I Samuel Part VI: Just a Few Questions

The Original Soap Opera

The plight of the people of Israel can be summed up in two words: sopa opera. Everything that happens to the people of Israel as well as to their enemies is truly captivating in many respects, totally 'shrimping' anything that has ever happened to Victor Newman, Nikki Newman, Victoria, Jack, Mrs. Chandler, Nick, or anyone else on my favorite daytime soap. Actually, take ALL of the television soaps and put them together and you still have nothing close to the drama of the people of Israel in the Old Testament.

However, do not be so ignorant as to accept these captivating stories of the Old Testament as truth simply because they are captivating, right? I mean, sure, the daytime soaps are interesting but how many times can people return from the dead, get amnesia, marry each other, and all of that happy horseshit? You don't really believe it because you know it is a STORY, not true, only meant for entertainment purposes, right? The same can be said of the Old Testament and the lamentable people of Israel. They just seem to have some of the worst luck ever, don't they? Then they have the tantrums that their savant deity seems absurdly prone to. Lovely.

In reading through the Old Testament books I found that there was question after question after question that popped out as I continued to read such a captivating soap opera. While it was immensely interesting on many levels I had to wonder why people actually thought this stuff was true. Sooo...here are more of my questions as we continue going through the book of I Samuel. If you feel you have an answer to any of these questions please be so kind as to post your response at the end of the particular post. If you are utilizing a Bible verse as a reference please be sure to note the passage location so that I may look it up.

And now...let us continue with Part VI for the book of I Samuel.

1. I Samuel 17:47

47 And everyone assembled here will know that the LORD rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the LORD's battle, and he will give you to us!"

Questions

     1) The LORD's battle? Do you mean the LORD's battle in the sense that the LORD is usually the one Who starts all of this shit to begin with?

     2) The LORD will give you to us? How does this work out considering that the LORD NEVER gives without taking something greater?

2. I Samuel 17:49

49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

Questions

     1) Uhmmm...so the stone that David slung sank into Goliath's forehead? How did this happen when I Samuel 17:5 clearly notes that Goliath had a helmet of bronze?

     2) Did Goliath's helmet NOT cover his forehead?

     3) Did Goliath NOT wear his helmet upon going out to meet David?

     4) The Bible notes that Goliath was a man of war from the time of his youth, so WHY would a man of war go out to battle without his helmet unless he was a total moron?

3. I Samuel 17:50

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.

Questions

     1) Why does the Bible have so many stories where either God or the people who were adopted by God (the Israelites) win in lopsided victories?

     2) Are the lopsided victories supposed to convince people of the truth of the Bible and the supposed mighty strength of God?

4. I Samuel 17:51

51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

Questions

     1) Okay, sooo...do you remember that I Samuel 17:7 notes that Goliath's spearhead weighed six hundred shekles, which is fifteen pounds? If Goliath's spearhead weighed this much, how much do you think his sword weighed?

     2) Do you remember in I Samuel 17:39 Saul gave his armor to David and David couldn't use it because he was not used to the weight of it, couldn't fight in it? If David could not use the armor and sword of Saul...how in the fuckey-doo was David able to lift the sword of Goliath (who shrimped Saul) and cut off Goliath's head?

5. I Samuel 17:53

53 And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp.

Questions

     1) Ahhh, so when the people of Israel came back and plundered the camps of the Philistines can't such be considered thievery? Is it legalized thievery since they were fighting for God and the Philistines were the enemy?

     2) Sooo, if God says that something that is normally wrong ISN'T wrong then it is okay to do it and not suffer consequences? Hummm...sounds suspiciously like something Richard Nixon would claim, doesn't it?


6. I Samuel 17:54
54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

Questions
     1) You know, I hear so many of the end timers really focusing on stories where the Christians are supposed to be beheaded for their beliefs, seemingly dipping these fantastical stories into the totally false idea that believers in the supposed mega mighty God of the Bible would NEVER do such a thing to people. REALLY?

     2) Considering the weight of Goliath's spearhead alone, how long do you think it took for the youthful David to drag Goliath's armor back to his own tent? And, where did David's tent come from? Nothing is ever said about David going there to set his own tent. Didn't he go there to where the army was to take his brothers some bread and cheese and to get word from them that he could take back to his father? What is this 'David's tent' bull?


7. I Samuel 18:10-12
10 The very next day a tormenting spirit from God overwhelmed Saul, and he began to rave in his house like a madman. David was playing the harp, as he did each day. But Saul had a spear in his hand,

11 and he suddenly hurled it at David, intending to pin him to the wall. But David escaped him twice.

