Turkey Broth for the Spirit: Just a Few Questions Part I: The Pentateuch

FINALLY here!

     I have finally put together all of Part I of my book series that questions the verses of the Bible. This first book covers solely the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch, and is the total compilation of the posts in the corresponding blog. You will notice that in the book many of the verses read differently than they do in the posts since it was absolutely necessary for me to ONLY use the World English Bible translation.

     With ALL of the questions posed in regards to the Pentateuch in one compilation there is no need whatsoever to flip-flop between various posts. However, I would still like for people to post their answers to the questions and hopefully you will do just that.

http://www.amazon.com/Turkey-Broth-Spirit-Questions-Pentateuch-ebook/dp/B00GVLQ0CY/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1385311266&sr=8-4&keywords=ester+lighthorse

The Book of Esther: Just a Few Questions

With ALL of these questions posed in regards to the Bible wouldn't it be nice to be able to access the questions in one place instead of flipping between blog postings? Now you can! The questions for the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch are now in one compilation, and there is no need whatsoever to flip-flop between various posts! Go here for your copy:
http://www.amazon.com/Turkey-Broth-Spirit-Questions-Pentateuch-ebook/dp/B00GVLQ0CY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385585976&sr=8-1&keywords=ester+lighthorse


The Shortest Yet

If you thought the posts for Ezra and Nehemiah are short then you are in for a real treat with the book of Esther. This one is mega short. Granted, it is a fairly short book of the Bible, but the book of Ruth is shorter and even that book produced more questions than Esther which is considerably longer. Sooo...here we go, right? Girdeth thee thou thy loins and let us get on witha da show, no?

1. Esther 1:10-11

10 On the seventh day of the feast, when King Xerxes was in high spirits because of the wine, he told the seven eunuchs who attended him--Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carcas--

11 to bring Queen Vashti to him with the royal crown on her head. He wanted the nobles and all the other men to gaze on her beauty, for she was a very beautiful woman.

Questions

     1) Is this where we get the term trophy wife?

     2) Verse ten totally sounds like something from those Sleeping Beauty novels about sex, doesn't it?

2. Esther 1:19-22

19 "So if it please the king, we suggest that you issue a written decree, a law of the Persians and Medes that cannot be revoked. It should order that Queen Vashti be forever banished from the presence of King Xerxes, and that the king should choose another queen more worthy than she.

20 When this decree is published throughout the king's vast empire, husbands everywhere, whatever their rank, will receive proper respect from their wives!"

21 The king and his nobles thought this made good sense, so he followed Memucan's counsel. 

22 He sent letters to all parts of the empire, to each province in its own script and language, proclaiming that every man should be the ruler of his own home and should say whatever he pleases.

Questions

     1) Aha...a LITTLE problem with women, hummm?

     2) Husbands should receive proper respect from the wives but not the other way around, hummm? Tell me again how this works, how does God/the LORD figure that this is proper treatment of women?

3. Esther 4:3

3 And as news of the king's decree reached all the provinces, there was great mourning among the Jews. They fasted, wept, and wailed, and many people lay in burlap and ashes.

Questions

     1) And this helps HOW?

     2) Did God/the LORD ever tell people to behave/mourn in this fashion when situations like the one presented in this particular story occur? What is the purpose and aim of this foolishness? 

4. Esther 8:2

2 The king took off his signet ring--which he had taken back from Haman--and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther appointed Mordecai to be in charge of Haman's property.

Questions

     1) Hummm...another recycled story? Isn't this very similar to what happened to Joseph in Genesis 41:42?

5. Esther 8:17

17 In every province and city, wherever the king's decree arrived, the Jews rejoiced and had a great celebration and declared a public festival and holiday. And many of the people of the land became Jews themselves, for they feared what the Jews might do to them.

Questions

     1) Well isn't this wonderfully fucked up, hummm? Many people of the land became Jews because of what they feared the Jews would do to them? You mean like how many of the Native Americans became Christians and Catholics because they were afraid of what might be done (and unfortunately still WAS) to them?

     2) What makes the Jews who did this shit so right or so special or so privileged to do something so fucked up? Because they are supposed to be GOD's people, is that it? 

6. Esther 9:2-3

2 The Jews gathered in their cities throughout all the king's provinces to attack anyone who tried to harm them. But no one could make a stand against them, for everyone was afraid of them.

