DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 23

Chapter 23
Summary:	Moses' speech continues: "He who is wounded in the testicles, or has his penis cut off, shall not enter the congregation of the Lord. Nor shall a bastard enter the congregation of the Lord, even to his tenth generation will he not be allowed to enter the congregation of the Lord. Neither an Ammonite nor a Moabite are to enter the congregation of the Lord, even to their tenth generation will they not be allowed to enter the congregation of the Lord forever - because they met you not with bread and water when you were lead out of Egypt, and because they hired against you Balaam, the son of Beor, of Pethor of Mesopotamia, to curse you all. The Lord your God would not hearken unto Balaam, but instead the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing unto you, because the Lord your God loved you. You shall not ever seek peace nor their prosperity with them throughout your generations. "You are not to abhor the Edomites, for they are your relatives; nor shall you abhor the Egyptians, because you were strangers in their land. Their children may enter the congregation of the Lord in their third generation. "When you go to war against your enemies, you are to keep away from every wicked thing. If there be amongst you any man who becomes unclean by reason of having a nocturnal emission, then that man is to leave the camp, and during the evening is to wash himself with water, and may return when the sun sets. "You are to have a place outside of the camp to use as a toilet. You shall carry a spade as part of your equipment, and you shall dig a hole and cover your bowel movements; for the Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you, and bring your enemies before you; therefore your camp shall remain holy, that he shall see no unclean thing, and turn away from you. "You are not to return a runaway slave to his master. He shall dwell with you, even amongst you, wherever he chooses. You are not to oppress him. "There shall be no whore amongst the daughters of Israel, nor a sodomite* amongst the sons of Israel. You are not to bring any proceeds earned from prostitution, or the price of a dog*, into the house of the Lord your God for any vow - for these are an abomination to the Lord your God. "You shall not demand interest upon a loan made to your fellow Israelite. You may add interest to a loan made to foreigner, but not to your fellow Israelite, that the Lord your God may bless you in all that you set your hand upon in the promised land, when you go to possess it. "When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you are prompt in paying, for the Lord requires it of you and it would be a sin not to fulfill the vow. However, if you don't make a vow, that is not a sin. Once the vow has been uttered, you are to keep it and perform it - even a freewill offering - exactly how you promised to the Lord your God. "When you pass your neighbor's vineyard, you may eat handfuls of their grapes to your pleasure, but you are not to gather the grapes in a container. When you pass your neighbor's corn field, you may pluck the ears with your hand, but you may not use a sickle on his crops."
Notes:	1.) The term "sodomite" (note the lack of capitalization) is refering to homosexuals, equating homosexuality in general to the violent rapists depicted in Genesis: Chapter 19 who lived in the city of Sodom. 2.) "Dog" in this sense, is referring to a male homosexual prostitute.
Thoughts:	This chapter Moses begins by listing the sorts of undesirables that should not be discriminated against from entering the sanctuary (the church). Anyone with testicular damage. Anyone who has had their penis cut off. (Sorry, John Bobbitt) A bastard (meaning a child from unwed parents), or even his offspring ten generations later Ammonites and Moabites - because their ancestry is responsible for trying to hire Balaam - the prophet with the talking donkey - to try and curse the Israelites. God is apparently obsessed with the condition of male genitalia, as not only does he demand that his priests not have damaged testicles, he simply doesn't want anybody with damaged testicles, or who's had their penis cut off, entering his "sanctuary" either. While I may have joked about John Bobbitt above, which some will point out that he's not exactly a great example of someone we should care about getting banned from a church, the point is that there isn't anything John (or anyone else with a severed penis) could do about that. It's simply wrong to discriminate against