DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 24

Chapter 24
Summary:	Moses' speech continues: "When a man marries a woman and he finds some uncleanness in her, then he may serve her with a bill of divorce and send her out of his house. After she leaves her ex-husband's house, she may then remarry. If her second husband hates her and divorces her, of if her second husband dies, her first husband may not remarry her because she has been defiled. That is an abomination before the Lord, and you are not to bring sin upon the land that the Lord your God has given you for an inheritance. "A newlywed husband is not to go out to war, nor is he to be given any duties, but instead he is to be free at home for the first year of his marriage to cheer up his wife that he has taken. "No man is to take another man's millstone as collateral, because he is taking another man's livelihood. "If a man is found kidnapping any Israelite and either enslaves them or sells them into slavery, then the kidnapper must die to purge the evil from among you. "Take heed to the plague of leprosy, and follow everything that the priests and the Levites instruct you to do, as I commanded them, so you shall obey. Remember what the Lord your God did to Miriam after you came forth out of Egypt. "When you lend your fellow Israelite anything, you are not to enter his house to pick out an item for collateral. You are to stand outside the man's house and he shall bring out the collateral himself. If the man is poor and offers his coat as collateral, you cannot keep his coat while you sleep. You shall return his coat at sundown so that he may sleep in it. You shall be blessed for doing righteousness before the Lord your God. "You shall not oppress a hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he is an Israelite or a foreigner. He must be paid at the end of the day, because if the sun goes down and he cries against you to the Lord, it will be counted as a sin upon you. "A father shall not be put to death for the sins of their children, nor shall a child be put to death for the sins of his father. Every man put to death shall be put to death for his own sin. "You shall not twist judgment against a foreigner, an orphan, nor may you take a widow's garment as collateral. You are to remember that you were a slave in Egypt, and the Lord your God redeemed you, therefore I command this. "When you reap your harvest, and have forgotten a sheaf out in the field, you are not to go back to retrieve it - it is to be left for the stranger passing through town, the orphaned, and the widowed that the Lord your God may bless you in all your the work of your hands. When you collect your olives, you are not to go over the boughs again, and when you gather your grapes from your vineyard, you are not to glean it afterward - you are to leave what is left for the stranger passing through town, the orphaned, and the widowed. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, therefore I command you to obey this law."
Thoughts:	Moses begins this chapter by stating that if a man gets married and later discovers he doesn't like his wife, he's free to serve her divorce papers and kick her out of his house. Once his now ex-wife leaves the house, she's free to remarry. But if her second husband divorces her or if he dies, her first husband is not allowed to remarry her because she has been "defiled", and God considers the act an "abomination". Next, Moses states that a newlywed husband is not to be sent out to fight in a war, nor is he to be given any major responsibilities for the first year of his marriage, which he is instead to stay home and "cheer up" his new wife. Moses states that a man is not to take another man's "millstone" as collateral, meaning in a broader sense that you are not to take as collateral on a loan, the tools of which a man makes his living - i.e. take a carpenter's hammer, a baker's mixing bowls, or a painter's brush, etc. Next up, Moses condemns kidnapping - which he equates to theft of a person - whether it results in slavery, or selling the kidnapped into slavery, by punishment of death. With regard to how strict Moses's take on kidnapping is, the eighth commandment (seventh if going by Catholic standards) of the Ten Commandments - "thou shalt not steal" - is far more likely to refer to kidnapping than of our modern concept of theft concerning that of property. Moses then tells the Israelites that they need to take heed to the ridiculous laws and instructions concerning leprosy as carried out by priests, and makes a curious mention to the Israelites to remember the fate of his sister Miriam. Miriam was punished not for disobeying leprosy laws, she was stricken with leprosy by God as a punishment for speaking out (along with her brother Aaron, who didn't receive any punishment) against Moses' marriage to an Ethiopian woman which violates God's law. Mentioning Miriam in this context makes no sense. Moses' next law concerns collateral on loans, where he states that the man giving the loan is not to enter the other man's home and pick out an item for collateral himself, but is instead to allow the one receiving the loan to pick out his own collateral. Moses further adds that if the man is poor and offers his coat as collateral, that this coat must be returned to the poor man at night for him to sleep in. The next verse while sometimes confused for a defense of the bible condemning slavery, it is not slavery that Moses is mentioning here, but that of a hired worker. Moses basically states that an employer is not to oppress his employee by not paying him promptly, especially if he is a poor man and is relying on prompt payment - which Moses warns is a "sin" to God. The following verse also seems to have some conflict in its understanding, where some attempt to attribute it to mean that God does not punish people for the "sins" of their ancestors, this is not what Moses is saying here at all. What Moses says is that a man is not to be put to death for the "sins" of his ancestors (and vice versa, that one is not to be executed for their children's "sin") not that they aren't guilty of "sin", only that they are not to be punished with capital punishment. Moses ends the chapter with a few laws to favor strangers in the land, orphans, and widow. First stating that judgment is not to be skewed against a foreigner, an orphan, nor may one take a widow's garment as collateral. Next Moses commands that one is not to pick their crops, grapes, and olives completely, but are to leave some surplus for the strangers in town, the orphaned, and the widowed. Moses attempts to somehow link the slavery of the Israelites in Egypt as a reason to obey this law, as he closes out the chapter.