12 Saul was then afraid of David, for the LORD was with David and had turned away from Saul.

Questions
     1) Houston, WE have a serious problem here, don't we? Read I Samuel 16:14-23, and then read the above verses again. Do you see the problem? In this story David is already with Saul by the time the evil spirit comes to torment Saul. BUT in chapter 16 the spirit torments Saul and then in the process of trying to relieve Saul of his psychological issues David was sent for so that he would play his harp for the king, right?

     2) Why does it say in the verses above that Saul, while raving with his torment, threw a spear at David intending to pin David to the wall...TWICE? The chapter 16 story in verse 23 says that whenever the tormenting spirit from God came to Saul, David would play his instrument and then relief would come to Saul, the evil spirit finally leaving him alone, right? What the hell is going on? Is whoever is writing this NOT paying attention to what he has already written, or what?


8. I Samuel 18:25, 27
25 Then Saul said, “Thus shall you say to David, ‘The king desires no bride-price except a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, that he may be avenged of the king’s enemies.’” Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.

27 David and his men went out and killed 200 Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as full payment to the king to become his son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David as his wife.

Questions
     1) This is just all fucked up in so many ways, right? Never mind that the king said the bride price would be 100 foreskins of the Philistines, but David goes and butchers the penises of twice the necessary number?


9. I Samuel 19:9-10
9 Then a harmful spirit from the LORD came upon Saul, as he sat in his house with his spear in his hand. And David was playing the lyre.

10 And Saul sought to pin David to the wall with the spear, but he eluded Saul, so that he struck the spear into the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

Questions
     1) Houston, we have ANOTHER problem. But what else is new? Why are we seeing this freaking tormenting spirit/Saul throws a spear story AGAIN?


10. I Samuel 19:11-12
11 Then Saul sent troops to watch David's house. They were told to kill David when he came out the next morning. But Michal, David's wife, warned him, "If you don't escape tonight, you will be dead by morning."

12 So Michal let David down through the window, and he fled away and escaped.

Questions
     1) Sooo...the crack troops belonging to the king watch everything BUT the windows?


11. I Samuel 25:18
18 Abigail wasted no time. She quickly gathered 200 loaves of bread, two wineskins full of wine, five sheep that had been slaughtered, nearly a bushel of roasted grain, 100 clusters of raisins, and 200 fig cakes. She packed them on donkeys

Questions
     1) I want to know HOW this woman Abigail quickly gathered all of the stuff mentioned in this verse, right? Did she do all of this stuff by herself?

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Joshua Part I: Just a Few Questions

Finally Through the Pentateuch

Yay! We have finally made it through the first five books of the Bible and all of the questions related to those books. Whew. THAT...was an ordeal. Now we will move onto the rest of the Old Testament. The very first book after Deuteronomy is Joshua.

Joshua 1:2-3

2 Moses my servant is dead. Therefore, the time has come for you to lead these people, the Israelites, across the Jordan River into the land I am giving them.

3 I promise you what I promised Moses: 'Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you--

Questions
     1) Do you see something wrong with these verses? Moses is now dead, right? And, Moses died before he could realize the promise that God gave to the people of Israel in regards to the promised land, correct? Why didn't Moses ever see the fruition of God's promise, hummm? Why did it seem like when the people of Israel were this close to getting to the promised land that God found a way out of the promise He gave to Moses?

     2) Joshua, you do realize that the promise God is giving you is the very same promise He gave to Moses? You do realize that Moses never received this promise from God, right? You DO realize that now you are working with God you had best watch your back lest God hamstring you for some teeny mistake you make, right?

Joshua 1:4

4 from the Negev wilderness in the south to the Lebanon mountains in the north, from the Euphrates River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west, including all the land of the Hittites.'

Questions
     1) Do you know where the boundaries of this location is? Go to a map, or better yet get on the Internet and look it all up. Now, supposedly the Israelites are back in the promised land, right? When Israel finally became a nation and up to this point now in history there have been (and still are) plenty of Christians who claim that since God's people are back in the promised land that the time of Christ's return is imminent. Really? How can this be when present day Israel is nowhere near the size of the boundaries mentioned in the Bible?

     2) If the measurements of modern-day Israel are nowhere near the boundaries mentioned in the Bible and PROMISED BY GOD how in the hell can Christians sit there and make all of these claims that prophecy is being fulfilled? How can you fulfill the prophecy without first fulfilling the promise? God's people STILL don't have what He promised so how can the assessment of Christ's supposed return to earth be accurate?

Joshua 1:5

5 No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. For I will be with you as I was with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon you.

Questions
     1) Do you recall how God was with Moses, how God interacted with and treated His promises to Moses? God sought for a way to revoke His promise to Moses. God is all-knowing and so He KNEW full well that Moses would hit that rock instead of speaking to it, and God also knew why Moses did this and that it was out of frustration and feeling that he had zero control of a very crappy situation. Did God counsel Moses on this? God will be with you as He was with Moses? That isn't very comforting now, is it? And how in the blazing blue does God say He won't fail or abandon when this is exactly what God did to Moses?

