JOSHUA: Chapter 7

Chapter 7
Summary:	The Israelites however disregarded the command against the cursed items, as Achan - son of Camri, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah - of the tribe of Judah, took some cursed objects, which resulted in God's anger toward the Israelites. Joshua sent some men from there camp outside of Jericho to the city of Ai, which is beside Bethaven, on the east of Bethel. He told the men to go up and view the country, and after they had done so they returned to Joshua and said to him, "Don't send the entire army, but instead about two or three thousand men to smite Ai. Let's not put the entire army to work, as there aren't many in Ai." About three thousand men were sent, but retreated after the men of Ai smote thirty six soldiers. The men from Ai chased them from the city gates to Shebarim, and smote them as they descended. The hearts of the Israelites melted and became like water. Joshua tore at his clothes and fell on his face before the ark of the covenant and stayed there until the evening. The elders of Israel also fell on their faces before the ark and put dust on their heads. Joshua said, "Lord, why have you brought our people across the Jordan River, merely to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites to destroy us? Would you have been content for us to stay on the other side of the Jordan River? Lord, what shall I say when the people of Israel turn their backs before their enemies. For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of this, surround us and blot us out from this earth - what will you do for your great name?" God replied to Joshua, "Get up! Why are you lying on the ground on your face? Israel has sinned and has violated my covenant - for they have taken cursed items, and have stolen, deceived, and put them amongst their own belongings. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but fled before them, because they were cursed - neither will I be with you anymore unless you destroy the accursed from among you. "Get up, sanctify the people and tell them, 'Sanctify yourselves for tomorrow, for the Lord God of Israel has said that there is a cursed thing in your midst, and you cannot stand before your enemies until you remove the cursed thing from among you. In the morning you shall be brought forward according to your tribes: the tribe that the Lord picks shall come forward according to their families; the family which the Lord picks shall come forward by their households; and the household which the Lord picks shall come forth man by man. "'He that has taken the cursed object shall be burnt with fire, himself and everything he has, because he broke the covenant of the Lord and brought folly upon Israel.'" Joshua rose early in the morning and gathered the Israelites by tribe. After the tribe of Judah was selected, the family of the Zarhites were selected, the Zahrites were brought forth man by man until the household of Zabdi was selected, and the household of Zabdi was brought forth man by man until Achan (son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah) was selected. Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give, I pray of you, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and confess to him. Tell me what you have done and don't hide it from me." Achan replied, "Indeed I have sinned against the Lord, and I shall explain what I had done. When I saw among the spoils a beautiful Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a piece of gold worth fifty shekels, I coveted them and took them. I hid them in the ground inside my tent, with the silver underneath it." Joshua sent messengers to investigate, and they found the items hidden in the ground of Achan's tent, with the silver underneath it, and brought them before Joshua, the people of Israel, and God. Joshua, along with the rest of Israel, took Achan, the silver, the garment, the piece of gold, Achan's sons and daughters, his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his tent, and everything he owned and brought them out to the valley of Achor. Joshua said, "Why have you troubled us? The Lord will now trouble you today." The Israelites stoned Achan, his family, and his livestock to death and set their remains on fire along with his belongings. They placed a great heap of stones over the charred remains, and God relented from his anger. The place was then named the Valley of Achor*.
Notes:	1.) "Achor" is a Hebrew word for "trouble".
Thoughts:	The chapter begins with the revelation that a man named Achan, decided not to heed God's command and warning from the previous chapter about not taking any of the "accursed" items, and that all the gold and silver was to be given to God. This of course made God angry with all of the Israelites, not just Achan. Conveniently, the next city that the Israelites happened to have next on their list to massacre was a small one, so it was suggested to Joshua by the men he selected to scope out their intended target that he should only send two or three thousand soldiers. After thirty six soldiers were killed by the enemy soldiers of Ai, the Israelites turned tail and ran. Joshua tore at his clothes and fell on his face, and remained there on the ground in front of the ark of the covenant until evening. The elders of the tribes of Israel joined Joshua, also "falling on their faces" in front of the ark and additionally "poured dust on their heads". (Admittedly, I was a bit unfamiliar with the "pouring of dust on one's head" ritual practiced in Judaism to express grief, and I still fail to see much practical purpose behind such a bizarre ritual.) Joshua then whines to God about the Israelites' loss, complaining that when the Canaanites hear about the defeat at Ai, that they in turn will attack and wipe out the Israelites. God replies to Joshua in an apparently condescending tone, telling him to get up, and explains that the reason the Israelites lost this battle is due to them taking cursed items from the spoils of Jericho and hiding them amongst their own belongings. He explains to Joshua that the Israelites therefore won't have God on their side anymore until and unless they destroy the accursed from amongst them. Instead of informing Joshua who it is among them that must be destroyed, like an omniscient being should be wholly capable of doing, God tells Joshua to stage an elaborate production of assembling the entire population of Israel together and having God one by one pick out the tribe, the family, the household, and finally the guilty party, sifting them out man by man. Again, an omniscient being shouldn't need to orchestrate such an elaborate production, however, it's likely that the intent of this display was to intimidate and serve as a reminder as to what could happen to them if they don't keep in line. God then tells Joshua that whomever has taken the cursed items must be set on fire - along with all of his possessions, which includes the members of his entire household. The way "sins" and "curses" are treated by God in the bible are akin to the childhood game of "cooties", in which the child "infected with cooties" is stigmatized without any real discernible affliction or real symptoms while either simultaneously lacking any sort of "cure", or if there is a "cure", that it is just as ridiculous and rife with nonsense as is the "affliction". While one could make the rationalization that Achan committed an offense against God and perhaps deserves punishment, there simply is no rational justification for also punishing Achan's children and livestock, and setting every single item of his possessions on fire. In a modern context, it's baffling to me how we can recognize the unjust barbarism when a person in the Islamic world is stoned to death for a non-violent offense, yet simultaneously not see the same brutality in a biblical story like this that not only targets the offender, but the innocent lives of his children and livestock as well. Our story continues with Joshua parading out the tribe of Judah, paring them down to the Zahrites, paring them down further to the Zabdi household, until Achan was finally brought out. Joshua then goads Achan to "give glory" to God by confessing, and demanding that Achan not try to hide what he has done. Achan confesses that he stole a Babylonian garment, two hundred shekels of silver, and a piece of gold worth fifty shekels, and also tells Joshua where he hid them in his tent. After Joshua's messengers search Achan's tent and find the items he took, Joshua has the Israelites take Achan, along with his sons and daughters, oxen, sheep, donkeys, his tent, and all of his possessions out to the valley of Achor. Hauntingly, Joshua rhetorically asks Achan why he has he caused so much trouble for Israel, and retorts that now God will "trouble" Achan today. With those words, the Israelites stoned Achan, his children, and his livestock to death, set the remains on fire along with the rest of Achan's possessions, and placed a big heap of stones on top of the charred remains. The death and destruction of Achan and all that he owned, including the innocent lives of his children and his livestock, was sufficient to quell God's anger toward the Israelites.

