DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 32

Chapter 32
Summary:	(Note: Because of the way this chapter is written - with the majority of the verses being song lyrics - I'm going to change up my approach to summarizing this chapter by leaving the verses in their original King James translation, and then commenting every so often between them, with my comments written in italics.) Moses recites the lyrics to God's song:  1Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.  2My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:  3Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God. These first three verses basically see Moses setting up metaphors implying that these lyrics will hit the listener like rain and dew hits the grass, and that they are intended to explain how "great" God is.  4He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he. Moses is claiming here that both God and all of his works are "perfect", that he is a god of truth, and that he is without "sin".  5They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation.  6Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee? Moses is implying here that the Israelites have corrupted themselves and are no longer "God's children", but instead have corrupted themselves. Moses calls them foolish and unwise for doing so, considering that God brought them here from out of their Egyptian slavery and made them into the mighty nation that they became.  7Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.  8When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. Moses tells people to "remember" the stories of the "days of old", by asking their elders to recount the stories to them. Moses claims that when God (the Most High) divided up the people of the world (the sons of Adam) into their separate nations (presumably after the Tower of Babel incident) that he set the borders of these nation in accordance to the population of the people of Israel. This seems suspect considering that the entire population of "Israel" at the time of their migration to Egypt - an already well established nation - was 70.  9For the LORD's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance.  10He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. It is important that a distinction should be made between Jacob/Israel the person and Jacob/Israel the people. While Jacob/Israel himself found favor with God, God wanted to destroy the people of Israel not just once, not just twice, not just three times, but distinctly four times so far in our story so far alone - which Moses had to talk God out of each time. Although perhaps Jacob himself, along with Moses, may have been, the people of Israel were hardly the "apple of [God's] eye".  11As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:  12So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him. Although it may be arguable that outside of the various mass killings, plagues, and violent anger towards the Israelites that God did take care of them somewhat, it would be impossible for the Israelites to be certain that God alone - without the aid of other "strange gods" - lead them, aside from taking Moses' word for it. According to the story found in Exodus: Chapter 20, the Israelites begged Moses to not have God speak to them directly, fearing that the voice of God would kill them.  13He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;  14Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.  15But Jeshurun* waxed fat, and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation. These three verses are prophetic, where Moses tells how God will provide the Israelites with all a wealth of good food, meats, and wines, but that the Israelites (referred to by an unusual poetic variant, "Jeshurun") would simply become gluttonous and forsake God's generosity and their own "salvation". It's unclear whether this might be a case of self-fulfilling prophecy; whether God is simply stating predestination, which is not alterable, and thereby negating what many believers claim as people having free-will; or whether God might be manipulating the Israelites into behaving this way.  16They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.  17They sacrificed unto devils, not to God; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Moses again places heavy emphasis on the "sin" of worshiping other gods being a justification out of jealousy for the extremities of God's violence against the Israelites. Curiously this also marks the second occurrence of the term "devil", this time in reference to the "other gods" the Israelites have turned to. Moses also adds that these will be gods that the Israelites have never encountered before, and ones that have been newly invented.  18Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee.  19And when the LORD saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of his sons, and of his daughters. Moses states here that the Israelites (by worshiping other gods) will become ungrateful to the god that supposedly "created them", and that they in turn will provoke God into detesting them.  20And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith.  21They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. Moses states that God's punishment to the Israelites for making him jealous of their new gods will be to take away his blessings to the Israelites, and will make the Israelites themselves jealous by giving those blessings to other nations who are not "God's people", which will provoke their own anger. When we examine what's being said in these verses a lot closer, we realize that what is most likely really going on here is psychological manipulation to further vilify the religions of other cultures. Broken down, we see that in order for the Israelites to receive God's blessings they have to jump through all sorts of hoops: they have to meticulously follow and obey numerous and complex commandments, rules, animal sacrifices, and laws to appease God or else they will be killed or excommunicated. Whereas the only thing that the enemies of the Israelites have to do to receive these same blessings are to get the Israelites to worship "idols" - whether they are their own or they encourage the Israelites to create their own. The enemy nations don't have to follow any of God's complex rules and regulations to benefit from God's blessings, all they have to do is lead the Israelites to worship other gods - ANY gods. Imagine you were given a mansion to live in rent free, but in order to live there you had to do all sorts of complex tasks, follow strict rules, and follow your landlord's religion. If you fail at these