JOSHUA: Chapter 6

Chapter 6
Summary:	Because of the Israelites, the gates to the city of Jericho were secured so that no one could get in or go out. God said to Joshua, "I have delivered the city of Jericho, along with its king and his soldiers, into your hands." He then commands Joshua to lead a march of the his soldiers around the city for six days. On the seventh* day, God adds that seven* priests blowing ram's horn trumpets are to join the soldiers as they march around the city seven* times. God instructs that when Joshua hears a long blast from the trumpets, he is to command his entire army to give a loud shout, and subsequently the walls of the city will fall to allow Joshua's army to invade. Joshua commanded the priests to pick up and carry the ark of the covenant with the seven priests carrying trumpets in front of the ark. He then ordered the army to begin marching around the city, and placed an armed guard to march ahead of the ark. The trumpets began to blare as an armed guard marched in front of the ark, and another guard followed behind the ark. Joshua however commanded the army to not shout or make any noise with their voices until the day comes when he will command them to issue a war cry. The army marched once around the city and camped for the night. Joshua awoke early in the morning and the priests picked up the ark of the covenant, while the seven priests blew their seven trumpets, accompanied by the armed men leading and flanking their procession. For six straight days they repeated this procession, circling the city once, and returning to camp On the seventh day, the Israelites again rose early, but this time they encircled the camp seven times instead of just once. During the seventh pass, when the priests blew their trumpets, Joshua told the people, "Shout, for the Lord has given you the city. "The city shall be cursed," Joshua continued, "it and everything it contains shall be sacrificed to the Lord - only Rahab the harlot, and all those residing in her house, shall live, for she hid the messengers that we sent. You should be wise to avoid any of the accursed things in the city, lest you make yourselves accursed by taking any accursed thing and thereby bring upon a curse to the camp of Israel. But all the silver and gold, as well as items made of brass and iron, are to be consecrated to the Lord and shall be given to his treasury." So the people shouted as the priests blew their trumpets and the city wall fell down flat allowing the Israelites to take the city. They utterly destroyed all that was in the city - man and woman, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, all by the edge of their swords. Joshua had the two men who had spied out the city go to the Rahab's house and bring out the harlot and her family that they had promised to spare. The spies did as they were commanded and brought Rahab, her parents, her siblings, and all of her relatives to a spot outside the camp of Israel. They then burnt the city to the ground along with everything in it, taking only the gold, silver, and objects made of brass and iron for God's treasury. Rahab and her family were spared and lived amongst the Israelites through their generations, their lives spared because Rahab hid the men sent to spy out the city of Jericho. Joshua proclaimed to the people, "Cursed be the man before God who attempts to rebuild the city of Jericho. He shall pay the price of building its foundation with his firstborn, and pay the price of building its gates with his youngest son." God was with Joshua and his fame spread throughout the country.
Notes:	1.) Yet more occurrences of the mystical number seven.
Thoughts:	The sixth chapter of the book of Joshua centers itself around the complete annihilation of the city of Jericho and its inhabitants. Recognizing the impending assault from the Israelites, the city secured its gates so that none could enter or exit the city. God then gives Joshua his attack plan, revolving heavily around yet another several mystical occurrences of the number seven: Joshua's army is to march around the city for seven days; in the procession, seven priests carrying seven ram's horn trumpets are to join the soldiers, and on the seventh day are to blow their horns seven times. After which, and not a moment before, the entire army is to let out a loud battle cry, and the walls of Jericho will collapse. Obviously, while there isn't any practical reason for having such a heavy reliance upon the number seven (seven priests with seven trumpets, marching and blowing their horns for seven days, blowing them seven times on the seventh day) it's yet another example of the bible's borrowing from, and perhaps in some cases inspiring, numerological mysticism. Joshua then sets his battle plan in motion, starting with the priests tasked with carrying the ark of the covenant with the seven trumpeted priests marching in front of them, and flanking both the head and rear of the procession with armed soldiers. Joshua then commanded his army not to make a war cry or any noise with their voices until the day comes that Joshua will command it. After marching around the city, the Israelites camped for the night. The following morning they marched around the city again a single time, trumpets blaring, and repeated this ritual for six consecutive days. On the seventh day, they encircled the camp seven times, the trumpeters blew their horns seven times, before Joshua gave the order to his army to shout, stating that God had "given" them the city. Before they let out their war cry and invade the city however, Joshua tells them to destroy every living being within the city walls - except for Rahab the prostitute from chapter 2 along with her family - and warns the soldiers not to take any items or property in the city because doing so would bring a curse upon Israel. However, Joshua adds that they are to take all of the gold, silver, and objects made of brass and iron, to be given to "God's treasury". Once again we're presented with another example of the bible attempting to justify the genocide of non-combatants (women, infants, children, and the elderly), however this time the bible introduces a new spin to its tactic. Beginning with Abraham's questioning of God's ethics and morality concerning the possibility of innocent casualties in the destruction of Sodom and Gommorah, the bible justifies massacre, destruction, and genocide by presenting their targets in terms of absolutes. With God promising Abraham that he wouldn't destroy the city of Sodom if there were as few as 10 "righteous" people living there, we're to assume that the city was entirely "wicked" in strict absolute terms, and that the children and infants of the city who were incapable of distinguishing right from wrong were deserving of their violent and horrific deaths right along with the "wicked". The bible further reinforces this stance with the horrific extermination of the Midianites in Numbers: Chaper 31, in which after the Israelites slaughter the adult male Midianites, Moses chastises them for sparing the lives of the women and children that they took prisoner, and orders that they too be slaughtered - except for the young virgin girls, whom the soldiers can "keep for themselves". In this new variant presented here in the book of Joshua it's important to analyze several key aspects about Rahab: She is a Canaanite, of whom God expressly commands are not to make any covenant nor show any mercy towards She is a prostitute She is a woman She lied to, deceived, and betrayed her own people and did so for the goal - at least in part - of seeking self preservation Virtually every aspect of Rahab's character is viewed negatively by the Israelites, and quite often biblical apologists spin this off as if this demonstrates that even a "sinner" can earn God's grace. What they fail to address however, is that it may in fact simply be a justification to side-step their own rules in order to protect the non-Hebrew members of their society while maintaining their racial oppression against others in the camp. For example, if we were to build a society upon a lineage of Caucasian descent and wanted a piece of land occupied by a society comprised of black people, the most simple and thorough means of conquering a society and preventing them from possible revenge in the future would be to order genocide against their entire race. If we establish a law binds us by duty to commit genocide against all black people, it would be viewed as a hypocritical law if there happened to already be some black people living amongst us that we made exception to. Perhaps we were reliant upon the skills or services that these black families provided to our society, and that slaughtering them would put us at some sort of disadvantage. This puts us in a dilemma where we either risk a possible retaliation by any survivors should we avoid commanding genocide against a particular race, or requires us to invent a justification to explain why there are black families living amongst us that are exempt from the law. The story and depiction of Rahab presents her in a mostly unfavorable light (she's a Canaanite, a prostitute, a liar, a traitor, and being a woman, she's viewed as less than a man in the context of the times) which makes it easier to villainize the inhabitants of the city of Jericho by not making Rahab out to be a noble righteous hero (such as how Lot is intended to be viewed - despite offering his daughters up for ransom to a pack of rapists, and later on getting drunk and having sex with them). It provides a justification for why there may be a Canaanite living amongst the Israelites claiming that he's descended from Rahab and her family that were spared, without painting Canaanites in too sympathetic of a light. The chapter continues with the priests blowing their trumpets and the soldiers shouting a war cry, causing the city wall to come down - which seems odd in light that Rahab's house is apparently built into the city wall (Joshua 2:15). The soldiers proceeded to massacre every living being - man, woman, infants, young and old, oxen, sheep, donkeys - all by sword point. Joshua sends the two spies that Rahab had helped in Joshua: Chapter 2 to go to Rahab's house (built into the city wall that just fell over) and to bring out Rahab and her family. Rahab and her parents, siblings, and relatives were brought to spot outside of the Israelite's camp while the soldiers burned the city of Jericho, along with everything in it - except for the gold, silver, and brass and iron object that they looted - to the ground. The bible states that Rahab and her family lived among the Israelites for generations. Joshua proclaims a curse that anyone who attempts to rebuild Jericho will pay the price of their firstborn for building it's foundation, and will pay the price of his youngest son for building its gates. It's not clear if this curse applies only to the youngest son at the time of building or applies to all subsequent sons as well. The chapter closes out by stating that Joshua's fame (or perhaps infamy) spread throughout the country.

