Monday, September 30, 2013

Leviticus: Just a Few Questions

Rules, Rules and More Rules

For the book of Leviticus there will only be one posting of questions. I really don't have that much for this book in the way of questions, but I will do my best to present the few questions I do have in the most interesting manner possible.

As with all of the other postings of book by book Bible questions, please feel free to leave a comment, an answer, whatever you like. The questions are all part of why I do not believe in the supposed truth of the Bible or that God even exists. I want to know why you believe (IF you are a believer). If you do use a Bible verse as a reference please remember to note the passage location so that I may look it up.

1. Leviticus 1:11, 13
11 Slaughter the animal on the north side of the altar in the LORD's presence, and Aaron's sons, the priests, will splatter its blood against all sides of the altar.

13 But the internal organs and the legs must first be washed with water. Then the priest will burn the entire sacrifice on the altar as a burnt offering. It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

Questions
     1) Here we go again with the obvious questions, right? If God is everywhere, all the time then you don't have to worry about being in the Lord's presence since the Lord is supposed to be everywhere, correct? 

     2) So the Lord wants the animal killed in His presence? Why? Is He just a sicko who likes to watch death?

     3) What in the world made God come up with the ludicrous idea that killing something that has nothing to do with sin, much less something that does not even possess the powers of reason with which to sin, somehow compensates for the accumulated sin?

2. Leviticus 2:9, 13
And the priest shall take from the grain offering its memorial portion and burn this on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

13 You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.

Questions
     1) What part of this smells good to God? Here these people are cutting and killing and offering up these animal sacrifices every goddamn day, sprinkling blood here and there, taking out entrails...and the Bible says there was a pleasing aroma to the Lord? And don't forget they are in the desert, so can you imagine the horrid smell during the heat riddled days of the year?

     2) Why do the offerings have to have salt on them? Does the Lord God eat the items the people of Israel are sacrificing? If so, how freaking much does this God eat considering the number of animals being sacrificed daily?

     3) Is the usage of salt intended to ward off bad spirits/demons/devils or the like?

3. Leviticus 3:16
16 And the priest shall burn them on the altar as a food offering with a pleasing aroma. All fat is the LORD’s.

Questions
     1) Why is all the fat the Lord's? Is it because the fat is tasty and the Lord only wants it for Himself?

     2) Please, please, please explain this 'pleasing aroma' line that keeps popping up. What does it mean? Is it the smell of death that is pleasing? Is it the smell of the fear that the animals experience as they are being killed? Is it the smell of the power and control over another living being's life that is experienced by the priests doing the actual sacrifice?

4. Leviticus 4:10, 14
10 just as the fat is removed from the ox sacrificed as a fellowship offering. Then the priest shall burn them on the altar of burnt offering.

14 when the sin which they have committed becomes known, the assembly shall offer a bull from the herd for a sin offering and bring it in front of the tent of meeting.

Questions
     1) You know what? On its own the book of Leviticus SHOULD be a good enough warning for people to NOT believe the terrible things in the Bible, right? Why don't the prophets and seers and leaders of the Bible times and of the people of Israel ever give a true, definitive answer as to WHY and HOW killing something innocent and blameless and lacking in the ability to reason absolves any amount of sin?

     2) Where is the logic and where is the validation that clearly conveys that taking life somehow removes sin and guilt and consequence?


5. Leviticus 4:17-18
17 and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle it seven times before the LORD in front of the veil.

18 He will then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar for fragrant incense that stands in the LORD's presence inside the Tabernacle. He will pour out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar for burnt offerings at the entrance of the Tabernacle.

Questions
     1) Sprinkle the blood seven times? Is that symbolic for the six days of creation and then the seventh day of rest? Is it symbolic of the seven churches and the lampstand? 

     2) So, if all of this ritual animal sacrifice is taking place in the tabernacle and there are veils and various other things all about, what exactly was the condition of this area where all of this stuff is being done? Did they wash it daily, because if they did not wouldn't it get rather rancid and even harbor disease?


6. Leviticus 5:9
and he shall sprinkle some of the blood of the sin offering on the side of the altar, while the rest of the blood shall be drained out at the base of the altar; it is a sin offering.