tasks your landlord will give your mansion away to your neighbors, who can live there without having to follow all of the strict rules that you have to abide by. When your neighbor stops by with his copy of the "Book of Mormon" - even if he might have no idea about your landlord's rules - you're apt to act out even more defensively, angrily, and perhaps violently, out of fear of your neighbor's motives. Clearly you're being psychologically manipulated regardless of whether whether your landlord's or your neighbor's intentions are meant in good will or not.  22For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains.  23I will heap mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon them.  24They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured with burning heat, and with bitter destruction: I will also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison of serpents of the dust.  25The sword without, and terror within, shall destroy both the young man and the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray hairs. Now God also dishes out the nasty stuff. Not only will he give his blessings to your enemies, but his anger will be so intense, that he will consume the "promised land" with fire, shoot the people with arrows, starve them, burn them, have wild animals tear them apart, and have poisonous snakes bite them. He will not spare any children (neither male nor young virgin girls), babies who are still nursing, or the elderly; despite the fact they're probably not able to properly convince the able adults not to worship other gods, leaving them helpless to their own destruction - not to mention that babies have no protection against their own destruction at God's hands. Also interesting of note is that this is the first mention of "hell" in the bible.  26I said, I would scatter them into corners, I would make the remembrance of them to cease from among men:  27Were it not that I feared the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, Our hand is high, and the LORD hath not done all this. God now appears to have second thoughts about scattering the Israelites all over to distant lands, thinking that the enemy nations might believe that they destroyed Israel by their own might, and denying that God had anything to do with it. 28For they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there any understanding in them.  29O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!  30How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?  31For their rock is not as our Rock, even our enemies themselves being judges.  32For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah: their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter:  33Their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. God "reasons" that the enemies of Israel are "unwise" for thinking that they themselves could drive out an army of 1,000 Israelites with a single one of their soldiers, or that an army of 10,000 Israelites with two of their soldiers, without realizing that God was punishing the Israelites; positing that even they know that their gods aren't genuine like Yahweh, the god of the Israelites. God reasons that this should be evident because their vineyards are the "vine of Sodom" and that their "fields of Gomorrah" produce sour and poisonous grapes, their wine is the "poison of dragons" and the "venom of [snakes]". Therefore, apparently if you can't harvest edible grapes, it serves to reason that your gods are false. 34Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures?  35To me belongeth vengeance and recompence; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste. God now states that the people of Israel will always be "among [his] treasures", and that he will have vengeance and retribution against the enemies of Israel, and that their good fortune will run out in due time. 36For the LORD shall judge his people, and repent himself for his servants, when he seeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up, or left. Once God sees that the Israelites have been "beaten up" enough, he'll repent himself. 37And he shall say, Where are their gods, their rock in whom they trusted,  38Which did eat the fat of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your protection. In these two verses God taunts the enemies of Israel by asking them "where are your gods now?" 39See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.  40For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.  41If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me.  42I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh; and that with the blood of the slain and of the captives, from the beginning of revenges upon the enemy.  43Rejoice, O ye nations, with his people: for he will avenge the blood of his servants, and will render vengeance to his adversaries, and will be merciful unto his land, and to his people. God claims that he is the only "real god", that he is the arbiter of life and death, and the one who wounds and heals, and that none can do what he can do. God continues, saying that he is eternal, and lifts his "sword" in judgment, delivering vengeance to his enemies and repaying those who oppose him. God says that his arrows with be bloodthirsty, his sword will devour flesh, fueled by the blood of the slain and captive Israelites becoming the beginning of God's revenge upon their enemies. God finishes out by stating that he will avenge the Israelites and have revenge on their enemies - showing mercy to the "promised land" and the Israelites. Moses and "Hoshea"*, the son of Nun, recited these lyrics to the people of Israel. Moses finished speaking to the people of Israel telling them: "Take these words that I testify to you today to heart, and teach them to your children, for them to obey all the words of these laws. It is not vain for you to do this, because it will prolong your days in the land when you cross the Jordan River to possess it." God spoke to Moses that same day telling him: Go up into the mountain of Abarim, Mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab across from Jericho; and gaze upon the land of Canaan which I gave to the people of Israel as a possession. You will die up in the mountain and will be join your ancestors, just as Aaron your brother died in Mount Hor. Because you trespassed against me in front of the people of Israel, at the waters of Meribah-Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin. Because you didn't sanctify me in the midst of the people of Israel, you will be allowed to see the land spread out before you, but you will not enter the land which I give to the people of Israel."
