JOSHUA: Chapter 9

Chapter 9
Summary:	The kings west of the Jordan River heard of Joshua's conquests (the kings of the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites) and banded themselves together, forming an alliance to battle together against Joshua and the Israelites. However, when the Gibeonites heard about the massacres at Jericho and Ai, they devised a plan to disguise themselves as ambassadors from a far away land, carrying old worn sacks upon their donkeys, weathered and repaired wine bottles, worn-out shoes upon their feet, tattered clothes, and they made sure that the food they carried with them was dry and moldy. They approached Joshua at his campsite in Gilgal, telling him that they were from a far away country, and asked Joshua to make a treaty with them. The Israelites asked the Hivites how could they be sure that they didn't live close by and therefore why should they make a treaty with them. They answered to Joshua that they were his servants. Joshua asked them who they were and where they came from, to which they replied that they had come from a far away country to be servants to the Israelites, stating that they had heard of God's fame, and all that he did in Egypt, in addition to what he did to King Sihon and to King Og. They said, "Our leaders and the people of our country told us to stock up with provisions for our long journey to meet you, and tell you that we are your servants and would like to make peace with you. This bread we took with us was fresh from our houses on the day we began our journey, but it has now become dry and moldy; these bottles of wine which we filled were new, and now are beginning to crack; and our clothes and shoes have become worn after our long journey." The Israelites inspected their provisions, but didn't consult God about them, so Joshua made peace with them, allowing them to live, and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to uphold their treaty. Three days later, however, the Israelites discovered that the people they had just sworn an oath to instead lived amongst them. The Israelites on a journey, discovered on the third day the cities of Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjathjearim. However, the Israelites didn't massacre them since the leaders of the congregation had sworn to uphold peace with them by in the name of the God of Israel. The Israelites voiced their displeasure towards their leaders, but the leaders replied, "We have sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel, therefore we may not touch them. We will let them live due to the oath we swore, however, let them fetch our lumber and draw water for the congregation." Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said to them, "Why did you deceive us, telling us that you were from a far away land when instead you dwell among us? Therefore we shall curse you, and none of you shall be free from being our slaves, cutting our wood and drawing our water for the house of my God." The Gibeonites answered Joshua, saying, "Your servants were told how the Lord your God had commanded his servant Moses to give you this land and to destroy its inhabitants from before you. We feared for our lives because of you, and we are now in your hands. Do whatever you see as good and right for you to do to us." And so Joshua prevented the Israelites from slaughtering them, and instead made them permanent slaves, cutting wood and drawing water for the congregation, and for God's altar in the place where he would choose.
Thoughts:	When you hear biblical apologists try and justify horrific genocides such as those we've covered in previous chapters (Jericho and Ai, in addition to the slaughter of the Midianites, in which Moses ordered the non-combatant women and children to be slaughtered - except for the virgin girls, which the soldiers could "keep for themselves") an oft repeated rationalization is that genocide is somehow a better fate than slavery. After discussing Numbers: Chapter 31 which details the slaughter of the Midianites, we heard this exact apologetic used to defend the chapter by apologeticspress.org (that I also gave a detailed rebuttal to): "Complaining about Jehovah’s order to destroy innocent children is a vain gesture when one realizes that the children were spared an even worse fate of being reared as slaves under the domination of sin." The flaw in this apologetic is that it makes assumptions on behalf of the people faced with either a violent death or a life of enslavement. While the apologist might attempt to explain away that it boils down to a matter of "historical context", explaining away that people in the days of Moses's and Joshua's lifetimes would rather opt for the dignity of death than the indignity of slavery, the Gibeonites from this chapter dispel the likelihood of that notion. The Gibeonites in this chapter clearly demonstrate that they value their self preservation more than they do their freedom. It's arrogant to claim that slavery is a worse fate than death when you're not the one facing such options, and that in light of the "historical context" excuse, there are those who have clearly demonstrated that they're willing to face any punishment, including slavery, to preserve their lives: 9:23 "Now therefore ye are cursed, and there shall none of you be freed from being bondmen, and hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God." 9:24-25 "And they answered Joshua, and said...And now, behold, we are in thine hand: as it seemeth good and right unto thee to do unto us, do." It's interesting to point out the parallels between the stories of Rahab the harlot to the Gibeonites and how drastically they're intended to be perceived. God expressly forbids the Israelites from making any covenant with nor are they show any mercy towards the inhabitants of the "promised land" - a commandment that the Israelites violate in both cases toward Rahab and toward the Gibeonites. Both Rahab and the Gibeonites have heard of and believe the tales of God's covenant with Moses Both Rahab and the Gibeonites were motivated by self preservation. Rahab begged for the lives of her family to be spared, while the Gibeonites resigned themselves to their entire tribe becoming enslaved. Both Rahab and the Gibeonites used deception in order to procure their self preservation. The sparing of both Rahab and the Gibeonites against God's commandments served to benefit the Israelites. The sparing of Rahab and her family was a "reward" for betraying her own people and covering the tracks of the two spies Joshua sent to her city, and the sparing of the Gibeonites provided the Israelites with slave labor. Although the Gibeonites trick the Israelites into sparing their lives by swearing to uphold a treaty under false pretenses, the chapter briefly mentions but fails to address why, Joshua didn't consult God to see through the ruse. It also doesn't address any culpability on behalf of Joshua, or the Israelites as a whole, for their failure to do so.

