I Kings Part IV: Just a Few Questions

All Hail the King!

If you thought that the tail end of Solomon's reign wasn't that bad and things really shouldn't get all that much worse...you are wrong. When Solomon dies the LORD puts His plan to garner more attention into overdrive. If you thought the people of Israel have done their share of suffering, well that might be true, but apparently God/the LORD does not think so as evidenced by the worsening situations His people continue to find themselves in.

We continue with the questions for the book of I Kings.

1. I Kings 11:39

39 And I will afflict the offspring of David because of this, but not forever.

Questions

     1) Are you in the least bit surprised that God/the LORD would take this approach? Making the children of the wrongdoer pay the toll on the consequence wrought by their ancestor's willful fuck-ups? 

     2) Oooohh, I see. This must be another preemptive installment of Suffer the Little Children unto Me, correct? I mean, what the hell else can it be since God is referring to the literal offspring of King David?

     3) It is the last three words of the verse that really get under my skin: but not forever. But not forever? Was God wanting and trying to look and sound nice and considerate, as though He even considerately cut the duration of the punishment out of mercy?

     4) What is wrong with this picture? Those last three words: BUT NOT FOREVER. Do those last three words do ANYTHING AT ALL to make any of the other words in the verse any better?

2. I Kings 12:3-4
3 And they sent and called him, and Jeroboam and all the assembly of Israel came and said to Rehoboam,

4 “Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.”

Questions
     1) Sooo...Solomon placed a heavy yoke of labor upon his own people, the people of Israel...the people of God? Why did God allow this? Doesn't it say that the LORD gave rest on every side of His people (it mentions this in the beginning chapters of I Kings)? How is there rest on every side if the people are being forced to hold a heavy yoke of labor?

     2) In previous chapters in I Kings it mentions that King Solomon did not put his people, the people of Israel, to the hard/forced labor, right? But here it totally sounds like the opposite is true? What is going on here? Is there or ISN'T there hard/forced labor that the people of Israel are subjected to?

     3) Sooo...the people say to lighten the load and they will serve the new king, right? Does this also infer that if the king does not lighten the load that the people will not serve him?

3. I Kings 12:6-8
6 Then King Rehoboam discussed the matter with the older men who had counseled his father, Solomon. "What is your advice?" he asked. "How should I answer these people?"

7 The older counselors replied, "If you are willing to be a servant to these people today and give them a favorable answer, they will always be your loyal subjects."

8 But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the older men and instead asked the opinion of the young men who had grown up with him and were now his advisers.

Questions
     1) I am curious, since the LORD mentioned to Solomon that He would tear the kingdom away from Solomon's son, is this the way that the LORD chooses to do so? Is He purposely making the new king shun the good advice and happily take the bad advice?

     2) If such is the case, if the LORD is making the new king choose poorly in order to punish Solomon for the 'evil' the LORD claims he did (and how would such a thing punish Solomon anyways when he is already fucking dead?) isn't this an excellent example of divine entrapment? If the LORD is making someone make a particular choice then isn't that indicative of that person NOT willing to make such a poor decision to begin with? If the new king was not going to make that poor decision WITHOUT the purposeful prodding of the LORD...isn't that WRONG what the LORD is doing?

4. I Kings 12:10-11, 13-15
10 And the young men who had grown up with him said to him, “Thus shall you speak to this people who said to you, ‘Your father made our yoke heavy, but you lighten it for us,’ thus shall you say to them, ‘My little finger is thicker than my father’s thighs.

11 And now, whereas my father laid on you a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.’”

13 And the king answered the people harshly, and forsaking the counsel that the old men had given him,

14 he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke. My father disciplined you with whips, but I will discipline you with scorpions.”

15 So the king did not listen to the people, for it was a turn of affairs brought about by the LORD that he might fulfill his word, which the LORD spoke by Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.

Questions
     1) Ahhh, I see. It WAS the LORD who put the new king up to this bullshit treatment of his own people, right? Sooo...for something that the new king's father did EVERYONE has to pay because the LORD is pissed that He didn't get enough attention?

5. I Kings 12:16
16 And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David? We have no inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel! Look now to your own house, David.” So Israel went to their tents.

Questions
     1) Wow...so with one fatal swoop the LORD rips out the carpet from beneath everyone and breaks every promise He made to the people, their ancestors, the previous king, the king before Him, and everyone inbetween?

     2) How in the HELL do people continue to trust this LORD fellow when it is obvious He is quite the lying prick?

6. I Kings 12;18
18 Then King Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was taskmaster over the forced labor, and all Israel stoned him to death with stones. And King Rehoboam hurried to mount his chariot to flee to Jerusalem.