Questions
     1) Where is the righteousness in taking the life blood of a living creature, draining this creature of its blood, collecting this blood, and then carrying out a ritual with the blood? 

     2) How in the world can the people of Israel in the Bible do these terrible things to animals, non-reasoning living creatures that know dick about sin, but then point to other cultures and peoples and say that the rituals and practices of others are so wrong or unacceptable?

     3) How in the world do people think this God of the Bible is so great and so powerful if He needs sacrifice, blood sacrifice?


7. Leviticus 7:37
37 This is the law of the burnt offering, of the grain offering, of the sin offering, of the guilt offering, of the ordination offering, and of the peace offering,

Questions
     1) Where is the 'offering' part of any of these things? There is nothing offered. And why is nothing offered? Well, how can anything be offered when from the very beginning of the ritual life is taken?

     2) Which part of the offering compensates for the purposeful taking of life from a living being for purposes other than a MUST for food? Why in the world would the people of this mighty God want to do such terrible things? Does God want the people to remember what He can do to them if they piss Him off enough, and so He has them sacrifice to Him every day?


8. Leviticus 11:42-43
42 Whatever goes on its belly, and whatever goes on all fours, or whatever has many feet, any swarming thing that swarms on the ground, you shall not eat, for they are detestable.

43 You shall not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, and you shall not defile yourselves with them, and become unclean through them.

Questions
     1) This is sheer stupidity, isn't it? So, there are all of these different animals that are considered unclean? 

     2) Doesn't Genesis 9:3 say that, "Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything"? 

     3) Sooo...what changed between Genesis 9 and Leviticus 11 to make many of the animals God created unsuitable for consumption?


9. Leviticus 14:34, 50-52
34 “When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession,

50 and shall kill one of the birds in an earthenware vessel over fresh water

51 and shall take the cedar wood and the hyssop and the scarlet yarn, along with the live bird, and dip them in the blood of the bird that was killed and in the fresh water and sprinkle the house seven times.

52 Thus he shall cleanse the house with the blood of the bird and with the fresh water and with the live bird and with the cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet yarn.

Questions
     1) This is a freaking ritual spell, straight up. How can so many Christians quite happily tout that magic and spells and incantations are evil, as are rituals and symbolic celebrations of natural power and energy when they have the same in their own practices? Are they not considered evil since it is the people of Israel doing it?


10. Leviticus 18:22, 29
22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.

29 For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people.

Questions
     1) Why don't more pastors and preachers make it clear that the term abomination referred to something that was contrary to custom and not something that was slated for hell? Why does it seem like some preachers and representatives of Christianity would rather people think the wrong thing, that abomination means that something is worthy of hell?


11. Leviticus 20:12
12 If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death; they have committed perversion; their blood is upon them.

Questions
     1) Right. Sooo...God says not a goddamn thing about Lot impregnating BOTH of his daughters, not a damn thing about who the hell Cain married and had children with if everyone came from Adam and Eve, not a damn thing about Abram marrying his freaking half-sister...BUT when it comes to this God suddenly gets a bee in His bonnet? Never mind all of the incest that took place between people who were related after God booted Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, and even when Noah and his family left the ark. Forget all of that, right?


12. Leviticus 20:13
13 If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.

Questions
     1) Do people really and truly think that saying that someone's blood is upon that same someone for something wrong that they did, do people who say such things really think they are absolved of any wrong-doing when they kill the people who supposedly did the wrong?

     2) Isn't this the same damn thing as saying it is their own fault that they were killed for being gay?


13. Leviticus 24:21
21 Whoever kills an animal shall make it good, and whoever kills a person shall be put to death.

Questions
     1) Make the killed animal good? I would assume this means some kind of compensation and not good in the sense of beef ribs with sides of cornbread and mashed potatoes?

     2) So the part about killing a person who has killed another person does not apply in war, correct? How does it apply to people who have true mental and psychological issues?


14. Leviticus 26:3-4
'If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out,

then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

Questions
     1) So basically God is saying that if the people want to eat and drink and raise their families and flocks and all of that happiness that they must obey everything God says...period?