Joshua 1:6

6 Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.

Questions
     1) So far as we have come to this point in the Bible...HOW many people has God made this promise of a promised land to, and how long is this promise supposed to take before God actually follows through on his end? How many generations have passed since the first uttering of this promise?

     2) Why does God insist on making these promises to people that He never intends will actually see or enjoy this grand promise?

Joshua 1:9

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

Questions
     1) The LORD is with you wherever you go? Really? Shouldn't it be something more like the LORD will drag you wherever He wishes for you to go? He drags the people of Israel to Egypt where they are supposedly enslaved for 430 years during which the people are treated poorly, at one point having their male children murdered by being thrown into the Nile...and the LORD was with them?

     2) Sooo...meandering around the desert for forty friggin' years is no sweat, right? Because God is with you? Or maybe you really mean because God is the one who put you there in the boonies on purpose...so be strong and show some courage, is that it? Is that the price of the LORD being with you wherever you go, that He can take you and put you wherever He wants EVEN IF IT IS TERRIBLE?

Joshua 1:11

11 Go through the camp and tell the people to get their provisions ready. In three days you will cross the Jordan River and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you."

Questions
     1) Isn't what really should be said here something more along the lines of, "Get ready. In three days we will go and take everything from the people who are already living in this land," and don't forget that in all of this TAKING authorized by God the people of Israel will be taking the lives of the inhabitants of the land as well?

Joshua 1:18

18 Anyone who rebels against your orders and does not obey your words and everything you command will be put to death. So be strong and courageous!"

Questions
     1) Say, didn't Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Pablo Escobar, and actually quite a few others have this very same approach?

Joshua 2:11
11 No wonder our hearts have melted in fear! No one has the courage to fight after hearing such things. For the LORD your God is the supreme God of the heavens above and the earth below.

Questions
     1) Do you notice that the acknowledgement of God as great and powerful has nothing to do with the grand nature of His love, but rather the intense nature of His hate and the mean and terrible things He does to people or that He gets His people to do to other people?

     2) Do you think that it is not so much that God is supreme in the heavens above and the earth below so much as it is God is absolutely willing to do absolutely ANYTHING to get whatever it is that He wants, whether that means kill women and children, trick men into lowering their guard and then killing them, taking what is not His own, and absolutely every horror conceivable?


Joshua 3:17
17 Meanwhile, the priests who were carrying the Ark of the LORD's Covenant stood on dry ground in the middle of the riverbed as the people passed by. They waited there until the whole nation of Israel had crossed the Jordan on dry ground.

Questions
     1) Sooo...is the ark of the covenant what is controlling the flow of the water? Does that mean the ark is a machine of some sort?

     2) Where did the design of this machine come from, God? If God is God of everything and controls everything WHY would He need a machine?

     3) Did God explain to His people that this was a machine and there were scientific reasons why it did what it did? Did God NOT tell the people about the truth of the ark machine because He wanted them to continue to be mystified and think that this being God really was God?

     4) Sooo...the ENTIRE nation of Israel crosses at this point in the Jordan? How many people crossed? How long did this take? The way it is written in the above verses it really makes it sound like it was pretty quick.


Joshua 4:4-7, 9
4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen--one from each of the tribes of Israel.
  
5 He told them, "Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the LORD your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder--twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel.

6 We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, 'What do these stones mean?'

7 Then you can tell them, 'They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the LORD's Covenant went across.' These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever."

9 Joshua also set up another pile of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the place where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were standing. And they are there to this day.

Questions
     1) Sooo...if the stones are supposed to be a lasting memorial for all time...are these stone still where they are supposed to be?

     2) Are these stones mentioned in these scriptures still serving as a visible memorial to the people of Israel? Are they the very same stones? No one at all has changed the stones?

     3) If these stones, the ORIGINAL stones are no longer at this place mentioned in the verses, and if these verses are in this book called the HOLY BIBLE that is supposed to be the absolute truth, and if these words are supposed to be the very words of God, and if the Word of God is never wrong and never faulty and never fades, and if these verses say that the stone markers serve as a memorial for the people of Israel FOREVER...what does this say about the infallibility of the Word of God (the Bible) and its lasting truth?

     4) Okay, we know that according to the Bible man is born into sin and thus from the very beginning man finds that human life is riddled with error, poor decisions (even if on accident), and intensely terrible situations. Then you have this ultimate divine being, God, Who cares so much for and has done so much for His people and they love Him right back so very much that God finds it necessary to find ways to remind His people how very great He is?