Questions
     1) Sooo...then the people of Israel did participate in the forced labor program? Why does it say differently depending on the chapter of I Kings you happen to be reading?

     2) If Adoram was following orders of the new king whose mind and ability to make better choices for his people had been hijacked by God, then isn't God responsible for sending Adoram to his death by stoning?

     3) Is making the new king flee to another city the little cherry of social unrest that the LORD puts atop His newest Dessert of Disaster?

7. I Kings 12:19
19 So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

Questions
     1) Hah! This is hilarious isn't it? How many times up to this point in the Bible has the LORD said that He would never forsake His people, would love them, would provide for them, and would sustain them?

     2) Do you think it is possible that when the LORD said He would never forsake, would love, would provide, and would sustain that He really meant that He would never stop harassing His own people, loves to cause great pain upon His people, would be more than happy to provide oodles of misfortune upon misfortune to those He supposedly loves, and would sustain His effort to really fuck people up until they get the friggin clue that this God is not worth the rice paper His scripture is written on?

8. I Kings 12:20
20 And when all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Judah only.

Questions
     1) And I suppose this is where the groundwork is laid for the proof of the New Testament story that the Jews rebuffed, refused to accept Jesus as the messiah?

     2) Sooo...if the Jews rebuffed Jesus as the Messiah, and if it was because of this bullshit that Rehoboam pulled, and if GOD was the one who made Rehoboam behave in such a goddamn stupid manner toward his people...uhmmm, isn't GOD the reason He was refused by His own people when He morphed into Jesus to save all of mankind from that bugaboo of sin?

9. I Kings 12:21
21 When Rehoboam came to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin, 180,000 chosen warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to restore the kingdom to Rehoboam the son of Solomon.

Questions
     1) Well, what have we here but fighting within the people who are supposed to be God's people? And why are they fighting? And WHO is making them fight? And WHY is He making them fight?

     2) Does God have a pathological need for attention of ANY type? Does God need this attention all the time and everywhere?

     3) If God has a sicko need to always be the center of attention is this why so many religions and denominations have fought so terribly throughout the history of man?

     4) Is man's constant fighting and bickering over whose God is the true God NOT an argument or problem born of man, but one conceived by God and purposely placed within man? Why would God do this? Would a LOVING God do this to His own people?

     5) If God holds that the little children should suffer unto Him, does He count the children of Israel as fitting into such a category and thus make them all suffer?

     6) Who does God love more? The people of Israel or His pathological need for attention at all costs...including the cost of losing life?

10. I Kings 12:24, 26
24 ‘Thus says the LORD, You shall not go up or fight against your relatives the people of Israel. Every man return to his home, for this thing is from me.’” So they listened to the word of the LORD and went home again, according to the word of the LORD.

26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David.

27 If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”

28 So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”

Questions
     1) What the hell kind of mind games is this bastard God/the LORD playing with these people? Isn't this truly sick? Would you do this to your friends or family? Would you want them to do such a thing to you? If not...why the fuckey-doo believe in a deity that detests and mistreats the very people He is supposed to love?

11. I Kings 12:32
32 And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.

Questions
     1) Uh-oh. The LORD isn't getting all of the attention and He is gonna get pissed, right?

     2) Do you think that when the LORD gets pissed off at the people that He even bothers to remember that they did not even behave in this ridiculous manner until the LORD made them do it?

     3) Is the manipulative character of the LORD/God a very good indicator of the depth of His insanity, insatiable desire for blood, and the lose-lose situation of those He has labeled as His people?

12. I Kings 13:2
2 And the man cried against the altar by the word of the LORD and said, “O altar, altar, thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who make offerings on you, and human bones shall be burned on you.’”

Questions
     1) Sooo...not only is this pathological deity controlling everyone in the worst ways with His mighty powers, but He even tells the people of the terrible things He is going to do to them? Does this strike you as absurdly smug?

     2) Sooo...was it not enough that God almost let Abraham sacrifice Isaac, and now God actually wants blood, actually wants the human sacrifice to go through?

     3) Isn't life sacred no matter who you are or where you are from? Why isn't life sacred to God? Is God allowed to treat life anyway He wants since it is supposedly Him Who created all life to begin with?

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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

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
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
5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD.

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

8 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
9 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
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
5 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.

6 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,

7 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.”

8 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
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
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
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
5 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,

2 "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

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

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

9 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

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

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

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

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

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

1 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.

2 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

4 You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.

5 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;

6 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

7 “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?

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