PENTATEUCH: A Recap

The Pentateuch (or the Jewish "Torah") refers to the first five books of the bible which primarily tell the story of Moses - the exception of which being the first book, the book of Genesis, which deals with the creation myth, the great flood myth, and sets the foundation for the story of Abraham and his descendants - primarily his grandson Jacob (later renamed Israel) and his twelve sons becoming the "Twelve Tribes of Israel". All five books are also generally accredited to be authored by Moses according to most Abrahamic faiths, despite Moses' death and burial being described within the last chapter of the last book, Deuteronomy.

The book of Genesis is filled with a lot of outlandish and seemingly ridiculous claims (such as "light", "daytime", and "nighttime" being created prior to the creation of the sun; a talking snake that tricks the world's first woman into eating the "forbidden fruit"; the life spans of many people being over 800 to 900 years old; and a 500 year old man who manages to track down and stuff at least one pair of each "kind" of animal onto a wooden boat to survive for nine months while a global flood kills all life upon the earth); lots of stories that are presented as either "good" or "moral" despite being blatantly appalling (such as God committing mass genocide upon the earth with a global flood; a man described as "righteous" who offers up his two virgin daughters to an angry mob for them to be raped; the same "righteous" man allows his daughters to get him drunk after which he proceeds to have sex with them, impregnating them both; and God telling Abraham to commit human sacrifice with his son Isaac, with God stopping him just short of Abe plunging the knife into the boy's chest - just so he could "test" Abraham's loyalty). However, the overall theme of the book is to establish a lineage for the people of Israel for whom the authors intended to appear noble and righteous, which in contrast to modern standards of decency and morality, fails miserably.

The next important theme of the book of Genesis is establishing God's promise to Abraham to build his family into a "great nation", by "promising" him a piece of land that sadly enough people are still fighting over today. The piece of land that God "gives" to Abraham happens to already be occupied by other "heathen nations", so in turn this will justify the forcible taking of this land from people that God doesn't show favor towards. What this actually does is justify stereotyping as well as cultural and ethnic elitism, where ethnicity and a person's culture defines their worth. Despite that the authors attempt to address this very problem with the story of Abraham questioning God's plan to destroy the city of Sodom should there any righteous people found within the city, the problem is that within the real world there aren't such cases of absolutes which are rampant throughout the bible - every enemy nation of the Israelites is treated as if it were "100% wicked" just like we're supposed to believe that the inhabitants of the city of Sodom were. This doesn't even begin to cover other aspects of the problem such as the slaughter of infants, and as we will later see, even animals and livestock belonging to "heathen nations" are to be destroyed for being "defiled".

The book of Exodus introduces us to the character Moses. While briefly telling the story of his birth where he avoids a law of infanticide placed upon male Hebrew infants and how he is then raised by Egyptian royalty, the story then picks up in his adult life where he is appalled by the treatment of Hebrew slaves by the Egyptian people. Upon witnessing an Egyptian soldier strike a Hebrew slave, Moses murders the soldier, hides his body in the sand, and then flees Egypt fearing prosecution for his crime. While he's on the run God appears to Moses in the form of a burning bush and tells him that he's been appointed to lead the Hebrew people out of their slavery in Egypt and into the "promised land". Arming Moses - as well as his brother Aaron, who's been chosen to speak for the Israelites - with a bunch of magic tricks, God guides them as they free the Hebrew people from their slavery in Egypt and then trek across the desert for the next forty years where most of the original generation die off - or are killed by the numerous plagues God thrusts upon them for mostly trivial things like whining about not having enough water to drink.

The underlying theme of the book of Exodus is to demoralize believers into believing that although they are God's chosen people, they are actually unworthy of being so; they are in fact stubborn, disobedient, and whiny and they need the church to lead them. It would be easy to develop an ego in conjunction with the cultural and ethnic elitism that the Pentateuch promotes, so therefore the solution is to crush the individual's self-worth. Beginning with Moses' brother Aaron - the head priest - constructing a golden calf for the Israelites to worship after Moses seemingly went missing atop Mount Sinai for forty days while chatting with God, we begin to see two issues emerge.

The first issue we see is that "holy men" aren't held to the same standards as others. Aaron breaks the second commandment while 3,000 other Israelites are slaughtered; Moses, breaks the eighth commandment ("thou shalt not kill (murder)") without any repercussions; both of Moses' siblings (Aaron and Miriam) complain about Moses breaking one of God's laws, yet God only punishes Miriam (who is stricken with leprosy), absolving Aaron, possibly either because he was a priest, male, or both.

The second issue however is probably the most touted "sin" in the Pentateuch, as well as the first two of the "ten commandments", that a person is not to worship other gods, nor create a "religious idol". These commandments are reinforced more so than any of the other eight (including the commandment to observe the sabbath, which is also repeated many times throughout the Pentateuch) with the punishments being excessively violent and extreme - where in cases where an entire city worships other gods, God commands that every living breathing thing, including livestock, are to be killed and the city is to be burnt to the ground, never to be rebuilt. Why such an excessively violent response, and why is it so overstressed the importance of never seeking after other gods? The most likely explanation is that the supernatural events as depicted in the bible simply either did not happen as the bible depicts them, or that they were not widely witnessed as the bible suggests.

Think about it carefully. If the Israelites did in fact witness all of these spectacular "miracles", plagues, and had seen various masses of people die believing that they were smote by God's wrath, what real motivation would they have to worship "false gods" or idols, which apparently wouldn't display any such supernatural ability? Why was it such a rampant problem of people constantly worshiping "false gods" when there were all these "miraculous" supernatural events caused by God occurring all around them? The simplest explanation is obviously that they either did not witness anything supernatural, or that the story of the exodus was heavily embellished, if not completely fictitious, to begin with. If the Israelites didn't actually witness any supernatural occurrences, or "miracles", then it would put their god belief on a level playing field with any other - simply being a matter of faith, not reason.

When you're dealing with faith based beliefs rather than beliefs based upon evidence, reason, or even personal experience, it is then easy to see why there would be so much concern about the exposure to other faith based belief systems. Both religions would be on an equal footing in regards to what reasoning (or lack thereof) there was to believe. One of the key components to controlling the thoughts of others is to limit their information to the outside world. Even today groups like Amway, Alcoholics Anonymous, and various political groups discourage their members from exposure to any mainstream media that is critical toward the group.

Often times in conjunction with limiting the exposure to the outside world, another tactic of controlling the thoughts of others is to undermine the credibility of or to silence those outside of or those who oppose the group. In the book of Exodus, Moses gives blessings to those who showed no mercy toward their siblings, children, and neighbors by slaughtering them by the thousands, simply because they had worshiped Aaron's golden calf. Later on, after the Israelites sacrificed to other gods at Baal Peor, Moses ordered the leaders of the tribes who worshiped the other gods killed, and their corpses hung up "against the sun". In the same chapter, Moses orders the genocide of the Midianites for tempting the Israelites into worshiping other gods, and when the Israelites slaughter the Midianite men, Moses becomes enraged when he discovers that the women and children were captured and spared. He orders that they should all be killed - except for any girls who are still virgins, whom the soldiers may "keep for themselves".