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.

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 24

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

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 23

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

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 20

Chapter 20
Summary:	Moses' speech continues: "When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses, chariots, and people that outnumber you, do not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. When you go to battle, the priest shall approach and speak to the people, telling them not to be faint of heart, nor be afraid because of the strength of the enemy. For the Lord your God will go with you, to fight against your enemies and to save you from defeat. "The officers shall address the people, asking if any man has just built a new house and has not yet dedicated it; if there is, he is to go home lest he die in battle and someone else dedicate it. The officer shall also ask if anyone has just planted a vineyard and has not yet tasted it's fruit; if there is, he is to go home, lest he die in battle and someone else eats it. The officer shall then ask if anyone has just become engaged to a woman, but has not yet married her; if there is, he is to go home, lest he die in battle and someone else marries her. The officer shall finally ask if there is anyone who is fearful or afraid; if there is, he is to go home, lest he spreads his fears to others. When the officers have finished speaking with the soldiers, they shall appoint captains of the armies to lead them. "When you approach a city to fight against, first offer it a peace treaty and if they accept it, then you are to enslave the inhabitants. If they do not accept the treaty, and instead make war against you, you must conquer the city. When the Lord your God delivers the city into your hands, you shall kill every male with the edge of your sword. The women, the young girls, the cattle, and the spoils of the city, you are to keep for yourselves, you shall devour the spoils of your enemies which the Lord your God has given you. These instructions apply only to the cities outside of the promised land, not those within it. "Of the cities that are contained in the land which the Lord your God has given you as an inheritance, you are not to allow anything to live that breathes, but are to utterly destroy them - namely, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the Lord your God has commanded you. That these people not teach you their abominations which they have done in the name of their gods, causing you to sin against the Lord your God. "While you are waging war against a city, you are not to destroy any of the fruit trees, nor may you cut them down with an axe. Only the trees that you know do not bear fruit may you destroy and cut down to use its wood for building fortresses against the city that made war with you, until the fighting has subdued."
Thoughts:	Moses begins this chapter by stating that even if the Israelites seem outnumbered by the amount of horses, chariots, or enemy soldiers on the battlefield, that they are not to be afraid because God will protect the Israelites. Before going out to battle, a priest will tell them this same thing. The officers of the armies will then address the troops and ask them if anyone has just built a house that hasn't been "dedicated", planted a vineyard that they haven't eaten from, or become engaged to a woman they have yet to marry, and then allow those applicable to return home to dedicate their homes, tend to their vineyard, or marry their bride to prevent someone else from doing so if they were to die in battle. Moses then says that the officers should then ask if there are any men that are afraid to fight, and if so, that they are to be sent home in order to prevent them from spreading their fears to other soldiers. Upon weeding these people out, the officers are then to appoint captains to lead the remaining troops. Next Moses explains the proper protocol for conquering cities outside of the "promised land". First, offer them a "peace treaty", and if they accept then enslave them all. If they don't accept becoming enslaved, then they've "declared war" then the Israelites are to kill every male with the edge of their swords. But the women and young girls the soldiers may keep for themselves along with the spoils of the city. When conquering the cities within the "promised land" however, the women and children must be slaughtered - along with the cattle and anything else that breathes - because those pesky women and children will apparently teach the Israelites all of their abominable customs. I guess the persuasive power of infants and children is too much of a risk to keep them alive as slaves, so the only option is to slaughter them all. At least the Midianites weren't all destroyed, Moses allowed the soldiers to keep all of the girls who were virgins for themselves. No matter how you attempt to spin this, no matter what "context" you believe this should be viewed in, there is simply no way you can justify killing "everything that breathes" - especially when included amongst this are infants and young children - as moral. Moses ends the chapter by stating that when the Israelites are invading a city, that they are not to destroy any trees that bear fruit. They can build fortresses using trees that do not bear fruit until the fighting is done, but are not to harm any fruit bearing trees.