NUMBERS: Chapter 12

Chapter 12
Summary:	Moses' sister Miriam* and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married. They said aloud to themselves questioning whether God has spoken only through Moses, and not also through themselves as well - and God heard this. (The chapter - in verse 3 - briefly notes that Moses, was supposedly very meek, and in fact the meekest man on earth, but there are many examples of Moses' behavior that do not line up with any definition of "meek" - murdering an Egyptian in cold blood and hiding his body in the sand, being one of them.) God spoke suddenly to all three siblings - Moses, Aaron, and Miriam - and told them all to come out to the tabernacle, which they did. God descended from the form of the cloud above the tabernacle and stood at the doorway, and called Aaron and Miriam forward. God said to them both that even when speaking to prophets, God makes himself known in visions and dreams, yet he does not do this with Moses, whom he speaks to face to face and allows himself to be seen by him. God then asks them both why they were not afraid to criticize Moses. God gets fierce with anger and departs from them, and as the cloud departed Miriam became stricken with leprosy, white as snow. Aaron looked upon Miriam and could clearly see that she was indeed stricken with leprosy. Aaron said to Moses that Miriam and himself should not be punished for this sin, as they had been foolish, and begged that Miriam not be "as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb". Moses cried out to God, begging him to heal Miriam. God responded to Moses telling him that "if her father had but spit in her face" that she would be "unclean" for seven days. He tells Moses that Miriam is to be exiled from the camp for seven days, and that afterward she could come back again. Miriam was ejected from the camp for seven days, and the people of Israel waited until she had returned before continuing to travel again. Once Miriam returned, the people left Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.
Notes:	1.) Miriam is Moses' sister who we last encountered in Exodus 15 singing a "victory song".
Thoughts:	This rather short chapter packs a wallop of hypocrisy and sexism into a brief story about Moses and his siblings Aaron and Miriam. God overhears Miriam and Aaron complaining about Moses being married to an Ethiopian woman and began questioning what exactly is so special about Moses, when God has also spoken through Aaron and Miriam (both being implied through "prophecy"). The chapter then notes how Moses is allegedly the meekest man on earth, despite many examples that Moses defies any definition of "meek" we're accustomed to. Even more curious is that the "Torah" (the first five books of the bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) is accredited to having been written by Moses himself, which would mean that Moses himself wrote this line proclaiming himself to be the "meekest man on earth": 12:3 (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.) Would a supposedly "meek" man speak so highly of himself, or was this inserted by another author? If this was in fact inserted by another author, then we have to question as to what else perhaps has been "added in" to the bible. How can we tell apart what was the "divine" word of God as written by Moses and what was merely tacked on afterward? Author and skeptic Marshall Brain discusses this point at length in article about slavery in the bible, comparing the "addition" of non-divinely inspired passages to the Tylenol scare of the 1980s. This is an argument that is hard to refute - that if any one part of the bible is in question to have been written or inspired by man, how can we tell which parts were "added" by mere men, and which are the true inspired words of God? If Moses wrote "Numbers 12:3", then this would negate his own humility. A humble and "meek" man could not possibly give himself such self-praise for being the "meekest man on earth". If Moses did not write this, then who did? And what else in the Torah might this person(s) have added, embellished, or changed? When even one small simple verse, such as this one, comes into question, we now have to question the entire thing. In this way, Marshall Brain's Tylenol analogy is very compelling - if we can't tell the poisoned Tylenol capsules from the safe ones, then we must pull all bottles of Tylenol from store shelves. We have the same problem here, if someone else aside from Moses wrote "Numbers 12:3", how can we know whether he, or anyone else aside from Moses, added anything else to the Torah? The whole authenticity of authorship of the Torah comes into question when we're faced with this problem. Back to our story, God summons Moses, Aaron, and Miriam out to the tabernacle for a little chat. He pulls Aaron and Miriam aside and tells them how dare they criticize Moses about his status with God. God points out that prophets receive God's messages through visions and dreams, whereas God has chosen to speak to Moses face to face. God becomes angry and storms off, but not before inflicting Miriam with leprosy. Once again, Aaron gets off the hook - much like he did when he forged an idol in the image of a "golden calf" for the people of Israel to worship and thereby "sin" against God. There are many possible explanations for why Miriam was singled out, some believing that she was the instigator (which is an assertion not made clear as written here) thus her "sin" was worse than Aaron's, secondly that Aaron's priesthood somehow cuts him some slack (much like our judicial system tends to be more lenient on police officers committing crimes versus the average citizen), and lastly, being a woman, she should have realized her place that she is not anywhere near as equal to a man "serving God" - thus her "pride" in thinking of herself as "equal" in stature to Moses and Aaron was her "sin", as well as her "jealousy" of God bending the rules on Moses' behalf. As for the bible itself, women are often depicted in a worse light than men which promotes the stereotype that men are the superior sex, as sexism was common place in bronze age societies when the bible was originally written. Women were generally not considered much more than property as "baby-making machines", and their depictions in the bible are usually sparse and mostly used to reinforce the stereotypes of women being arrogant, foolish, mischievous, and otherwise lesser than their male counterparts. Back to our story, Aaron now pleads to Moses that neither him or Miriam should be punished for their "sins" (despite that no punishment is mentioned for Aaron, and only Miriam was struck with leprosy) and admits that they both acted foolishly and have "sinned". Moses then pleads to God for Miriam's leprosy to be healed, but God points out an analogy that if she had become "unclean" from having her father spit in her face, that she would bear that shame for seven days. Thus God proclaims that Miriam will have to suffer in exile for seven days in her leprous condition. Miriam gets shut out of the camp for the following week and the people of Israel didn't continue their journey to the "promised land" until Miriam was allowed back into the camp. The people then packed up from Hazeroth and camped in the wilderness of Paran.