     2) And if the people consistently listen then the LORD will make sure the rain gets to where it needs to get when it is needed, the harvests will be voon-der-bar, and the trees producing fruit will be producing in abundance?







Sunday, September 29, 2013

Exodus Part IV: Just a Few Questions

That Which You Receive

Do you believe in the Holy Bible as the absolute truth and Word of God? Do you think that every bit of the Bible is true? What things in the Bible are not intended to be taken as actual and literal fact? Do you have any questions about what is written in the Bible? Do you have answers to any of the questions listed here?

We now continue with Part IV of the questions I have in regards to the book of Exodus in the Bible. This is the final posting of questions in this series for the book of Exodus.

1. Exodus 23:9
“You shall not oppress a sojourner. You know the heart of a sojourner, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.

Questions
     1) So, the LORD tells the people of Israel to not oppress the sojourners...but what about the people who are NOT sojourners? What do the people of Israel do to those who are living on the land?

     2) Sooo...if someone is passing through you leave them alone, and if someone lives on the land as a permanent resident you kill them and take whatever is theirs?


2. Exodus 23:19
19 The best of the first fruits of your ground you shall bring into the house of the LORD your God. “You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Questions
     1) This is interesting, right? So, remember when Cain tried to offer up to the LORD the best of his veggie crop and God did not want it? So is God now taking vegetables?

     2) If God truly is the same as He ever was why didn't He accept Cain's veggie offering? Why were the veggies not acceptable when Cain offered them, but now they are suddenly good enough?


3. Exodus 23:20
20 Behold, I send an angel before you to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.


Questions
     1) Why, if God is omni-present, does He send an angel before the people of Israel? Why would God find the need to do that if He is everywhere all the time from infinity past to infinity future?


4. Exodus 23:29-30
29 I will not drive them out from before you in one year, lest the land become desolate and the wild beasts multiply against you.


30 Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased and possess the land.

Questions
     1) Do you think that it is possible that the explanation the LORD gives here is total bullshit? 

     2) Do you think that the reason why God was really taking His time was so that He could conjure up novel ways to kill the people that He wanted off of the land?



5. Exodus 24:1
Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar.


Questions
     1) Okay, here is a really really dumb question, alright? If God is everywhere, every place, all the time, no matter what...how in the fuck can people worship Him from afar? If God is everywhere you can't escape Him, so how in the howdy-doodie is this trick pulled off?


6. Exodus 24:5-6, 8
And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.

And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar.

And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Questions
     1) Isn't this utterly disgusting? Throwing blood about? That had to have smelled lovely.

     2) Why does this God/LORD of the Bible demand so much BLOOD? WHY? Why not demand more love and hope and peace and things that build up and do not tear down? This constant killing every damn day of animals can't possibly be very good for the psyche of the people actually doing the killing, right?

7. Exodus 24:9-11
Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up,

10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness.

11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

Questions
     1) So these people, these HUMANS are having a meal with God? Literally?

     2) Why isn't a description of God given? It says that they SAW the God of Israel...but then leave out a description. Why is that?


8. Exodus 24:18
18 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Questions
     1) Did you notice that Moses is on the mountain for forty days and nights? What other things in the Bible took place in the forty days and nights time frame? 

     2) At the time of the flood didn't God make it rain forty days and nights?

     3) When Jesus is tempted in the desert by Satan, wasn't Jesus out there for forty days and nights? 

     4) Why does this number keep occurring?

9. Exodus 29:12-14
12 and shall take part of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and the rest of the blood you shall pour out at the base of the altar.

13 And you shall take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys with the fat that is on them, and burn them on the altar.

14 But the flesh of the bull and its skin and its dung you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

Questions
     1) You know what this sounds like? Like some kind of spell and ceremony. Sooo...so long as you follow the RIGHT God it is okay to pay homage to Him and include pagan symbols as part of the process of worship?

     2) Is the basic gist here that sin can be forgiven by killing something innocent and without blame, opening up the body of whatever was killed, and then playing furniture re-arrange with the internal organs?