Although there are several scattered narrative stories in the books of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, overall the main objective of these last three books are to detail the various laws and commandments that the Israelites are to follow - and the deadly punishments that accompany them.

The most common punishment for breaking God's commandments is death by stoning - a brutal method of capital punishment where the condemned is repeatedly hit with stones until they die. Among the "sins" God deems worthy of such a brutal death:

• worshiping other gods, or enticing others to do so
• cursing your mother and/or father
• homosexuality
• bestiality (both the offender and the animal)
• any man who sleeps with a married or engaged woman
• any married or engaged woman who sleeps with a man who is not her husband, or husband to be
• any woman who is raped in a city if she doesn't scream loud enough
• practicing magic or witchcraft, or being a spiritual medium
• doing any work on the sabbath
• blasphemy. or cursing the name of God
• a man who has sex with his either his mother, his daughter in law, or his father's wife
• being a rebellious child
• a wife who's virginity prior to marriage is questioned and whose father cannot provide bloody bedsheets as evidence
• false prophets

Moses attempts to justify these extreme, brutal, violent, and fatal punishments for these predominately non-violent offenses by insisting that such excessive punishments will instill fear into the Israelites, thereby discouraging them from committing such "crimes" in the first place. This is further compounded by some of the ridiculous methods of determining guilt for such "crimes" (such as bloody bedsheets being a "proof" of virginity; or defending your home against an intruder being considered a murder, determined by whether it occurred during the daytime or not).

Again, it begs the question as to why such a seemingly trivial "crime" of worshiping other gods requires such a violent and fatal punishment, and why was it apparently such a widespread concern during an age when God supposedly displayed his supernatural powers regularly.

If the supernatural events described in the Pentateuch didn't actually occur as described the answer becomes simple and obvious - since belief in a god couldn't be backed with reason or evidence, the next best course of action would be to coerce belief and obedience using fear, intimidation, violence, and brutal public execution. Once obedience is secured to a god who apparently only speaks through a select few people, and only "directly" to one person, it begins to make sense why "ordinary people" are also threatened with death for approaching the mountain where Moses apparently communicated with God and prevented from touching or entering the tabernacle to begin with, while those who are in the "inner circle" (the ruling priests and the tribe of Levi) become the sole beneficiaries of the various mandatory animal sacrifices and tithes (religious taxes) imposed upon the "ordinary people".

When the Pentateuch is read without the blinders of automatically believing in its veracity just "because it's the bible", it's quite easy to see that quite simply these books serve as a justification for the Israelites sense of elitism and entitlement over other cultures, and as a set of laws to prevent critical thought which would crumble the foundation of faith-based government. The Pentateuch basically says that their god told them that they're the best, that they're descended from a righteous lineage, and therefore they have every right to kill and slaughter any nation who stands in their way in their quest to conquer the land of Canaan - because their god said so.

