It is also important to remember the context of these laws. They were given specifically to the Israelites, during the “Old Covenant”, not to modern believers, who live under the “New Covenant”. Once Christ accomplished His work on the cross, He fulfilled the law and most of what is listed above ceased to be in force.

God was teaching and molding His people with these laws. He wanted to send a clear message that He would punish sin. He expected His people to be separate from the wicked cultures they were surrounded by. Many laws of Leviticus also taught lessons about God’s charity, love, and justness. The fact that the punishments for violating these laws are severe is uncomfortable to modern readers; still, God is well within His authority to set down both rules and consequences for violating them.

Once again, GotQuestions.org completely misses the point and tries to excuse God's extreme methods - that even Moses himself questioned as evil in Exodus: Chapter 32.

In western society we cringe and condemn the Islamic world for their brutal versions of capital punishment, more on the grounds of the methodology of stoning and decapitations, sometimes more than the crime that was committed. In many ways these lame apologetic excuses for condoning setting people on fire and stoning them for working on Saturdays are no more or less any different than what countries in the Middle East are doing to people nowadays for being gay, for women not covering their faces in public, or having sex out of wedlock and therefore "shaming" their families.

Regardless of the time period or the conditions of "ancient Israel" you simply cannot condone needless suffering and pain for trivial offenses such as using the wrong flame to light incense.

EXODUS: A Recap

While the book of Genesis may be the most hotly debated book of the bible for fundamentalist believers, creationists, and proponents of "Intelligent Design", the book of Exodus tends to be one of the more favored biblical books for the skeptics and atheists - mostly due to the absurdity, cruelty, intolerance, sexist and bizarre nature of God's laws.

This book is mainly the beginning and introduction to the legendary biblical character of Moses, whose significance lies in the common assertion that the first five books of the bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) are thought to have been written by Moses himself. Most archaeologists tend to view the book of Exodus as non-historical, and at best an exaggerated account containing a sliver of truth, as there are many events that just don't hold up to our known archaeological evidence. For example, with over 600,000 Hebrew men leaving Egypt, it is likely that when counting wives, children, and the elderly amongst them that a number of two million or more would be accurate - a sizable chunk of the entire Egyptian population of around 3 to 6 million. Such a sizable population drop (not to mention the hoards Egyptian people that God kills with plagues and the entire Egyptian army that he drowns in the Red Sea) would have had a severe chaotic impact on the economy of Egypt to which no known evidence supports. Also implausible is that the 70 descendants of Israel described in Genesis: Chapter 46 managed to increase their population to over two million in a matter of 400 to 430 years.

The story of Moses' birth and subsequent escape from infanticide suspiciously mirrors the story of King Sargon that is thought to possibly predate the earliest writings of the Torah - the Jewish books of the Old Testament. His adoption by Egyptian royalty also seems suspect and similar to other mythologies including that of King Sargon.

Moses goes into exile from Egypt after he witnesses an Egyptian strike a Hebrew slave, knocking him to the ground, and retaliates with murdering the Egyptian. He travels to the land of Midian where he marries and settles down as a shepherd for about forty years. Also suspect is that Moses' father-in-law is inexplicably referred to by two completely different names, suggesting multiple authorship.

God appears to Moses in the form of a burning bush and sends him on a mission to liberate the people of Israel from their slavery and teaches Moses a variety of magic tricks, or "miracles", that somehow aren't so "miraculous" as a bunch of Egyptian sorcerers are able to duplicate many of them.

However, before Moses can get on with his mission (and meet up with his brother Aaron) God almost kills Moses in the desert in a bizarre scene more at home in a David Lynch film. Apparently God wants to kill Moses as he hasn't yet had his son circumcised (which is not readily explained) and upon hearing this, Moses' wife Zillah lops off their son's foreskin with a sharp knife and throws the bloody foreskin at Moses. God flees the scene after this, rightfully so.

While Moses and his brother Aaron impress the leaders of the Israeli tribes with their magical staffs that turns into snakes, the trick doesn't go over quite as well with the Pharaoh of Egypt who somehow finds a bunch of sorcerers who are able to turn magic staffs into snakes too. Unimpressed with the magic tricks God taught Moses and Aaron (and despite the "coup de grâce" Aaron's snake delivers by eating the sorcerer's snakes) the Pharaoh refuses Moses' request that the Israeli people be allowed to go out on a three day picnic to sacrifice animals out in the wilderness.

Moses and Aaron continue battle it out with the Egyptian sorcerers with both sides being able to turn the Nile River into blood and conjure frogs, but Aaron and Moses somehow stump the sorcerers when they create lice out of the dust on the ground. Defeated, the sorcerers insist to the Pharaoh that this must be "the finger of God" that created the lice, instead of perhaps maybe coming the conclusion that perhaps Moses and Aaron might simply just be better magicians than themselves. Despite the defeat of the sorcerers, as well as their conclusion that because they can't conjure lice that God must be involved, the Pharaoh still isn't letting his Hebrew slaves go on their little picnic in the desert.

All the time while God dishes out magic plague after plague (including destroying all the Egyptian livestock, while sparing the Israeli animals; causing boils to appear on both people and animals; deadly hailstorms; and swarms of locusts) God also manipulates the Pharaoh into either outright saying "no" to Moses' demands, or allowing the people to go (usually under restrictive conditions) and then later changing his mind, disallowing them to go. God makes the Pharaoh keep saying "no" to Moses so that God can flex his might miracle muscles in an attempt to wow both the Egyptians and Israelis alike.