NUMBERS: Chapter 5

Chapter 5
Summary:	God commands Moses to rid the camp of lepers, anyone that has open sores, and even those who have "defiled" themselves by touching a corpse. This applies to men and women alike, as God does not want these outcasts "defiling" the camps where God dwells. The people of Israel complied with God's command and kicked out all of these people from their camp site. God then says to Moses that when a man or woman commits a "sin" betraying a "trust" against God, and are found guilty of doing so, that person shall confess that "sin" and repay for their wrongs, adding a "fifth part" (20% interest) to their re-compensation. If the person he has wronged is dead and has no living relatives, then the payment must be made to God via a priest, where he is also to bring a ram for an animal sacrifice "atonement". Any gift offering or gift of animal sacrifice that the people of make to God will belong to the priests. God tells Moses, that if any man's wife commits adultery - "lies with another man carnally" - yet it cannot be proven, there are no witnesses, and the husband becomes jealous and suspicious of her alleged infidelity, then the man is to bring his wife to a priest along with a tenth part of an ephah (about a tenth of a bushel) of barley meal. The barley meal is not to contain oil or frankincense, as it is a "jealousy offering" - which supposedly will bring out the truth. The priest shall bring the man's wife and set her before God, taking holy water from a clay pot, and placing dust from the floor of the tabernacle into the water. The priest shall set the woman before God, and uncover her head (taking her hair down also), and put the "jealousy offering" into her hands. The priest shall hold in his hands the bitter water that supposedly contains "the curse". The priest shall then make the woman swear by an oath that she is innocent - 5:19 "...if no man has lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse." 5:20 "But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband," then the priest shall charge the woman with an "oath of cursing" and the priest shall say to the woman: 5:21 "The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;" 5:22 And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot." The woman shall reply with an "amen", and the priest shall write these curses into a book and wash them off into the bitter water. (When the priest later makes the woman drinks this "bitter water", it will cause the curse to enter her and become bitter.) The priest shall then take the "jealousy offering" from out of the woman's hand, and shall wave it in the air before God before offering it upon the altar. The priest shall take a handful of the offering and burn it upon the altar, afterward making the woman drink the "bitter water". After the woman drinks the water, if she has truly defiled herself and has "trespassed" against her husband, then the water's curse shall cause her belly to swell and her thigh shall rot, and the woman shall be a curse amongst the people of Israel. If the woman has not been "defiled" then she shall be set free, and will become pregnant. This, God declares, is the "law of jealousies" - when a wife goes aside to another instead of her husband and is defiled - or if her husband merely suspects that she's committed adultery. The husband shall remain guiltless from "sin", as it's his wife's fault for her "sins" - not his.
Thoughts:	Moses' first duty in this chapter is to get rid of all the unsightly lepers, people with sores, and anyone who has "defiled" themselves by touching a dead body. God does not want these undesirable people amongst the people of Israel's camp - simply because if God has to live amongst the people of Israel, he doesn't want to be around a bunch of lepers, people with sores, or anybody who's touched a corpse. The people of Israel complied with this request and rid their camp of all of these undesirables. The problem here, obviously, is that the sick and the ill are lumped together with the "sinners" (those who touch corpses, being guilty of "sin") and are unceremoniously dumped out to the outskirts of the camp, left to suffer and die alone in the middle of the desert - simply because God doesn't want them to "defile" his camp. Quite a departure from God's claims of being a merciful deity, he insists that the sick are no different than the sinners and should simply be abandoned out in the desert. Even more troubling, is that we learn in Leviticus: Chapter 13 that it is priests, and not someone with a better understanding of medicine that makes the judgment on whether someone is infected with leprosy or not - basically, based on the colors of the blemishes in the skin. Perhaps we can justify the quarantine of the ill from the healthy people, but to leave them alone to die in the outskirts of the camp without anyone (aside from maybe the sinners who were exiled as well) to take care of them is simply cruelty. God follows his bout of cruelty concerning the sick with a law demanding that anyone who has cheated someone or stolen something from another will have to repay that "trespass" with the full value with 20% interest tacked on. However, if the person you wronged is no longer living and has no living relatives to recompensate, then the money is to go into the pockets of Aaron and his sons - along with a ram that's needed for some good old "animal sacrificing" fun. God spend the rest of the chapter serving up another law chocked with a big helping of misogyny - concerning what to do if you're suspicious that your wife might have cheated on you, yet there's no evidence or witnesses to support your "jealousy". God states that a jealous husband will have to bring his allegedly unfaithful wife out to the tabernacle along with a tenth of a bushel of barley meal - which is considered a "jealousy offering". God explains that because this "jealousy offering" will supposedly somehow bring out the truth, it's not to contain oil or frankincense - the reasoning behind this is unclear. Meanwhile, the priest is to take some "holy water" from a clay pot and mix in some dirt from the floor of the tabernacle. The woman is to hold the barley meal in her hands, while the priest is to "uncover her head" (meaning to remove any head-wear she might be wearing and let down her hair) and is to hold the pot of dirty water. Then he makes the suspected adulteress swear to an oath that she hasn't cheated on her husband. The priest is then to write down the "curses" that the dirty water is to contain and to wash the ink away into the dirty water. He is then to take the "guilt offering" from the woman, wave around it in the air for a bit, and then set a handful of it on fire upon the altar. The woman is then required to drink the "holy water" - contaminated with dirt from the floor and ink - and if she's indeed guilty then "her belly will swell" and "her thigh will rot" and will become an outcast among her people. If it instead turns out that she's innocent of her accused adultery, then her "reward" is that she will become pregnant. Apparently if you have problems conceiving a child, all you would really have to do is accuse your wife of being unfaithful and bring her and a tenth of a bushel of barley meal down to the tabernacle, and after your wife drinks some filthy water, she'll either become pregnant or her legs will rot off if she's cheated on you unbeknowst to you. Either way, it's a win-win situation, if you're right, you get vengeance, and if you're wrong you get a baby - which if you're like an ancient Israelite, had better be a boy, but you could always accuse your wife of being unfaithful again to try for another chance. The ridiculousness of this "law" is obvious, as is the sexism contained within it, but what's also troubling is that God apparently has no problem with men falsely accusing their wives of cheating on them as he states in the last three verses of this chapter. So a woman has to go through this humiliating experience of drinking dirty water while proclaiming her innocence and hoping that she doesn't get sick in any way, thereby "exposing" her guilt. As for God, and his supposed omniscience, couldn't he think of a better way to judge a woman's guilt or innocence than by some ridiculous degrading ritual? Couldn't he just strike her dead - as he requires adulteresses to be stoned to death anyways? I simply find it baffling how religious women can read verses like these in the bible and be okay with how God deems it acceptable to treat women in such ways.

LEVITICUS: A Recap

Leviticus can be a rather difficult book in the bible to read, as there's loads of gory details on how to properly conduct animal sacrifices, lots of repetition of various laws and commandments, lots of jumping around (laws are often first stated in one chapter and detailed several chapters later), narrative stories that are rather randomly inserted in the midst of chapters mainly consisting of lists and laws, and lots of indefensible acts of God's brutality and misogyny. Leviticus can almost be summed up by saying most of it deals with animal sacrifices: get an animal, kill it at the tabernacle, splash its blood around, cut it up into pieces, and set it on fire - as God finds this aroma to be a "sweet savor".

Right off the bat in our first chapter we're treated with instructions on how to sacrifice animals to God, and with a weak justification that this must be done so that God doesn't have to kill human beings for "sinning". How slaughtering animals is supposed to teach people who break laws, so that they learn not to break them again, is nonsensical. What purpose is served by animal blood being splattered around a tent and upon the right ear, right thumb, and big toe of a person's right foot is symbolic at best, and unsanitary (as well as dangerous to one's health) at its worst.

Grains, baked goods, and crops are also to be sacrificed and set on fire as well, which also pleases God very much with the "sweet savor" of burnt aromas, but he's extremely picky about whether or not ingredients like yeast, olive oil, or salt are to be used or avoided in specific circumstances. God also gets rather testy about the animal fat belonging to him and that it is not to be eaten, nor is blood to be consumed - which will be repeated and explained in greater detail later on in Chapter 7, and further still in Chapter 17.

God also gives detailed instructions on how to perform his various types of animal sacrifices. Among his sacrifices are "burnt offerings", "grain offerings", and "sin offerings" as well as, "guilt offerings", and "peace offerings"

The number seven holds significant symbolism as well throughout the book of Leviticus. A priest is required to sprinkle animal blood around the tabernacle seven times, a person "healed" from leprosy must be sprinkled with bird's blood seven times, every seventh year the land will have to be left unharvested as a "sabbath" - and after every seventh sabbath of the land a "Year of Jubilee" is to be observed, and God will increase his punishments upon the people of Israel sevenfold each and every time they disobey his laws and commandments.

While the first nine chapters of the book pretty much deal with sacrificing animals, we are also treated to a few narrative stories throughout Leviticus, such as:

• God getting angry that Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu didn't follow God's instructions thoroughly enough and killing them brutally by setting them on fire in front of their family. He refuses to allow any of the family to grieve over the two brothers' smoldering corpses.
• A half-breed male (with an Egyptian father and Israeli mother) "blasphemes" God during an argument with a full blooded Israeli man and is jailed and later stoned to death for his "sin".

God also gives a list of which animals are okay to eat, and which are "unclean" and unfit to eat.