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 28

Chapter 28
Summary:	Moses' speech continues: "It shall come to pass, if you obey the voice of the Lord your God, and obey all of his commandments which I give to this day, that the Lord your God will place you high above all other nations of the earth. "All these blessings shall come true, and overwhelm you, if you shall obey the voice of the Lord your God: Blessings to your cities and to your fields; blessings to the fertility of your bodies, and to your crops, as well as to your cattle in your herds, and the sheep in your flocks; blessings upon your food and the amount you have; blessings to when you arrive or leave home. "The Lord shall curse your enemies that rise up against you to be defeated before your very eyes - they shall come against you one way, but flee before you seven* ways. "The Lord shall command a blessing upon your food storage houses, and in all that you set your hand into. He shall bless you in the land that he has given you. "The Lord shall establish you as a holy people unto himself, as he has sworn to you, if you keep his commandments and walk in the ways of the Lord your God. All of the people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. "The Lord shall make you plentiful in goods, and in fertility of yourselves, as well as your cattle and your crops, in the land which he promised to your forefathers. "The Lord shall open to you his treasure, the heaven to give rain to your land each season, and to bless all of your work. You shall lend to many nations, but shall never borrow. "The Lord shall make you the head, and not the tail. You shall be above, and never beneath, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command to you this day, to observe and obey. You shall not stray from any of the words I have commanded you this day, not to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them. "If you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, his commandments and statutes which I command you this day, then all of these curses shall come upon you and overtake you: curses to your cities and to your fields; curses to the fertility of your bodies, and to your crops, as well as to your cattle in your herds, and the sheep in your flocks; curses upon your food and the amount you have; curses to when you arrive or leave home. "The Lord shall send upon you cursing, vexation, and rebuke in all that you do, until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly because of the wickedness of your doings, whereby you have forsaken me. "The Lord shall make the pestilence cling to you, until it consumes you from off the land you about to possess. "The Lord shall smite you with a consumption, and with fever and inflammation, with an extreme burning, and with the sword, blasting, and with mildew, and you shall be pursued until you perish. "The heaven that is over your head shall be brass, and the earth under you shall be iron. "The Lord shall turn the rain into dust and powder, and from heaven it shall fall until you are destroyed. "The Lord will cause you to be destroyed before your enemies - you shall go out one way against them, and flee before them seven* ways - and you shall be removed from the kingdoms of the earth. Your carcasses shall be food to the bird in the air, and to the wild animals, no one will chase these animals away. "The Lord will smite you with the boils of Egypt, and with hemorrhoids, scabs, and the itch, which cannot be cured. "The Lord will smite you with madness, blindness, and panic; and you shall grope around in the daylight as the blind gropes in the darkness. You shall not prosper in any way, and you shall only be oppressed and spoiled, and no one will save you. "When you become engaged to a woman, another man will sleep with her; when you build a house, someone else will live there; and when you plant a vineyard, someone else will eat your grapes. Your oxen will be slain before your eyes, and you will not even get to eat its meat; your donkeys shall be violently taken away in front of your very eyes, and you will not be compensated for them; and your sheep will be given to your enemies, and no one will be able to rescue them. Your sons and daughters will be sold as slaves to other nations, and you will long for their return but will not have the might to free them. Another nation, unknown to you, will devour your crops and all of your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed away. You will grow mad from the seeing all of this befall you. "The Lord will cover your legs and knees with boils that cannot be healed, starting from the sole of your feet to the top of your head. "The Lord shall bring you and the King that presides over you under the hand of another nation, one that neither yourselves nor your forefathers have known, and there you shall serve other gods, crafted from wood and stone. You shall become an object of horror, a proverb, and a byword among all nations wherever the Lord shall lead you. "You will carry out a lot of seed out into the field, but shall reap few crops, because the locusts will consume them. You will plant vineyards, and dress them, but you will never taste the wine or the grapes they yield, for the worms shall eat them. You will have olive trees throughout the land, but you will not be able to anoint yourself with oil, for the trees will not bear olives. You will bear sons and daughters, but you shall not enjoy them for they will be sold into slavery. The locusts will consume the rest of the fruit and trees in the land. "The foreigners amongst you will rise above you, and you will fall in stature. They shall lend to you, and you will not lend to them; they shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. "All of these curses shall come upon you, pursue you, and overtake you until you are destroyed; because you did not listen to the voice of the Lord your God, or obey his commandments and statutes that he commanded you. These curses shall be upon you and your offspring forever as a sign and a warning. "Because you chose not to serve the Lord your God with joyfulness, and gladness of heart, for the abundance of things he's given you; therefore you shall serve your enemies which the Lord will send against you, in hunger and in thirst, in nakedness, and in want of all things. He shall put a yoke upon your neck until he has destroyed you. "The Lord shall bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand; a nation of fierce countenance, who will not show regard toward the old, nor show favor to the young. They shall eat you cattle and your crops until you are destroyed. They will leave no crops, wine, olive oil, or sheep until they have destroyed you. He shall besiege your cities until your wall come down. The walls you had trusted to protect you will fall, as they will besiege you in the cities in the land which the Lord your God has given you. You shall eat the flesh of your children, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters, which the Lord your God has given you, in the siege when your enemies distress you. The man who is kind and tender amongst you shall become evil towards his fellow man, his wife, and his children, and he will not share the flesh of his children that he is eating because he has nothing left in the midst of the siege. The most tender and delicate woman amongst you - who would not venture to set her foot down on the ground - shall become evil towards her husband and her children, and toward the children she will bear - for she will eat them secretly in the siege. "If you will not observe and obey all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and fearful name, the Lord your God, then the Lord will make wonderful plagues, plagues for your children, and even great plagues and sickness of long continuance. Moreover, he will bring upon you all the diseases of Egypt which you were afraid of, and they shall cling to you. Every sickness and every plague that is not written in the book of this law, the Lord will bring upon you until you are destroyed. You will be left few in number, whereas you were as numerous as the stars in the sky, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God. "It shall come to pass that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do good for you and to multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing, you shall be plucked from off the land that you are about to possess. The Lord will scatter you amongst all other people, from one end of the earth to the other, and there you shall serve other gods - which neither you nor your forefathers have known - crafted from wood and stone. Among those nations you shall find no ease, nor shall the sole of your foot have rest, but the Lord shall give you there a trembling heart, failing eyes, and a sorrowful mind. Your life will hang in doubt before you, and you shall fear the night and the day, and shall not have any assurance in life. In the morning you shall fear the evening, and at evening you will fear the night, for your heart will be full of fear from the sights your eyes shall see. "The Lord shall bring you into Egypt again by ships - despite the fact that he told you that you would never see that land again - and there you will be sold to your enemies into slavery, but no man shall buy you."
Notes:	1.) Another appearance of the mystical number 'seven' in the bible.