God's next devious plan is to go around killing all of the firstborn male animals and Egyptian people, while sparing the Israelis. In order to ensure that he knows which houses to skip - the ones housing the Israelis - he has them slaughter a whole bunch of lambs and splatter the blood over their door frames of their houses. He makes up a bunch of elaborate conditions on how he wants the people to do this, and how to eat the lamb meat afterwards, and tells Moses that this whole event is going to be a mandatory annual holiday for the people of Israel, introducing us to the Jewish holiday of Passover - as God "passes over" the houses of the Israeli people.

As God is now sure that the Pharaoh will wind up kicking out the Israeli people after this horrible slaughter, he tells Moses to have the women folk go out and ask the Egyptian citizens to give them all of their valuable jewelry and clothing. God forces the Egyptian people to hand over their possessions gleefully to the Israelis, which basically strips them of all their wealth and possessions.

Sure enough, God's mass slaughter of the firstborn Egyptians makes the Egyptian Pharaoh want to be rid of the Israelis and he finally allows them to leave Egypt, with their families, livestock, and all the Egyptian wealth with them.

After the millions of people all managed to leave Egypt on the same night(!), word gets back to the Pharaoh that the Israelis have no intentions of ever returning back to Egypt after their three day picnic. Enraged that he has just lost a good two million or so Hebrew slaves, he sets off after them with his entire army of chariots in tow. While God has Moses seemingly trap the Israelis against the Red Sea, God instead has another trick up his sleeve.

As the Egyptian army gets closer, God has Moses part the Red Sea with his magic staff and after drying the bottom of the sea bed with an eastern wind, has the Israelis cross to safety. When the Egyptians go in after them, he has Moses and his magic staff close the Red Sea back up again, killing the entire Egyptian army by drowning.

After some rousing songs and dances, the people of Israel start having problems acquiring food and water out in the desert and start angrily complaining to Moses, blaming him for dragging them out in the desert to die. Every time Moses pleads with God on their behalf, God somehow solves their problems by leading them to an oasis, making magical food formed on the evaporated morning dew, or having Moses bang his magic staff against a rock causing a stream of water to come forth.

God decides to test the people's obedience by instructing them not to store the magical food overnight (which its magical properties cause it to become maggot-ridden), nor go out gathering food on Saturday (on which day the magic food doesn't appear). Of course, when people go storing food and trying to gather food on Saturdays, God gets angry and frustrated.

Later on the Israelis get attacked by an Amalek army to which Moses is able to manipulate the battle with his magic staff. When he raises the staff above his head, the Israeli army gains the upper hand in the battle; and when Moses' arms get tired and he lowers the staff, the Israelis begin losing. So, Aaron and his pal Hur stand on either side of Moses helping him lift his arms in the air until the Israelis defeat the Amalek army.

Soon after Moses' father-in-law with two names arrives to drop off Moses' wife and kids to him and is baffled by all the time Moses is wasting solving problems for the Israelis. He helps Moses set up a judicial system to disperse the workload before riding off into the sunset.

The people now arrive at Mount Sinai and God begins to meet with Moses on a semi-regular basis on the top of the mountain. God wants the people to be aware of his presence and has Moses tell them all that he will appear in the form of a dark thunder cloud within a couple of days. However, he tells Moses to rope off a boundary at the foot of the mountain and instructs the people to kill anybody - including any stray animals - that tries to climb up the mountain, or even come anywhere near the boundary line. Much like the Wizard of Oz, God doesn't want anybody peeking behind the curtain. God's theatrics of thunder, lightning, and blowing a ram's horn(?) frighten the people into submission and obedience.

God starts giving a whole bunch of rules to Moses for the people of Israel to follow, most that if broken result in death by stoning. The rules are diverse in nature and deal with how to care for and beat your slaves; how to sell your daughters into slavery; what to do when your oxen go kill crazy and whether or not you should be killed for it too; how if you defend your home from a thief and mortally wound him, you'd better hope it occurs at night, otherwise you're automatically condemned as a murderer; learn to understand things that constitute a stoning like cursing your parents, worshiping other gods, working on Saturdays, and practicing witchcraft; and the charming rule of never boiling a baby goat in its mother's milk.

God invites Moses to bring his brother Aaron and about seventy of the elders of the people up to hang out on top of the mountain. They all have a big feast in the presence of God, and afterwards God has Moses climb higher up the mountain to have some private chit-chat. God tells Moses that he's got these ten extra-important rules that he's going to carve on some stone tablets, and that he wants Moses to stick around until he's done writing them. After six days, he lets Moses head back down again, but when Moses returns to the top of the mountain he stays up there for forty days and forty nights straight.

God tells Moses that he wants the people to build him a tabernacle, so that he can live amongst his chosen people and gives Moses a large shopping list of items that will be needed to build his home along with precise building plans. God then fills Moses in on how he wants all of his ritualistic animal sacrifices performed, and all the specifics he expects to be performed in his tabernacle.

God gives Moses the two tablets containing his "Ten Commandments", and stresses repeatedly that anybody caught working on Saturdays must be killed.