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 22

Chapter 22
Summary:	Moses' speech continues: "If you see another man's ox or sheep go astray, you are not to pretend as if you did not see it, but you must take them back to its owner. If you do not know the owner, then you shall bring it back to your own house until the owner comes looking for it and you are able to return it to him. The same applies to donkeys, clothing, or any lost item that belongs to someone else that you have found. You are not to keep them for yourself. If you see someone's donkey or ox fall down by the way, you are also not to pretend as if you didn't see it happen, but you are to help him lift it up again. "A woman shall not wear men's clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman's garment. All who do so are an abomination unto the Lord your God. "If you spot a bird's nest in a tree or on the ground, and there are young ones or eggs as well as their mother, you are not to take the mother with the young. You shall let the mother go and take the young, so that it may be well with you, and you may prolong your days. "When you build a new house, you must make a guardrail for the roof so that you do not bring upon an accidental death upon your house if anyone were to fall from it. "You are not to sow your vineyard with other seeds, lest the fruit of your seed that you've sown, and the fruit of your vineyard be defiled. "You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. "You shall not wear a garment made of mixed fibers, such as wool and linen together. "You are to make fringes upon the four corners of your clothes. "If any man takes a wife, sleeps with her, hates her, and speaks out against her, bringing an evil name upon her, by saying, 'I took this woman and when I slept with her, I found that she was not a virgin', then the woman's parents shall take and bring forth the 'tokens of virginity'* to the elders of the city. The woman's father shall explain to the elders that he gave his daughter to this man as a wife, that he hated her and spoke against her claiming that she was not a virgin, and present the 'tokens of his daughter's virginity'* and shall then spread the cloth before the elders of the city. "The elders of that city shall take the man and whip him and fine him one hundred shekels of silver to be paid the woman's father, because he had brought up an evil name upon a virgin of Israel. The woman shall remain his wife and he shall not be permitted to divorce her. "However, if the man's accusations are true, and there are no 'tokens of virginity'* for the woman, then the woman shall be brought to the door of her father's house and the men of the city shall stone her to death, for she has brought folly to the nation of Israel, by playing the whore in her father's house. So shall you purge the evil away from among you. "If a man is found having sexual relations with an already married woman, then they both shall be killed - both the man that slept with the married woman, and the married woman herself. So shall you purge the evil away from among you. "If a woman who is a virgin and is engaged to a man, and another man finds her in the city and rapes her, then both of them shall be brought out to the outskirts of the city and are to be stoned to death; the woman because she didn't cry out for help in the city, and the man because he humiliated his neighbor's wife. So shall you purge the evil away from among you. "But if a man finds an engaged woman out in the fields, and the man rapes her, then only the man who raped her shall die. The woman is not to be punished because the woman committed no sin worthy of death. For this matter is similar to that of a murder victim, for he found her out in the field and the engaged woman cried, and there was no one to save her. "If a man finds a woman that is a virgin, who is not engaged to another man, and rapes her, and they are found, then the man that raped her is to pay the woman's father fifty shekels of silver, and she is to become his wife, because he has humiliated her, and he may never divorce her. "A man shall not take his fathers wife, nor dishonor his father's bed."
Notes:	1.) Meaning the bloodstained sheets from when the woman's hymen was broken during intercourse.
Thoughts:	This chapter begins on what appears to be a fairly positive note, but goes downhill awfully fast. Moses starts out telling the Israelites that if they see another man's ox or sheep go astray that they are not to ignore it, but are to return it to its owner. If they don't know who owns it, they are to take the animal back to their house until the owner comes looking for the animal. Moses adds that this applies to donkeys, clothing, and anything other lost item. Also if someone's donkey or ox falls under the load it's carrying, again you're not to ignore this, but you are to go help the animal get back up. Moses then strikes out at transvestites calling it an "abomination" to wear clothes meant for the other sex. Why God would be so bothered by people's fashions to declare it an "abomination" just for wearing a piece of clothing intended for the opposite sex is beyond me. In the bronze age days of flowing tunics, who would even really know whether a garment was a man's or a woman's? Next Moses states that if you find a bird's nest with both a mother bird and either its young or its eggs, you can keep the eggs and the young, but you must set the mother bird free. Following that, Moses states that when building a house you must put up a guardrail on the roof to ensure that no one falls off. Moses then spits out a few brief but strange laws: Don't sow your vineyard with other seeds, or the fruit of the seed as well as the grapes of the vineyard will be defiled. Do not plow your field with both a donkey and an ox together. Do not wear a garment made with mixed fibers, such as wool and linen together. Make fringes upon the corners of your clothes The rest of this chapter gets pretty misogynistic and concerns itself primarily on the importance of a woman's virginity to her husband. If a man suspects that his wife was not a virgin when they were married, the woman's parents must bring their "tokens of virginity" (meaning the bloodstained bedsheets) to the elders of the city. The woman's father is to present the stained bedsheets to the elders as proof of his daughter's virginity. Obviously the problem is that not every woman bleeds from her first experience of sexual intercourse, and sometimes her hymen isn't even broken immediately either. Stained sheets only serve as proof that her hymen was broken, not of her virginity. Now what happens when a man falsely accuses his wife of not being a virgin on their wedding night? Well he gets a couple of lashes with a whip, he has to pay 100 shekels of silver to his father in law for shaming his wife and her family, and he's not allowed to divorce his wife. Now what happens if the woman can't prove her virginity? Well, she gets dragged out to her father's house and gets stoned to death by the men of the city for "being a whore" and shaming her father. Under these laws, it's very possible and quite likely that many women were stoned to death because they were unable to prove their innocence. Perhaps their "token" was stolen, perhaps it was lost, perhaps it was destroyed accidentally in a fire, perhaps the woman simply didn't bleed during her first sexual experience, and perhaps her husband was unable to perform himself. There are a plethora of reasons why a woman could wrongfully die because of her husband's accusations, yet we're to believe that such a flawed law was mandated by the supreme. all knowing, all powerful, "loving", and "merciful" "creator of the universe" which basically puts a woman's life down to a gamble as to whether she bled properly on a bed sheet. Next, Moses states that if a man sleeps with an already married woman, then they are both to be killed. This law obviously doesn't operate the other way around - if a married man sleeps with an unmarried woman, he simply has just taken on another wife. If you've been reading along since the beginning (or at least since the book of Numbers) you should recognize the next three laws as points that were discussed in my "Apologist Rebuttal" to the events of Numbers: Chapter 31 concerning the topic of rape. The apologist claimed that "rape was (and still is) abhorrent to God", citing Deuteronomy 22:23-28, and putting special emphasis on Deuteronomy 22:25. However, we see that this chapter paints quite a different picture of rape than what the apologist was suggesting. What Moses says, is that when a woman who is a virgin and engaged to another man is raped in the city, then both the woman and the rapist are to be brought out to the outskirts of town and are to be stoned to death. Moses states that it's the woman's fault that she was raped because she didn't cry out loud enough to stop her rape from happening. This law is not condemning rape, according to Moses the woman is condemned for not preventing her own rape, and the rapist because he took away the woman's fiancee's "right" to consummate his marriage. Moses then explains that if a woman who is a virgin and engaged to another man is raped out in the countryside, then only her rapist is to be put to death, for Moses reasons that it's impossible to determine whether she screamed for help or not out in the fields, so it must be assumed that she did cry for help but that nobody heard her. Again, unlike what the apologist was trying to lead us to believe, this law applies only to virgin women who are engaged to be married. When the apologist cited Deuteronomy 22:23-28, he stopped short of verse 29 which explains what happens to a virgin who is raped and isn't engaged to be married. Moses says that the rapist is to pay the victim's father 50 shekels of silver, and that the victim is to become the rapist's wife(!) and he cannot divorce her because he has devalued her by taking her virginity. It's easy to see why the apologist didn't include this verse in their referencing, but the irony is that the apologist was attempting to defend Numbers: Chapter 31 by claiming that it was being "taken out of context" by not reading also Numbers: Chapter 25, when clearly we see that Deuteronomy 22:29 completes Moses' overall point that he was making in Deuteronomy 22:23-28. These verses aren't concerned with rape, more than they are concerned with robbing a man of his right to deflower the woman he's engaged to. In other words, the verses are more about vindicating the male fiancee's right to take his wife's virginity, not that a woman's virginity was taken without her consent, otherwise a raped virgin without a fiancee wouldn't be forced to marry her rapist. Finally, Moses ends the chapter by stating that a man is not to take his father's wife nor dishonor his father's bed.