Thoughts:	This rather long chapter can basically be summed up by stating, if you don't follow God's rules he's going to do all sorts of terrible things to you. Moses begins by telling the Israelites a couple of the perks of obeying God's laws - that they'll be the best nation on the earth; that their cities and fields will be blessed; that every person, plant, and animal will be blessed with fertility; that they'll be blessed with plenty of food; and that God will curse the enemies of the Israelites. Moses says that God will also make the Israelites a "holy people" if they simply do what they're told, and states that subsequently, other nations will be afraid of them. Moses even states that if the Israelites obey, then God will open up "his treasure" - his rainwater - to give rain to the crops. He also adds that the Israelites will be rich enough to lend money to other nations and never have to borrow, stating that God will make the Israelites "the head" and not "the tail" - just so long as they obey, and don't worship other gods. Notice that just like in the ten commandments, Moses puts heavy emphasis on stressing the importance of not "go[ing] after other gods to serve them". This is obviously a crucial point toward maintaining power and control over the Israelites. One of the most common defense tactics used by believers is attempting to shift the burden of proof by claiming that "one cannot disprove the existence of God". However, if one "should" believe in God because he cannot be disproven, then by the same flawed logic we could justify the "existence" of other gods as well. Therefore it is vital to villainize other religious beliefs lest Moses and the priests lose control over governing the people. After the mention of going after other gods, Moses launches into a tirade of what will happen if the people disobey God, spending the next 52(!) verses describing all the terrible things God will do to them. First, Moses basically reverses all of the blessings in the previous verses - God will curse your cities and your fields; curse the fertility of people, animals, and crops; curse the amount of food you have; and curses upon when you leave or arrive home. Next Moses states that God will: Curse you in everything that you do until you are destroyed and will make pestilence cling to you until it consumes you. Smite you with consumption, fever, inflammation, and extreme burning. Pursue you with the sword, blasting, and mildew until you perish. Will make the sky "brass", and the earth "iron". Turn the rain into dust and powder. Cause you to be defeated before your enemies, and that you will flee "seven ways" from battle. Leave your carcasses out to become food for vultures and wild animals, as there will be no one left alive to shoo them away. Will smite you with incurable boils, hemorrhoids, scabs, and the itch - which apparently are Egyptian ailments. Will smite you with madness blindness and panic. Will ensure that you will not prosper in any way, and will instead be oppressed and spoiled, and that no one will save you. When you get engaged another man will have sex with your wife before you do. When you build a house, someone else will take it from you before you get a chance to live there. When you plant a vineyard someone else will eat your grapes Your oxen will be killed before you, and you will not get to eat any of its meat Your donkeys will be violently taken from you and you will not be compensated for them. Your enemies will take your sheep, and you won't be able to get them back. Your sons and daughters will be sold as slaves to other nations and you won't be able to rescue them. Another nation - one that no one has heard of before - will devour all of your crops. You will grow mad from seeing all of this misfortune happen to you. Will cover you head to toe in boils that connot be healed. Will deliver everyone in the land, including the king, under the control of another nation - again, one that no one has heard of before - and you will be made to worship their gods (idols made of wood and stone). No matter how much you plant, locusts will eat your crops. Worms will eat the grapes from your vineyards. Olive trees will no longer bear olives. You will give birth to children who will be sold into slavery soon after being born. Locusts will eat all of the fruit off of the trees. Foreigners amongst you will rise above you, and therefore they will be the ones able to lend money, and not you. Moses takes a quick break to remind the Israelites that these curses would be handed out because they did not listen to God or obey his commandments, and states that these curses will be upon the people and their offspring forever, to be a message and warning to others. While on the surface it may seem to contradict what Moses states in Deuteronomy 24:16 about not punishing a child for the "sins" of his father (or vice versa), if we read that verse carefully we see that Moses meant that strictly for cases of administering capital punishment against the sins of the Israelites. This doesn't apply to God's commands to kill innocent women and children, because they belong to the wrong race, nor does it apply to God accepting Noah's curse of his grandson Canaan due to Noah's son Ham walking in on him drunk and naked, or God's declaration himself that he will visit "the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generations" in Exodus 20:5, Exodus 34:7, Numbers 14:18, and Deuteronomy 5:9. Moses asserts that "choosing" not to serve God with "joyfulness" and "gladness of heart", in spite of the abundance of things he's given you (arguably plagues top that list so far in our story), that therefore you shall serve your enemies instead until God destroys you. Threatening to destroy people and making any survivors suffer in agonizing ways is not how to define "benevolent" ruler at all. Moses continues to list more nasty things that God will do to you if you disobey him, including having a foreign nation - one of whom they have not heard of, and speaks a foreign language - come and conquer the land, and that won't show any regard to the old or favor to the young. This is rather hypocritical for Moses to state in light of his own lack of sympathy for the young and old amongst The Midianites, as well as the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites of whom Moses specifically states " thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth". Moses is using an emotional appeal, but it only works when you apply it to the Israelites - this "evil nation" won't even show sympathy to the children and the elderly, but it's okay that we slaughter "everything that breathes" in those "heathen nations". This foreign nation that no oone has ever heard of before will eat all of the crops and cattle until the Israelites are destroyed, and will leave nothing behind, forcing the Israelites to resort to cannibalism. Moses claims that even the most kind men will become "evil" and start eating babies, and not share the flesh with his wife and children. He further claims that women will secretly give birth to babies so that they can eat them as well - we've all heard of slow cooking, but growing your "dinner" for nine months? Moses then states that if the people don't observe the laws in "this book", then God will send all sorts of nasty plagues, sicknesses, and the diseases from Egypt and their population loss will be solely to blame for their disobedience. God will scatter the Israelites from one end of the earth to the other, and there they will be "forced" to worship other gods. Moses paints this whole "worshiping other gods" angle up like it should be a terrible thing for the Israelites to endure, but as we've seen, it takes little to get the Israelites to do such a thing, such as with Aaron's golden calf and "committing whoredom with the daughters of Moab". Moses adds that their lives under the rule of this "foreign nation" will be taxing and sorrowful, and that their lives will hang in doubt. Finally Moses ends the chapter by stating that the Israelites will be brought into Egypt on ships - despite that God swore that they would never see the land of Egypt again - where they will be sold into slavery. He adds that the kicker is that no one will want to buy them.

NUMBERS: Chapter 34

Chapter 34
Summary:	God speaks to Moses, telling him to speak with the people of Israel concerning setting borders for the "promised land" in Canaan. The southern border will be the wilderness of Zin, along the coast of Edom, and the southern border will also lie among the outmost coast of the Dead Sea. The southern border will continue to the ascent of Akrabbim, pasing on to Zin, going forth from the south to Kadeshbarnea, on to Hazaraddar, and on to Azmon. From Azmon, it will follow the river of Egypt out to the Mediterranean Sea. The western border will be the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. The northern border will begin at the Mediterranean Sea and head eastward to Mount Hor, then to the entrance of Hamath, and through Zedad and Ziphron, to Hazarenan. The eastern border will begin from Hazarenan and follow south to Shepham, continuing to Riblah on the east side of Ain. The border shall then descend and reach unto the side of the sea of Chinnereth, following down to the Jordan River, and ending at the Dead Sea. Moses tells the people of Israel that the land within these borders God has specified is what they shall inherit by lot by the nine and a half tribes (the tribes of Gad and Reuben, along with the "half tribe" of Manasseh were allowed to take up land in Gilead outside of the "promised land"). God now tells Moses that in addition to Eleazar, and Joshua (the son of Nun), that he has appointed one leader from each tribe to assist with dividing up the land: Judah: Caleb the son of Jephunneh Simeon: Shemuel the son of Ammihud Benjamin: Elidad the son of Chislon Dan: Bukki the son of Jogli Manasseh: Hanniel the son of Jephunneh Ephraim: Kemuel the son of Shiphtan Zebulun: Elizaphan the son of Parnach Issachar: Paltiel the son of Azzan Asher: Ahihud the son of Shelomi Naphtali: Pedahel the son of Ammihud
Thoughts:	In this chapter God basically sets the borders for the "promised land" and has Moses tell the people of Israel that this portion of land is to be divided up amongst all of the Israelite families. In addition to Eleazar and Joshua, God appoints a representative from each tribe - making an exception for the tribes of Gad and Reuben, along with the "half tribe" of Manasseh who were allowed to take up land in Gilead outside of the "promised land" in Numbers: Chapter 32. God specifies that without these two and a half tribes, there will be representatives from the other nine and a half tribes, however when we look at the list God comes up with, somehow the "half tribe of Manasseh" is listed amongst them - which appears to be either a mathematical or logical error. If we look at the most basic mathematics, we have 12 tribes of Israel; technically the Levites are one of the twelve tribes, but in their absence due to their tabernacle duties, the "half tribes" of Joseph are split by his sons Ephraim and Manasseh so that the total equals twelve. The tribes of Gad and Reuben wanted the lands of Gilead instead of an inheritance in Canaan, so they're taken away from the total, as well as the "half tribe" of Manasseh who helped conquer the lands of Gilead. The logistical problem is whether to count the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh as either a full number or a half number. When we takes the Levites out of the equation, we have to count the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh as full numbers to equal twelve. However, here in Chapter 34 we're mistakenly assuming that each tribe (Ephraim and Manasseh) should be counted as a half number - and without the Levites, we'd have a total of 11 tribes. Taking away 2 and a half tribes (three individual tribes) away from a total of twelve, would leave 9 and a half tribes (ten individual tribes), but we would need thirteen individual tribes to begin with, meaning we would have had to include the Levites - which wouldn't make sense as the Levites were not allowed to be given an inheritance. If we're excluding the tribes of Gad and Reuben from representing themselves because they aren't inheriting land in the "promised land", then we also must exclude the tribes of Levi and Manasseh for the same reasons. Why the "half tribe" of Manasseh shows up in the list seems to simply be a mathematical and logistical error to simply preserve the illusion of there always needing to be "twelve tribes" of Israel. The reader sees 2 and a half tribes are ineligible, and therefore logically thinks that there must be 9 and a half tribes that are eligible, which simply isn't true unless we include the Levites amongst the numbers.