Notes:	1.) "Jeshurun" is an alternate poetic equivalent for "Israel". It can mean the people of Israel (as it is used here), the land of Israel, or as an alternate name for Jacob/Israel. 2.) "Hoshea" is yet another spelling of "Joshua", similar to "Oshea" as seen in Numbers: Chapter 13 prior to Moses renaming him "Jehoshua", or Joshua. It's unclear why this form of Joshua's name is used here, but it might possibly be further evidence for the documentary hypothesis.
Thoughts:	After Moses (and Joshua, or is it Hoshea?) recite the song lyrics to God's #1 hit single to the Israelites, he tells the people to take the lyrics to heart, and to ensure that they teach them to their children - adding that it's not "vain" for them to do so, since it will prolong their lives in the "promised land" Next God tells Moses to climb Mount Nebo and to take a good look at the land of Canaan - the "promised land" - since he won't be allowed to enter it. He tells Moses that he will die upon the mountain, in a similar fashion to his brother Aaron, due to both of them messing up that whole striking a rock instead of speaking to it that somehow didn't "sanctify" God in the presence of the people of Israel.

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 29

Chapter 29
Summary:	These are the words that God commanded Moses to give to the people of Israel in the land of Moab, in addition to the covenant made in Horeb. Moses called upon all of Israel and said to them: "You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, unto the Pharaoh, his servants, and his land. The great temptations which your eyes have seen, the signs, and those great miracles; yet the Lord has not given you a heart to perceive, eyes to see, or the ears to hear until this day. "I have led you forty years through the wilderness, yet your clothes have not worn out upon you, nor have your shoes worn out upon your feet. You have not eaten bread, nor drank wine or strong drink, that you might know that I am the Lord your God. "When you came to this place, Sihon the king of Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, came out against us in battle, and we smote them. We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Rebuenites, the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasseh. Therefore, keep the words of this covenant and obey them, so that you may prosper in all that you do. "All of you shall stand before the Lord your God - including the captains of your tribes, your elders, your officers, all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and the strangers living amongst you, from the one who chops your wood, to the one that draws your water - that you should enter into the covenant with the Lord your God, and into his oath, which the Lord your God will make with you this day. That he may establish you on this day as his people, and that he may be your god, as he has said to you, and sworn to your forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Not only with you do I make this covenant and this oath, but with him that stands here with us on this day before the Lord our God, and also with him that is not here with us this day. "For you know how we had dwelt in the land of Egypt, and how we came through the nations we passed by. You have seen their abominations, and their idols of wood, stone, silver, and gold which were among them. Lest there be among you man or woman, family or tribe, whose heart turn away this day from the Lord your God, to go serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood; it shall come to pass when he hears the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, 'I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my own heart,' to add drunkenness to thirst. The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger and jealousy of the Lord shall smoke against that man, and all of the curses written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven. The Lord shall separate him as evil out of the tribes of Israel, according to the curses of the covenant that are written in this book of the law; so that the generation to come of your children shall rise up after you, and the stranger that comes from far away lands shall say, when they see the plagues of that land, and the sickness which the Lord has laid upon it. That the whole land thereof is brimstone, salt, and burning, that cannot bear crops or fruit trees, nor will the grass grow therein, like the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath. Other nations shall ask why the Lord has done this to the land, and what provoked his great anger? The men shall answer that it is because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them forth out of the land of Egypt. For they went and served and worshiped other gods - gods whom they knew not, and whom were not given to them - and the anger of the Lord was kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this book; and the Lord rooted them out of their land in anger, in wrath, and in great indignation, casting them into another land, as it is this day. "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law."