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 15

Chapter 15
Summary:	Moses' speech continues: "At the end of every seven* years, you are to make a release - a release where every creditor that has lent something to his neighbor shall cancel their debt of his neighbor, or of his brother, because it has been called the Lord's release. To a foreigner, you may exact the debt again, but towards your fellow Israelites, you are to release them from their debt. This shall prevent any amongst you from becoming poor, for the Lord shall greatly bless you in the land which the Lord your God has given you as an inheritance to possess - only if you carefully heed the words of the Lord your God, and to observe and obey all of the commandments which I give to you on this day. For the Lord your God will bless you, as promised, and you will become a lender to many other nations - not a borrower, and you shall reign over many other nations - but they shall not reign over you. "If there is amongst you a poor man whom is one of your brethren, living amongst your city, in the land that the Lord your God has given you, you are not to harden your heart, nor shut your hand from your poor brother; but you are to open your hand wide to him, and are to lend to him as much as he needs and what he wants. Beware that you do not form the thought in your wicked heart and refuse to give him a loan because the seventh year, the year of release, is at hand, for when he cries out to the Lord against you, it will be a sin upon you. You are to loan to him without question or grievances, because for this act, the Lord your God will bless you in all your works, and all that you do. There will always be poor amongst you, therefore I command you to open your hand to your brother and to the poor and needy in the land. "When your Hebrew brothers or sisters are sold to you into slavery, and serve you for six years, in the seventh year you are to set them free. When you set them free, you are not to let them walk away empty handed. You shall furnish them liberally from your flock, your olive press, and your winepress; of what the Lord your God has blessed unto you, you shall give a portion unto them. You shall remember your own slavery in the land of Egypt, and how the Lord redeemed you. "If your Hebrew slave however tells you that he will not leave because he loves his servitude to you and your house, and because he is well with you; then you shall take an awl and thrust it through his ear, and that person will be your slave forever. To a female Hebrew slave shall you do likewise. "You must not feel bad when you send your slaves away after serving you for six years, for your slave has cost you less than half of what the wages of a hired man would have cost you, and by releasing your slave, the Lord shall bless you in all that you do. "All the firstborn males born in your herds and flocks are to be sanctified for the Lord your God; you shall not use the firstling of your bull to work your fields, nor shall you shear the firstling of your sheep. Instead, you and your household shall eat them before the Lord your God each year at the sanctuary which the Lord your God has chosen in the land. If the animal has any blemish, if it is lame, blind, or any defect, you shall not sacrifice it to the Lord your God. Instead you shall eat it at your home, and the clean and unclean may eat it alike, just as if you were eating a roebuck or a hart. Only you are not to consume the animal's blood; you are to pour it upon the ground as you would water."
Notes:	1.) Another reference of the mystical significance of the number seven in the bible.