someone entering a church because of genital damage - period. Moses next discriminates against bastards, extending this discrimination to his tenth generation offspring. So what Moses is saying is that if a child is born to unmarried parents, even if his children and grandchildren marry and produce children, none of them are welcome in the church either. This is plainly discriminating against the status of one's ancestry. This would be equivalent of saying that if one of your ancestors had a prison record, then you're not allowed in the church. Next Moses targets both the Ammonites and the Moabites, reasoning that they were the people who tried to hire Balaam (the prophet with the talking donkey) to curse the Israelites. This sounds about as reasonable as refusing Japanese, Germans, and Italians from entering your church because of World War II. Moses even extends the discrimination against these people by telling the Israelites that they are never to seek peace or prosperity with them throughout their generations. This is pure racism measuring someone's worth with their nationality and the actions of their ancestors. Moses states however they are not to discriminate against the Edomites, for they are relatives to the Israelites - the Edomites being the descendants of Esau, the elder brother of Jacob (later to be renamed Israel) who sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup. Moses also strangely insists that the Israelites are not to discriminate against the Egyptians, reasoning that they were once "strangers in their land". It's curious that God seems to have less of a problem with the Egyptians who enslaved the Israelites for numerous generations, than he does for the Moabites for unsuccessfully attempting to curse the Israelites. Perhaps this may be due to the Egyptian Pharaoh's treatment of Joseph, the fact that God has killed an awful lot of Egyptians (also see Exodus: Chapter 14 too), or because the Israelites "committed whoredom with the daughters of Moab", despite that the Midianites would be brutally killed, and the young Midianite virgins raped in retribution. However, as we'll see in the book of Ruth (a Moabite woman), she will marry an Israelite and give birth to a son named Obed, who would become the grandfather of King David. If a soldier at war has a nocturnal emission (a "wet dream"), he is to leave the camp, wash himself with water, and not to return to the camp until sundown. Moses then explains that a place has to be set aside outside the camp to be used as a toilet, and that all bowel movements have to be buried because God "walks in the midst of the camp", and will not tolerate anything "unclean" in the camp. Next Moses states that a runaway slave is not to be returned to its master, nor is he to be oppressed. Although it is not specifically stated here, I think it is safe to assume that this probably only applies to Hebrew slaves that can be redeemed, and not to foreign slaves or Hebrew slaves that have been marked with an awl. Moses then declares that there is to be no prostitution amongst the Israelite women, nor a "sodomite" amongst the men. The term "sodomite", despite equating homosexual men to the inhabitants of the city of Sodom, is uncapitalized as a further indicator of how homosexuals are not to be granted any common civil respect. Furthering this, after Moses declares that proceeds earned by a female prostitute are not to be brought into the church, he makes the same declaration for male homosexual prostitutes, calling such proceeds "the price of a dog". Moses states that these proceeds are an "abomination" to God. One other thing to note is that Moses is not outright banning prostitution - while Moses forbids Israeli women from becoming prostitutes, he says nothing about Israeli men soliciting prostitutes, for example Judah soliciting his daughter-in-law who he believes to be a prostitute. Moses next states that no one is to tack on interest to any loan made to their fellow Israelite, but it's perfectly okay to add interest to a loan made to a foreigner. Moses' next warns that when one makes a vow to God they are to be prompt in fulfilling that vow exactly as they had promised, or else they have "sinned"; but notes that it's not a "sin" if you simply don't make a vow in the first place. Finally Moses tells the Israelites that if they're passing by a neighbor's vineyard or crops, that it's okay to eat as many handfuls as you desire from their crops, but you are not to collect any in a container, nor cut any down with a sickle to bring back home with you.