Notes:	1.) It is unclear whether this is an error of attributing to Moses what seems more likely to be a quote from God, or whether Moses is quoting God himself.
Thoughts:	This chapter begins with Moses addressing the entire congregation of Israel (supposedly around two million people or more) and tells them that although they witnessed all the "miracles" and plagues that God unleashed upon the land of Egypt and the Pharaoh, that God has not given them the ability to understand its significance until this very day. Aside from Moses, Aaron's sons, Joshua, and Caleb, few of the Israelites present during this chapter of the story would have been alive during the Exodus, as Moses states himself in Numbers: Chapter 26, that no one counted in the previous census conducted in Mount Sinai remained alive when he made a new census. This means that the few possible eyewitnesses would have been teenagers at the oldest during the events in Egypt, and it would be very likely that quite a few of them would be killed in the various ensuing plagues that God sent upon the Israelites, or possibly in battle, thereby thinning the pool even greater. Moses claims that after the forty year excursion through the wilderness that neither the Israelites' clothes nor their shoes had worn out. I don't think I even need to bother commenting on how ridiculous that notion is. He also states that the reason the Israelites haven't eaten bread, nor drank wine or hard liquor, is so that they would know that God was their god(?) What this is trying to imply is that by God giving the Israelites the bare minimal means for survival - manna and water - instead of luxury foods and wine, that this somehow proves that God is their god. Like he's done throughout the book of Deuteronomy, Moses misrepresents the Israelite's slaughter of King Sihon and King Og, their kingdoms, as well as giving their land to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh. Whether this is done for brevity or to bolster the appearance of "righteousness" is unclear. He next tells the Israelites that every single one of them - including wives, children, slaves, servants, and strangers in town - must stand before God and enter into a covenant with him. Doing so, Moses claims, will establish that they will be "God's people". Quickly Moses changes his speech into yet another tirade against worshiping other gods. He states that the Israelites have seen the "abominations" of idols crafted from wood, stone, silver, and gold, and if anyone - man, woman, or child - "turn their heart way from" God by serving these other gods, that God will not spare such a person, but instead visit upon them all of the curses laid out in the previous chapter, and that their name will be "blotted out from under heaven". He continues stating that the offender's children and future descendants wil rise up against them, and that foreigners will marvel at the curses God deals out as a punishment against the land of the offender. He notes that the whole land will be covered in brimstone, salt, and "burning", and that neither grass nor crops will grow there - similar to the fates of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Somehow Moses reasons that other nations will realize and equate the destruction of the land to the Israelites forsaking their covenant with God, and that God retaliated against them due to his anger. Moses ends the chapter by stating that "secret things" (meaning "prophecy") belong to God, but that those of which God reveals to the Israelites, belong to them so that they may obey God's laws. Basically what Moses is implying here is that God reveals prophecy as "evidence" for his existence and authority. Moses also implies that "prophecy" itself belongs only to God, which thereby justifies the condemning and subsequent killing of "fortune tellers", "diviners", and "mediums" - which laughably the criteria of determining whether a self-proclaimed prophet is speaking the word of God is whether the prophecy comes true or not.