Thoughts:	Moses begins this chapter by declaring that every seven years (there's that number again) the Israelites are to cancel all debts owed to them by their fellow Israelites. Debts owed by foreigners are still valid, but fellow Israelites are to be released from debt every seven years. Moses states that this is to either ensure that no Israelite goes poor, yet the overall theme of this chapter is how to deal with the poor. Moses states that the nation of Israelis to become a lender - and not a borrower - to other nations, as to allow the nation to reign over all others, and not be reigned over themselves. He then tells the Israelites that if there is a poor person amongst them that they are not to "harden their heart[s]" towards them and they are to lend him as much as he wants and needs. Moses warns the Israelites not to refuse to make a loan simply because the "Year of Release" is at hand, because it would be "sin" upon the person refusing to make the loan. Moses instructs that the Israelites are to loan without question or grievances, and that God will bless them for their generosity. Moses next moves on to recount a few points on Hebrew slavery that he commanded in Exodus: Chapter 21. Unlike typical slaves, a Hebrew that has sold himself into slavery is to regain his or her freedom after six years and is to be freed at the start of the seventh. In this sense, the Hebrews are more like what we'd consider "indentured servants" than what we would consider true slavery. However, this only applies to other Hebrews and not foreign slaves. Moses adds to this, that when a Hebrew is freed from his/her slavery that they are not to be left empty handed. The newly freed Hebrew slave is to be furnished with a generous portion of their master's flock, crops, and wine. Moses reminds the Israelites that they are to remember how God saved them from their own past slavery in the land of Egypt. Moses then adds the provision that if a Hebrew slave chooses not to leave his life in slavery and opts to remain with his master, then one can bore the slave's ear with an awl, and he will from then on out become branded as a slave forever. While on the surface this may appear to be a completely harmless voluntary agreement, Exodus: Chapter 21 lays out a strong motivating factor as to why a Hebrew slave might opt to forgo his emancipation - if his master gives him a wife while he is a slave, then the slave's wife and children they have borne will belong to the master, and not the slave. Therefore if the slave wishes to keep his family together, he must remain a slave. Essentially this is clever way to entice a Hebrew slave into forfeiting his freedom. Even if the slave insists upon his freedom, the slave master wins out and keeps the slave's wife and children, It's a veritable win-win situation for the slave owner to provide his slave with a wife. Moses adds that this "voluntary" permanent enslavement for life can also apply to female Hebrew slaves as well, so it's probable that making her a concubine and getting her pregnant could have served as an effective method for coaxing "voluntary" permanent enslavement as well. Moses points out that if the slave opts not for "voluntary" permanent enslavement, but chooses their freedom instead, the slave master is not be upset about this but is to remember that he got six years of work from his slave for less than half the price he would have had to pay a hired man. Moses ends the chapter by reminding the Israelites that the firstborn of their flocks and herd belong to God and are never to be used to work in the fields, or are firstborn sheep to be shorn. These animals are to be eaten each year at God's sanctuary - except if the animal in question has any defects, blemishes, or is lame or blind; then the animal is to be eaten at one's home. An animal with such defects eaten at home may be eaten by all in the household, "clean" and "unclean" alike, just as if they were eating a deer for dinner. The only stipulation, Moses adds, is that they are not to consume the animal's blood - it is to be poured upon the ground like water.