LEVITICUS: Chapter 20

Chapter 20
Summary:	God gives further laws to Moses: Whomever, whether he be an Israeli or a visitor to the land that give any of his offspring (as a human sacrifice) to Molech*, shall be put to death. The people of the land are to stone that person to death. God himself will "set his face against" such man and will cut him off from amongst his people - because giving his offspring to Molech apparently defiles the sanctuary of the tabernacle and profanes God's name. Anyone who will not acknowledge a person sacrificing his offspring to Molech, and refuses to kill him, then God will set his face against them, against their family, and will excommunicate them and all who "go a whoring after him", to commit whoredom with Molech. Anyone who turns to those with "familiar spirits" or wizards, "to go a whoring after them", God will "set his face against" them, and will excommunicate them. The people should instead sanctify themselves and be "holy", because God is their ruler. The people must follow and obey God's laws, and God will "sanctify" them. Anyone who curses their mother or father shall be put to death. Whomever curses their mother or father, deserves their fate - their blood shall be upon them. If a man commits adultery with another man's wife - even he that commits adultery with his neighbor's wife - both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death. A man who sleeps with his father's wife has "uncovered his father's nakedness" and both shall be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. If a man sleeps with his daughter in law, both of them shall be put to death - they have wrought confusion and their blood shall be upon them. If a man sleeps with another man as he would with a woman, both of them have committed an "abomination" and they shall both be put to death - their blood shall be upon them. If a man takes a wife and her mother, it is wickedness and they shall all be burnt with fire - there shall be no wickedness amongst you. If a man has sex with an animal, he shall be put to death and the animal shall be killed. If a woman allows herself to be penetrated by an animal, both the woman and the animal shall be put to death - their blood shall be upon them. If a man takes his sister - whether it's his father's daughter, or his mother's daughter - and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness, it is a wicked thing. They shall be "cut off in sight of their people" - he has uncovered his sister's nakedness, he shall bear his guilt. If a man sleeps with a woman "having her sickness" (her menstrual period) and uncovers her nakedness, he has "discovered her fountain"(!), and she has uncovered the "fountain of her blood", both of them shall be excommunicated. A man shall not uncover the nakedness of his mother's sister (his maternal aunt) nor his father's sister (his paternal aunt) - they shall bear their own guilt. If a man sleeps with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness and they shall bear their sin - they shall die childless. If a man shall take his brother's wife, it is an "unclean" thing - he has uncovered his brother's nakedness and they shall die childless. Therefore the people need to keep God's laws and judgments and obey them so that God will not have to throw them out of the "promised land". The people of Israel are not to share the customs and lifestyles of the people that God is casting out of the "promised land" - for they have committed all of these things and therefore God abhors them. God reminds the people of Israel that they will inherit their land, and that he will give it to them to possess - a land he claims "floweth with milk and honey". God claims that because he rules over them, it has separated the people of Israel from other people. Therefore, because of this the people of Israel shall make a difference between "clean" birds and animals and "unclean" birds and animals. The people of Israel shall not make themselves "abominable" by eating the wrong kind of birds or animals. God says that the people of Israel must be "holy" to God, as God himself is "holy", and has made a distinction between them and other people. He continues, that the people of Israel belong to him, God closes out the chapter by stating that either a man or woman that has "a familiar spirit", or that is a wizard must be put to death by stoning - their blood shall be upon them.
Notes:	1.) Although completely unexplained in the book of Leviticus, Molech, as mentioned and introduced in Chapter 18 is the name of a Middle Eastern god common to both the Canaanites and Egyptians, as well as the Hebrews, that followers supposedly presented human sacrifice to by fire.
Thoughts:	After a mostly pleasant chapter with Leviticus: Chapter 19, God switches gears with a vengeance. He starts by revisiting his possible rival, Molech. Molech, who I first went into more detail about in my commentary on Leviticus: Chapter 18 is considered either to be a god who accepts human sacrifice by fire, or is simply the act of "human sacrifice by fire" itself. In the King James translation of the bible, and I believe all (or at least most) English language translations of the bible "Molech" is capitalized and used as a proper noun as if it were a name of a being. There is no archaeological evidence to support the worship of any god named Molech by the Caananites, the Egyptians, or the Hebrews and is more recently thought to be a name for the actual practice of "human sacrifice by fire". Whichever the case may be Molech is (so far) not explained in the bible and is assumed that the reader should be familiar with the name. God commands that anyone sacrificing to Molech is to be stoned to death, and that God will "set his face off" against him, and he shall be excommunicated(?). I'm not exactly sure what the meaning here is, considering it'd be impossible to excommunicate someone after they've already been stoned to death. Perhaps it means that he may not be buried or have a funeral within the Israeli people's land, or perhaps it means that the person's "soul" would be "excommunicated" from Heaven? The thought that it might mean being excommunicated from Heaven seems unlikely to me, as if I recall, I don't think Jews believe in the concept of Heaven and Hell, but I may be wrong about that. I'm honestly stumped here and I may have to ask around to see if I can get an answer from someone - if you have an answer please leave me a comment. If I find an answer in the future, I'll update this section. God continues on saying that human sacrifice to Molech defiles the tabernacle and profanes God's name. Anyone who refuses to take part in the stoning of a person who sacrificed to Molech, God will set his face against him also, along with that person's family, and will excommunicate them and whomever else who goes "a whoring" after Molech. Anyone who turns to those with "familiar spirits" (thought to mean spiritual mediums) or wizards will also result in God turning his face against them and excommunicating them. God states that the people should instead sanctify themselves and be "holy", basically because he is God and he said so. God says that the people must obey his laws and in turn God will "sanctify" them. Anyone who curses their mother or father also gets a death by stoning. God insists that they deserve it, noting that "their blood is on their hands". This is another case of God's excessive brutality, as it is perfectly normal for young children to react to their parent's discipline by cursing their parents. I'm sure every parent has encountered a time where their unruly child resists their punishment from bad behavior and tells their parents that they hate them, or worse. Many of us probably have said the same thing to our parents growing up also. Folks, that is not a "crime" that warrants a child being taken out and stoned to death - it is normal juvenile behavior. For God to insist upon such a brutal punishment for such a petty thing is sadistic, and not in all in line with the description most believers will give of a "benevolent", "compassionate", and "loving" god. God's law on adultery is that both the adulterer and the adulteress are to be put to death. A man who sleeps with his father's wife is also to be put to death, as is a man who sleeps with his daughter in law. Again, God flexes his brutality muscles by insisting upon capital punishment for the wrong people having sex together. The bible defines adultery as solely "a married woman having sexual relations with someone who isn't her husband" - which means that a married man having sex with an unmarried woman is not considered adultery, nor is an unmarried woman having sex with any man - regardless of whether he is married or not. A common apologetic view point is that God sets out such a strong punishment to simply serve as a deterrent from people committing these "crimes" to begin with, much like the arguments people use in favor of the death penalty today. However, this doesn't hold up when the punishment simply doesn't fit the crime - it's like demanding the death penalty for jaywalking. Adultery certainly can be a very traumatic thing to the parties involved, but it is never a suitable reason for capital punishment. What if the sex was not consensual and in fact rape, does that still require the death of the victim simply because she had sex with someone who wasn't her husband? What if the person didn't have the knowledge that their partner was married? There's just so many loopholes and problems with defining guilt and intent in regards to adultery that a punishment with so much finality - like death by stoning - just isn't rational. The argument that capital punishment is a deterrent doesn't hold up very well either when the vast amount of people who commit crimes do so because they believe they are smarter than the system and won't get caught, making the severity of the punishment irrelevant to them. Add to that, that "adultery" (much like "murder") is often a crime of passion which also makes the consequences of punishment not at the forefront of the person's mind when they find themselves in a position to commit the crime. Regardless of whether you agree with capital punishment or not, it's troubling why God insists that human beings have to be the ones to administer the punishment in the first place. Killing another human being, whether the reason is justified or not can still be traumatizing. Ask any police officer who's fired his gun in the line of duty, or soldiers in the military who've been in combat how they've felt about taking the life of another human being. No-one should ever have to kill another person unless the lives of themselves or others are in danger, anyone who's been forced to kill will tell you that it takes a very strong person to deal with the mental consequences, and that not everyone can deal with the stress - even if what they did was completely justifiable. However, God insists that everyone has to participate in stoning other people to death, threatening those who refuse to participate with