10. Exodus 29:20-22
20 Then slaughter it, and apply some of its blood to the right earlobes of Aaron and his sons. Also put it on the thumbs of their right hands and the big toes of their right feet. Splatter the rest of the blood against all sides of the altar.

21 Then take some of the blood from the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his sons and on their garments. In this way, they and their garments will be set apart as holy.

22 "Since this is the ram for the ordination of Aaron and his sons, take the fat of the ram, including the fat of the broad tail, the fat around the internal organs, the long lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat around them, along with the right thigh.

Questions
     1) Why do so many Christians go on and on about the idol worship or evilness of witchcraft when they have shit like this in the Bible? How can some people sit there so smugly in their supposed salvation and claim that rituals and the like of other faiths are bad or evil?


11. Exodus 29:38
38 Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two lambs a year old day by day regularly.

Questions
     1) This is so fu**ing disturbing. Every day...every damn day God wants these baby lambs killed and offered as a burnt sacrifice? How in the fuckey-doo can people NOT see the problem with this?

12. Exodus 31:15
15 Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death.

Questions
     1) Now isn't this a nice commandment? You WILL rest or I will kill you? Where is the balance and justice here?

13. Exodus 32:10
10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.”

Questions
     1) That's right. Every time God wants to make someone great, be it an individual or a group of people, He always makes it quite clear that someone is going to have to pay the party fee, right? 

     2) Since God is God why doesn't He just use His powers to remove the people in the land He wants to give to the people of Israel and place them somewhere else? Give them something in fair exchange for the land taken. Why does God insist on making everything so goddamn bloody and cruel?

14. Exodus 32:11-12
11 But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, “O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?

12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people.

Questions
     1) Do you want to know why the wrath of God waxes hot? Do you think that it is possible that God uses His wrath and anger to instill fear so that the people will not see Him for the rip-off He really is?

15. Exodus 33:2
I will send an angel before you, and I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

Questions
     1) Again, why why WHY do we have God sending out angels to do things He is supposed to be able to do all on His own? Where oh WHERE is God's omni-presence?

16. Exodus 34:5-8
The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.

Questions
     1) Look at verse 5 here. It says the LORD descended in a cloud and proclaimed the name of the LORD. Uhmmm...so does this mean He is literally proclaiming His own goddamn name?

     2) How about verse 6? The LORD proclaims Himself as slow to anger. RIGHT. What do you think slow to anger means?

17. Exodus 34:9
And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”

Questions
     1) If God is everywhere wouldn't He already be in the midst of them?

     2) Sooo, is it just met or does it seem like the only thing God takes the people of Israel for is a bunch of fools?

18. Exodus 34:12-14
12 Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst.

13 You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim

14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God),

Questions
     1) Since when is being jealous something to brag about?

     2) Is God's supposed jealously supposed to impress people?

19. Exodus 34:24
24 For I will cast out nations before you and enlarge your borders; no one shall covet your land, when you go up to appear before the LORD your God three times in the year.

Questions
     1) No one shall covet their land? Are you serious? This is one of the more easy to be proven wrong promises that God makes from time to time, right? Because if the people of Israel are in their promised land...right now as we speak...why do they continue to have the troubles they have in regards to who has control of lands in the area?

     2) Have the people of Israel gone up to appear before the LORD as of yet this year?

20. Exodus 35:1
Moses assembled all the congregation of the people of Israel and said to them, “These are the things that the LORD has commanded you to do.

Questions
     1) You know what? If God wanted these people to follow all of these rules and keep them close to their heart, why didn't He just get into their heads...just like He did with Pharaoh (except here He wouldn't be hardening the hearts)...get into their heads and place within them the understanding of God's laws?

     2) Why does God ALWAYS have someone else speak to the people for Him? Does God wish to remain a secret? A mystery? Why won't God simply go directly to the people? Does He not trust their judgment?

21. Exodus 35:2
Six days work shall be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a Sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it shall be put to death.

Questions
     1) The penalty for working on the Sabbath is death? Isn't that just a tad much? I mean, I can see issuing demerits or putting someone in the equivalent of a brig, but KILL them for working on the Sabbath? 