NUMBERS: Chapter 1

Chapter 1
Summary:	God speaks to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, on the first day of the second month*, in the second year after leaving their slavery in Egypt. He tells Moses, that along with his brother Aaron, he is to take a census of all of the men twenty years old and up who are fit to go to war, and to make note of their tribes and families, as well as the leaders of each tribe. The following table shows the tribes of Israel, their leaders, and the number of men twenty years and older fit for war counted in the census: Tribe Leader Total Men Reuben Elizur (son of Shedeur) 46,500 Simeon Shelumi-el (son of Zuri-shaddai) 59,300 Judah Nahshon (son of Amminadab) 74,600 Issachar Nethanel (son of Zuar) 54,400 Zebulun Eliab (son of Helon) 57,400 Ephraim (son of Joseph) Elishama (son of Ammihud) 40,500 Manasseh (son of Joseph) Gamaliel (son of Pedahzur) 32,200 Benjamin Abidan (son of Gideoni) 35,400 Dan Ahiezer (son of Ammishaddai) 62,700 Asher Pagiel (son of Ochran) 41,500 Gad Eliasaph (son of Deuel) 45,650 Naphtali Ahira (son of Enan) 53,400 Grand Total: 603,550* God, however, exempts the Levites from the military draft and tells Moses that their numbers are not to be counted in the census. God explains to Moses that the Levites are appointed to work in the tabernacle, everything it contains, and to care for its transportation. The Levites are to camp around the tabernacle, and wherever it is moved, the Levites are to tear it down and set it back up again. Anyone else touching the tabernacle is to be put to death. Every tribe of Israel is to have its own camp, but the Levite camp surrounding the tabernacle shall serve as a barrier separating the tabernacle - and God's wrath - from the people of Israel. The people of Israel did as God had commanded to Moses.
Notes:	1.) Approximately April 15th by our modern calendar. 2.) This total number of eligible men is exactly the same number as taken in a previous census, as stated in Exodus: Chapter 38, which took place prior to the building of the tabernacle.
Thoughts:	The first chapter of the book of Numbers takes place approximately two years after the Exodus from Egypt in the middle of April. God tells Moses that him and Aaron are to take a census of all the tribes of Israel to prepare for a military draft of all men over the age of twenty. The first strange thing we notice is that the Levites are curiously absent from the list, yet the tribe of Joseph is split into two (by his sons Ephraim and Manasseh) in order to preserve the number of tribes to twelve. Much like the number seven (which is peppered throughout the book of Leviticus), the number twelve also holds mystical significance throughout the bible (most notably as the number of apostles that Jesus takes). A common theory as to the significance of the number twelve (as well as the superstition as to why the number thirteen is considered unlucky) is that it correlates to how people began to count. It is thought that man initially counted on his fingers (totaling ten digits) and then adding their two feet thereby "running out of numbers". Also, many biblical myths also seem to be borrow heavily from astrology, which separated the astrological signs into twelve signs - which also contributed to our modern calendar. Regardless of what the truth may be, the number twelve tends to be mystically revered much in the same way as the number seven. The chapter continues on to list the twelve tribes, their leaders (as well as the names of their fathers), and conveniently round numbers. It begs the question as to what real purpose the census has if its accuracy isn't a concern and that it's simply an estimate. Surely we're not meant to believe that twelve tribes of people somehow managed to have completely round and even numbers of draftable men? However, even more puzzling is the grand total of men listed - 603,550. If that number sounds familiar, it's because it's the exact same number we were given in Exodus: Chapter 38 when a census was taken prior to the building of the tabernacle. This earlier census was taken to impose a tax upon the men of Israel in order to raise money to build the tabernacle. It is believed by biblical scholars that the tabernacle was built about a year prior to the events here in the first chapter of Numbers, so it should be expected that a census taken the following year would report a similar number, but there are many problems as to why this number shouldn't be exactly the same. It doesn't make sense that the earlier census figures would only include men twenty years of age and up that were fit to serve in the military when the sole purpose of that census was simply to raise money - I'm sure that the money of disabled, crippled, or old men would probably have been collected for the tabernacle construction. Even if the prior census was only counting the number of military fit men, what would be the purpose of having another census a year later unless there were either many nineteen year olds running around or many deaths of military age men? Did Moses accidentally throw out the results of last year's census? Honestly, it seems far more plausible that this number was just thrown into "Exodus: Chapter 38" either after it was arrived upon here (to show some sort of connection) or it is simply a made up number that has some other sort of significance. I could find this more acceptable if we were just given a vague number like we were given in Exodus: Chapter 12 of "over 600,000 men", but when we're making a point to just throw random numbers around for each of the "twelve tribes" in order to reach the specific "grand total" number of 603,550, the accuracy and credibility of the bible comes into serious question - if you weren't already tipped off by 900+ year old people running around and talking snakes. Absent from our list of tribes of course is the Levites - Aaron and Moses' tribe - who are apparently exempt from military duty as they'll be too busy moving the tabernacle around and slaughtering animals to be bothered with helping to invade other civilizations - and apparently in our earlier census, also couldn't be bothered to help pay for the building of the tabernacle either. God obviously favors the Levites and entrusts them with caring for and moving the tabernacle as the camp moves along in the desert towards the "promised land". He tells Moses that only the Levites are to move and care for the tabernacle, and that anybody else who comes near it is to be put to death. If there was ever a good reason for stoning someone to death, I fail to see how touching or helping to move a "church in a tent" would qualify. To further the point of his favoritism, God explains that the Levites will also have to camp outside and around the tabernacle - effectively forming a barrier of sorts to protect the rest of the common folk from "God's wrath". This is basically God saying that the Levites are protecting the people from God having to come down and slaughter them all.