being excommunicated from their people. God is basically blackmailing everyone - including those who may not be mentally fit for the task - into killing their fellow Israelis, regardless of whether they might be a close member of their family or perhaps a friend or a neighbor that they've grown to love over the years. God continues on handing out death sentences, insisting that next on the list is anyone engaging in homosexual sex. He calls the act an "abomination" and that both men must be stoned to death - not making a clarification on if this applies to victims of homosexual rape also. If a man sleeps with a woman and the woman's mother, God has a special death sentence for all three of these "criminals" - this crime apparently warrants being set on fire apparently. Of all the gruesome ways to die, immolation just may be the worst, and God saves this excruciating punishment for these sexual deviants. If a person has sex with an animal, both the person and the animal in question must be put to death. God says they both deserve it - including the animal. Why an animal "deserves" to be stoned to death because some pervert raped it, I don't quite understand. It makes about as much sense as euthanizing your dog because your next door neighbor kicked it. Curiously, God makes an exception to his usual punishments of stonings and setting people on fire to substitute excommunication for the crime of sibling incest. Most likely this exception was made as to not make Abraham and Sarah's incestuous marriage to seem as hypocritical in light of God's new law. However, as we'll get to shortly, God actually doesn't have as stringent punishments for incestuous relationships as he does for homosexuals, practitioners of bestiality, adulterers, and mother/daughter threesomes. Before getting to other forms of incest, God also forbids having sex with a woman during her menstrual period - which he calls here, "her sickness". Both the woman having her period, and the man having sex with her during her period, must be excommunicated. Between this chapter and Leviticus 15:19-30 God makes it clear that menstruating women are filthy and "unclean", and are to be avoided at all costs. Don't have sex with them, don't let them sit on any of your furniture, don't touch any of their chairs or bedding, and don't even touch the women themselves during their period or you'll defile yourself too. Back to the topic of incest, God adds that a man is not to have sex with his aunt (like Aaron and Moses' father Amram did) - regardless of whether it is his maternal or paternal aunt - as they shall "bear their iniquity" if they do so. A thought just occurred to me that according to God's logic in Exodus 20:5 (and repeated in Exodus 34:7) in which God states that a persons' descendants are just as guilty for the sin he committed as he is himself, wouldn't this make Moses and Aaron guilty of their father's sin of marrying his aunt? Shouldn't Moses and Aaron (along with Aaron's sons who inherit the sin through their grandfather) be excommunicated according to this verse? The direct quotes of Exodus 20:5 and Exodus 34:7 are: Exodus 20:5 "Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;" Exodus 34:7 "Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children unto the third and to the fourth generation." This would seem to indicate that this is exactly what God should do with Moses and Aaron, however later verses from the books of Deuteronomy, 2 Kings, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel seem to contradict this. Noah also cursed his grandson Canaan into a life of slavery due to his son Ham's viewing Noah drunk and naked in his tent, which God also seemed to have condoned. The problem here is that even if we argue semantics with a biblical apologist to explain how this could possibly fit alongside later chapters stating that "sin" of a father is not to be passed down to his children to be punished for as well, the message is not being made clear here at all, and anyone reading up to this point, without knowing what is later to be said, has to be lead to think there is a contradiction in God's logic. One would think that a book written by, or is the inspired word of a perfect being such as God would be clear and concise - especially when dealing with laws that could result in excommunication, or worse, death by stoning. God furthers his laws about men sleeping with their aunts, by claiming that a man who sleeps with his and/or marries his uncle's wife (his aunt by his uncle's marriage) will curse them both by God assuring that they will die childless. God gives this same punishment to a man who sleeps with or marries his brother's wife also. God interjects that the people will need to follow and obey these laws so that he won't be forced to throw them out of the "promised land" - or worse. He once again stereotypes the people currently living in the land as all practicing these customs of incest, bestiality, homosexuality, and adultery - judging them all as a group rather than individuals - by calling them all "abominable". Because God has took the time to teach the people of Israel which birds and animals are right to eat and which are not, this is a distinction that somehow makes the people of Israel (which he constantly berates for being "unclean" in previous chapters) a better people then all others. Before closing off the chapter, God also tacks on his law about what to do with wizards and people who "have a familiar spirit" (thought to mean "spiritual mediums") - that's a stoning too.