Meanwhile, the Israelis start thinking that after forty days of not hearing from Moses that he must have disappeared or ran off and begin panicking that they might also no longer have a god around to lead them. Moses' brother Aaron comes up with a plan to make the people a new god out of the molten gold from everyone's earrings. He melts the gold in a fire and shapes into the image of a golden calf, and the people start a drunken party in honor of their golden calf god. Our God Yahweh, however, is not amused and decides that he's going to kill the whole lot of these people until Moses chastises him for reacting in such an evil way. He talks God out of his kill frenzy by reminding him that he did kind of promise Abraham, Isaac, and Israel that he'd give them a whole ton of descendants and that they'd become a great nation.

Instead Moses comes down from the mountain, melts the golden calf in the fire, grinds up the molten gold into fine powder and force feeds it to these heathen calf worshipers. He then demands that whomever is going to start taking God seriously is going to have to kill a bunch of the people who don't, regardless of family ties or friendship. In the end about 3,000 Israeli people are slaughtered at the hand of the sword.

Moses pats them all on the back for obeying God and slaughtering their sons, brothers, and neighbors for being a bunch of heathens and promises them that God will bestow great blessings upon them for doing so. God instead sends them a plague.

God now tells Moses that he doesn't want to travel with the people of Israel now because he's just going to be too tempted to just murder the whole lot of them, but Moses manages to coax him back along. God in turn pulls a guilt trip upon the people and tells them that they're too shameful of a people to wear jewelry anymore and commands that they strip themselves of their jewels. Moses asks God if he can be allowed to see his face, but while God refuses as he tells Moses that no one is allowed to see his face and live, he settles for letting Moses see his backside as he walks ahead of him.

Moses heads up to the mountain with two new tablets for God to write another copy of the "Ten Commandments" on, and stays up there for another forty days and forty nights. While he's waiting, God tells Moses that when the Israelis reach the "promised land" that they're not to have any tolerance towards the people living there. They're not to sign any peace treaties with them, they are to smash and break all of their religious altars and idols, and they're not to marry any of those "whoring" daughters as they'll corrupt the minds of God's chosen people.

When Moses finally comes down from the mountain with the new copies of the "Ten Commandments", he freaks the people out unknowingly as his face has somehow acquired a strange glow from having spent all that time hanging around with God. He later puts a veil over his face, but continues to take it off in God's presence in order to soak up more of the godly glow.

Moses finally gets two fellows named Bezalel and Oholiab (along with a bunch of people working under them) to start building the tabernacle, its furnishings, and a bunch of priest costumes. The people keep donating supplies until Moses has to force them to stop donating.

Moses anoints his brother Aaron, along with Aaron's sons, as the priests of the tabernacle, while God begins leading the people of Israel towards the "promised land" by using the form of a cloud in the daylight, and a cloud on fire at night.

EXODUS: Chapter 40

Chapter 40
Summary:	God now tells Moses to put together the tabernacle on the first day of the first month, to place inside of it the ark containing the ten commandments, and to install the veil to cover the ark. He then tells Moses to bring in the table and to place the utensils on it, and to also bring in the lampstand and to light the lamps. God tells Moses where and how to set up the altars, the drapes, the washbasin, and the curtain door to the courtyard. He then tells Moses to anoint everything in the tabernacle with the anointing oil, and to bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance to the tabernacle, washing them with the water in the washbasin. Next, God tells Moses to clothe Aaron with the holy garments and anoint him, and to put the holy robes on Aaron's sons, and anoint them as he did their father. God notes that the anointing shall be permanent from generation to generation. Moses got to work assembling the tabernacle, everything it was to contain, and anointed Aaron and his sons as God had commanded him to. A cloud then covered the tabernacle and filled it with the glory of God, and to which Moses was unable to enter as it did so. Whenever the cloud lifted and moved, the people of Israel followed it; and when it rested, the people remained until it moved again. The cloud rested upon the tabernacle in the daytime, and at night there was fire in the cloud so that the people could see it in the darkness. This continued throughout their journeys.
Thoughts:	This final chapter in the book of Exodus leaves us with Moses putting together the final touches to the tabernacle and anointing it, as well as anointing his brother Aaron and sons as priests. God states that the anointing of Aaron and his sons is permanent and will extend to generations of Aaron's lineage. God then takes on the form of a cloud again (highlighted with fireballs at night) that somehow is impenetrable for Moses to pass through as it is filling the tabernacle with God's glory, which just seems plainly silly. The people of Israel follow the cloud and let it lead them in their journey to the promised land.