22. Exodus 35:5, 22
Take from among you a contribution to the LORD. Whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the LORD’s contribution: gold, silver, and bronze;

22 So they came, both men and women. All who were of a willing heart brought brooches and earrings and signet rings and armlets, all sorts of gold objects, every man dedicating an offering of gold to the LORD.

Questions
     1) This is absurd, right? Considering what the people of Israel have witnessed as far as God's behavior and what He does to those He hates or is angry at these two verses are stupid. Of course the people of Israel will be 'willing' and will 'give' these precious metals. What else are they supposed to do? 

     2) They see what God does to people when He is pissed. Do you think they will take a chance on their own lives by not giving this ridiculously self-centered God whatever it is He has asked for?

23. Exodus 40:26
26 He put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the veil,

Questions
     1) So it is okay for the people of Israel to have altars and animal sacrifices where blood is sprinkled hither and thither, but it is not okay for members of other religions that do the same? Care to run that by me again?



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Exodus III: Just a Few Questions

Is that Your Final Answer?

Tell me, tell me
I really want to know
Where is the point of my origin
Where does this river flow
If I choose to take
Will He promise to give
Why must I choose His love
If I want to live
I won't say 'yes'
And you won't say no
The answers I seek
Shouldn't be impossible to show


Do you believe that the Bible is God's final and everlasting word? Do you believe that every single word in the Bible is the truth, the actual, literal truth? For those who would press you for answers about what it is exactly that you believe, do you ignore them because you feel frustrated for repeating yourself? Are you wanting for a good set of answers? Do you ignore such questions because they give your faith a good shake, rattle, and roll? Are you ashamed of the absurdity and ridiculousness of what you believe? 

All of these questions are part of why I do not believe that God exists. I do not believe that the Holy Bible is some kind of road map given by God to man for purposes of communicating with God. I grew up immersed in Christianity and once I began to think for myself and once I actually stopped and listened to some of the crap I was saying to people I realized something was seriously wrong. 

I do not care if people wish to tell me I am going to hell. Whatever, right? I just want people to type in their answers as to why they believe what they believe in regards to the Bible. Answer these questions. Tell me why. Is that too much to ask of you? 

And now we continue with Part III of Exodus as we consider some of the questions that come to mind when considering whether or not the Holy Bible is the absolute truth of God's own words.

1. Exodus 13:1-2
1. Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

"Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me."

Questions
     1) Did you ever read the story of Rumpelstiltskin? I always thought that was a really creepy story, but this verse totally reminds me of that story. Give to me your firstborn? That is straight-up something right out of Children of the Corn.

     2) The firstborn of every womb among the sons of Israel? So, I take it the women have zero say in this matter? As a mother I can tell you I would rather fight up to and through my last breath before I gave anyone dibs on my children. What kind of God demands the firstborn?

     3) Doesn't the idea of the firstborn belonging to 'God' sound like something straight out of pagan/ancient traditions?


2. Exodus 13:3
Then Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the LORD brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten.

Questions
     1) Where is this strong hand that supposedly brought out the people of Israel from Egypt? Isn't this hand more like something from the hand that rocks the cradle considering that God used straight-up sabotage techniques in order to get His way with Pharaoh?


3. Exodus 13:5
"It shall be when the LORD brings you to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall observe this rite in this month.

Questions
     1) Why is God STILL talking in the future tense when it comes to this promised land that has been promised time and again, but that never really seems to materialize for the people of Israel?

     2) Consider the modern day issues with the country of Israel and ask yourself if God has fulfilled His promise to give the people of Israel this land that supposedly flows with milk and honey? Tell me, does Israel flow with milk and honey or with aggression and spite considering the lovely history with Palestine and Islam?

     3)Is this God's idea of a really fucked up joke, to 'give' this promised land that is riddled with problems and scuffles and religious dissension to His people? Does God do this with the specific intent to cause so many problems that the people have no choice but to keep coming back for more help?


4. Exodus 13:9-10
And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth. For with a strong hand the LORD has brought you out of Egypt.

10 You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.

Questions
     1) I think God's version of what a strong hand is qualifies as dirty fighting techniques, don't you?