LEVITICUS: Chapters 17 & 18

Chapter 17
Summary:	God speaks to Moses, telling him to relay further instructions to Aaron, his sons, and all the people of Israel. Any Israelite who kills an ox, lamb, or goat anywhere except at the tabernacle as a sacrifice to God, will have blood on their hands and will be excommunicated from amongst the nation of Israel. God states that he wants the people not to sacrifice animals in open fields, but rather to be brought to a priest at the door of the tabernacle as "peace offerings" for himself (God). The priest shall sprinkle the blood upon the altar at the door of the tabernacle, and burn the animal fat as a "sweet savor" that God will enjoy. The people shall no longer sacrifice animals to "devils", or evil spirits, that they have whored after. This shall be a permanent law from generation to generation. Anyone whether Israeli, or a foreigner living amongst them, who offers either a "burnt offering" or an animal sacrifice any place other than at the front door of the tabernacle, will be excommunicated. Anyone, whether an Israeli, or a foreigner living amongst them. that eats any manner of blood, will be excommunicated and God will turn his face against them. God explains that the life of the flesh is in the blood and claims that he has provided blood upon the altar of the tabernacle to make atonement for your "soul", because blood apparently is what makes atonement for people's "souls". Therefore, this is God's reasoning behind disallowing the people of Israel, or any foreigner living among them, from eating blood. Anyone, whether Israeli or foreigner living amongst them, that hunts and catches and bird or animal permitted to be eaten, must first drain the animal's blood and then cover it with dust. God states that that the people of Israel must never eat blood of any sort, for the blood is the life of all living things, and whomever does so will be excommunicated. Anyone who eats the dead bodies of animals that have either died naturally, or have been torn apart from wild animals, must wash their clothes and will be considered "unclean" until evening; after the evening comes, they shall be considered "clean". If the person does not wash their clothes, however, then they shall suffer the consequence.
Notes:	1.) The actual Hebrew translation here is "hairy ones".
Thoughts:	God begins chapter 17 by first addressing the utter importance that animal sacrifices are only to be made to him, and to him only, and only at the door of the tabernacle by a priest. God wants to enjoy the "sweet savor" of burnt animal flesh at his tabernacle and threatens anyone sacrificing animals elsewhere with excommunication. Interestingly, this chapter is also technically our first mention of "devils" (in the King James Version), or "evil spirits", although the proper Hebrew translation in Leviticus:17:7 is actually "hairy ones". God forbids his people from sacrificing animals in open fields to the devils/evil spirits/hairy ones that the people have apparently "whored" after. This ban on animal sacrifices anywhere but at the tabernacle is a permanent law and applies to the people of Israel and any foreign visitors that may be living amongst them. Disobeying this law gets you excommunicated. Next up God goes into greater detail about an issue he only vaguely touched upon almost 800 years earlier to Noah in the book of Genesis (Genesis:9:4). God commands that neither the Israelis, or any foreigner living amongst them shall ever consume any manner of blood, and if they do so they will be excommunicated. This section of the chapter has famously been cited by Jehovah's Witnesses to explain their stance on refusing blood transfusions believing that having a transfusion is in fact considered "eating blood". It begs the question of why certain parts of the Old Testament still apply to the beliefs of modern religions (such as many of the traditions in modern Judaism, Christianity's anti-homosexual stances, and of course the Jehovah's Witnesses anti-transfusion stances) while other laws, which seem to be as equally or even far more important to God, such as animal sacrifices, stoning adulterers, endorsing slavery (including how to properly beat your slaves), and the use of scapegoats seemed to have fallen by the wayside to modern day believers of these ancient religions. A major problem I have with this line of thinking is not that I care whether an adult wants to refuse medical treatment based on the grounds of their religious beliefs, but when that adult puts the lives of their children in serious, or even mortal danger on the grounds of their vague interpretations of some several thousand year old collection of stories. To make a similar comparison, my sister has been a vegetarian since she was a teenager (something I also partially share in common with her) and it's a decision she made due to her own ethics in regards to her feelings about animals. Like myself, it is something she feels very passionate about for personal reasons, yet she doesn't impose her own values upon her children, both for the fact that it's better for their nutrition as they are still young and growing, and for the fact that it takes a lot of careful thought and preparation to make the decision for a drastic change to your lifestyle and dietary habits. I also feel that religion is a rather personal decision that children are incapable of grasping or understanding, and when religion stands in the way of lifesaving medical procedures it's not fair to the child to be forced to suffer and perhaps die for the selfishness of their parent or legal guardian's personal superstitious beliefs. Back to our story, God emphasizes that "the blood is the life" and that its only other purpose besides being the life of an animal or human being is to atone for people's "souls". So God's law here is simply that eating blood, whether you're an Israeli or simply just living amongst them, is forbidden and will find you excommunicated. God adds that any animal (one that he is allowing you to eat in the first place) that is hunted and killed for food must first be drained of its blood (with the blood being covered by "dust", or dirt) before it can be eaten. Failure to do this will also find you excommunicated. Anyone deciding to dine on the carcasses of dead animals (again, of those that are permitted to eat in the first place) that have died of natural causes, or have been attacked and killed by wild animals, has to wash their clothes and they will be considered "unclean" until sundown. God finishes up the chapter by issuing a threat to those that don't wash their clothes after dining on animal carcasses, stating that they will suffer the consequences.