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 26

Chapter 26
Summary:	God commands (again) that no one is to make any idols, carved images, or erect statues to worship. He commands that all of his sabbaths are to be observed and followed, and that all of his laws, rules, and commandments are to be followed and obeyed. If the people of Israel can follow these instructions, then God will provide them rain in due season, which will yield an abundance of crops, trees ripe with a surplus of fruit, and grapes growing past their usual harvesting time. The people of Israel will have plenty to eat and will live in safety. God will give peace in the land so that the Israelis can sleep without fear. God will rid the land of "evil" animals, and will protect the land from the sword of the enemy. God says that the people of Israel shall chase their enemies and that they shall fall before them by the sword. Five Israeli soldiers will be able to drive off one hundred enemies, and a hundred Israeli soldiers will be able to drive off ten thousand enemies, who will all die by the sword of Israel. God will respect the people of Israel and cause them to grow and multiply while establishing a covenant with them. The people will eat from the abundance of food, and have to get rid of some of the old food to make room for the surplus of new food that has harvested. God even says that he'll be able to live amongst the people of Israel in his tabernacle, and not have to hate them all(!) He says that he'll be able to walk amongst them, and will be their god and that the Israelis will be his people. He tells the people (yet again) that he is the one that got the people of Israel out of their slavery in Egypt, breaking the bonds of their slavery and made them dignified again. But... If the people of Israel do not follow and obey all of God's laws and commandments, thereby breaking God's covenant with them, God will fill the people of Israel with terror, consumption, disease that will burn and consume your eyes, cause sorrow to your heart, and farmers will sow their crops in vain, while their enemies will eat whatever manages to grow*. God will set his face against the people of Israel, and they shall be slain before their enemies. The enemies of Israel will reign over them, and the people of Israel will be so filled with terror that they will panic and flee even when they're not in danger. If the people of Israel still won't comply with God's demands then God will punish them seven times more for their "sins". God will break the people of Israel's pride with burden, making the skies feel as "heavy as iron" and the "earth as brass". Farmers will toil in vain as their land will not yield their crops, nor will the trees yield their fruit. If the people still won't obey God's rules and laws, and won't listen to him, then God will bring seven* times more plagues upon the people according to their "sins". God will send wild animals among the people of Israel to kill their children, destroy their cattle, and dwindle the population. The city roads will become desolate. If the people of Israel still will not reform their ways and still walk contrary to God, then God will walk contrary to them and punish them another seven* times for their "sins". God will "bring a sword upon" (wage war upon) the people, that will avenge the argument over God's covenant. God will send pestilence among the people of Israel and will deliver the people to the hands of their enemies. God will destroy their food supply so that as it will take "ten women" to bake enough bread in "one oven", that even once eaten will never be enough to satisfy one's hunger. And if after all this, the people of Israel will still not listen, God will walk contrary to them in fury and will chastise the people seven* times for their sins. The people of Israel will be forced to resort to cannibalism to survive. God will tear down any temples, altars, or idols they have created for other gods, and cast the corpses of the people of Israel onto the corpses of their gods, and God will abhor the people of Israel. God will waste their cities, and bring their temples into desolation, while refusing to acknowledge any "animal sacrifices" people might make to God - God will refuse to "smell the savor" of their "sweet odor". God will turn the land into a wasteland and the enemies of the Israelis that will inhabit the land will be astonished at what has been done to the land. God will scatter the people of Israel among the "heathen" nations and wage war against the people as they flee. God says that the land laying desolate will finally get to enjoy it's sabbaths, while the people of Israel have fled to the lands of their enemies. God adds that the land lying desolate will finally have its rest, as it (apparently) didn't rest when the people of Israel denied the land its sabbaths. Anyone that has survived God's wrath God will curse with fear as they live amongst their enemies. The sound of a shaken leaf will cause them to run as if they were fleeing from a sword, and that they shall fall when no one is pursuing them. They will stumble upon each other as they flee and will have no courage to stand up to their enemies. The surviving people of Israel will perish among their "heathen" enemies, and those that manage to survive will pine away in their "sins" and the "sins" of their fathers. If at last the survivors might confess their "sin", and the "sins" of their fathers, and that they have trespassed and walked contrary to God; if then their "uncircumcised hearts" are truly humble and accept the punishment for their "sins", then God will remember his covenant with Jacob*, Isaac, and Abraham, and the "promised land". God says that the land will still be left to them, because even though these surviving descendants of Israel have "despised" God's judgments and laws, and were driven into the lands of their enemies due to their "sins", God will not cast them away. No will God abhor them, or destroy them completely, as this would break his covenant with them. God will remember his covenant with their ancestors, whom once again God "reminds" that he was the one who brought them out of the land of Egypt - in sight of the "heathens" - so that he could rule over the people as their god. These are the laws (and threats) which God made between himself and the people of Israel that were given to Moses.
Notes:	1.) The exact line as written in the King James version is "and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it." This could possibly be alluding to cannibalism if we compare the usage and phrasing of "your seed" to other verses, such as Leviticus 20:2 - "...that giveth any of his seed unto Molech..." In this verse "his seed" is referring to an infantile offspring. 2.) Yet more repetition of the significance of the mystical number seven. 3.) Again, although renamed by God himself, God refers to Israel as "Jacob", yet he refers to Abram by the name Abraham which was also a given name by God.
Thoughts:	This chapter can basically be summed up as such: do exactly as God commands and your cities and people will prosper with enormous wealth, but break any of God's laws and he'll kill you all - but if any of you happen to survive and say your sorry (and really mean it) then God will forgive you. God starts out restating his first commandment - that no one is to make any idols, carved images, or statues to worship - and reminds everyone to observe his sabbaths as well as to obey all of his laws and commandments. If the people can follow these rules to the letter, then God will "bless" them with lots of rain, which in turn will "bless" them with an abundance of crops. In addition, the people of Israel will protect them from "evil" animals and enemy armies. The first issue I take here is that animals do not follow any sense of "good" or "evil" - even animals that are dangerous to humans are not "evil" in any sense of the word. Animals attack usually only when either themselves, their young, or their territory is threatened. They don't hunt or prey upon humans by entering their habitats with the intention of killing people. When they do enter a human's territory it is generally in a quest to find food or nesting materials, and not simply to attack from a sense of "evil" intent. Anyways, God claims that the soldier amongst the people of Israel will be able to repel enemy army in rather ridiculous ratios - that five soldiers will be able to repel an army of one hundred, and that 100 soldiers will be able to repel 10,000 enemies. Apparently, in a battle against 100 soldiers you'll need to match five percent of their army, but going against an army of 10,000, you'll only need to match one percent of the enemy army(!) It's not made clear here if Aaron's "Rod of God" will be necessary to win these battles. God continues on saying that he'll "bless" the people of Israel by allowing them to multiply and grow in population and that everyone will have plenty to eat. He even goes on to say that he'll actually feel comfortable living amongst the people in the tabernacle and won't hate the people(!) God will be happy to walk amongst the people (providing they do everything he tells them to do) and to rule over them as their god. He remind them (yet again) that he was the guy who got them out of their slavery in Egypt and made them dignified again. However, now God changes gears and spends the rest of the chapter threatening the people with what he will do if the people don't follow his laws and commandments. The first thing God has planned for disobedience is to instill terror and disease among the people - a disease that will "burn and consume" their eyes, and cause sorrow in their hearts. He'll also make it so that farmers will be sowing their crops in vain, while allowing enemy civilizations to come in and eat whatever they do manage to grow. God will set his face against the people and this will see them slaughtered by the hands of their enemies. The people of Israel will be so consumed by terror that they'll become paranoid and flee even when they're not in danger. If the people of Israel don't get the message the first time, then God will punish them seven times more for their "sinning". (Every time God ups the ante in this chapter it will be by seven times.) Next up, God will break the people's pride with heavy burden and curse the farmers even more while their crops and fruit trees fail to provide food. This doesn't exactly "seven times worse" but God still has more in store. If the people of Israel still don't mend their ways, then God will bring them seven times more plagues for their "sinning". (Making this fourteen times the punishment?) He'll send wild (evil?) animals amongst the people to kill their children, cattle, and to dwindle their population. Their city roads will become desolate due to the population loss. If the people of Israel still don't mend their ways, then God will punish them seven more times for their "sinning". (Making this twenty one times the punishment?) God will wage war against the people of Israel and send pestilence throughout the land, and will deliver the people into the hands of their enemies. God will also destroy all of their food supply and makes a strange, silly, and slightly chauvinistic analogy about "ten women" baking bread "in one oven, and they shall deliver you your bread again by weight: and ye shall eat, and not be satisfied." If after all this the people still don't respond to God's punishments, then God will "walk contrary to them in fury" and will chastise the people seven more times. (Making this twenty eight times the punishment?) This time the people will be so undernourished and starved that God says they'll resort to cannibalism - and will eat their sons and daughters. God somehow is confident that the people will be "sinning" by putting up altars and erecting statues to other gods, and says that he will tear them down and let the people of Israel's corpses rot amongst the ruins. If the people try to give God any animal sacrifices, he's not even going to acknowledge them despite their "sweet odor". The "promised land" will be so devastated and desolate that the "heathens" will be astonished at the condition of the land when they inhabit it. God will scatter the people of Israel among the "heathen" nations that surround them, and wage war against them as they flee. With the land laying desolate, God says that it will finally get its rest and "sabbaths" as apparently God has already assumed that the people weren't observing this law either. God will continue to curse any survivors amongst the people of Israel with fear, stating that the sound of a shaking leaf will cause them to flee in paranoia as if they were being chased by a sword wielding enemy. The people will apparently be so paranoid as to trip over each other as they flee and they will have lost all their courage to even stand up to their enemies at all. They will perish at the hands of their enemies and those that survive will pine away in their "sins", as well as the "sins" of their fathers. The problem with God's threats is that he assumes that if the people are breaking his laws that they're breaking all of his laws, and he also makes the assumption that all of the people are guilty, much like we saw with his judgment upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. With God, everything is in terms of absolutes, all or nothing, and this is not an example of being "just". However, the world is never comprised of absolutes, and thereby we must judge things on specific terms - not by lumping people together. Just because a majority of people might be guilty of breaking a law - such as "speeding" in our modern world - does not make the whole of the people criminals. You couldn't punish the entire state of Vermont with life in prison if 98% of the population had traffic tickets on their licenses, just because a few of those people had felony offenses. The "speeders" shouldn't be lumped in with the handful of criminals with felony records simply because on paper all of them broke the law in some respect. Treating people with broad strokes like this is not "justice" at all. Quite clearly the first dozen or so verses are a form of "bribery" in rewarding the people for following God's laws, while the next two dozen or so verses are a form of "extortion" - to strike fear into the people to obey, or else. If anything this chapter shares a lot in common with criminal racketeering, that provide "protection" to their rackets for "paying up", and resorting to violence and property damage when their rackets don't "pay up". I just cannot see any other way to view these passages as anything but forms of practicing bribery and extortion in order to get submission and compliance. However, even after all these nasty things God says he will do to the people of Israel, he wraps things up by saying that if there's anybody left that survived all of his famines, diseases, wild animal attacks, and invading armies, and if they're really sorry and sincere about it, they can accept God's punishment and he'll let them have the "promised land" again - because after all, he did promise this land to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and a promise is a promise - as long as it's on God's terms. Before closing out the chapter God once again states that it was him that brought the people of Israel out of Egypt.