     2) So, exactly WHAT about what God did are we remembering? The underhanded techniques? The lies? The deception?


5. Exodus 13:11-13
11 “When the LORD brings you into the land of the Canaanites, as he swore to you and your fathers, and shall give it to you,

12 you shall set apart to the LORD all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn of your animals that are males shall be the LORD’s.

13 Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. Every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem.

Questions
     1) Do you know what these little rules about the firstborn sound like? Just like all of the other gods within religion that demand the firstborn as payment in exchange for giving the worshiping masses a place to stay and food to eat. I think it is sick and very twisted. You know what this is? This is sick. If this God is the one and only God why does He demand all of the same stupid crap that all the other gods demand? He isn't any different then, is He?


6. Exodus 13:15-16
15 For when Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let us go, the LORD killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of animals. Therefore I sacrifice to the LORD all the males that first open the womb, but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’

16 It shall be as a mark on your hand or frontlets between your eyes, for by a strong hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”

Questions
     1) Uhmmm, how do you figure that the Pharaoh stubbornly refused to let the people go? God did that, didn't He?

     2) What is this about marking the hand and on the forehead? Does that sound suspiciously like some kind of 'end times' mark of the beast to you? Isn't that fairly creepy?

     3) If God is just how does He count subversive techniques as qualifiers for a strong hand? Is it because He is God and so figures He can say and do what He wants how He wants when He wants?


7. Exodus 13:17-18
17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near. For God said, “Lest the people change their minds when they see war and return to Egypt.”

18 But God led the people around by the way of the wilderness toward the Red Sea. And the people of Israel went up out of the land of Egypt equipped for battle.

Questions
     1) What is the REAL reason God led the people of Israel out of Egypt in the manner that He did? Was it so they would have as little other people and places as possible to rely on? Why wouldn't God want them relying on other people or places?


8. Exodus 13:22
22 The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

Questions
     1) So, isn't man supposed to be made in the image of God? If that is the case why does God seemingly love to appear as anything BUT the image in which man was supposedly made?


9. Exodus 14:4
And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD.” And they did so.

Questions
     1) So, is 'getting glory' over Pharaoh just another way of saying, "I will murder," but said in such a manner as to make the individual saying such (God) not appear as murderous as they really are?

     2) I want to know how God can do what He did to Pharaoh and yet turn around and give a commandment such as thou shalt not bear false witness? Does God think He is being clever?


10. Exodus 14:18
18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

Questions
     1) Shouldn't this really say that the Egyptians will know it is the LORD since the LORD is the one who caused all of the problems, hardened Pharaoh's heart repeatedly, murdered Egyptians in droves, and did hateful things to them?


11. Exodus 14:21-22
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Questions
     1) Okay, how can you people who believe this type of story here pop off at the mouth that what other religions or faiths or spiritual practices believe is unreasonable? Have you ever once stopped to listen to the craziness of what you believe? Do you seriously believe that the waters were separated and the people walked through? Do you believe this is the literal truth?


12. Exodus 14:24
24 And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into confusion,

Questions
     1) Well now, this is not the only time that the LORD threw a bunch of people into confusion, is it? Didn't the LORD do something similar with the folks at the Tower of Babel?

     2) If the LORD really wants people to see His truth why is He more consistent about throwing people into confusion than revealing truth to them? Is this kinda backwards of what He is supposed to be doing?



13. Exodus 14:28
28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained.

Questions
     1) Is there any verifiable evidence, historically speaking, that an entire Egyptian army was lost at sea or in any kind of accident or act of war or anything of the like?


14. Exodus 14:30-31
30 Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

31 Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

Questions
     1) How else were the people of Israel supposed to react when they supposedly saw God totally and completely destroy the entire Egyptian army? Did God want 'His' people to see what He could do to people when He was very angry? Was that the whole point here?

     2) If the entire Egyptian army was destroyed how did Egypt survive so long in history after this event? Wouldn't other kingdoms have swooped in and taken all the riches of Egypt?


15. Exodus 15:3
The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name.

Questions
     1) Shouldn't the words here be more along the lines that the LORD is a filthy man of war for the LORD is a dirty fighter?