GENESIS: Chapters 18 & 19

Chapter 18
Summary:	Abraham sat at the opening of his tent when he saw three men approaching him. He sprang to his feet to welcome them and insisted that they stop to rest while he fetched them some food and some water to soak their feet. Abraham ran back to his tent telling Sarah to make some cakes using her best flour, and then ran of to one of his shepherds telling him to slaughter the fattest calf he could find. He brought the three men some milk, cheese, and fresh veal and sat beside them as they ate. The three men asked him, "Where is your wife, Sarah?" To which Abraham replied that she was in the tent*. God then tells Abraham (God had taken the form of one of these three men - the other two being angels - to visit with Abraham) that he will give him and Sarah a son next year, which made Sarah who was overhearing the conversation laugh. God asked why Sarah was laughing and proclaimed that nothing was impossible for God, and repeated that Sarah and Abraham would be given a son next year. Sarah out of fear claimed that she didn't laugh, but God called her out on her lie. The three men then rose and began heading off toward the city of Sodom, with Abraham in tow. God debates on whether he should tell Abraham his plan, and then informs Abraham that he is headed to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah - as he has heard that the people there are utterly evil - and that he wants to know if those reports are true or not. While the two angels headed towards Sodom, God hangs back for a while with Abraham. 18:23 "And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?" Abraham asks God whether he's going to kill everyone in Sodom, good and bad alike, adding to the question with what if he finds 50 good people in the city, would he not spare the city for their sake. Abraham notes that God would be treating both the godly and the wicked alike, and adding that the judge of all the earth should be a fair one. God replies and confirms that if he does find 50 godly people in Sodom he will spare the city. In an exchange sounding more like a Marx Brothers routine than a divinely written passage, Abraham haggles further lowering the number incrementally from 45, to 40, to 30, to 20, to 10, each time with God answering that he would spare the city if he found the said amount of godly people. God then went on his way to Sodom while Abraham returned to his tent.
Notes:	1.) It's unclear whether or not by this point if (or when for that matter) Abraham recognized the three men as being God accompanied by two angels. Abraham's nonchalant manner seems to imply he may have understood by this point, but the meal offering seems bizarre in this context.
Thoughts:	There's a lot of strange things going on in this chapter that are puzzling. As noted above in my footnotes, exactly when does Abraham realize that the three men he sees walking towards him are in fact God accompanied by a pair of angels? If he does recognize them from the onset, why does he choose to feed them and fetch some water for their feet? If he doesn't catch on right away does he figure it out when God asks where Sarah is? If not, why doesn't he inquire as to how this man knows his wife's name? What about Sarah's reaction considering she overheard at least part of this conversation, if not all of it? As far as has been shown in Genesis so far Sarah has never spoken to God directly, so how did she figure out who these "men" really were? The other troubling thing is again we have another paradox with God not being omniscient and omnipresent as he is physically scoping out the city of Sodom to figure out whether the reports(?) he's heard about the wickedness of the people is true or not. The "Marx Brothers" routine also poses a problem in the context of the flood story when we have to assume that at least one - if not many - infant and/or child existed during the time, and Abraham makes an outstanding point as to what would be the purpose (and the fairness) of treating the "godly" (or innocent) the same as the "wicked" (or the guilty)? To take things to an even more literal level, God also stated that Noah was the only righteous person alive. So did he not spare some of the wicked by sparing Noah's wife, Ham, Shem, and Japheth - thereby treating some of the wicked the same as Noah, the only godly one?