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 21

Chapter 21
Summary:	Moses' speech continues: "If a man is found slain in the land which the Lord your God has given you to possess, his body lying in the field, and it is not known who has slain him, then the elders and judges shall measure from the body to the nearest city. The elders of that city shall take a heifer that has never been yoked or worked in a field, and bring the animal down into a valley with running water that is neither plowed or sown, and they shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. "The priests and the Levites shall arrive - for they are chosen by the Lord your God to minister to him, bless in the name of the Lord, and to act as judges for the people - and the elders of that city that are beside the dead man's body, shall wash their hands over the heifer that has been beheaded in the valley. They shall say, 'Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Be merciful, O Lord, unto the people of Israel, whom you have redeemed, and not judge them responsible for this innocent blood.' So shall this absolve the people of Israel from the guilt of the death of an innocent man when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord. "When you go to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God has delivered them into your hands, and you have taken prisoners, and amongst those prisoners you see a beautiful woman that you desire to have as a wife, then you are to bring her into your house, and she shall shave her head and pare her nails, and remain in your house for a full month to mourn her father and mother. After that you may go into her, and become her husband and she shall become your wife. If it shall turn out that you have no delight in her, then you shall let her go free - but you are not to sell her into slavery, because you have humiliated her. "If a man has two wives, one that he loves and one that he hates, both of whom have borne him children, and the firstborn son is from the wife he hates, he may not give the birthright of the "firstborn" to the firstborn son of his beloved wife, because his firstborn son of the hated wife is indeed the firstborn. He shall acknowledge the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of the inheritance, for he is the beginning of his strength, and that is his birthright. "If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or mother, and that even when punished will not listen, then his father and mother shall bring him out to the elders of the city, and they shall say to the elders, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us, and he is a glutton and a drunkard.' All the men of his city shall then stone him to death, so shall you put away evil from among you and all of the nation of Israel will hear about this and fear this. "If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and when executed you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but must be buried the same day - for he that is hanged is accursed of God, and the land which the Lord your God has given you as an inheritance must not be defiled."
Thoughts:	Moses begins this chapter by stating that if the body of a murdered man is found lying in a field and it's not known who killed him, then the elders and judges of the land are to go to the nearest city and find the elders of that city. The city's elders are to take a heifer that has never been yoked or worked in the fields, and after bringing it down to a virgin stream in the valley, somehow breaking the cow's neck and decapitating it will allow the priests to bless the dead body (the man's, not the cow's) and absolve the people of Israel from the guilt of the death of an innocent man. This is probably another one of those "eye for an eye" type lines of thought, where in lieu of being able to kill a human being with capital punishment, that the Israelites have to kill something to appease their bloodthirsty God. Next up, Moses states that if and when the Israelites win a war against their enemies - as long as they're not enemies that live in the "promised land" - and if there's a pretty girl amongst the prisoners they've taken, then you can bring her into your house, have her shave her head and pare her nails, and then mourn for the next month in your house for her dead parents that you've killed. After the month is up, you can then have sex with her and you'll be her husband. If afterward you don't like your new wife, you can let her go free, but you're not allowed to sell her into slavery, because you've humiliated her. Basically, Moses is saying that if there's a pretty girl amongst the prisoners of war, you can bring her home against her will, rape her, and she gets the "privilege" of becoming your wife. Then if you later discover that you just don't like her, feel free to boot her out the door, just be sure not to sell her into slavery. How one can justify the blatant misogyny and complete disrespect of women that Moses is advocating is completely beyond me. Moses then shifts the topic to polygamy - something I discussed at length recently with a Christian "reader" of this blog. Moses says that if a man has two wives - one that he loves and one that he hates, and has sons with both of them, with the firstborn son belonging to the hated wife, he is not allowed to give the "firstborn birthright" to the firstborn son of his favored wife, just because he hates his firstborn son's mother. The birthright still goes to the oldest son, as Moses reasons that this son is the "beginning of his [father's] strength". All should work as intended unless the boy sells his birthright for a bowl of soup. Next, Moses addresses what to do with your unruly son. If your son is stubborn and rebellious and doesn't respond to being punished, then the mother and father must bring him out to the elders of the city and tell them that their son is stubborn and rebellious (and for good measure, add in that he's also a glutton and a drunk). All of the men of the city then are to stone the child to death, so that you can purge the nation of Israel from evil and frighten other children into obeying. Yes, the best way according to the bible to deal with unruly children is to kill them brutally with stones, so that you can set an example for other children and control them with fear. Finally, Moses states that if your preferred method of execution is hanging, then you have to remove the dead person's body from the tree you hanged him upon and bury them before the day is through, because a hanged body will apparently defile the "promised land" if left up for too long.

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 17

Chapter 17
Summary:	Moses' speech continues: "You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has a blemish or defect, for that it is an abomination to the Lord your God. "If there is anyone to be found among you, within the land the Lord your God has given you, man or woman, that has wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord your God, transgressing his covenant, and has gone and served other gods, and has worshiped them - whether it be the sun, the moon, or anything in the heavens which I have not commanded; and it be told to you, you have heard it, and upon inquiring about it, and discovered it to be true that such an abomination has been wrought in the land of Israel; then you shall bring forth that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and shall stone them with stones until they die. If there are at least two or three witnesses, that person is worthy of death and shall be put to death, but if there is only one witness, he shall not be put to death. The hands of the witnesses shall be the first upon the person to be put to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So shall you rid the evil from amongst you. "If a matter arises that is too difficult for you to judge, between blood and blood, plea and plea, stroke and stroke, being of controversial matters with the land, then you shall bring the case to the sanctuary that the Lord your God will choose, before the priests, the Levite, and the chief judge, and they shall sentence the judgment. You shall follow the judgment they give, and you shall carry out the sentence exactly as they inform you. According to the letter of the law which they hand down, and according to their judgment which they decide, you shall obey - you shall not deviate from their sentence from either hand. Any man that will not obide by the judgment against him made by a priest or judge shall be put to death; as you are to purge evil away from the land of Israel. The rest of the people shall hear and fear this fate and will not act presumptuously. "When you arrive in the land which the Lord your God has given you, and you possess it and dwell therein, and decide to appoint a king, such as the other nations around you have; you shall choose a wise king whom the Lord your God will choose - one from among your own brethren, as you may not elect a foreigner. He shall not build up a large stable of horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to raise horses for him there, for the Lord has said to you that you shall never return to Egypt again. Nor shall he have multiple wives, that his heart turn away from the Lord, neither shall he become excessively rich. "It shall be, when he sits upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write himself a copy of these laws from the book belonging to the priests, the Levites. The book shall remain with him and he shall read it every day for the rest of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and to keep and obey all of the words of the laws and statutes, to ensure that he does not raise himself above his fellow Israelite, and that he not deviate from the commandments, and may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the land of Israel."
Thoughts:	Moses begins the chapter by stating that all oxen and sheep sacrificed to God must be free of blemish or defect, because such an animal is an abomination to God. Next, Moses repeats a similar edict to the one he commanded in Deuteronomy: Chapter 13, concerning the fates of anyone caught worshiping and/or serving other gods. The punishment again, as in Deuteronomy: Chapter 13 is death by stoning, but Moses adds that there must be at least two witnesses to confirm the person's guilt, and that those two or more witnesses must be the ones to cast the first stones. Moses claims that their death in necessary to "rid the evil" from amongst the Israelites. It's ironic to me when the religious right here in the U.S. justify their Islamaphobia by insisting that the Quran is littered with passages that state "death to the infidel", yet their own bible is littered with the same demand towards people of other faiths. Of course when this is pointed out to them it is usually followed by a claim of "taking things out of context" and that the whole bible must be read to understand its meaning, but when pressed if they have read the Quran to ensure the same understanding, most will be pressed to admit that they have not. Regardless of whether it's in the bible or the Quran, killing people for having different religious beliefs is neither moral, ethical, or justifiable for any reason - period. There is nothing that you could "put into context" to justify rationalizing killing another human being simply because they have chosen to worship a different imaginary being than you do. Next up, Moses states that if there is ever a matter too difficult for a local judge to come to a verdict, that the case is then to be brought to the sanctuary to be ruled over by the priests and the chief judge. Whatever verdict that the priests arrive at must be enforced to the letter, and anyone who will not abide by the verdict is to be put to death. Moses rationalizes this by saying that this will set an example for the rest of the people into making them behave out of fear. The problem with this should be blatantly obvious - human judgment is fallible and capital punishment should never be thrown around so nonchalantly without appeal, and especially when used to try and set an example to instill fear into others. If these priests wrongly convict someone and there are people who believe in the innocence of the accused, this commandment aims to prevent them from appealing the case by using fear of a death sentence against them. There is simply no way to view this as moral regardless of what "context" you want to paint around it. This is ruling by brute force where "might equals right". Moses' last topic in this chapter concerns electing a king. If the people elect a king, Moses demands that he must be a wise man selected by God himself, and that he must be an Israelite and not a foreigner. He also insists that the king must not amass vast amounts of horses - especially in the land of Egypt which Moses claims God has forbidden them from returning to. A king also is not to have multiple wives nor may he become excessively rich. As we read on however, we will find that very few kings will adhere to these "laws", such as King Solomon who amassed a total of 700 wives(!) and 300 concubines, and King David who was also a polygamist. Moses adds that when the king takes his throne, that he will have to copy the laws from the Levites, and he is to study it for the rest of his life, so that he may learn to fear God and keep and obey all of his commandments (except for that troublesome bit concerning polygamy apparently) in order to ensure that he does not elevate himself up in stature above his fellow Israelites. I think when you've amassed 700 wives like good ol' King Solomon had, you've basically tossed that bit right out the window.