EXODUS: Chapters 37, 38, & 39

Chapters 37, 38, & 39
Thoughts:	Much like my summaries for Exodus: Chapters 26, 27, and 28, I will simply give extremely brief summaries about them as these three chapters mostly deal with the steps taken in the construction of the tabernacle, and the making of the priest garments. I will throw in a few interesting details found in the chapters and once again with provide links to the King James version of the respective chapters if you would care to read them for yourselves. Most of the information in these chapters is not relevant to understanding either the book of Exodus, or the bible as a whole, and generally can be skipped unless you've got a desire to build your own tabernacle tent.
Chapter 37
Summary:	Bezalel makes the ark of the covenant. He makes the lid out of pure gold called it "the place of mercy". He makes a table out of acacia wood, and using pure gold, makes bowls, dishes, and spoons for placing on top of the table. He makes a lamp stand out of pure, beaten gold, that holds seven (again with that number) lamps. He makes the incense altar out of acacia wood, overlaid with gold. He makes the anointing oil and incense. King James Version of Exodus: Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Summary:	Bezalel makes the burnt offering altar out of acacia wood, overlaid with bronze. He makes bronze utensils: pots, shovels, basins, meat hooks, and fire pans. A bronze washbasin and bronze pedestal were made from a bronze mirror donated by the women. He makes the courtyard and the drapes covering the entrances. All the nails used in building the tabernacle and the court were bronze. The construction of the tabernacle was supervised by Ithamar, one of Aaron's sons. Bezalel was the master craftsman. The people had brought gifts of 3,140 pounds of gold. The amount of silver used was 9,575 pounds, and came from the tax imposed upon the Israelis registered in the census - a total of 603,550 men*. The people had donated 7,540 pounds of bronze. King James Version of Exodus: Chapter 38
Notes:	1.) We are told in Exodus: Chapter 12 that the people of Israel numbered 600,000 men - not including wives and children. Although we don't know exactly how many years have transpired, the people of Israel's journey to the "promised land" lasts 40 years. Most biblical scholars believe that the tabernacle was built a year after the Israelis departure from Egypt. Somehow, even with the deaths of 3,000 people in Exodus: Chapter 32, and an untold amount killed in God's plague sent shortly after, we now have a 3,550 man surplus. It is unstated, when these taxes were collected, but it is still hard to account for the 3,550 surplus nonetheless.
Chapter 39
Summary:	The priest garments are made by the people of Israel. Bezalel beat gold into thin plates and made wire threads from them, to work into the linen. The two onyx stones attached to the shoulder straps of the garments were set in gold, and upon them were engraved the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. Bells of pure gold were attached to the bottom edge of the garment. A plate of pure gold was made for the turban, engraved with the words "Consecrated to Yahweh", tied to the turban with a blue cord. Moses inspects the work of the craftsmen and blesses them all after he approves of their adherence to God's specifics. King James Version of Exodus: Chapter 39

EXODUS: Chapters 35 & 36

Chapter 35
Summary:	Moses called a meeting of all the people (all 597,000+* of them?) to tell them some of God's laws. He first repeats the law about the sabbath, and reinforces to them that the penalty for working on the sabbath is death. He tacks on that they can't even light a fire in their houses on Saturdays. Moses now gives the people God's wish list for gifts, which are to be used as the materials to build the tabernacle: gold, silver, and bronze; blue, purple, and scarlet cloth; tanned ram skins and treated goat skins; acacia wood; olive oil; spices for the incense and anointing oil; and various stones including onyx. Moses now calls for craftsmen to help build the tabernacle and everything that it is to contain, as well as the priests' uniforms. The people go back to their tents and started either gathering or preparing these items. Moses then tells them that God has appointed Bezalel as the general supervisor of the project, and states that God has also made him and his assistant Oholiab into gifted teachers to teach their building skills to others to aid them. He explain that God has filled them with the skills of carpentry, jewelry making, embroidery, and weaving.
Notes:	1.) Moses ordered the Levites to slaughter 3,000 people back in Exodus: Chapter 32. Also, an undetermined amount of people were likely killed in the plague that God sent shortly after.
Thoughts:	Moses gathers the remnant of the entire populace of Israel (the ones that weren't slaughtered by the Levites or by God's plague - which we can assume was possibly still over half a million people) and repeats the law about the sabbath to them. Moses even goes so far as to warn the people to not even light a simple fire in their homes, as the punishment for disobeying the sabbath law is death. By the amount of times this law gets repeated in the book of Exodus, we can surmise that it's probably one of God's more important laws, which makes it puzzling as to why Christians don't feel the need to practice this law any longer, yet still cling to many other Mosaic laws from the Old Testament to explain away their opposition to homosexuality. Christians often tend to explain that Jesus' covenant later on with the people overrides all these old silly laws Moses brought to the people, yet it appears to be only *some* of the laws, the others remain for validating homophobia and intolerance. (We'll broach this subject much later on when we discuss the books of the New Testament.) Next, Moses commands the people to start donating the items needed to finish building the tabernacle and to make the priests' garments, and tells them about Bezalel being appointed to supervise the construction, along with his assistant Oholiab. Both Bezalel and Oholiab have also been blessed with the talent to teach other people in the arts of construction and clothing design to help speed the process along.
Chapter 36
Summary:	Moses recruits craftsmen to help Bezalel and Oholiab get started on their tasks, and the people of Israel began donating the materials, with additional donations appearing each morning. When the craftsmen found that they had more than enough donations, Moses restrained the people from donating any more. The rest of the chapter simply describes the construction process of the tabernacle, which I don't feel it necessary to recount. If you might be interested in building your own tabernacle tent, feel free to read this chapter yourself!
Thoughts:	Moses gets his craftsmen to work completing the tabernacle and the donations start pouring in. Presumably, within a short period of time there's a surplus of materials and Moses has to restrain the people of Israel from donating anything more. The craftsmen go to work and the rest of this monotonous chapter discusses each step that the craftsmen took in building God's tabernacle.