16. Exodus 15:10
10 You blew with your wind; the sea covered them; they sank like lead in the mighty waters.

Questions
     1) If the Egyptians sank like lead when the waters crashed in around them how did the people of Israel see the bodies on the shore as it says in verse Exodus 14:30?


17. Exodus 15:22-23
22 Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water.

23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah.

Questions
     1) Does the LORD purposely lead the people of Israel into these kinds of predicaments for the purpose of making it seem like they are not self-sufficient and so very desperately need the LORD?

     2) Who in their right mind would lead the people of Israel with all of their children and flocks and herds into the boondocks of the desert where there is no water and no sustainable source of food? WHY does God do this, seriously, WHAT is the real reason for this?


18. Exodus 16:3
and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Questions
     1) How is it that the people of Israel do not see that the LORD purposely sets them up for failure so that whenever He 'helps' them or 'rescues' them it looks like the LORD really cares for them and is providing for them?


19. Exodus 16:4
Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.

Questions
     1) Do you notice that the LORD is in the habit of giving the people only what they need to survive and nothing more? Why is that? He only wants them to have just enough to survive and eek by life by the skin of their teeth?


20. Exodus 16:8
And Moses said, “When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him—what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD.”

Questions

     1) What did Moses expect to experience as a spokesman for a God that seemingly lives to glorify only Himself by means of making things as difficult as possible for His people?

     2) Does life really need to be so difficult and seemingly impossible for the people of Israel?

     3) When the LORD made all of the promises to be the God of the people of Israel and to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, I am wondering how the inflection in His voice sounded, how His voice sounded? It is one thing reading it in the Bible and another thing entirely when you think about how it was supposed to have sounded to the people of Israel, right? Was the tone of God's/the LORD's voice such that it sounded like it was a really good deal and would be no trouble at all?


21. Exodus 16:18-19
18 But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.

19 And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.”


Questions

     1) What is it with the LORD not wanting the people of Israel to save up/store the food? I could not help but to feel somewhat confused with this story when I was a child. Here the LORD was supposed to be providing for His people, bit it seemed like He never really wanted them to be very comfortable, like He wanted them to worry about where their next meal would come from or where they would be able to find water for their flocks. Why does God choose this really whack way to show His people that He will provide for them?


22. Exodus 16:28
28 And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?

Questions

     1) Why is the LORD asking questions to things He already knows the answer to?

     2) If the LORD wants the people of Israel to respond better to Him why doesn't He stop putting them in crazy ass situations? Aren't there better ways to show His people how He will provide for them instead of bringing them to the brink in some way, every time, every day, and then at the last moment providing birds for meat, providing 'bread' from heaven in the form of manna, or making water come out of a rock?


23. Exodus 17:1-2
All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the LORD, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink.

Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the LORD?”


Questions

     1) Wait a minute here, WHO is doing the testing here, hummm? Look at Exodus and try to grasp how often these people, this great mass of people wandering in the friggin' desert with loads of children and herds and flocks, suffer for want of water or food...why is this? Is the purpose of allowing all of this to gain control of the emotions of the people of Israel?

     2) Is the purpose of directing and controlling the emotions of the people of Israel to keep them so unsteady that they do not realize how screwy the God that they worship really is and how cruel and bloodthirsty He is just like many other gods of other nations?


24. Exodus 18:11
11 Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.

Questions

     1) Arrogance? Arrogance? You want to talk arrogance? Okay, let us look at some of the synonyms of arrogance: conceit, pride, self-importance, egotism, an offensive display of superiority...wow, this list goes on and on and you know what? These are ALL the characteristics of the LORD/God, aren't they?

     2) So this LORD is so full of Himself that He feels it is necessary to remind the people of Israel over and over how He can provide for them in a pinch? He persists to put them in dire circumstances just show He can show how creative He is in His efforts to give His people what they need? 

     3) Why does God continue to pick unhappy and desperate situations to subject His people to? Does God really understand the mind of man? Is the reason because God knows that everyone has a breaking point and He is trying to break the people of Israel so He can truly control them as only He wishes to control them?