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 5

Chapter 5
Summary:	Moses gathers the people of Israel and said to them, "Hear, the people of Israel, the laws and judgment which I speak to you on this day, that you learn and obey them. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Mount Horeb, and he made this covenant not with our forefathers, but with us who all of us are here alive to this day. "The Lord talked with you face to face from the mountain out of the midst of the fire. I stood between the Lord and you at that time, to show you the word of the Lord, for you were afraid of the fire, and did not go up the mountain." Moses then restates the ten commandments: I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Thou shalt have none other gods before me. Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Keep the sabbath day to sanctify it, as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee. Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work , thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest as well as thou. And remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and that the LORD thy God brought thee out thence through a mighty hand and by a stretched out arm: therefore the LORD thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day. Honour thy father and thy mother , as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that it may go well with thee, in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Neither shalt thou commit adultery. Neither shalt thou steal. Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour. Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbour's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbour's. Moses continues, "These words the Lord spoke to all of you at the mountain, from the midst of fire, from the cloud, and in thick darkness with a great voice - he added no more, but wrote them down onto two tablets of stone, and delivered them to me. "It came to pass, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness - for the mountain did burn with fire - that the heads of your tribes and your elders came before me saying, 'Behold, the Lord our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen a day where God has talked with man, and man survived, but why should we [tempt] death [again]? This great fire could consume us, and if we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore we could die. For what mortal has ever heard the voice of God speaking out the fire, as we have, and lived? 'Go hear all that the Lord has to say and speak it to us afterward, and we will listen and obey.' "The Lord heard your words when you said this to me, and the Lord said to me, 'I have heard the words of the people, and they have spoken wisely. They have a great heart in them, that they would fear me, and always keep all my commandments. If they obey, all will be good for them and their children throughout their generations. 'Tell the people to return to their tents, but when you return, stand here and I will speak to you all the commandments, statutes, and judgments for you to teach them, that they may follow in the land which I give them to possess.' "You are to obey exactly as the Lord your God has commanded you, you are not to deviate from his law in either direction. You shall walk in all the ways that the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that all may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess."
Thoughts:	Moses gathers the Israelites and prepares them to listen to his retelling of the "ten commandments" that we first encountered in Exodus: Chapter 20. Moses tells the people that these commandments differ from most of God's covenants, since the people this covenant was made with are still alive and listening to Moses' speech this day. However, this couldn't be possible considering that this speech occurs after the last generation of Israelites - the one who were present in Mount Horeb - were made to wander around the desert for forty years, and they had all died out since then. Moses states that God spoke to the Israelites "face to face" from the midst of fire upon the mountain, and also claims that he served as an intermediary between God and the people, because they were afraid of the fire, and did not go up the mountain - which might very well have something to do with the fact that they were threatened with death if they were to attempt to approach the mountain. Moses then retells the ten commandments, which is almost identical to how they appear in Exodus: Chapter 20 with only some slight differences to the wording of the fourth commandment, with an additional reminder of God's rescue of the people from slavery in Egypt. Moses tells the people that these commandments were written by God onto two stone tablets that were delivered to Moses. He then mentions that the people were frightened of hearing God's voice and somehow couldn't shake the apparently common superstitious fear of the time, being that you apparently are not supposed to be able to hear the voice of God and live. The Israelites, according to Moses, asked Moses to be their middle man, delivering God's message to them, so that they would not have to fear God's voice speaking out of the flames again. Obviously this sets Moses up in a position of power that is easily abused - as now anything that Moses claims is "God's word" is to be believed as such, without any way of discerning whether what is being said is in fact "God's word" or Moses' own personal agenda. The Israelites aren't even allowed to venture up near the foot of the mountain, nor are they allowed within the tabernacle, both under the penalty of death. Thereby creating a "man behind the curtain" facade in which Moses and the priests can take advantage of the blind trust the people have in that the edicts they receive are the "word of God", the privacy they are afforded by having areas that are off limits to the public - enforced with capital punishment, and very little recourse for anyone to dispute their leadership. The biggest problem with religion is that it discourages critical thinking, that people are not to question authority for any reason, and that laws are not to be amended or adapted to evolve alongside of societal changes. Over time we find that many laws simply serve no function to us any longer, or were unjust from the very beginning (such as slavery) but were kept on the books to avoid civil unrest between proponents and the opposition. As we discover new technologies that alter the way we live - such as the automobile, radio, telephone, and the internet - we need new laws to regulate the usage of these technologies to protect people's safety. We simply can't rely upon the laws that were in effect in 1776 to govern the modern world in 2009. It's even more unfathomable to attempt to live as people did in the bronze age over 3000 years ago did, yet that is exactly what religion attempts to encourage. The Catholic church is against the use of contraception and carries this message even when dealing with HIV stricken countries like Africa where condom usage would better help contain the further spread of the disease than simply telling people to practice abstinence - which obviously doesn't work very well with their own priests and their ensuing sexual abuse scandals. Moses tells the Israelites that even God himself approves of the Israelites suggestion of having Moses play middleman, and says that life will be peachy and keen so long as they follow all of God's commandments. God tells Moses to send the congregation of people back to their tents so that he can speak with Moses alone and give him all the commandments, statutes and judgments for him to teach the Israelites. Moses finishes off the chapter by stating that these laws are to be obeyed exactly as God commanded them, and not to be added to or subtracted from, or altered in any way.

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 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.