     5) Is God's care really so perfect and so great that it is even believable that ANYONE on the receiving end of that greatness would ever find themselves forgetting the love and the glory and the peace, yada-yada plucka-plucka, of the LORD?

     6) Why does God often focus on the terrible punishments He has smashed His people with in an effort to remind them of God's care? Why doesn't He insist on reminding them of the beauty and love He represents? Is it because He rarely shows beauty and love to begin with?

Joshua 4:14
14 That day the LORD made Joshua a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites, and for the rest of his life they revered him as much as they had revered Moses.

Questions
     1) Well, if the people are responding to Joshua in the same manner as they did Moses, well then Joshua would be screwed, right? How can it be said that the people revered Moses when all they did was complain to him about pretty much everything and caused problem after problem?

     2) Are complaining and causing problems consistent with expressing reverence towards any individual or group?


Joshua 5:13-15
13 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?”

14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?”

15 And the commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

Questions
     1) If this angel of the LORD is FOR the people of God why the hell is his sword drawn?

     2) Wouldn't the LORD/God be the commander of His own army? Why is an angel running things? Is God too busy with running the rest of the universe?

     3) If God/the LORD is everywhere then why did the LORD send a commander angel when due to His omni-presence the LORD would already be present?


Joshua 6:19
19 But all silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the LORD; they shall go into the treasury of the LORD.”

Questions
     1) Why does God/the LORD need the metals mentioned here?

     2) Why does the LORD have a treasury here on earth when the Bible says in Matthew 6:19, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,"?


Joshua 6:21
21 Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.

Questions
     1) How does a God of ultimate love command those who follow Him to devote themselves to the utter destruction of something, to include people?


Joshua 6:25
25 But Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.

Questions
     1) In what capacity is Rahab still in Israel today? Are her descendants prostitutes?


Joshua 6:27
27 So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land.

Questions
     1) Loads of present day preachers drone on and on of how God does not give a hoot about fame and fortune and all of such things, if anything finding them to be detestable. Sooo...this was not the same in Joshua's time?

     2) If God never changes and His Word stands forever WHY is God's approach to fame seemingly different in Joshua's time as opposed to present day? 


Joshua 7:1, 12
1 But the people of Israel broke faith in regard to the devoted things, for Achan the son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of the devoted things. And the anger of the LORD burned against the people of Israel.

12 Therefore the people of Israel cannot stand before their enemies. They turn their backs before their enemies, because they have become devoted for destruction. I will be with you no more, unless you destroy the devoted things from among you.

Questions
     1) Sooo...this one guy does something that is contrary to what God decrees and God decides the right thing to do would be to get angry with everyone?

     2) What is God's justification for penalizing the non-guilty?


Joshua 7:23-26
23 And they took them out of the tent and brought them to Joshua and to all the people of Israel. And they laid them down before the LORD.

24 And Joshua and all Israel with him took Achan the son of Zerah, and the silver and the cloak and the bar of gold, and his sons and daughters and his oxen and donkeys and sheep and his tent and all that he had. And they brought them up to the Valley of Achor.

25 And Joshua said, “Why did you bring trouble on us? The LORD brings trouble on you today.” And all Israel stoned him with stones. They burned them with fire and stoned them with stones.

26 And they raised over him a great heap of stones that remains to this day. Then the LORD turned from his burning anger. Therefore, to this day the name of that place is called the Valley of Achor.

Questions
     1) This man takes what he was not supposed to take and his ENTIRE family must pay with their lives and all of their possessions?


Joshua 8:1-2
1 And the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land.

2 And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. Lay an ambush against the city, behind it.”

Questions
     1) Sooo...the LORD is ordering His people to commit genocide, but this time around He is going to allow them to keep the possessions belonging to the people they murdered?


Joshua 8:16-17, 19
16 So all the people who were in the city were called together to pursue them, and as they pursued Joshua they were drawn away from the city.

17 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.

19 And the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it. And they hurried to set the city on fire.

Questions
     1) Doesn't this sound like something General George A. Custer would have done?


Joshua 8:24-27
24 When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the edge of the sword.

25 And all who fell that day, both men and women, were 12,000, all the people of Ai.

26 But Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai to destruction.

27 Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of the LORD that he commanded Joshua.

Questions
     1) You mean after all of the men had been killed, the entire army wiped out, Joshua and his men go back to the city that now holds only defenseless women and children and then proceed to cut them all down?

     2) Is this God that Joshua follows the same God YOU believe in and worship?


Joshua 8:28-29
28 So Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a heap of ruins, as it is to this day.

29 And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. And at sunset Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city and raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day.

Questions
     1) I am curious, did the LORD allow His people to desecrate a corpse so long as it was the corpse of the enemy?


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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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