DEUTERONOMY: Chapter 13

Chapter 13
Summary:	Moses continues his speech: "If there amongst you emerges a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams*, that gives you a sign or a wonder which becomes true, and subsequently suggests to serve other gods, you shall not follow the words of that prophet or dreamer of dreams, for the the Lord your God is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all of your heart and soul. You follow the Lord your God, fear him, obey his commandments, hear his words, and serve him. That prophet, or dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; for he has spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God - the one who brought you out of the land of Egypt, redeemed you out of your slavery - to thrust you out of the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk in. So shall you extinguish this evil amongst you. "If your brother - the son of your mother - or your son, daughter, wife, or a close friend whispers to you, trying to entice you to serve other gods - namely the gods of the heathens around you, near or far to from you, from one end of the earth to the other - you shall not consent to that person, nor listen to them, nor shall you show them any pity or mercy, nor shall you protect them; but you shall surely kill them, with your hand being the first upon them, and afterward the hands of all the people of Israel. You shall stone them with stones until they die, because they had sought to thrust you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of your Egyptian slavery. All of Israel shall hear, fear, and shall do no more such wickedness as this is amongst you. "If you hear it said in any one of your cities which the Lord you God has given you to dwell in, that certain men - the children of Belial* - have gone out from among you, and have suggested to the inhabitants of the city to worship other gods, then you shall inquire, and diligently determine if this is true. If behold, it is the truth that such an abomination has been wrought among you, you shall surely smite the residents of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and everything contained within it, including the cattle, with the edge of the sword. You shall then gather the spoils of the city into the middle of the street, and burn it along with the city to the ground as a burnt offering to the Lord your God. The city shall remain a lifeless heap forever, and shall never be rebuilt again. You are not to take any of the spoils from the city for they are cursed. "The Lord will turn from his fierce anger and then show mercy and compassion to you, allowing you to multiply as he had promised your forefathers, when you hear the voice of the Lord your God, keep all of his commandments which I command you on this day, and do what is right in the eyes of the Lord your God."
Notes:	1.) A person who claims to fortell the future via their dreams, like Jacob's/Israel's son Joseph. 2.) "Belial" roughly translates as "waste" in Hebrew, meaning that the "children of Belial" are the "children of waste".
Thoughts:	In yet another brief but violent chapter, Moses warns the Israelites about "prophets" or "dreamers of dreams" who might see their prophecy or prediction come true, tempting the Israelites to pursue serving and worshiping other gods. Moses claims that this would actually be God "testing you" (probably to account for why a "false prophet" or a "dreamer of dreams" could accurately predict the future). I have serious ethical problems with these kinds of "tests" as found in the bible - such as the story of God "testing" Abraham's faith by commanding him to sacrifice his son Isaac only to stop Abraham at the very last minute before he plunges a knife into the boy. As I mentioned in my thoughts about the previous chapter, it would certainly appear that the Israelites seem to be pretty easily manipulated and coerced into worshiping other gods as we've seen in Exodus: Chapter 32 - with it's story of the Israelites worshiping Aaron's golden calf, and in Numbers: Chapter 25 - in which the Israelites "commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab" (or is the Midianites?). With this in mind, it seems that God's behavior falls a bit too close to that of entrapment. An ethical person wouldn't take an alcoholic to a bar just to "test" him, nor could a police officer sit on a street corner offering drugs or sexual services to anyone and everyone passing by and legally make an arrest. The reason being is that we as human beings have lapses in judgment and most of us under some enticing circumstance or another may do something unethical, unlawful, or simply something we might not normally do if not presented with certain conditions. While both of the following situations may be wrong, still there is a difference between a person who pulls a prank on someone after being offered $20, versus a person who pulls a prank on someone else deliberately on their on volition. Whether God is either causing someone's prophecy to become true, or is allowing a prophet to foresee an event, in order to give them credibility so that they may deceive others into committing a "sin", neither can be considered ethical or just. This is only made worse when Moses tells us what the predictable punishment is for the prophet or the "dreamer of dreams" who tries to lead people into worshiping other gods - they are to be put to death. Not stopping there, Moses tells us that just about anybody - your brother (specifying your mother's son), your son or daughter, or even a good close friend - who tries to entice you to worship other gods, especially the gods of the "heathens" that used to live in the land, and those that surround the "promised land", is to be put to death by stoning. You also are not to allow your family member or close friend any pity or mercy while you are mandated to strike the first blow upon them. Moses then justifies this with the ridiculously flawed logic that this capital punishment will somehow prevent others from committing the same "wickedness"(?) While this argument is still used today to justify capital punishment, it is even more laughable here in the bible. We've already seen that the massive plagues and gutting thousands of people with swords when they worshiped other gods hasn't stopped people from committing the same "wickedness" already. Moses saves the most brutal law for last, in which hes states that if it is heard that "the children of Belial" (meaning "the children of waste") have coaxed the inhabitants of a city into worshiping other gods, and upon verifying such as story as true - which as we've seen at several points throughout the Old Testament the standards of evidence are extremely lax - then Moses states that the residents of the entire city, and everything it contains including their cattle, are to be killed by the sword, and then the entire city is to be burned to the ground and the smoldering mound that used to be a city is never again to be rebuilt again. Much like the story of the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, once again we need to adhere to strict absolutes in where 100% of the population has committed a "sin" to deserve such a sever punishment where an entire city is leveled. However, we realize that in the real world there are never 100% absolutes, and therefore responding with sentencing an entire town to death, there will yet be innocent lives at stake - whether they be people who didn't worship other gods, or infants and children unable to even grasp the concept of theism to begin with. Moses continues stating that once you've leveled an offending city, God will then be "merciful" and "compassionate" enough not to turn his anger upon you, and will fulfill his promise of allowing you to grow into a might nation - if you obey and do exactly as he says.