Chapter 19
Summary:	The two angels arrived at the gates of Sodom that evening and Lot was sitting there while they arrived. When he saw them he stood up to welcome them and invited them to stay the night with him at his home. Although the angels declined, Lot persisted until they agreed and made a great feast for them when they arrived. When the meal was over and they were preparing to retire for the night they found that Lot's house had been surrounded by all the men of the city - young and old alike. The Sodomites shouted to Lot demanding that he bring out his two guests, as they wished to rape them (the angels). 19:8 "Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof." Lot stepped outside to talk with the townsfolk and shut the door behind him. Lot tells the men to leave his two guests alone, and that he will offer up his two virgin daughters for the townsfolk for them to do what they wish to, but begs for the Sodomites to leave his guest alone as they are under his protection. The Sodomites refused to be swayed and threatened to do worse to Lot than with the two house guests. As they lunged at Lot and started to break down the door, the angels pulled him into the house, bolted the door behind him, and blinded the Sodomites to prevent them from finding the door. The angels instructed Lot to get his family out of the city as they explained to Lot their intentions to destroy the city as commanded by God. Lot rushed out to warn his daughter's fiancees, but the young men didn't believe him. At dawn the angels became urgent towards Lot to take his family and flee, and when he hesitated they grabbed the hands of Lot, his wife, and his daughters and rushed them to safety telling them to flee for their lives. The angels told them to flee to the mountains and to not look back towards the city. Lot protested fearing disaster in the mountains and pointed to a small village off in the distance, begging for the angels to let him go there instead. The angels agreed to let Lot and his family escape to the village, which from that point on was named Zoar, meaning "Little City"). God then rained down fire and flaming tar upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, utterly destroying them along with other cities in the plains, eliminating all life - people, plants, and animals alike. Lot's wife was apparently unable to resist the temptation of looking back towards the city and in retaliation, God turned her into a pillar of salt. Abraham awoke early in the morning and rushed out towards the place where he had spoken to God previously and looking across the plains, witnessed columns of smoke and fumes where the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah once stood. Afterwards Lot left Zoar fearing the inhabitants there and fled to live in a cave with his two daughters. Lot's oldest daughter complained to her sister that there wasn't a man anywhere in the area that their father would let them marry, while adding that their father would also be too old for having children soon, and hatched a plan to get their father drunk and rape him so that (hopefully) their blood line would continue. So they proceeded to get their father drunk enough to have sex with the older daughter and not remember the experience, while the younger girl did the same the following night. Both girls became pregnant and gave birth to their father's sons - Moab, the son of the eldest daughter became the ancestor of the Moabites, while Benammi, the son of the younger daughter became the ancestor of the Ammonites.
Thoughts:	There's no question that there is quite a lot to digest here in this chapter. On perhaps suggestion from and the relation to Abraham, we are lead to believe that Lot is the only true virtuous man in the entire city of Sodom. He invites and insists that our angelic travelers stay the night with him and prepares an enormous feast for them in celebration. However, while it is the author's intention to make Lot look honorable and godly by protecting his angelic company, the ball gets dropped completely when we read that he's willing to offer up his own virgin daughters to the sex crazed mob outside. His own daughters. Who are unmarried. Virgins. To every man in Sodom. To do what ever they want to them. Now I can just hear the religious apologists chiming in here, with "You have to understand that things were very different back in biblical times, and that things like beating pregnant women, men being misogynist pigs, women being considered property, and having (as well as beating) slaves was perfectly acceptable 3,000 years ago." Quite frankly, despite the fact that I find all of the above mentioned pretty sick, I think any rational person has to draw the line at a father offering his two virgin daughters to a pack of sex-crazy rapists. Perhaps you can theorize that maybe Lot offered his daughters up for a free-for-all as perhaps he knew that the townsfolk outside were only interested in raping men, but still - God turns Lot's wife into a pillar of salt for simply looking back at the destruction of the cities, and completely disregards Lot's deplorable solicitation of the virginities of both of his daughters to a pack of rapists? Back to Lot's wife, I find it awfully strange that neither Lot or his daughters turned back after noticing that mom was no longer running beside them and possibly become turned into pillars of salt themselves. Finally the chapter winds down with a bit of rape, incest, and drunkenness on behalf of Lot's daughters who somehow manage the near impossible task of getting a man drunk enough to sustain an erection, be able to ejaculate, and not remember anything in the morning - two nights in a row!