God also ramps up his misogyny and sexism by declaring new mothers "unlcean", and making them go into quarantine after giving birth - in which you'll be quarantined longer if you happen to give birth to a baby girl. Of course, these new mothers will have to sacrifice animals to "atone" for the "sin" of giving birth, and also how "unclean" a woman is when she menstruates, and how she is to atone every month for her biological "uncleanliness" with animal sacrifices.

God also makes his priests play doctor - with vague medical instructions - in order to detect leprosy, exiling anyone the priest thinks might have leprosy, what to do when a leper appears to have been healed, the animal sacrifices the "former leper" must perform to be considered "healed" through God's standards, and how to treat a house that might be infected by leprosy.

God also threatens Aaron's life if he doesn't follow proper procedure when entering the "holy place" (the veiled off section) in the tabernacle. We also learn about scapegoats, where it is thought that "sins" can be magically transferred into a goat and that by letting the goat loose out into the desert you'll get rid of "sin".

God also revises his stances on incest, which seem to contradict his tolerance of it from previous characters such as Abraham and his half-sister Sarah in the book of Genesis. In the same chapter, God also condemns bestiality, homosexuality, and having sexual relations with a menstruating woman, and claims that these are all practices that Egyptians, Canaanites, and other surrounding tribes engage in regularly - and that one shouldn't lower themselves down to following these "heathenistic" customs. Despite God's insistence that these were common practices by Egyptians, as well as other Middle Eastern tribes, there is no archaeological evidence to support this claim and is more likely to have been written to villainize the enemies of the Israelis and justify the slaughter and enslavement of the enemies of the people of Israel.

We are also introduced without explanation to a curious alleged pagan god named Molech when God mentions that one of his laws is that people are not to sacrifice infants by fire to this presumed god. Again, archaeological evidence does not support that any Middle Eastern tribe or civilization ever followed or worshiped such a god, and a more modern interpretation is that the word "molech" simply refers to the practice of human (infant) sacrifice by fire. However, within the context of the King James version of the bible "Molech" is treated as a proper noun and capitalized as if it were a proper name. We first encounter a mention of Molech in Chapter 18, and he is mentioned again in Chapter 20. Molech is mentioned in such a fashion as to assume the reader is familiar with this name and/or phrase and therefore is not given any explanation in the book of Leviticus.

Surprisingly, we also come across a chapter that is mainly filled with good laws - Chapter 19 - although it is occasionally peppered with some typically vain and misogynistic passages as well - including that a man having sex with a slave girl who is engaged to be married will result in the slave having to be flogged, while the man's punishment will simply be to sacrifice some animals at the tabernacle. Among the "good laws" God lays out are provisions to leave a portion of your crops to both the poor and for weary travelers; to respect their elders; and to treat employees and customers fairly.

God's good side however is short lived when the following chapter basically reads off death sentences for various "sins" which mostly result in stoning a person to death, or at the very least, excommunication. The following chart shows what punishment God demands for what "sins":

Death by stoning	Excommunication/Exile	Death by immolation	Barrenness/Infertility
Sacrificing infants by fire to Molech Cursing your mother or father Adultery (both the adulterer and adulteress) Sleeping with your father's wife (both put to death) Sleeping with your daughter-in-law (both put to death) Homosexuals A man or woman committing bestiality (both the person and animal are to be put to death) Practicing magic or witchcraft, or being a spiritual medium	Sacrificing infants by fire to Molech (also death by stoning) Refusing to participate in stoning someone to death Consulting wizards or spiritual mediums Marrying or having sex with your sister Having sex with a menstruating woman (both the man and the woman)	Marrying or having sex with both a mother and her daughter (all three must be set on fire) A priest's daughter who prostitutes herself	Having sex with or marrying your aunt Having sex with or marrying your brother's wife

God's next laws deal with the priesthood, and command that priests aren't allowed to touch dead bodies, shave any bald spots in their heads, or marry anyone aside from virgin full blooded Israeli girls - marrying a foreign woman "profanes" the priesthood. Also God doesn't want any deformed, crippled or handicapped priests performing animal sacrifices, or going behind the veil in the tabernacle. God's list of deformities includes "having a flat nose", dwarfism, broken bones in hands or feet, having scabs, scurvy, blindness, a crooked back, or injured testicles. These freaks are not allowed near the sacrificial altar or the behind the veil in the tabernacle as they will "defile" the tabernacle. God also explains that the meat of the animal sacrifices is only to be eaten by priests and their households who fall under his definition of "clean". Excluded are any daughters married to foreigners or any priest with an STD, disease, or leprosy. The priest's slaves may enjoy these meals, but hired servants may not.

In the following chapter, God outlines all of the annual holidays that must be celebrated, most of which center around animal sacrifices. The festivals are to also be observed as a "sabbath" day, and disobeying this will result in death by stoning.

God next explains the fifty year celebration of the "Year of Jubilee" - which basically clears all the people of Israel of their debts to others - family land that was sold over the years must return to the original owners, and any Israeli serving as a "slave" to another gets to return to his family. However God makes a clear distinction that Hebrews are not to be enslaved in a traditional fashion and are instead to be treated like hired workers and are to be released every fifty years in the "Year of Jubilee". However, God encourages the enslavement of the surrounding "heathen" tribes, and that those slaves can be overworked, beaten, and handed down your family line, as non-Hebrew slaves are indeed property and not fully human, and thereby aren't deserving of any basic civil human rights.

In the next chapter, God basically tells the Israelis how wonderful life will be if they follow and obey all of God's laws, but also threatens them with plagues, death, and destruction if they disobey any of his laws. However, even after he's decimated their population, if the survivors can truly repent, God will fulfill his promises of giving them their "promised land" back.

Leviticus closes out with God putting monetary values on human life - which of course based on God's sexism places much higher values on males than their female counterparts. Basically every person, animal, crop, and farmland is to be taxed with the taxes going to fund the operation of God's tabernacle and to put money in the priests' pockets.

All in all the book of Leviticus is mainly a list of laws that are overwhelmingly tyrannical, sexist, gruesome, xenophobic, and laden with cruelty. While there are slivers of good natured positive laws - almost exclusively contained in Chapter 19, the majority of them are simply downright sadistic and sexist by any basic standard of morality and decency. The book also contains many absurdities, such as requiring that all women are to sacrifice a pair of birds every month simply for menstruating (which when we do the math would have resulted in the deaths of over half a billion birds over the 40 years in the desert, during the Exodus alone) and coaching priests to play doctor and diagnose cases of leprosy simply by looking at the color of blemishes in the skin. We also find that not only does God condone slavery, he actually endorses it as well, instructing that non-Hebrews are to be enslaved and kept as property forever, and are to be inherited by future generations. God shows that he's very much in favor of capital punishment, and that even trivial offenses such as using God's name improperly deserve a brutal death by stoning, and that "more serious offenses" such as marrying a wife and her daughter, or a priests daughter becoming a prostitute, call for higher measures by setting the offenders on fire. Even if you can justify capital punishment, there is simply no way any rational human being can ever condone setting another person on fire as a "just" punishment - for anything.