Chapter 18
Summary:	God tells Moses to tell the people of Israel that he, Yahweh, is their god, and that they aren't to follow any of the laws or customs of Egypt where they once lived, or any of the laws or customs of Canaan where they would eventually be brought to. The people of Israel are only to follow God's laws and to live by them as well. None of the people of Israel are to "uncover the nakedness" of anyone that is near kin to them. The nakedness of either your father or mother you shall not uncover, she is your mother and therefore don't undress her. You are also not to uncover the nakedness of your father's wife, as that nakedness belongs to your father. Your sister's nakedness, whether she is the daughter of your father, or the daughter of your mother, born at home or abroad, even her nakedness you are not allowed to uncover. The nakedness of your grandchildren, whether it's your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter is also forbidden for you to uncover - as their nakedness is the equivalent of your own nakedness. The nakedness of the daughter of your father's wife (step sister) is your sister's, and you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister (your paternal aunt) as she is too close of kin to your father. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister (your maternal aunt) as she is too close of kin to your mother. You shall not uncover the nakedness of the wife of your father's brother (your paternal uncle) as she is your aunt. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter in law, she is your son's wife. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your brother's wife, as that is your brother's nakedness. You shall not uncover the nakedness of both a woman and her daughter, nor the woman's son's daughter (her granddaughter from her son) or her daughter's daughter (her granddaughter from her daughter), for they are the near relatives to the woman and this is wickedness. Neither shall you marry two sisters, for they will be rivals. However if your wife dies, you may then marry her sister. Never approach a menstruating woman to uncover her nakedness during her "uncleanliness". Moreover, you can not have sex with your neighbor's wife, or you will defile yourself with her. You shall never sacrifice by fire any of your offspring to the god Molech*, nor shall you profane the name of your god by doing so. A man shall not lie with another man as he would with a woman (meaning homosexuality) - it is an "abomination". Neither shall a man defile himself by having sex with any animal, nor shall a woman allow herself to be pentetrated by an animal herself - it is confusion. Don't defile yourself by doing any of these things, as these are the things done in the nations which I'm leading you to whom I will cast out of their lands before you. God claims that they have defiled the land itself and therefore they will be punished and "vomitted out" of the land. God demands that these laws are to be kept and obeyed, and that none are to commit any of these "abominations". These rules are to be followed by the people of Israel, as well as foreigners living amongst them. God again claims that these "abominations" have been done continually in the land where they are headed and that the people of Israel are not to let themselves follow any of these "abominable customs", lest they defile themselves and find themselves exiled from their people.
Notes:	1.) Although completely unexplained in the book of Leviticus, Molech, as mentioned in Chapter 18 is the name of a Middle Eastern god common to both the Canaanites and Egyptians, as well as the Hebrews, that followers supposedly presented human sacrifice to by fire.