LEVITICUS: Chapter 25

Chapter 25
Summary:	Up on Mount Sinai God speaks to Moses telling him more things to pass on to the people of Israel. God first states that when the people arrive in the "promised land" that they are to observe a sabbath for the land every seventh* year. For six years the people shall sow the fields, prune their vineyards, and harvest the fruit, but that the seventh year will be a year of rest for the land. No one is to sow the fields or prune their vineyards for their own personal gain in this seventh year. Anything that grows on it's own accord is not to be harvested for personal gain as it is a year of rest for the land. Whatever does manage to grow in the land shall be free to everyone - the people of Israel, as well as their servants, their slaves, and any stranger that travels amongst them. Cattle and wild animals shall be allowed to graze freely among the land during this year of sabbath. The people shall count sabbaths until they reach their seventh. On the seventh sabbath, forty nine years shall have passed, and on the "Day of Atonement" of that year the "trumpets of jubilee" shall fill the land. For the fiftieth year is a year to proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all of the inhabitants thereof*. Every man (except those enslaved for life) shall be cleared of their debts and returned to their families. The fiftieth year shall be the "Year of Jubilee" to the people of Israel, and no crops are to be sown nor reaped, nor shall any grapes be gathered. Only the excess food that grows wild in the fields shall be eaten. Every man shall return to his original family possessions - if he had sold his family home, it now will belong to him once again. Due to this, if any land is sold during the preceding forty nine years, a fair price must be arrived upon depending on how many years remain until the next "Year of Jubilee". According to the number of years before the "Year of Jubilee", the higher the number of years, the higher the price is set, with the prices diminishing until the next celebration. The people are not to oppress their neighbors with a higher than fair price, with a fair price being determined upon by the amount of crops that can be grown from the land. God claims that he is to be feared, and that those who wish to live "safely" (probably more aptly put as "those who simply wish to remain alive, and not be brutally killed") need to follow and obey all of God's laws. God also addresses the possible question the people might have about what they're supposed to eat in the seventh year, the year of sabbath, if they're not allowed to sow any crops. God answers this hypothetical question by promising to "bless the land" with surplus crops in the sixth year that will bring forth enough food for three years. Then as the crops of the eighth year are being sown, the people will still be eating the old food (from the surplus in the sixth year) in the ninth year and continue doing so until the new crops have been stored. God now tells the people of Israel that they are not allowed to permanently sell the land, as it doesn't belong to them - it belongs to God, and the people of Israel are simply just tenants. God continues on by stating that there will always be a "buy back clause" on all sales of land among the people of Israel. If a man becomes poor and sells his land to someone else, either he himself (when he's able to afford it) or his family can buy it back at any time at a price proportionate until the next "Year of Jubilee". If the man, or his family, however cannot afford to reclaim the property, he will have to wait until the next "Year of Jubilee" to reclaim the land. However, if a man sells a house within the city walls, he has only up to a year to buy it back. After a year has lapsed, it will now permanently belong to the new owner and will not have to be returned in the "Year of Jubilee". This does not apply to village houses outside of the city walls, as they will be counted the same as the fields, and can be redeemed at any time, and must be returned at the next "Year of Jubilee". God however makes an exception for the city houses belonging to the Levites, which even if residing within the city walls may be redeemed at any time and also must be returned at the next "Year of Jubilee". God says that he makes this exception for the Levites as they are not permitted to sell any of their fields - they are to remain permanent possessions of the tribe of Levi and to never belong to anyone else. God states that if a man's brother becomes poor, he is to help his brother and invite him to live with them. A man's brother is not to be turned away, nor is a man allowed to charge interest on any money lent to his brother. Anything a man sells to his brother must be sold at cost and not profited upon. God punctuates this by once again stating that he's the guy who freed the people from their slavery in Egypt, and that he has given them the "promised land" of Canaan, and has agreed to be their god. If your brother that now lives with you due to his poverty, or any other Israeli, sells himself into slavery, he must not be treated as a regular slave (this means no beating your brother, as you're allowed to do with your regular slaves) but must instead be treated like a "hired servant" or a guest in your home. He is only to serve until the "Year of Jubilee", both he and his children with him, may then return to his family and unto the land that is his family's possession. God states the people of Israel are his personal servants and therefore must not be treated like ordinary slaves (which may be beaten into submission.) The "ordinary" slaves which the people of Israeli shall have, shall be of the "heathens" that live in the surrounding areas. Of them you shall buy slaves from. Also the children and family of foreigners living amongst the land of Israel shall be bought and become possessions of the people of Israel. These slaves shall be given as inheritance to the children of the slave's master - to inherit them as a possession, and they shall be slaves forever. However, as for the people of Israel, they are not to be rule over one another with such rigor. If an Israeli sells himself into slavery to a foreigner that is richer than himself, after he is sold into slavery he can be redeemed at any time by either his uncle, his cousin (his uncle's son), or by anyone that is a close family relative - or he may buy his own freedom if he can later afford to do so. The price of his freedom (like the price of land sold in the "promised land") must be in proportion to the number of years until the next "Year of Jubilee". If there are many years until the next "Year of Jubilee", then the price of his freedom should be close to the price he was bought for, likewise if the "Year of Jubilee" is only a few years away, then again the price of his freedom shall be set accordingly. An Israeli sold into slavery to a foreigner is to be treated as a "hired servant" and not as rigorously as an "ordinary slave" would. All Israeli slaves that have not been bought out of their slavery will become free in the "Year of Jubilee", both the slave and his children amongst him. God claims that the people of Israel belong to him and are in fact his servants - who (he once again reminds us) that he "brought forth from out of the land of Egypt".
Notes:	1.) Yet more repetition of the significance of the mystical number seven. 2.) Liberty in this sense does not apply to those slaves who are bound in lifetime enslavement. Those slaves are considered property and not really people.