EXODUS: Chapters 33 & 34

Chapter 33
Summary:	God tells Moses to lead the people of Israel towards the "promised land", and again tells him that an angel will drive out the tribes living there. God then tells Moses that he will not travel amongst the people of Israel, calling them stubborn and unruly*, and that he would be tempted to destroy them. When the people heard God's threat they went into mourning and stripped themselves of their jewelry and fancy clothes. God apparently tells Moses to command them to remove their jewelry, leaving these two verses in doubt as to whose idea it was. Either way, the Israelis wore no jewelry from this point on. Moses erected the tabernacle tent far outside of the camp wherever they went. Whenever Moses went to the tabernacle, the people would rise and stand at their tent doors watching until he reached the entrance. As he entered, a pillar of cloud would appear at the door while God spoke to Moses. The people would then bow and worship the cloud from their tent doorways. Inside Moses would speak to God face to face, and afterwards would return to the camp, but leaving his assistant Joshua behind. Moses asked God to clearly guide him towards the "promised land", and that if God would not accompany them, then the people would not move from this spot. He further explains that if God does not accompany them, how will others know that the Israelis are "different" from any other people of the earth. God agrees to do as Moses asked, and in turn Moses asks to see God's glory. God tells Moses that he will make his "goodness" pass before him and will announce the meaning of his name, but that Moses cannot see the glory of his face, as man may not see him and live. However, God tells Moses to stand on a rock beside him, and that when his glory goes by, he will cover Moses' face with his (God's) hand until he has passed, then will remove his hand and will let Moses see his back as he passes.
Notes:	1.) The King James version uses the term "stiffnecked" here.
Thoughts:	God, apparently still brooding over that whole golden calf business from Chapter 32, tells Moses that he will not travel with the Israelis to the "promised land" because it would be too tempting to kill them all. Apparently God lacks self restraint and seems to have little patience, tolerance, or compassion towards his chosen people. The odd thing here is that Moses is painted here in a far more compassionate and loving light than God is. Here, Moses knows that his people can be a bunch of imperfect screw-ups and as opposed to God, he knows that outright killing them is not the answer (refer to Exodus: Chapter 32 where Moses talks God out of slaying them all), and nor is abandoning them. Here it appears that Moses is actually a better leader than God himself, or at the very least has far more compassion, patience, and understanding towards his fellow man. Despite Moses murdering an Egyptian in revenge for striking a Hebrew slave and commanding the Levites to slaughter 3,000 of their own people, Moses' death count is still well below God's - despite that God has had a several thousand year headstart, his high kill counts occur in spans of less than a year (the mass Genocide in Genesis: Chapter 7 with the flood, and the mass murder committed in the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis: Chapter 19). Next up we have an unclear account of why the Israelis stopped wearing jewelry. Verse four makes it seem like the people themselves stopped wearing their jewelry by their own free will, where verse five shows us that God had actually commanded that the people remove their jewelry as a punishment. While we can conclude that it ultimately was God's decision and a small punishment of his, it's curious as to why verse four is written as such to make it appear as if the people removed their jewelry out of remorse for their "bad behavior". Perhaps the people may have realized their "bad behavior" after God's punishment, or at least the extent of how they upset God, but verse four seems to imply that the people imposed this punishment upon themselves. Moses then tells God that if he's not going to travel with them, then the people aren't going to move from this spot. God relents when Moses explains that if God isn't traveling amongst them, then how will their enemies realize that they're a "different" people, and presumably "better than them", without God's presence. Finally Moses asks to see the glory of God's face, which God refuses on the grounds that mortals looking upon his face will surely die. Instead, God curiously decides to put his hand over Moses' eyes as he passes by and lets Moses see his backside as he passes him. This may just be one of the silliest verses we've read so far, at least since The Tower of Babel story.
Chapter 34
Summary:	God now tells Moses to prepare two stone tablets - just like the ones he sort of broke earlier - to write the ten commandments upon again. He tells Moses to be ready to climb the mountain in the morning to retrieve them, adding that no-one is to accompany him, nor shall they come anywhere near the mountain - including stray animals. In the morning, Moses returned to Mount Sinai with the two stone tablets. God descended upon the mountain in the form of a cloud, passing in front of Moses, and announced the meaning of his name. He tells Moses that he is Yahweh, the merciful and gracious god, slow to anger, and rich in steadfast love and truth. Yahweh continues by saying that he shows this "steadfast love" to many thousands by forgiving their sins, and that he refuses to clear the guilty, requiring a father's sin to be punished to his sons and grandsons, and further generations. Moses once again begs God to accompany the Israelis to the "promised land", to which God again agrees. He makes a pact with Moses, stating that he will perform a bunch of mighty miracles so that the people of Israel will see his power, and that Moses' part of the agreement is to obey all of the commandments. God continues on telling Moses again that he will drive out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hevites, and Jebusites. He warns Moses not to compromise with the inhabitants living in the "promised land", stating that if he does then soon he will