LEVITICUS: Chapter 14

Chapter 14
Summary:	God then instructs Moses as to what to do when a person's leprosy disappears(?) God tells Moses that a priest must examine a person whose leprosy has seemed to have disappeared. If the priest deems that the leprosy is indeed gone, he shall have to bring with him two living birds (ones fit for eating according to God's "standards"), cedar wood, a scarlet string, and hyssop branches. The priest shall then order one of the birds to be killed in an earthenware pot held above running water. The other bird that is still alive (along with the scarlet string, cedar wood, and hyssop branches) shall then be dipped in the blood of the killed bird. The priest shall then sprinkle the blood seven* times upon the person cured of leprosy, and the priest shall pronounce him "clean" while letting the surviving bird fly off into the open field. The person who is cured will now have to wash their clothes, shave off all their hair, bathe themselves, and return to live inside the camp; however, they must stay outside their tent for seven days. On the seventh day, the cured leper shall again shave off all their hair (including all facial hair, eyebrows, and head), wash their clothes again, and bathe to be declared fully cured of leprosy. On the eighth day, the person shall take two male lambs without any physical defects, one yearling ewe lamb without defect, ten quarts* of finely ground flour for a "meat offering", mingled with oil, as well as a pint* of oil. The priest who examined the person must present the person and the items before God at the door of the tabernacle. The priest shall take one male lamb and the ounce of oil and offer it for a "guilt offering" by waving them around in the air before the altar. Then he shall kill the lamb in the place where "sin offerings" and "burnt offerings" are killed, as in the case of "sin offerings", this shall be given to the priest as food - as it is considered "holy". The priest shall then take some of the blood from this "guilt offering" and smear some on the tip of the right ear of the person being cleansed, and upon their right thumb and the big toe of their right foot. The priest shall then take some of the olive oil and pour it into the palm of his left hand, then dip his right finger into it, and sprinkle it seven* times before God. Part of the rest of the oil shall be placed upon the person's right ear, thumb, and big toe - just like what was done the lamb's blood. The rest of the oil shall be poured upon the person's head to anoint them while the priest makes atonement for them before God. Then the priest must make a "sin offering" and make another atonement for the person to be cleaned from their "uncleanliness", and afterward the priest is to kill the animal deemed for a "burnt offering", offering it along with the "grain offering" upon the altar, making atonement for the person, who shall now be finally pronounced "clean". If the person is too poor to afford two lambs, then he may only bring one lamb, a male lamb for the "guilt offering", only three quarts* of fine flour mixed with olive oil, and a pint* of olive oil. The person must also bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons - whichever he can afford - using one of the pair for a "sin offering" and the other for a "burnt offering". He shall bring them to the priest at the entrance to the tabernacle on the eighth day for his ceremonial cleansing before God. The priest shall then take the lamb for the "guilt offering", along with the pint* of oil, and wave them in the air before the altar as a gesture of offering to God. Then he shall kill the lamb for the "guilt offering" and smear some of its blood upon the tip of the person's right ear, right thumb, and big toe of his right foot. The priest is then to pour the olive oil into his left hand, then dip his right finger into it, and sprinkle it seven* times before God. Part of the rest of the oil shall be placed upon the person's right ear, thumb, and big toe - just like what was done the lamb's blood. The rest of the oil shall be poured upon the person's head to anoint them while the priest makes atonement for them before God. Then the priest shall offer the two turtledoves, or two young pigeons, depending on what he can afford. One of the birds is to be a "sin offering" and the other a "burnt offering", to be sacrificed along with the "grain offering", and the priest shall make atonement for the person before God. God declares that these are the laws to be followed cleansing people of leprosy. God then tells Moses and Aaron that when they arrive in Canaan, (which God has promised to the Israelis as a possession) and find that he has placed leprosy in a house within the land, the owner of the house must come to a priest to tell them that there seems to be a plague in their house. The priest shall then order that the house be completely emptied before it is examined, so that every item in the house need not to be declared contaminated if he decides that there is leprosy there. If the priest finds greenish or reddish streaks in the walls which seem to be beneath the surface of the walls in the house, he shall close up the house for seven days. The priest shall return on the seventh day to re-examine the house, and if he finds that the spots have spread in the wall, then the priest shall order the removal of the infected section of the wall, and the building material must be taken out to a "defiled" area outside the city. The priest shall then order the inside walls of the house to be scraped thoroughly, and the scrapings dumped in a "defiled" place outside the city. New stones shall be brought in to replace the ones removed, and with new mortar, the house shall be replastered. If the spots return again in the house, the priest shall order the house to be demolished, as it is "defiled" with leprosy. All of the stones, timber, and mortar of the destroyed house shall be carried out of the city to be dumped in a "defiled" area. Anyone who enters this house while it is closed shall be defiled until evening. Anyone who lies down or eats in the house shall wash their clothing. However, if the priest examines the house and finds that the spots have not reappeared after the fresh plastering, the the priest shall pronounce the house "clean", because the plague has been "healed". He shall also perform a ceremony of cleansing, using two birds, cedar wood, scarlet thread, and hyssop branches. The priest shall kill one bird over running water in an earthenware bowl, and dip the other living bird, cedar wood, scarlet thread, and hyssop branch into the blood of the dead bird and in the running water. The priest shall then sprinkle the house with the dead bird's blood and the water seven* times, thus cleansing the house. He shall then let the living bird free outside of the city to fly away into the open fields, which shall make atonement for the house and cleanse it. These are God's laws for dealing with leprous people, garments, and houses. God claims to Moses and Aaron that with these laws they will now know whether someone or something is infected with leprosy.