GENESIS: Chapters 14 & 15

Chapter 14
Summary:	War has broken out amongst the following: Amraphael - king of Shinar Arioch - king of Ellasar Ched-or-laomer - king of Elam Tidal - king of Goiim vs. Bera - king of Sodom Birsha - king of Gomorrah Shinab - king of Admah Shember - king of Zeboiim King* of Bela (later called Zoar) The kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela mobilized their armies in the Siddim Valley. For twelve years they had all been subject to King Ched-or-laomer, but decided to rebel in the thirteenth year. A year later King Ched-or-laomer and his allies arrived and the slaughter began. King Ched-or-laomer and his allies prevailed over the following tribes at the places indicated: The Rephraim in Ashteroth-karnaim The Zuzim in Ham The Emim in the plain of Kiriathaim The Horites in Mt. Seir, as far as El-paran at the edge of the desert They then swung around to Emmishpat (later called Kadesh) and destroyed the Amalekites and also the Amorites living in Hazazan-tamar. The rebel armies unsuccessfully attacked King Ched-or-laomer and his allies at the Siddim Valley. As they fled some of the armies of Sodom and Gomorrah slipped into tar pits, while the rest escaped to the mountains. The victors plundered Sodom and Gomorrah, carrying off their wealth and food before heading back home - taking with them Lot and all he owned. One of the men who escaped came and told Abram the news. 14:14 "And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan." When Abram learned of Lot's capture he gathered together the slaves born to his household (318 in all) and chased the retiring army as far as Dan, successfully attacking them and chasing the fleeing army to Hobah, north of Damascus. Abram recovered everything: his nephew Lot, the loot that had been taken, all the captives, and all of Lot's possessions. As Abram returned from his strike against King Ched-or-laomer and his allies, the king of Sodom came out to meet him, and King Melchizedek of Salem (Jerusalem) brought him bread and wine. Melchizedek blessed Abram and Abram in turn gave him a tenth of the spoils. The king of Sodom told Abram that he just wished for his people to be returned and that Abram could keep the stolen loot from the city of Sodom. Abram tells the king of Sodom that he has promised God that he will not take so much as a single thread from the city of Sodom, but tells the king to share the loot with Aner, Eschol, and Mamre - whom Abram calls his allies.
Notes:	1.) This king is not named.
Thoughts:	It seems a little odd to me that King Bera of Sodom is portrayed as humble in this chapter considering the description of the inhabitants of the city of Sodom to be "unusually wicked" in the previous chapter, however I think it's written that way to show moreover how unselfish Abram is supposed to be in contrast. It also seems strange that Abram is able to amass a small (presumably untrained) army of 318 that is able to defeat the trained armies of King Ched-or-laomer and his allies, but I think the point that is trying to be conveyed is that God was on the side of Abram and his militia.
Chapter 15
Summary:	God speaks to Abram in a vision and tells him not to be afraid, as God will defend him and bestow great blessings upon him. Abram complains to God asking what good are all these blessings to him when he has no son to inherit his wealth, mentioning that someone "undeserving" in his household might instead inherit his wealth. God assures him that he will in fact have a son to inherit his wealth and brings him outside to look at the stars in the sky. He then shows Abram the stars and claims that the number of Abram's descendants will be as difficult to count as the stars in the sky. God reminds Abram that he brought Abram out of the city of Ur and gave him this land forever. When Abram asks how he can be sure that God will in fact give it to him, God tells him to gather up a three year old heifer, a three year old goat, a three year old ram, a turtle dove, and a pigeon, and tells him to slay them all and split them all down the middle except for the birds. After doing so, Abram shoos away the vultures who try to feed off the carcasses. That night as Abram goes to sleep, God comes to him in another vision, this time a vision of terror and darkness. God tells him that although his descendants will indeed inherit this land that they will first be enslaved in a foreign land for 400 years. However, God continues on saying that he will punish the nation that enslaves them, and in the end Abram's descendants will come away from their slavery with great wealth. 15:18 "In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:" Continuing on, God says that the people will return to this land as the wickedness of the Amorite nation living here now won't be ready for punishment for another 400 years. Abram apparently wakes up and sees a smoking fire-pot and a flaming torch pass through the halves of the animal carcasses. God makes a covenant with Abram telling him that the land from the Wadi-el-Arish to the Euphrates River will belong to Abram's descendants, and lists these nations that will belong to them: Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaim, Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites, and Jebusites.