Thoughts:	God's spends this chapter giving us his revised views on sexuality while implicating that the "heathens" of Egypt, and moreover Canaan are ritualistic practitioners of incest, homosexuality, bestiality, and human sacrifice. I state that God has revised his stances on sexuality, mainly in his new regard towards incest as God has at the very least, tolerated incestuous relationships in the book of Genesis - In chapter 20, God does not condemn either Abraham or Sarah (half siblings) for their incestuous marriage nor Aaron and Moses' father Amram, who married his aunt Jochebed. Sarah was even blessed by God, contradicting his stance on the law he states here in Leviticus. The problem with this angle, is that God obviously accepted incestuous marriage not only in the past with Abraham and Sarah (Israel's parents), but also in the near past (Aaron and Moses' father Amram married his aunt Jochebed). Now, with God enacting this new law now, he condemns the Egyptians (who would have no way of predicting this law, regardless of whether they followed God's laws or not) and the Canaanites (whom he's had it out for anyways since after the Noah's Ark story after Noah cursed the Canaanites) whom would also have no way of knowing this new law either. Calling their behaviors an "abomination" for incestuous marriages when it was obvious practiced by the people of Israel as well is hypocritical due to the timing. God's new laws on incest are spelled out in the beginnings of chapter 18. Although the meaning is thought to imply "marriage" or at the least "sexual relations", the King James Version uses the phrase "to uncover the nakedness of" - which I've left intact, as this can also apply to "peeping" in on the naked body of, similar as to what Ham had done to anger his drunken father Noah. God's new laws concerning incest is that a man may not marry or have sex with: his mother or father, his step mother, his sister, his half sister, his grandchildren, his step sister, his maternal or paternal aunt, his maternal or paternal uncle's wife (which is also his aunt), his daughter in law, your brother's wife (contradicts why God had killed Onan), both a woman and daughter, both a woman and granddaughter, nor may he marry two sisters at the same time (contradicting Jacob's marriage to both Leah and Rachel in which all three were blessed by God), any menstruating woman, or your neighbor's wife. Despite claims by some that God's laws are consistent and unchanging, they do in fact adapt and change over the course of Genesis to Leviticus (and beyond). Next up in God's laws is a curious mention of another god named Molech, who is not explained within the context of his appearance here. Molech allegedly was a god worshiped in the middle east by the Canaanites, Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Hebrews, but is in fact simply a Hebrew name for the god. No evidence of a god fitting his description or bearing his name has ever been found outside of the Torah (the original Jewish version of the Old Testament) and is considered more of a Hebrew legend. The name was letter retconned into describing simply the concept of an infanticide human sacrifice by fire. Whether the translation here is to mean a sacrifice to the god Molech (which was probably believed to be a true god by the Israelis - meaning they thought other cultures worshiped a god named Molech) or whether it's to describe the human sacrifice itself, God forbids it and claims that it profanes his name to sacrifice in this way. God next dishes out a rather famous verse on homosexuality calling the act an "abomination". This verse is still often pointed out today by believers who condemn homosexuality, despite many other Mosaic laws (such as the condoning of slavery itself as well as the condoning of beating the said slaves) being disregarded. It's puzzling as to what parts of the Old Testament are supposed to hold true today and which are to be disregarded - each faction of Abrahamic religions, and each faction of Christianity, pick apart their own version of what to keep and what to ignore. God's next law forbids bestiality - specifically a man having sex with a female animal, or a woman being penetrated by a male animal. God finishes up by claiming and implying that the Canaanites (as well as the Egyptians) practice all these deviant forms of sex (and human sacrifices to Molech) when there is little archaeological evidence to support a claim that either the inhabitants of Canaan (or Egypt) practiced these deviant sexual acts and incestuous marriages any more or less than the ancient Hebrews themselves. Remember that even Aaron and Moses's parents were incestuous according to the rules laid out here in Leviticus 18. The truth behind this chapter is more likely to be an extension of the xenophobia the Hebrew tribes had of their neighbors and an attempt to vilify and justify the wars between the tribes, the conquest of their lands, and the passing tales of myths and legends about their enemies. The archaeological evidence just doesn't seem to fit the assertions made and no literature outside of biblical sources corroborates the claims within the same time frame.

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!