Thoughts:	God begins this chapter explaining his seven year sabbaths, before moving onto his further stipulations of property laws, including his laws on slavery which appear to contradict on one of the laws set down in Exodus: Chapter 21. Continuing on with the bible's obsession with the mystical significance of the number seven, not only are the Israeli people to observe a sabbath from working every seven days, once they reach and settle into the "promised land", they are to observe another form of a sabbath by not doing any farming or harvesting of crops every seventh year. After seven of these seven year sabbaths, they are to mark this passing on the "Day of Atonement" - which in the Hebrew calendar falls on the tenth day of the seventh month (September) - with the sounds of trumpets throughout the land marking the arrival of the fiftieth year, as seven seventh year sabbaths equal forty nine years having passed. On this grand fiftieth year anniversary of settling in to the "promised land", and for every subsequent fifty year anniversary afterward, the people are to celebrate a "Year of Jubilee". The main premise behind this "Year of Jubilee" celebration surprisingly has nothing to do with sacrificing animals, but is actually a year in which all debts incurred by the people of Israel are to be wiped clean - except for those poor unfortunate folks that have been enslaved for life simply to keep their families together. While nobody can farm their land during the "Year of Jubilee" - just like they can't during their seven year sabbaths - any Israeli that has sold any of their family property gets to reclaim it during the "Year of Jubilee". Basically God's system of "selling" property is more akin to leasing it instead. If you find yourself in debt or would just like some extra spending cash, you lease out your land to someone else for a price that is relative to the number of years left until the next "Year of Jubilee". If you need cash or need to pay someone back, and it is some forty years or so until the next "Year of Jubilee", you can get a lot more money than you would if it were only a few years until the next "Year of Jubilee". Your asking price is basically determined on the worth of the amount of crops the land can produce per year, multiplied by the number of years until the next "Year of Jubilee". God threatens anyone's "safety" if they try and overcharge anyone for this - and I'm sure we can all imagine what this threat probably entails when we see how he deals with people who speak his name in a way in which he doesn't approve. God, figuring that people must be scratching their heads trying to figure out how they're going to be able to have enough food to eat if they have to stop farming every seven years (and in both the forty-ninth and fiftieth years during the "Year of Jubilee" celebrations), answers this hypothetical question with his promise to "bless" the land in the year prior to the year-long sabbaths. This "blessing", God guarantees, will provide enough food to last for three years, so that everyone will be covered, even in sabbath years that lead straight into a "Year of Jubilee". God clarifies his stances on land "ownership", stating that no one can ever sell their land permanently, because it in fact doesn't truly belong to them - it's God's land, and once he's given it to someone, they and their offspring and descendants are stuck with it forever - unless God excommunicates you and gives your land to someone else. (You can lease it anytime you like, but you can never leave...) That being said, because of that, God states that every piece of land has a "buy back clause", where the original owners can buy the land back at anytime they like or can afford to do so, with the price again being proportionate with the amount of years left until the next "Year of Jubilee". The "buy back clause" can also be redeemed by close relatives of the seller, so hypothetically, if your uncle happens to be a terrible gambler and loses his family's farm, grandpa can come to the rescue and buy the farm back from his bookie. However, God's rules for houses within the walls of the city are quite different. If you sell your city house, you've only got a year to change your mind and buy it back, otherwise it permanently belongs to the new owner. Houses outside the city in villages however are treated like the land out in the fields, and can be bought back whenever and will return back to it's original owner when the "Year of Jubilee" arrives. God makes an exception for the Levites, who can buy back their city house whenever they choose, since God will not allow them to "sell" (or more aptly, lease) their farmland, as the land given to the Levites is never to be owned by any "commoner". God now moves on to the subject of personal debt and states that if your brother somehow manages to go broke, you have to take him in to live with you. If you loan him any money, you're not to tack on any interest, and anything you might sell to him you are not allowed to profit from - you must sell it to him at cost only. God rubs in the whole "remember that I'm the guy who got you out that whole slavery business in Egypt, and I was nice enough to simply give you this land - so don't try and profit off of my 'generosity'" bit. Now if your brother, or any other Israeli for that matter, sells himself into slavery, you're not actually allowed to treat him like a "common slave" - i.e. referring to the beatings you're allowed to deal out in accordance with Exodus: Chapter 21, and according to verse 43 - "thou shalt not rule over him with rigour". Israeli "slaves" are only to serve until either theirper debt is paid (by the slave himself or by family of the slave) or until the "Year of Jubilee". This appears to contradict Exodus 21:2 which states: "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing." However, the law in Exodus 21 might perhaps only apply to slavery before the Israelis settle in the "promised land" of Canaan, where the law here in Leviticus might only apply to the Israelis after they reach and settle in Canaan. Whichever it may be, it is certainly not clear by what we have read. A common apologist defense of God condoning slavery in the bible is that they claim that slavery was viewed and applied differently back in biblical times, and that therefore "slavery" was more more akin to "indentured servitude" - unless we're referring to the Egyptian enslavement of the Hebrews, in which they will readily admit was just as bad (if not worse?) than the more modern enslavement of Africans in the Americas. However, this is only true when applied to Hebrew slaves either owned by other Hebrews or owned within the land of Canaan by foreigners. God won't condone the Israelites to be treated like ordinary slaves, giving the explanation that the people of Israel are God's personal servants and therefore exempt from being treated like "ordinary" slaves. However, God's view of non-Israeli slaves is vastly different and not only more in line with the common modern definition of slavery, but God makes it clear that not only does he condone slavery, he's also encouraging it! He tells the people of Israel that they may enslave any of the "heathens" from the surrounding areas of Canaan - or the children of any foreigner living in Canaan - and that these "heathen slaves" are to be considered slaves for life (meaning any children the "heathen slaves" might have will also become born into slavery) and are deemed as permanent property that is to be inherited by the slave master's descendants. The exact verses in the King James bible for Leviticus 25:44-46 are: 25:44 Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids. 25:45 Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession. 25:46 And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour. By God specifically stating that Israeli slaves are not to be "ruled over with rigor" unlike the "heathen slaves" - who God specifically says are "property", and shall be "slaves forever" - this firmly refutes the explanation of comparing biblical slavery to indentured servitude. Famous skeptic and creator of the website and Discovery Channel program "How Things Work", Marshall Brain, wrote a very thorough article concerning God's stances on slavery in the bible which sums up the argument eloquently. Quite simply, it's impossible to conceive of a "benevolent" deity who not only accepts but condones the oppression and cruelty of human slavery. The two stances are in complete opposition to one another. One only needs to compare the repugnant and oppressive nature of this chapter in combination with the story from Genesis: Chapter 16 of Abraham, Sarah, and God condoning Sarah's beating of her pregnant slave Hagar - who was carrying Abraham's baby, and the following verses from Exodus Chapter 21: 21:20 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. 21:21 Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money. Human slavery is simply not excusable no matter what the circumstance, and it is only worsened when one group of people are of the mindset to oppress other people due to their differences in culture, race, or for worshiping the wrong "god". Continuing on, God claims that none of the people of Israel are to ever be treated as "ordinary slaves", even if they sell themselves into slavery to a foreigner, and that close family relatives can buy an Israeli out of slavery at any time (unlike the "heathen slaves" who are themselves and their offspring who are doomed to a life of slavery) or that they will be simply freed at the next "Year of Jubilee". Again, Hebrew slaves are to be treated as "hired servants", as God proclaims that every Israeli is first and foremost a servant to God - but apparently other people are okay to oppress at the right price.