25. Exodus 19:4-6
You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;


and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”


Questions

     1) This is so mother f***ing smug it is hard to know where to begin to comment on it, right? God has something else on His mind if He is thinking He had to reference something He did in the past, especially when you consider exactly what it was that He referenced, correct?

     2) How must this have sounded to the people of Israel, hummm? Remember what I did to the Egyptians? Of COURSE they remember what you did to the Egyptians because you played dirty, mister God, and now you are trying to use that as some kind of threat, right? Remember when I did this or that to these people? I can do the same to you if you do not listen. 

     3) Why does it seem like that the more you read in the Bible (when starting in the Old Testament) the more it seems like the LORD/God is not a God of love or a God that wants to BE loved, but that this God...above all of the things HE wants...this God wants to be feared, needs to be feared, and perhaps to a frightening degree must be feared lest the negativity and horror that gives Him substance degrade to a point where He no longer exists?


26. Exodus 19:12-13
12 And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death.

13 No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”


Questions

     1) Okay, I really want you to think about this, alright? So, God makes man in His own image and for the satisfaction of God (and the screwiness of that is a subject all its own), this God loves these people and even titles them as His people, wants to protect these same people, wants these people to love Him as deeply as He loves them...but then consistently exhibits behaviors and actions that put His people, His chosen people in direct danger?

     2) Considering that many of the trademarks of fear center around patterns of behavior based on that fear how can God/the LORD ever expect ANY people to truly love Him? 


     3) Since when has love EVER required fear, or anything negative for that matter?



27. Exodus 20:19-20
19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”


Questions

     1) Sooo...the purpose of God/the LORD making people fear Him is to stop them from sinning? How is that working out thus far?

     2) Is it possible to prevent sin through ways that are not aggressive or filled with fear?

     3) If God is all-powerful why does He insist on using fear to get people to obey? Since He is omnipotent doesn't this mean He would know that fear is not such a hot tool after all?


28. Exodus 21:7, 11
“When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do.

11 And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.


Questions

     1) So, uh...some of the men who God considered to be part of that group known as God's people would sell their daughters as slaves? And not only that but apparently God had special rules set aside for such? These verses are wrong for so many reasons.

     2) What is this thing that God has against women?

     3) Why does the Bible mention God the Father many many times, but never once mentions anything about God's mother? Does this have anything to do with the overall bullshit treatment of women in the Bible?

29. Exodus 21:23-25
23 But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life,

24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,


25 burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.


Questions

     1) Is this about one of the most stupid things from the Bible? You don't return evil for evil, and do you know WHY

     2) It should not be do unto others as they do unto you, right? I mean, why would you want to treat anyone in the same deplorable manner in which someone has treated you?

     3) Is God really saying that it is okay to behave in a terrible manner so long as you were not the one initiating said bad behavior? Is that it?

     4) Sooo...then the ends DO justify the means?

     5) What happens when someone has a mental disease and they harm or kill someone? Does God allow any kind of relief for those individuals who have zero control over their psychosis?

     6) I take it God offers a mulligan in times of war?


30. Exodus 21:28, 32
28 “When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox shall be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall not be liable.

32 If the ox gores a slave, male or female, the owner shall give to their master thirty shekels of silver, and the ox shall be stoned.


Questions

     1) Explain to me the purpose and benefit of killing the ox that has killed a person? What does such an idiotic thing accomplish?


31. Exodus 22:18
18 “You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

Questions
     1) I this because God/the LORD does not want the competition?

     2) Is this because God does not want people to have or understand this kind of power?

     3) Not everyone does bad things with great power, and surely God knows this, yes? Why kill a good sorceress?

     4) God wants to be the only one with great power, doesn't He?


32. Exodus 22:22-24
22 You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.

23 If you do mistreat them, and they cry out to me, I will surely hear their cry,


24 and my wrath will burn, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.


Questions
     1) God has no clue when it comes to rendering balanced punishment, does He?

     2) How in the fuck does making another woman a widow and making her child fatherless compensate for the original wrong done?

     3) Wouldn't making a woman a widow and a child fatherless qualify as mistreatment toward that woman and child?