NUMBERS: Chapter 15

Chapter 15
Summary:	God speaks to Moses telling him to speak to the people of Israel. Moses is to tell them that when they (meaning those who are actually allowed to enter the "promised land") are offering animal sacrifices by fire, whether a "burnt offering", a sacrifice in performing a vow, a "freewill offering", or a sacrifice during solemn feasts, to make a "sweet savor" for God, the animal must come from one of the Israelite's herds or flocks. Each sacrifice by fire is also to be accompanied by a "grain offering": When sacrificing a lamb, the "grain offering" is to contain a tenth of a deal* of flour mixed with a fourth part of a hin* of olive oil, and is to be accompanied by a fourth part of a hin* of wine for a "drink offering". When sacrificing a ram, the "grain offering" is to contain two tenth deals* of flour mixed with a third of a hin* of olive oil, and is to be accompanied by a third of a hin* of wine for a "drink offering". When sacrificing a bull, the "grain offering" is to contain three tenth deals* of flour mixed with a half of a hin* of olive oil, and is to be accompanied by a half of a hin* of wine for a "drink offering". These rules apply both to those born in the "promised land", as well as to any foreigners, who wish to sacrifice by fire - for a "sweet savor" - to God. There is to be only one law for both native Israelis and for foreigners, and it is a law that shall be true forever from generation to generation. God also states that once the people of Israel inhabit the "promised land", and "eat of the bread of the land", that they will have to make a "heave offering" to God. The Israelite will have to offer up a loaf of bread from the first of their dough, each year, which is a permanent law throughout the generations. God continues on, stating that if the people of Israel have erred and have not observed these commandments that he has given to Moses, due to ignorance, then they will have to offer a young bull for a "burnt offering" - which is a "sweet savor" to God - along with a "grain offering", "drink offering", and a young goat as a "sin offering". The priest will make atonement for the people of Israel and they'll be forgiven as long as they sacrifice some animals by fire. If any single person sins by ignorance, then they'll have to bring a female yearling goat to the tabernacle for a "sin offering". The priest will make atonement for them and they will be forgiven - for the price of sacrificing a yearling female goat. (This applies whether the person was born in the land, or is a foreigner living amongst the people.) However, anyone who "sins" deliberately is to be excommunicated from their people, as apparently they "despise" God's word by breaking their commandment, and their iniquity will be upon them. Meanwhile, as the people of Israel were camped in the wilderness they spotted a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day. The man was brought to Moses and Aaron in front of all of the people of Israel, and was subsequently jailed as it was not declared what should be done to him. God tells Moses that the man is to be dragged out to the outskirts of the camp and stoned to death. The people of Israel then brought the man outside of the camp and stoned him until he died. God now tells Moses to have the people make fringes upon their garments attached with blue ribbons (which is to be continued to be practiced by future generations) as a reminder of God's commandments. God continues, stating that the people of Israel are to follow all of God's commandments and not to seek after their own hearts and their own eyes - after which they "use to go a whoring". The fringes are again to remind the people to remember and follow God's commandments to be "holy" unto him. God once again reminds the people of Israel that he brought them out of Egypt to be their god.
Notes:	1.) Approximately three quarts. 2.) Approximately three pints. 3.) Approximately six quarts. 4.) Approximately four pints. 5.) Approximately nine quarts. 6.) Approximately six pints.
Thoughts:	After our last chapter in which God had told the people of Israel that none of them over the age of twenty will live to inherit the "promised land", he now sets out some guidelines for the people who will be allowed (eventually - aside from Joshua and Caleb) to "inherit" the land. Perhaps it's just me, but I find this a bit bizarre that after sentencing the people of Israel to wander around in the desert for forty years, to allow the current generation to die off, that God immediately gives a bunch of laws to Moses concerning the "promised land", and tells him to relay these to the people, of whom the majority will never live to see the "promised land". Anyways, not surprisingly, the laws are more regulations regarding animal sacrificing. The first of which being that the sacrificial animal must come from one of the Israeli flocks or herds - apparently non-Israeli animals won't do. Next up God demands that all sacrifices by fire (which again are noted to be a "sweet savor" to God) are to be accompanied by a "grain offering" (flour mixed olive oil) and a "drink offering" (wine) set to a sliding scale based on the size of the animal being sacrificed. When sacrificing a lamb, the "grain offering" is to contain three quarts of flour (a tenth of a deal) mixed with three pints of olive oil (a fourth of a hin), accompanied by three pints of wine. Whereas sacrificing a bull requires a "grain offering" to contain nine quarts (three tenths a deal) of flour mixed with six pints of olive oil, and accompanied by six pints of wine. We can probably assume that this sliding scale is to ensure that the rather earthly priests have enough side dishes and wine to wash down the meal you've given them with your animal sacrifices. God tacks on that his sliding scale of side dishes and drinks apply to both the people of Israel and the foreigners living amongst them, and is to be a permanent law. God's next law for the people who actually get to reside in the "promised land", is that they'll also be expected to offer up a loaf of bread for a "heave offering" annually from the first of their bread dough. Basically each year they'll have to bring their first loaf of bread down to the tabernacle to wave around in the air, which of course the priests will benefit from getting to eat the bread afterward. This too is a permanent law to be observed by all future generations. God now states that if the people of Israel "sin unintentionally" then they can be forgiven as long as they sacrifice a young bull as a "burnt offering", a young goat as a "sin offering", and bring along a "grain offering" with some wine. A single individual "sinning" through ignorance can be forgiven for the price of sacrificing a female yearling goat, but anyone who "sins" deliberately is to be excommunicated for "despising" God's laws. Next up we're treated to a story about a man found gathering sticks on the sabbath day - which seems fairly reminiscent of the story from Leviticus Chapter 24 about the "blasphemer". The stick gathering man is brought before Moses and Aaron and then jailed, with the chapter stating that "it was not declared what should be done to him" - which brings into question the time line of this story, as God clearly states both in Exodus 31:14-15: 31:14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people. 31:15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death. ...as well as:Exodus 35:2: 35:2 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you an holy day, a sabbath of rest to the LORD: whosoever doeth work therein shall be put to death. Perhaps this story we're being told here - or perhaps even this whole chapter - might possibly occur before Exodus Chapter 31, but it's curious as to why it is included here in the book of Numbers considering that it has been repeated numerous times throughout Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers God's stressed importance on his laws concerning the sabbath. In this context, this story (and actually the entire chapter) seems out of place with the continuity of our story. Of course, considering that we've already read both Exodus Chapter 31 and Exodus Chapter 35, it comes as no surprise that God's answer as to what to do with the man caught gathering sticks on a Saturday is to drag him out to the outskirts of the camp and stone him to death. I suppose that's one way to get him to stop picking up sticks on Saturdays, but one can't help but question that perhaps keeping him in jail would accomplish the same thing with a lot less bloodshed. God immediately shifts gears away from stonings to now tell Moses to have the people create fringes on their garments to remind them of God's commandments. However, I would think the blood stains on their garments from stoning people to death would serve as a much more effective reminder. In any event, God states that these fringes will remind the people of Israel to follow God's laws instead of following their heart's desires, which he states leads them to "go a whoring". He ends the chapter by once again reminding everyone that he was the guy who got everybody out of Egypt - which although God has stated this numerous times throughout Exodus and Leviticus, we oddly haven't yet heard God state this in the book of Numbers. This may be yet another reason to suspect that this chapter may actually occur prior to Exodus Chapter 31.