be following their "evil ways". He tells Moses instead that he is to destroy their heathen altars and destroy their idols, for the people of Israel are only to worship Yahweh. God tells Moses that they are not to make any peace treaties of any kind with the people living in the land, calling them "spiritual whores" for sacrificing to other gods. He also forbids them from taking any of their daughters as wives, as they will make the sons of Israel go "whoring after" other Gods. God then reminds Moses not to forget about celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and repeats his mantra about every first born male belonging to him. He tells Moses again that the firstborn colt of a donkey may be redeemed by substituting a lamb, but that if one chooses not to redeem it, then its neck must be broken. He adds that no one shall appear before God without a gift. God now repeats his commandment about the sabbath, and follows it up with his laws about the three annual pilgrimages. God adds that no one will attack or conquer their land while they appear before God, as God will drive out the nations before them and enlarge their boundaries. God reminds Moses not to use leavened bread in any ritual sacrifices, nor is any of the Passover lamb to be kept for the following day. God also repeats that the people must bring the best of their first crops, and also that a young goat must not be cooked in its mother's milk. God tells Moses to write down these laws (again?) as they will be the terms of the covenant between God and the people of Israel. Moses was up on the mountain again for forty days and forty nights, in which time he did not either or drink anything. God rewrote the ten commandments on the new tablets and sent Moses back down the mountain. Unbeknown to Moses, his face glowed from being in the presence of God. Because of the radiant glow upon Moses face, Aaron and the people of Israel were frightened to go any where near him, yet Moses called for Aaron and the leaders of Israel before him. Afterwards all the people of Israel gathered before Moses and he gave them the Ten Commandments. When Moses finished speaking with the people he placed a veil over his face, which he removed each time he went into the tabernacle to speak directly with God. He would leave the veil off as he passed on the instructions God so that the people would see his face aglow with the glory of God. Afterwards he would put the veil back on until he returned to speak with God again.
Thoughts:	God has Moses get two more stone tablets to write the ten commandments on and to replace the ones Moses had broken earlier. He tells Moses to swing by in the morning to pick them up, while warning him that he is to come alone - adding that no one, man or animal is to even go near the mountain. When Moses arrives, God takes the form of a pillar of clouds and tells Moses about the meaning of his name, Yahweh. He suspiciously describes himself as "merciful", "gracious", and "slow to anger" - which run contrary to what the bible has described so far about God's temperament. Mercy was not shown to the millions (more probably actually billions) of innocent infants, children, and animals drowned in the flood story in Genesis: Chapter 7, nor towards the millions of firstborn sons he killed in Egypt in Exodus: Chapter 11 - these are not examples of "mercy" by any stretch of the imagination. God's claims of showing "steadfast love" by forgiving people's sins seems to run contrary to his claim right afterwards that he refuses to clear the guilty. God seems to forget that Moses committed murder in Egypt (killing an Egyptian who knocked down a Hebrew slave) and that God himself, almost killed Moses for simply not having his son circumcised in Exodus: Chapter 4. His claims of guilt being inherited by further generations of the offender are still as ridiculously absurd as they were when he claimed this in the book of Genesis. God then tells Moses that when they arrive in the "promised land" that they are to smash all the inhabitants "heathen" altars and their religious idols, as he doesn't want the Israelis to be contaminated or tempted by some "false" religion. Religious and cultural intolerance is also not a good indicator of "mercy" or "compassion" either. In fact God doesn't even want the Israelis to enact any kind of peace treaties with the inhabitants, and especially not to marry their "spiritually whoring" daughters, as they'll only contaminate the people of Israel with their false gods. Once again, misogyny and bigotry rears its ugly head, implying that these people - especially the young women - are subhuman and irredeemable. God repeats to Moses a few of his favorite mantras including animal sacrifice for the firstborn, that sheep can be substituted for donkeys (but if not, then break the donkey's neck!), and that no one is to appear before God without some sort of gift for him - apparently God is very materialistic. He repeats his sermon about not working on Saturdays and about the annual pilgrimages he expects. He tacks on that no enemy armies will be able to attack or invade the Israelis during these festivals, as God will personally enlarge the boundaries and drive out any attackers. God continues repeating previous statements to Moses about: not using yeast in any bread products used for sacrifices, that the passover goat meat is not to be eaten the following day, that the first of the crops belong to God, and the ever so charming rule of thumb not to boil a baby goat in its mother's milk. God makes Moses write all this stuff down again, and Moses stays up on the mountain for forty days and nights without eating or drinking, presumably as God puts Moses into some kind of suspended animation for the elapsed time. God gives Moses the new tablets containing the ten commandments, and unbeknownst to Moses, his face is shining and glowing from having been in the presence of God. Apparently Moses' new shiny look scares the dickens out of the people of Israel, so Moses decides to start wearing a veil, which he later begins to take off every time he speaks with God, in order to ensure that he soaks up a bit more godly-sheen. He gives the people the ten commandments and manages not to smash these two tablets to bits.