Notes:	1.) Another example of the mystical significance of the number 7 in the bible. 2.) Approximated measurement of the bible's unit of measurement. The original KJV text measures this amount as a "three tenth deal" of flour. 3.) Approximated measurement of the bible's unit of measurement. The original KJV text measures this amount as "one log of oil". 4.) Approximated measurement of the bible's unit of measurement. The original KJV text measures this amount as a "one tenth deal" of flour.
Thoughts:	This chapter deals with God's laws about people who've somehow been "cured" of leprosy (probably more aptly, to have been proven wrongly diagnosed), how these "guilty" people need to make amends to God for having contracted leprosy in the first place (which seems quite backwards, seeming that God ultimately would be responsible for the infection in the first place), and what to do if you find signs of leprosy in a house. Of course, God wastes no time in demanding more animal sacrifices (beginning in verse four) and demands that those who were exiled due to a suspicion of having contracted leprosy by the judgment of a priest, and have later been found "clean" must gather up a pair of birds (they must be a pair of birds fit for eating - in accordance to the rules laid out in Leviticus Chapter 11), a scarlet string(?), some cedar wood, olive oil, and some hyssop branches. We are then to kill one of the birds in a pot that's being held over running water(?) and bathe the other objects (including the surviving living bird) in the dead animal's blood. I'm sure there is some superstitious belief attached to the requirement of needing running water to kill a bird in a pot over, but I'm don't see the actual significance of this requirement. Once everything is covered in the dead bird's blood (including its surviving counterpart) it's time to splash some blood around - seven times (again reinforcing the numerological significance of the number seven) - upon the accused, but now apparently healed, leper and letting the surviving bird fly away into an open field. Although the priest now declares the poor former leper "clean", his apology to God for having contracted leprosy is far from over. The "cured" leper is now expected to not only bathe themselves and wash their clothes, but to shave their head and live for a full week outside of their tent. On the seventh day the cured leper has to yet again shave their head, as well as their eyebrows and any facial hair they may have, as well as bathe and wash their clothes again. The following day it's time for more animal sacrifice, this time bringing two male lambs, a yearling ewe, some flour, and some olive oil for the "guilt offering". Why someone would have to "apologize" to God for the "guilt" of having contracted leprosy is beyond me, however, God seems to use any minute reason to demand animal sacrifices. As per usual, the ritual consists of the priest waving these items in the air in a gesture of sacrifice before killing one of the lambs - which conveniently the priest gets to keep as food. The problem here should be obvious - when a priest stands to benefit, chances are that these priests may well take advantage of some unfortunate person with a rash, deeming them a leper, and reaping the benefit of the "guilt offering" meal they get when they find the same person to be cured. One could argue that a "just" god wouldn't stand for his own priests abusing the system, but when God can't even be bothered to verify cases of leprosy himself, entrusting this duty to unqualified priests who most likely have little knowledge in medical conditions, it seems unlikely that God could be bothered to police his priests either. The ritual then takes a turn into superstition reminiscent of the ritual for ordaining Aaron and his sons as priests in Leviticus: Chapter 8, where the priest is now to gather blood from the slaughtered animal and smear it on the right ear, right thumb, and big toe on the right foot of the "cured" leper. The priest then repeats this using some of the olive oil, which he is to pour into his left hand beforehand. The priest then sprinkles olive oil seven times (again with the mystical number seven) before the altar and anoints the ex-leper's head with the remaining oil in "atonement". Again, why someone needs to atone themselves for contracting an infectious disease seems incomprehensible. The second lamb is to be killed as a "sin offering" and to make yet another atonement for our former leper. The animal is then to be offered along with a "grain offering" upon the altar to God, and finally the ex-leper should finally be deemed clean. God also notes that someone who can't afford two lambs for their "sin offering" of contracting and beating leprosy may get by with only one lamb, a third of the "grain offering", along with the full pint of olive oil. However, the person must bring either a pair of turtledoves or young pigeons to use in God's "sin offering" and "burnt offering" demands. God now tells Moses that he might possibly let loose a strain of leprosy in Canaan - a piece of land that he had promised the descendants of Abraham - and instructs them on what to do if one of the town folk suspects that their house might be infected with leprosy. The house will basically be emptied and boarded up for a good seven days before a priest re-examines the place. If he still finds greenish or reddish stains in the walls, he'll have to dig that chunk of the wall out and dump the "unclean" masonry outside of town in a "defiled area". If the priest comes back another week later and still finds greenish and reddish stains on the walls, he'll have to re-plaster all the interior walls. If the stains manage to return again, the house will have to be demolished, and all the rubble hauled out to the "defiled" area on the outskirts of town. However, if the house turns out to be okay after the re-plastering, get some more birds ready as God requires yet more animal sacrifice. Once again, you'll need two birds, a scarlet thread, some cedar wood, and some hyssop branches. Just like the "cleansing" ritual for finding yourself clean from leprosy, you'll need to kill a bird in an earthenware pot held over running water. Smear the blood over everything, bathe it all in the water, sprinkle the blood around seven times, let the surviving bird free outside the city, and your house will be atoned for its sin of being infected with leprosy. Why someone's house needs atonement is beyond me, but apparently God demands the animal sacrifice for letting your house get infected by the plague he sent in the first place.