LEVITICUS: Chapter 16

Chapter 16
Summary:	God speaks to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before God, and died*. God said to Moses to warn Aaron not to enter the "holy place" behind the veil, (in the tabernacle) where the ark of the covenant and place of mercy are, just whenever he chooses. God's penalty for intrusion is death, and he claims that he himself will be present in the cloud above the place of mercy. God instead lays out his conditions for Aaron's entering the "holy place": Aaron must bring a young bull for a "sin offering" and a ram for a "sin offering". He shall bathe himself and put on his sacred linen coat, shorts, belt, and turban. The people of Israel shall then bring him two male goats for their "sin offering" and a ram for their "burnt offering". First, Aaron shall sacrifice the young bull to God as a "sin offering" for himself, making atonement for himself and his household. Then he shall bring the two goats to the entrance of the tabernacle and cast lots to determine which goat is to be sacrificed to God, and which is to be set free as a scapegoat. God's goat is to be slaughtered by Aaron as a "sin offering", while the other goat will have to have a "rite of atonement" performed over it before it is let loose out in the desert as a scapegoat. After Aaron has sacrificed the young bull as a "sin offering" for himself and his household, he shall take a censer full of burning coals from off the altar, fill his hands with some incense - finely beaten into a powder - and bring them inside the veil in the tabernacle. There he shall put the incense upon the coals, so that a cloud of incense will cover the "mercy place" that is above the ark of the covenant - doing so will ensure that God will not have to kill him. He will also have to bring some of the blood from the young bull he sacrificed and sprinkle it with his finger upon the east side of the "mercy place", and then sprinkle it seven* times in front of it. Then he shall kill the goat for the people of Israel's "sin offering", bringing its blood behind the veil, and sprinkle it upon the "place of mercy" (and in front of it) just as he did with the bull's blood. This shall make atonement for the "holy place" due to the "uncleanliness" of the people of Israel and the transgression of their "sins", and for the tabernacle that happens to be located right in the midst of them surrounded by their "uncleanliness". There shall be no other man (or person) allowed in the tabernacle when Aaron goes in to make atonement in the "holy place" - until Aaron comes out again and has made atonement for himself, his household, and all of the people of Israel. Then he shall go out to the altar and make atonement for it; taking the blood of the young bull and the goat he sacrificed, and smearing that blood upon the horns of the altar. He shall also sprinkle the blood upon the altar with his finger seven* times to cleanse it from the sins and "uncleanliness" of the people of Israel, making it holy again. When Aaron has finished the "rite of atonement" for the "holy place", the tabernacle, and the altar, he shall fetch the living goat and while laying his hands upon the goat's head, confess of it all the inequities of the people of Israel, and all the transgressions of their "sins". This places the "sins" upon the head of the goat, which shall be sent away into the wilderness by the hand of a fit man. Aaron shall then return to the tabernacle and remove the linen garments that he wore when entering the "holy place", and shall leave the garments there in the tabernacle. He shall then bathe with water in the "holy place", put on the linen garments again, and go out and sacrifice both the "burnt offering" for himself, and the "burnt offering" for the people of Israel - thereby making atonement for himself and for the people of Israel. He shall also burn the animal fat upon the altar for a "sin offering". The man that was appointed to let the scapegoat loose in the wilderness shall wash his clothes, bathe, and afterward return to the camp. The carcasses of the bull and the goat used for the animal sacrifices (whose blood was used to make atonement in the "holy place") shall be carried outside the camp and burned, including their hides and internal organs. The person tasks to burn the carcasses shall wash his clothes, bathe, and afterward return to the camp. This shall be a permanent law: on the tenth day of the seventh month*, you shall do no work and must spend the day "afflicting your soul" in self-examination and humility. This applies whether you are born in the land, or are a foreigner living amongst the people of Israel. For on this day a priest will make atonement for you, to cleanse you, so that you can be "clean" from your "sins" in God's eyes. It shall be a day of sabbath for you, and you shall "afflict your souls" by this statute forever. The ceremony in later generations shall be performed by high priests, anointed and consecrated in place of his ancestor Aaron; putting on the same linen clothes and "holy garments". He shall make atonement for the "holy sanctuary", the tabernacle, the altar, and for the priests and all of the people of Israel. This will be an everlasting statute for you annually to make atonement for the "sins" of the people of Israel. Aaron followed the commands that God had delivered to Moses.
Notes:	1.) Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu did not simply "die" when they "offered before God"; God actually brutally killed them both by immolation when they used the wrong fire to light incense in Leviticus: Chapter 10. 2.) Another example of the mystical significance of the number 7 in the bible. 3.) The date of the "tenth day of the seventh month" on the Hebrew calendar corresponds to September 25th on our modern calendar.
Thoughts:	Immediately I'm bothered by the wording of Leviticus 16:1 which is written as such in the King James Version of the bible: "And the LORD spake unto Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered before the LORD, and died"; The incident being referred to is from Leviticus: Chapter 10 where Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu use the wrong flame to light God's "holy incense", and in retaliation God burns both of them alive to die horrible deaths from immolation. The wording in Leviticus:16:1 makes Nadab and Abihu's deaths seem trivial or natural and takes God out of the equation. When it states that Aaron's sons "offered before the LORD, and died" sounds like trying to phrase Ted Bundy's death by Florida's electric chair by saying "when Ted Bundy sat on a chair and died". Why this bothers me so much is that a lot of people don't read the bible from cover to cover like we're doing here. Most people simply pick out a chapter, either by a recommendation from a priest or minister, or by a fellow believer (and maybe sometimes at random) and are given this first verse which takes Nadab and Abihu's deaths out of context. The way the verse reads, it seems to imply that Aaron's sons died by some freak accident and not by means of a brutal punishment from God. The fact that their deaths were the result of God's punishment - whether you believe it is as brutal as I see it, or you can somehow manage to justify it - is completely omitted and we are given a recap that misses the context of Leviticus Chapter 10. It just seems very deceptive to me as a means to de-villainize any possible questioning of God's "punishment" to Nadab and Abihu. Moving right along however, God reverts back to his atypical mannerism and threatens Aaron with death if he continues to nonchalantly enter the "holy place" behind the veil in the tabernacle. God tells Moses that the punishment for intruding upon the "holy place" in the tabernacle is instant death, which he will deal out from a cloud that he resides in above the "mercy place" in the tabernacle. So God comes up with some rules for Aaron entering the tabernacle, which of course includes some more good ol' animal sacrifices. First Aaron is to gather up some animals (a bull and a ram), take a bath, change into his priest costume, and have the people of Israel bring him some animals of their own (two male goats and a ram) to add to the festivities. Next, Aaron has to kill the young bull to atone for the "sins" of himself and his household, and then draw straws to figure out which of the two goats he gets to slaughter - as the goat that gets slaughtered belongs to God, and he certainly loves and derives "pleasure" from his animal sacrifices. The lucky goat who doesn't wind up with his blood splattered all over the altar in the tabernacle gets to be a "scapegoat", which means this lucky little guy symbolically gets all the "sins" of the people of Israel placed upon his head and then gets to run away from these nutty Israelis into the desert taking their sins along with him. The unlucky goat (the one that belongs to God) gets to be Aaron's "sin offering" and have his blood paint the inside of the tabernacle. After Aaron kills the young bull on behalf of his own "sins" and those of his household, he now has to gather up some of the burning coals from the altar and place them into a censer. He is then to bring the censer and some incense behind the veil in the tabernacle. God explains that by Aaron burning the incense behind the veil, that in fact will excuse God from having to kill Aaron(!) How kind and thoughtful. God now mentions that Aaron will have to gather up some of the blood from the bull he just slaughtered to sprinkle upon the "mercy place". Sprinkle a little bit on the east side of the "mercy place", and then sprinkle the front of it the magical number of seven times. Now the unlucky goat meets its fate, and its blood too is to be used to sprinkle around the "mercy place" behind the veil in the tabernacle - again on the east side, and seven times in the front. According to God, this act will make atonement for the "holy place" due to the contamination of its very existence among the "sinful" and "unclean" people of Israel. God tacks on that nobody else is allowed into the tabernacle while Aaron is doing this ritual. After Aaron is done playing with the incense and sprinkling blood around the "mercy place" behind the veil, atoning the altar is next, by smearing some bull and goat blood on the horns of the altar, and sprinkling some more blood seven magical times upon the altar itself to cleanse it from the "uncleanliness" of the people of Israel. This ritual will, according to God, make the altar "holy" again. Once he's done getting blood all over the altar he is now to fetch the lucky goat, place his hands upon the goats head, and transfer all the "sins" of the people of Israel into the goat. Now the goat, filled with all the "sins" of the Israelis get to be set free out into the desert by a man appointed by Aaron to lead the goat out to the wilderness. Aaron now has to return to the tabernacle and bathe himself, put his priest costume back on, and start up the "burnt offerings" from the animal carcasses laying around the tabernacle, thereby making more atonement for both himself (with the bull) and for the people of Israel (with the unlucky goat). He is also to burn all the animal fat upon the altar as well. The man that got to let the "scapegoat" run free out to the desert also needs to take a bath, wash his clothes, and return back to the Israeli camp. Somebody else appointed by Aaron gets the job of hauling out the smoldering animal carcasses to the outskirts of the camp and sets them on fire again until they're completely consumed by the flames. This guy also has to go wash his clothes, take a bath, and return home to the camp. God decides to make this a permanent annual event that is to take place forever on September 25th, and that a day of sabbath is also to be observed - not only by natural born Israelis, but by any strangers living amongst them. He adds that future generations of priests will have to follow the same protocol as Aaron has - complete with the proper costumes and outfits - so as to annually make atonement for the "sins" of the people of Israel. Aaron did as he was told, as I'm sure that God's death threats as well as the recent memories of his sons' deaths by immolation probably weren't viewed as a desirable alternative.