Thoughts:	The most interesting thing I find here is God's apparent sense of clairvoyance, and it almost begs the question of whether it is actually God foreseeing the future or if he is simply guiding it that way. However, God specifically predicts that the Amorite nation won't be ready for punishment (meaning that they probably haven't sinned enough yet) for another 400 years. Now the problem I have here with God's apparent clairvoyance is that it makes the genocidal flood seem rather senseless when Abram would still be born through Noah's lineage and could have inherited the same land without all the world wide death and destruction. It also seems to make the Adam and Eve story even grimmer if God apparently has the power to see the future and willing knew that Adam and Eve were doomed from the beginning. Also of note, this is the first time God specifically calls for an animal sacrifice, and a pretty gory one at that.

GENESIS: Chapters 12 & 13

Chapter 12
Summary:	After Abram's father Terah died, God tells Abram to leave behind his country and his people to go to a land that God has picked out for him. He tells Abram that if he does, Abram will become the father of a great nation, will be famous world-wide, and will be a blessing to others. So Abram, now aged 75, does what he's told and brings his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot along with him too. He also brings his cattle and a bunch of slaves that he had gotten in Haran, and finally arrives in Canaan. Traveling through Canaan they set up camp at an oak tree in Moreh. God appears to Abram and tells him that he is going to give this land to Abram's descendants and Abram builds an altar to commemorate God's visit. Abram leaves and travels south to a hilly area between Bethel (on the west) and Ai (on the east). He makes another altar and prays to God, before heading off to Negeb, pausing frequently along the way. At the time there was a terrible famine, so Abram heads off to Egypt to live. Before entering Egypt, he tells his wife Sarai to tell people that she is his sister, fearing that an Egyptian might be tempted by her beauty to kill Abram and take Sarai for himself. When he arrives in Egypt he finds that he was right about the Egyptian people being entranced with Sarai's beauty, and once word got back to the Pharaoh, the Pharaoh took Sarai back to his palace for himself. The Pharaoh in return gave Abram gifts of sheep, oxen, donkeys, camels, and slaves. 12:17 "And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife." God, however, none too pleased about Sarai being held in the Pharaoh's palace sent a terrible plague amongst the Pharaoh's household. The Pharaoh then summoned Abram and asked him why he had pulled this rouse* about saying that Sarai was his sister instead of his wife. He tells Abram to take Sarai and get out of town, and Abram (along with his family and possessions) is escorted out of the kingdom by armed guards.
Notes:	1.) Not specified as to how the Pharaoh figured the deception out.
Thoughts:	This short chapter basically serves to set up a rivalry between God's chosen people and the evil Egyptians. Abram and his descendants will have further and more dramatic encounters with the Egyptians later on in the story.
Chapter 13
Summary:	After getting kicked out of Egypt, Abram and his family head back north to Negeb, and back further north to his old campsite between Bethel and Ai to worship God. 13:13 "But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly." Both Abram and Lot had become rather wealthy with lots of cattle and slaves and found that the campsite couldn't support both Abram and Lot's flocks, so fight broke out amongst the slaves who were shepherding their flocks. Abram tells Lot that the fighting has to stop and offers to split the land up between them. Lot takes a piece of land along the Jordan River and parts company with Abram, who stayed in the land of Canaan. Lot settled on the outskirts of the city of Sodom, whose inhabitants were unusually wicked and sinned against God. After Lot was gone, God told Abram to look in every direction he could and said that he would give all this land to Abram and his descendants, and ensured that he would have many descendants. He tells Abram to explore the new land he has given him, and Abram sets up his tent towards the oaks of Mamre (near Hebron) and builds an altar there.
Thoughts:	Another short chapter that sets up two different stories for Abram and Lot, and unfortunately doesn't leave much to discuss here, except to affirm that God still doesn't seem to take much issue with slavery and that he's already not very happy with the Sodomite's behavior.