EXODUS: Chapters 31 & 32

Chapter 31
Summary:	God tells Moses that he has appointed Bezalel (who is the son of Uri, and grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah) to be the one to construct the tabernacle and everything it is to contain. He then tells Moses that he has appointed Oholiab (son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan) to be his assistant. Both will be blessed with wisdom, abilities, and special skills to aid them in constructing the tabernacle and all it will contain. God now tells Moses, yet again, to tell the people of Israel to rest on the sabbath day, reinforcing that any one who works on that day must die and shall be killed. God stresses once again, that this day is holy and compares it to the creation account in Genesis: Chapters 1 & 2. God then gives Moses two tablets of stone containing the Ten Commandments, which were written upon them by the "finger of God". The commandments are*: You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Honor your father and your mother. You shall not kill*. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal*. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his slaves, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's.
Notes:	1.) The commandments are actually stated in Exodus: Chapter 20, however, there are many disagreements of how exactly these 16 verses are divided into ten commandments. Wikipedia lists the common methods of dividing them by various religions and sects of Christianity. 2.) Most Christian religions use the more specific translation here as "You shall not murder". 3.) Judaism asserts that this commandment refers to kidnapping, as the commandments preceding this one are capital offenses.
Thoughts:	God tells Moses that Bezalel and his helper Oholiab have been appointed to build the tabernacle and everything it is to contain, adding that he'll endow them with the proper wisdom and skills to build it all. In God's habitual tendency of repeating himself ad nauseam, he once again tells Moses to instruct the people to obey the law of not working on the sabbath or they are to be killed. I find it fascinating that many Christians still hold the Ten Commandments in high regard, often insisting that they should be displayed in government buildings, yet virtually none observe the sabbath day despite God being very clear that people are to be killed for not observing it. God has made this law quite clear in Exodus: Chapter 16, Exodus: Chapter 20, and Exodus: Chapter 23, yet many Christians continue to work on Saturdays. Finally finished engraving the stone tablets with his mighty finger, God gives Moses the Ten Commandments that we had heard earlier in Exodus: Chapter 20. First off, God doesn't want anyone worshiping any other gods, as by his own admission, he is a jealous and possessive god. Next off, he doesn't want anyone creating any idols - carved images or otherwise - for the means of worshiping. I'm not sure if this includes those statues of Jesus, the virgin Mary, or various saints that people buy and sell in this modern age, or perhaps even paintings and pictures of religious figures that people tend to pray to. Next up, God says that no-one is to use his name (meaning the name Yahweh, or the bastardized English form as Jehovah) in vain. This is puzzling as to why God is so protective about how people use his name in language and seems rather petty. Next we're told to keep the sabbath holy and that no work is to be done at all. This, as stated earlier is a capital offense. Working on Saturday means you have broken this commandment and that you must be taken out to be stoned to death. Again, this is quite puzzling as to why this one commandment has pretty much been abandoned by believers in modern western civilization who stress the importance of the Ten Commandments. Perhaps to the modern world there are only Nine Commandments? Next up God tells us to honor our mothers and fathers, without exception. Honestly, sometimes we have to concede that parentage is not always a sign of a decent person. Some parents abuse their children verbally, physically, and sexually and are not worthy of honor or respect. The bible however makes no distinction here, and again reviling or cursing either of your parents is another capital offense - according to Exodus: Chapter 21. Next God commands that we are not to kill - or if you prefer, murder. Unless of course you are Moses, then it's okay to murder an Egyptian in retaliation for striking a Hebrew slave (Exodus: Chapter 2). God of course, is exempt from having to set an example for his people, as he has wantonly killed millions of people so far, which I've described in more detail in my summary for Exodus: Chapter 20. Next God adds that we are not to commit adultery, where adultery in this context is defined as a man who has sex with a married woman who is not his wife. Presumably, this exempts a man regardless of his own marital status, from having sex with prostitutes (female ones, of course), unmarried female slaves, and unmarried women (who presumably become his wives or concubines). This is another capital offense for both the adulterer and adulteress. Next up God tells us that stealing is wrong, which as noted above in my footnotes, the Jewish view is that this pertains to kidnapping and not property theft. God's penalties are quite different for thefts of property versus kidnapping, where the latter is again a capital offense. God now commands that a person shall not bear false witness upon his neighbor, which basically means that you are not allowed to misrepresent the truth, or lie about your neighbors. Finally God commands that we are not to covet our neighbor's "belongings" which included under this header are his wife, his slaves, his home, and his livestock. This commandment has always seemed a bit silly to me as most people tend to desire what belongs to other people. However, there is definitely a distinction between what we may want versus what we are actively pursuing. In some senses I believe it's actually healthy to want things that our friends and neighbors have; for example, admiring your neighbor's new car and wanting one just like it, often leads us to work harder and try to succeed to achieve that goal. A point of contention I often have with believers is over the idea of lust being a "bad thing". As a married man, I often lust after other women - it is a natural urge for us to look at an attractive person and desire to have sexual relations with them. I often share these thoughts with my wife, as she shares her own thoughts with me, and this actually has the effect of strengthening our trust in one another and teaches us about our tastes in beauty and sexuality. The difference is that I am committed to my marriage and despite my desires I don't jeopardize my marriage, nor do I put my freedom in jeopardy when I see a piece of property or merchandise that I desire but can't afford. I'm sure we've all "plotted in our heads" from time to time how "easy" it could be for us to score with another person or how we could shoplift a desirable item in a store, but there's a definite difference between thinking and doing. Fantasy and daydreaming - even about bad things - can be healthy and can help us relieve negative thoughts just by playing it through in our heads or on paper. Often times when we're angry it can be quite therapeutic to write a nasty letter to someone who is angering you without actually sending it to them. It's the mechanism of releasing these thoughts, regardless of their negativity, that allows us to be introspective towards ourselves and to release emotions rather than having to express them.