LEVITICUS: Chapter 13

Chapter 13
Summary:	God now speaks to Moses and Aaron about the subject of leprosy. If a person notices a swelling in his skin, or a scab, boil, or pimple with transparent skin, leprosy is to be suspected and the person is to be brought to Aaron or one of his sons to be examined. If the hair in this spot turns white, and the spot appears to look more than skin-deep, it is leprosy and the priest must declare him "unclean". If the white spot in the skin doesn't appear to be deeper than the skin, and the hair in the spot hasn't turned white, the priest shall quarantine the person for seven days. On the seventh day the priest will examine the person again, and if the spot has not changed or spread, then the person must be quarantined for seven more days. If the marks of the disease have become fainter and have not spread, then the priest shall declare the person cured; it was only a scab and the person shall wash their clothes and be considered "clean" again. If the spot has spread the person must come back to the priest to be examined again, and if the priest has found that the spot has spread further then the priest must pronounce the person "unclean", as they have leprosy. When anyone suspected of having leprosy is brought to the priest, the priest is to look to see if there is a white swelling with white hairs and raw flesh in the spot. If he finds these symptoms then the priest must pronounce the person "unclean", as they are a leper. The person is not to be quarantined as they are surely diseased. However, if the priest sees that leprosy has spread all over from head to toe, then the priest shall pronounce him cured; for if it has all turned white, he is cured - but if there is raw flesh anywhere, the person shall be declared a leper. If the raw flesh later changes to white, the leper will return to the priest to be examined again. If the spot has indeed turned completely white, then the priest will pronounce him cured. In the case of a person who has a boil in their skin that heals, but leaves a white swelling or bright spot, the person must be examined by a priest. If the priest sees that the problem appears to be underneath the skin, and the hair at the spot has turned white, then the priest shall declare the person "unclean". However, if the priest sees that there are no white hairs in the spot, the spots appears to be not deeper than the skin, and if the color of the spot is gray, then the priest shall quarantine the person for seven days. If during that time the spot spreads, the priest must declare the person a leper. If the bright spot grows no larger and doesn't spread, it is merely a scar from the boil, and the priest shall declare the person "clean". If there is any flesh where a burning sensation is felt, and it becomes bright white or a reddish-white, then the priest must examine the spot. If the hair in the spot turns white, and the area appears to be affected beneath the skin, the priest must declare the person "unclean". If the spot doesn't move or spread in the skin, and is fading, it is simply a scar from the burn and the priest shall declare the person "clean". If a person has a sore on their head or chin, it must be examined by a priest. If the infection appears to be below the skin and yellow hair is found in the sore, the priest must declare the person "unclean". However, if the priest finds that the spot seems to be only affecting the skin and that there is black hair in it, then the person will be quarantined for seven days and is to be reexamined on the seventh day. If the spot has not spread, yellow hair has not appeared, and the infection does not appear deeper than the skin, the person shall shave off all the hair surrounding the spot and will be quarantined for another seven days. If the spot has not spread and appears no deeper than the skin, the priest shall pronounce the person "clean", and after washing their clothes they will be clean. However, if later on the spot begins to spread, then the priest must examine the person again and, without waiting to see if any yellow hair develops, declare the person a leper. If it appears that the spreading has stopped and black hairs are found in the spot, then the person is healed and not a leper, the priest shall declare them "clean". If a person has in the skin bright spots, even white bright spots, the the priest shall examine if the bright spots are darkish white. If they indeed are, then it is only a freckled spot in the skin (an ordinary skin infection) and the person shall be deemed "clean". A man whose hair has fallen off his head does not make him a leper - he is simply bald. A man who has had hair fallen out from the part of his head towards his face is also not automatically a leper - only that he has a bald forehead. However, if in his baldness resides a reddish white sore, then leprosy has broken out upon his bald head or forehead. He must then be examined by a priest, and if the priest concludes that the sore is in fact leprosy then the man must be declared a leper. Anyone who is pronounced a leper must tear their clothes, let their hair grow wild and unkempt, and cover their upper lip. The person must also declare they are a leper in their travels. They, as a leper, are considered "defiled" and must live outside of the camp. If an article of clothing is suspected of being infected by leprosy, whether it is made of linen, fabric, wool, or leather, if it contains a greenish or reddish spot it must be examined by a priest. The priest will put the garment away for seven days and examine it on the seventh day. If the spot has spread, then the garment is infected with leprosy and must be destroyed by fire. If upon examination on the seventh day, the priest finds that the spot has not spread, the priest shall order the garment to be washed and isolated for seven more days. If after that time the spot has not changed in color, regardless if it hasn't spread, then the garment shall be considered infected and must be burned. However, if the priest sees that the spot has faded after being washed, then the spot may be cut out from the garment, and the rest of the garment may be used or worn after another washing. If the spot returns to the garment, then the garment must be destroyed by fire.
Thoughts:	In this chapter God gives his rather vague instructions to Moses and Aaron about detecting leprosy and how to handle suspected cases of leprosy. What qualifies a priest above others in detecting leprosy is unclear, yet God insists that this job is to be carried out by Aaron and his sons. Any sores or lesions that match God's description of leprosy must be examined for signs of spreading, and upon the priest's judgment - which could be suspect and fallible compared to perhaps God himself making the final call - will lead the infected to be exiled from the Israeli camp. In a rather humorous aside, God declares that all suspected lepers must wear tattered clothing, leave their hair wild and unkempt, and must cry out "I'm a leper! I'm a leper!" to all those they encounter. I suppose they should be grateful for their exile rather than having God order them to be dragged out to the entrance of town for a stoning. Also in another bit of troubling humor, God warns his priests not to mistake general male pattern baldness as a symptom of leprosy. Spots suspected of being leprosy found in clothing must either be washed, quarantined, and re-examined in seven days, or failing that, set on fire. I suppose this is actually an acceptable precaution, but still a bit troublesome that its fate is left to the untrained decision of a priest to detect leprosy. Above all else, it's peculiar as to why God demands that priests are to be in charge of detecting leprosy as opposed to someone who practices medicine. Despite our story being set roughly in the Bronze Age, it's not unreasonable to believe that at least some people were probably skilled in treating disease and injuries regardless of how primitive their methods may have been. Someone more knowledgeable in human illness would obviously be more skilled in determining if a sore was in fact leprosy or perhaps some other infection they may be familiar with that might exhibit similar symptoms. Even our modern day physicians can misdiagnose symptoms occasionally, but obviously their professional opinions are based on experience, years of study, and knowledge rather than the crash course in medicine God has given to Aaron and his priestly sons. Furthermore, if God is omnipotent as he is commonly described, couldn't he not make his "chosen people" immune to leprosy, as he made the Israelis immune to the plagues he thrust upon the Egyptian people? However, I suspect that the whole Golden Calf incident that Aaron started probably angered God enough to become apathetic towards the Israelis possibly being misdiagnosed with leprosy, or worse still, suffering from the disease itself. God probably has no empathy for those misdiagnosed from a priest ignorant in medicine seeing as he holds contempt for them over disregarding his rules. I'm sure the apologist standpoint is probably that those who may have been misdiagnosed and "innocently" exiled probably deserved it anyways.