NUMBERS: Chapter 14

Chapter 14
Summary:	All of the people of Israel began wept that night, voicing complaints against Moses and Aaron. The people complained that dying in Egypt, or dying out in the wilderness they were in, would be an easier fate than dying at the hands of the sword from the "promised land" God was bringing them to, endangering their wives and children as well. The people argued that they'd actually be safer returning to Egypt, and decided to appoint a "captain" (or leader). Moses and Aaron "fell on their faces" before the congregation, while Joshua and Caleb (two of the spies from Chapter 13) tore at their clothes in frustration. Joshua and Caleb tried to tell the people of Israel that the "promised land" was in fact a good land, "flowing with milk and honey", while telling the people not to rebel against God, nor fear the current inhabitants of the land, as God will ensure their victory against them. The congregation however decided to condemn Joshua (and Caleb) to death by stoning, when God appeared in the tabernacle before all of the people of Israel. God spoke to Moses asking him how long will these people provoke him, not believe in him, despite all the signs God has shown them all? He then tells Moses that he's simply going to kill them all with pestilence, disinherit them, and make Moses' lineage a greater nation than the people of Israel. Moses however tells God that if he does this, then the news of this will spread to Egypt and Canaan, and that people will then believe that God simply decided to slay his people out in the wilderness because he was unable to bring them into the land he had promised them. Moses begs God not to kill all of the people, asking him to show mercy and forgive their "sins". Moses acknowledges that by no means should God clear the guilty, and that Moses understands that "sin" is to be punished not only to the father, but upon children of unto third and fourth generations, but again he begs God to show mercy upon the people. God agrees to pardon the people of Israel, but adds that because they've witnessed God's "miracles" and have disobeyed God ten times, that they will not see the "promised land". God makes an exception for Caleb, as he had followed God fully, and states that he will bring Caleb into the "promised land". God tells Moses that tomorrow he is to lead the people of Israel back into the wilderness towards the Red Sea. Moses and Aaron are also to tell the people of Israel that they will die out here in the wilderness, and that every man over the age of twenty who has rebelled against God shall not enter the "promised land" - with the exception of Caleb and Joshua. Those younger than twenty will inherit the land that their elders have "despised", and therefore everyone over the age of twenty will not enter the "promised land", but will die out in the wilderness. God continues, stating that the children of the people of Israel will wander in the wilderness for forty years until their elders have all died off in the wilderness. God states that each of these forty years will be punishment for each of the forty days that the spies had searched out the "promised land" - one year for each day. God states that the people will bear this "sin" and shall remember the breach of their promise to God as they are consumed and die out in the wilderness. God sends a plague to kill off all of the spies (minus Caleb and Joshua) whom he felt turned the people of Israel against God and brought "slander" upon the "promised land". All of the spies died from this plague, except Caleb and Joshua. Moses delivered this message to the people of Israel, and they mourned greatly their "sins". The people rose early in the morning and climbed the mountain proclaimed to obey God's will, acknowledging their "sins", and stated that they were ready to enter the "promised land". Moses however tells the people that they are now disobeying God's commandment by not returning to the wilderness (to die out there) and tells them to turn back. Moses tells them that if they invade the "promised land", God will not be with them and they will perish at the hands of their enemies inhabiting the land. Moses states that the Amalekites and the Canaanites will crush them because the people of Israel have turned against God, and God will not help them in battle. The people of Israel went up the hill top anyways, despite that Moses and the ark of the covenant stayed in the camp. The Amalekites and Canaanites attacked them and chased them to Hormah.
Thoughts:	Faced with discouraging news that the spies (that God had Moses pick out and selected himself) brought back when they scoped out the "promised land", the people of Israel became discouraged and began blaming Moses and Aaron for getting them into what they perceived as an unwinnable situation. The people reasoned that they were better off dying in their Egyptian slavery, or even out in the wilderness, rather than die at the hands of the "giants" currently inhabiting the "promised land". The people felt that it was a better idea to return to Egypt and decided to appoint themselves a leader. Apparently, this displeased Moses and Aaron, as they both "fell on their faces", while two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua tore at their clothes in frustration. Joshua tried to reason with the growing rebellion, and told them that they shouldn't fear invading the land as God would protect their armies. However, the congregation of people didn't want to listen and instead decided that they should stone Joshua to death. Meanwhile, God spoke with Moses wondering why these people keep acting so rebellious and keep doubting, despite all the "miracles" God has shown them. One has to question here whether God's repeated malevolence of plagues, setting people on fire, and giving people leprosy might possibly have anything to do with negating some of the positive "miracles" God has performed. God decides once again (just like he did when Aaron crafted a "golden calf" for the people to worship) that he's going to kill all of the Israelites and make Moses' lineage into a great nation instead. Moses also again, begs and pleads for God not to kill everybody, by basically stating that God's reputation will suffer if he does. God's reputation. The only concern Moses seems to have is for God's reputation not to be tarnished by killing several million people - or at least 603,550 of them. Moses tell God that he's concerned that if he commits genocide against the Israelis that word will travel back both to Egypt and Canaan that God killed everyone because he wasn't strong enough to deliver his own people into the "promised land". God apparently seems to agree that perhaps he shouldn't build upon his reputation as a mass murderer, as he agrees to change his mind once again. This is the second time God has managed to talk God out of killing everyone, which again demonstrates that God's judgments are not necessarily as "perfect" as believers will attest to, when Moses can find faults in God's judgments and again, get God to change his mind. Unfortunately, this time Moses didn't point out to God that killing over half a million people was "evil" - as he had done back in Exodus: Chapter 32. God decides that although he'll spare the lives of these disobedient Israelites, that none of them over the age of twenty will be allowed to enter the "promised land". God plans to have them wander around in the desert for the next forty years until the current generation dies off. God makes two exceptions - Caleb and Joshua. God states that each of the forty years spent wandering the desert will be punishment for each of the forty days the spies had spent searching out the "promised land" and that they are to remember this as they all slowly die off in the wilderness of the desert. He then kills off the other ten spies, save for Caleb and Joshua, with a deadly plague because he felt they were responsible for scaring the people of Israel into rebelling in the first place. When Moses told the people of Israel that God's punishment for rebelling against God's plan to enter the ""promised land was"for them to wander the desert for forty years until they all died off, the people became remorseful. They got up early the next morning and told Moses that they were now ready and willing to invade the promised land, but Moses tells them that they're too late now and that any invasion will fail, because God won't protect them in battle. He further explains that not agreeing to die out in the desert would be disobeying God, and that the Amalekites and Canaanites will crush them without God's assistance. The people went ahead with their invasion plan anyways, leaving Moses and the ark of the covenant back at the camp, and the Amalekites and Canaanites wound up attacking them and chasing them to the city of Hormah.

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.