Chapter 32
Summary:	When Moses didn't come down from the mountain in a timely fashion, the people of Israel became worried that he had disappeared. They then turned to Aaron and asked him to create a god that could lead them, assuming that Moses had vanished in the mountains. Aaron had the people give him their golden earrings and he melted them down to make a golden calf out of the molten gold. The people became happy again as they personified the golden calf as the god who had brought them out of Egypt. Aaron saw their happiness and built an altar before the calf and announced that tomorrow there would be a feast to Yahweh. The people woke up early the following morning and began offering animal sacrifices to the golden calf. Afterwards they sat down to a feast, drinking, and being merry. God then told Moses to quickly descend from the mountain as he states that the people have "defiled" themselves and have abandoned all of God's laws. God then decides that he shall let out his anger and destroy them all, adding that he'll make Moses and his descendants into a great nation instead. Moses however pleads with God not to do it, asking him why is anger is so great towards his own people. He then points out that the Egyptians will say that God had tricked the people of Israel into coming out to the wilderness so that they could be destroyed in seclusion. Moses tells God to turn away from his anger and wrath and away from the terrible evil that God is planning against his own people. Moses finishes by reminding God that he had made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel and would be going against his own word by slaying the Israelis. God changes his mind and spares the people, sending Moses down from the mountain with the two stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments. When Moses' assistant Joshua heard the noise of the people below them, he thought they were preparing for war, to which Moses replied that they were actually singing instead. When Moses neared the camp and saw the people singing and dancing before the golden calf, he threw the stone tablets to the ground in anger, breaking them both. He took the golden calf and melted in a fire, and when it cooled he ground the metal into a fine powder, spreading it upon the water, and forcing the people to drink it. Moses then turned to Aaron asking him what must the people have done* to make Aaron bring such a terrible sin amongst them. Aaron told Moses not to be so upset and that he should understand what a wicked bunch of people these are*. He explains to his brother Moses that the people had thought he had vanished and that he had asked for their golden earrings. Aaron tells Moses that when he melted the earrings in the fire that the calf had simply come out of the fire. When Moses saw that the people were naked* - at Aaron's doing, shaming themselves amongst their enemies - he stood at the camp entrance and shouted to the people, ordering that anyone who was on God's side was to join him over where he stood. All of the Levites came over. Moses then told the Levites to arm themselves with their swords and to go across the camp slaying everyone, even if it meant killing their sons, brothers, or neighbors. The Levites did as they were told and killed about three thousand men. Moses then told the Levites that they had ordained themselves for God's service by obeying God's command* even though it meant killing their sons, brothers, and neighbors. He tells the people that God will bestow a great blessing upon them. Moses tells the people the next day, that although they have committed a great sin, he would now go before God to plead for his forgiveness. When Moses appeared before God he begged of him to forgive the people, and if not, then God can kill him instead. God replies that the people who sinned against him would be killed. After telling Moses that the people would get their punishment, he instructs Moses to lead the people towards the place he had told him about, assuring Moses that an angel would travel on ahead of them. God then sent a great plague amongst the people for worshiping Aaron's golden calf.
Notes:	1.) It was Aaron's idea to make the golden calf, not the people of Israel. 2.) Aaron is shifting the blame here away from himself and implicating the rest of the people for his own doing. 3.) The bible once again reinforces that nudity is shameful. 4.) It is not specified that God himself gave this command, and as written appears that Moses had given this command alone.
Thoughts:	During Moses' forty day and forty night stay on top of the mountain, the people became convinced that Moses had vanished and pleaded with Moses' brother Aaron to make them a new god. Aaron comes up with an idea to melt down the people's earrings and forge a golden calf out of the molten gold. This makes the people happy and they apparently party it up with a feast, some drinking, song, and dance. God however is not amused and tells Moses that he's going to kill them all (so much for love and compassion). Moses pleads with God to not kill the people and uses an interesting word here - "evil". Moses apparently sees that God's overreaction by wanting to murder everybody for worshiping a silly golden calf is evil, and adds that he'd also be breaking his promise and vows to Abraham, Isaac, and Israel by not letting their descendants become a great nation. Another interesting thing happens here - God changes his mind, implying that God can be wrong about things, may make rash decisions, may kill people for the wrong reasons, and may make mistakes. This is interesting in the respect that believers often state that God's judgment is perfect and infallible, and while we can question many things about some of his choices elsewhere, clearly here he changes his mind, which shows that God's judgment has the potential and possibility of being wrong. It can be argued that God didn't go through with a "mistake" here, but the point is that it took Moses to convince God that he was wrong and was about to do something very evil. So God sends Moses on down the mountain, and upon seeing all the people singing and dancing in front of the golden cow he smashes the two tablets containing God's ten commandments. He then asks Aaron what the heck is going on, to which Aaron shifts the blame away from himself and towards the "wicked" people of Israel. Moses then melts the golden cow, grinds up the gold into powder, mixes the powder into their water, and forces the people to drink it. He then tells whoever is with him and wants to obey God's laws to suit up for a slaughter. As the Levites step up, swords in hand, Moses tells them to slaughter everyone else - regardless of family ties. Three thousand people are killed at the hands of the Levites which begs the question of how many of the 600,000+ people were actually descended from Levi? Something doesn't quite add up to assume that there were 597,000 Levites and that everyone else in the remaining three thousand was descended from the other tribes. Moses pats the Levites on the back for slaughtering all of the 3,000 people - regardless of their family connections - and tells them that God will bestow a great blessing upon them. (The joke however, will be on them when God sends a deadly plague as his "thanks".) Moses then begs God to forgive the sinners and that he'll sacrifice his own life in turn to save them (sound a little familiar?). God instead tells Moses that the people who turned against him will get what they have coming to them for sinning against him. God sends a nasty plague to deal with all of that golden cow worshiping, which somehow our instigator Aaron manages to survive.