EXODUS: Chapters 3 & 4

Chapter 3
Summary:	As Moses was tending the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro*(Reuel), the priest of Midian, suddenly the angel of God appeared to him as a flame of fire in a bush. When Moses saw that the bush was on fire and wasn't burning up, he drew closer to investigate it. God then called out his name, and Moses asked who it was calling him. God tells him not to come any closer and to remove his shoes, for he is standing on holy ground. He tells Moses that he is the God of his forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as Moses covered his face with his hands, fearful to look at God. He continues on telling Moses that he has the seen the hardship of his people in Egypt, and has heard their pleas for freedom. He tells Moses that he has come to deliver them from Egypt into a land "flowing with milk and honey" - where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. He then tells Moses that he has chosen him lead the people out of Egypt. Moses tells God that he is not the right man for the job, to which God ignores and tells Moses that he will be with him along the way, and that he is to lead the people to worship on this mountain. Moses then asks what he should tell the people if they ask which god has sent him. God tells Moses, "I am that I am" and that was what was to be told - furthering that Moses is to tell them that the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has sent him - and that is his eternal name to be used throughout generations. God instructs Moses to call together the elders of Israel and to tell them of God's appearance to him and that he has visited the people of Israel and seen their plight. He again promises to take them away from their slavery and into the "land of milk and honey" occupied by the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. He tells Moses that the elders will accept his message, and will accompany him to appear before the Pharaoh, in order to request permission for the Hebrew people to journey into the desert for three days, to offer a sacrifice to God. God adds that he knows the Pharaoh will not allow them to go except under heavy pressure, but that God will give the Pharaoh the pressure he needs. He continues to add that he will destroy Egypt with his miracles until the Pharaoh allows the people to go. Continuing further, God tells him that the Egyptian people will bestow them with gifts as they depart - instructing that the women demand jewels, silver, gold, and the finest clothes from their Egyptian masters - telling Moses that he will clothe the people with the best of Egypt.
Notes:	1.) Reuel inexplicably is also called Jethro starting from this chapter.
Thoughts:	The first thing we learn in this chapter is that apparently Moses' father-in-law Reuel also goes by the name Jethro. It's not explained how or why, and for someone to pick up the bible and read it without clarification, this is confusing as to who is being referred to. What my best guess is, as to why we have this dual naming, that we probably have multiple authors who may have had different translations for the name of Reuel/Jethro. Moses, out tending to his father-in-law's flock sees a burning bush, that God has curiously chosen to take the form of. God calls out Moses' name, tells him not to get any closer, and instructs him to kick off his shoes as he's stepping on holy ground. Moses decides to also cover his face as he for some reason is afraid to look at God's manifestation as a burning bush. God now tells Moses that he's got a mission for him, but Moses doesn't think he's right for the job. He tells Moses that it's going to be his job to lead the Israelis out of Egypt, and plead for their release (under the guise of a three day pilgrimage to the desert) from the Pharaoh of Egypt. He tells Moses to approach the Israeli elders to accompany him to the Pharaoh. Moses asks the burning bush what should he tell the Israeli elders if they ask him which god has sent him on this mission, to which God gives him an enigmatic answer of "I am that I am". He tells Moses that the Pharaoh isn't going to let them go without a lot of heavy persuasion, but that God is more than willing to help twist his arm with his mighty miracles, and even goes on further stating that he's going to destroy Egypt with his power and magic miracles. He caps it off saying that once the Israelis do finally get to go, that as an extra kick to the groin, the Israeli women will take the jewelry, gold, silver, and fancy clothing from the Egyptians as they leave.
Chapter 4
Summary:	Moses tells God that no-one's going to believe his story, do anything that he tells them to do, or believe that God even appeared to him. God then tells Moses to throw his shepherd's rod down onto the ground. When Moses did this, it turned into a snake, which God told him to grab by the tail. When he grabbed the snake by the tail, it became a rod again. God then tells Moses to reach his hand into his robe and pull it out again, when he does so, his hand appeared ravaged with leprosy. God tells him to do the same again and Moses' hand returned to normal. God tells Moses that if they don't believe the first miracle, then they will surely believe the second, but if that too fails, he tells Moses to take some water from the Nile River and pour it upon dry land, and it will turn to blood. Moses then protests to God saying that he isn't a very good speaker, and that he should pick someone else to deliver his message. After arguing back and forth, God angrily concedes that Moses' brother is a good speaker and that he is currently on his way to look for Moses. He tells Moses that his brother can be his spokesman to the people. Moses returns home and told his father-in-law Jethro that he was to return to Egypt to visit his relatives. Before he leaves Midian, God speaks to Moses again, telling him not to fear returning to Egypt, for those who had wanted to execute him are now all dead. So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey, and returned to Egypt, holding tightly the "Rod of God". God speaks to Moses again, telling him that when he appears to the Pharaoh to plead for the release of his people, he is to tell the Pharaoh that when he refuses, God will slay his oldest son. As Moses and his family were traveling along, they stopped for the night, and God appeared to Moses threatening to kill him. Inexplicably, his wife Zipporah takes a flint knife, cuts off the foreskin of her sons penis and throws it against Moses' feet remarking, "Surely a bloody husband art thou to me." God left him alone. God then appears to Aaron, Moses' brother, and tells him to go into the wilderness to meet Moses. Aaron travels to Mount Horeb and met Moses there and they greeted each other warmly. Moses explained God's plan to Aaron, what they were to do and say, and about the miracles they had to do before the Pharaoh. Moses and Aaron returned to Egypt and summoned the elders of Israel to a meeting. Aaron told them what God had said and Moses performed the miracles for them. The elders then believed that God had sent them and they bowed their heads and worshiped.
Thoughts:	Moses tells God that nobody's going to believe all this talking to a burning bush malarkey, so God teaches Moses a couple of magic tricks including: turning a staff into a snake, the magic hand of leprosy, and if all else fails, take some water out of the Nile, pour it on dry land, and watch it turn to blood. Not quite as impressive as a Chris Angel or David Copperfield show, but apparently it'll do to convince both the ancient Egyptians and the bronze age Israelis. Moses then tries to get out of this gig by telling God that he's not even a good speaker, and that he should just find somebody else for the job. God, now getting pretty angry, decides to let Moses' brother Aaron do all the talking, so that Moses can just concentrate on his magic show. He goes home and tells "Jethro" that he's leaving town and taking his wife and kids and packs them all onto a donkey. God then reassures him that things are a-okay in Egypt as he took care of all those pesky soldiers that wanted to execute him. He also adds in a new little proviso to tell the Pharaoh, that if the Israelis aren't let free, then God will kill the Pharaoh's oldest son. Moses gets going along his trip back to Egypt and later stops to rest for the night. Here things get weird, really weird. For no discernible reason, God threatens to kill Moses dead on the spot. Now Moses' wife grabs a knife and circumcises her son with it and throws the foreskin at Moses and tells him what a bloody mess he is. Apparently this must have freaked God out or something, as he decides it's just best to leave the situation alone. Seriously, this does not make any sense whatsoever. This whole scene seems more at place in a David Lynch movie than what is purportedly to be "the word of God". I honestly had no clue as to what this passage means and had to look up an explanation on a theistic website. According to www.gotquestions.org: " God was going to kill Moses because of sin. The sin of Moses in Exodus 4:24-26 is not stated explicitly, but the surrounding events give substantial clues as to the nature of Moses’ transgression. God had instructed his messenger to warn Pharaoh to free Israel, or risk losing his firstborn son. Moses had been specially groomed by God for eighty years for this mission, and now the time for action had come. Moses was to lead his people out of Egypt and to be an example to Pharaoh’s house, to the nation of Egypt, and to all the nations that heard of those happenings. Accordingly, Moses’ personal life had to be in order before he could direct the spiritual lives of the Hebrew people. It seems that Moses had neglected to administer the sacred rite of circumcision, the act that symbolized the Almighty’s covenant with His chosen people. Perhaps this was the result of pressure from his surrogate Midianite tribe. It is also possible that he was persuaded by Zipporah not to circumcise his son, since she apparently found the practice revolting. This would explain her violent outburst; she felt that she had saved her husband from death by shedding the blood of her son. Whatever the cause, Moses’ outstanding sin made him unfit to serve as a spiritual leader, and the situation had to be rectified before he could carry out his mission effectively. Indeed, as soon as Zipporah performed the act, the Lord “let him go.” In summary, God was going to kill Moses because Moses was supposed to teach the Israelites God's Law, yet Moses was not obeying God's Law himself." Okay, now here's my problem with this answer: a lot of it is being inferred and implied. While this website's answer seems to fit neatly, the bible tells us none of this, this is all just guesswork and taking a stab at what's going on. Why doesn't God just ask Moses to get his son circumcised if that's where the whole problem lays? Now God being omniscient - as purported - wouldn't he have known that Moses had not had his son circumcised, and if this was such a big deal, couldn't he have either asked/told/commanded him to do so, or just picked somebody else? Also, why is outright killing Moses justifiable? If this book is allegedly written by an all perfect deity, wouldn't you think his message would be clear and concise and not require human intervention to "fill in the gaps" and guess that circumcision almost made Moses a ghost here? Anyways, Moses and Aaron eventually meet up at Mount Horeb, and he fills Aaron in on God's plan, the magic tricks, and the whole nine yards. They travel on back to Egypt and make a convincing show to the Israeli elders, who drop to the ground in worship.