3 And all the nobles of the provinces, the highest officers, the governors, and the royal officials helped the Jews for fear of Mordecai.

Questions

     1) Sooo...is this FEAR thing something Mordecai learned from his God/LORD? And people who believe this way wonder why there are people who hate them? I am NOT saying they deserve the hate, but what I am asking is do they really wonder why some people are so angry with them and harbor great disdain for them?

     2) Do people who fear others normally love those they fear? Following this line of thinking, how in the fuckey-doo do Christians figure to get people to really love God/the LORD if what they are teaching is fear this and fear that or God will do this or that?

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Ester%20Lighthorse&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank

http://www.zazzle.com/smartytwoshoes

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https://sites.google.com/site/esterlighthorse/theopoly

I Kings Part I: Just a Few Questions

Through the First Ten

Well, hip hip hooray! We are through asking the questions for the first ten books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I Samuel, and II Samuel. Hopefully you have been able to post a few answers of your own, or even perhaps you were able to post a question that you felt should have been asked but was not.

Now we will continue our journey with the questions for the book I Kings. As always, if you wish to post an answer please do so, and if you utilize a Bible verse for reference please be sure to note the passage location so that I may look it up.

1. I Kings 1:11-14
11 Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king and David our lord does not know it?

12 Now therefore come, let me give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.

13 Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, “Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then is Adonijah king?’

14 Then while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm your words.”

Questions
     1) Wow! Well, alright for plotting and planning in the Old Testament, right? Quite the interesting conspiracy that is going on here, wouldn't you say?

     2) If the LORD already promised David that his descendants would establish a lasting dynasty why is there so much worry here? Why the deception? Why the lies? Wouldn't the LORD make sure everything would go just as He said it would?

2. I Kings 1:29-31
29 And the king swore, saying, “As the LORD lives, who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity,

30 as I swore to you by the LORD, the God of Israel, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place,’ even so will I do this day.”

31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground and paid homage to the king and said, “May my lord King David live forever!”

Questions
     1) May my lord King David live forever? Sooo...uhmmm, Bathsheba does know that David is on his deathbed, right? Why say something so useless? Because it sounds pretty and loyal? Why?

3. I Kings 2:33
33 So shall their blood come back on the head of Joab and on the head of his descendants forever. But for David and for his descendants and for his house and for his throne there shall be peace from the LORD forevermore.”

Questions
     1) Sooo...peace for David and his descendants forevermore? Well, chalk that up as one more thing that just never comes true, right? Forget show me the money. Show me the peace, right? Maybe the LORD meant pieces and it was just a jacked-up translation, you think? Could be. I mean, that region of the world and the people of the LORD are just about always in pieces or scattered...or in the process of being made into pieces to be scattered. I think they totally got the short end of the stick, right? LOADS of promises with nothing to show for it but a dusty strip of land that is a sliver of what God supposedly promised it would be, a bunch of sorrow and suffering, and seemingly never-ending bickering over whose imaginary friend is the best friend. Lovely.

4. I Kings 2:44-46
44 The king also said to Shimei, "You certainly remember all the wicked things you did to my father, David. May the LORD now bring that evil on your own head.

45 But King Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever.”

46 Then, at the king's command, Benaiah son of Jehoiada took Shimei outside and killed him. So the kingdom was now firmly in Solomon's grip.

Questions
     1) May the LORD bring that evil on your head? The evil that this guy supposedly did to his father, David, eons back? Is THIS the true golden rule from God? Do unto others according to the horrible things they have done?

     2) If it is Solomon ordering the killing of this man then the idea of the guy's blood being on his own head/hands is an aberration of stupidity, right? Wouldn't the blood be on Solomon's hands?

     3) Sooo...Solomon believes the lie of David's throne being established forever? David's throne was never established forever, right? Sure, God did a really great job convincing people otherwise, but the truth is that the so-called throne that was established had nothing to do with man and everything to do with God, right? Where is the proof of David's throne being established forever?

It all comes down to Jesus. Sure, Jesus is supposed to be the descendant of David, the lion of the tribe of Judah, and that is the fulfillment of God's promise. This is a ruse. It is not David's lineage...it's God's lineage. God only told the people involved that it was David's lineage so people would go for such a thing. It is NOT David's seed...no man had lain with Mary. David's throne went the way of the dodo a long ass time ago.

Sooo...again, where is the proof of David's throne being established forever?

     4) Verse 46 mentions the guy being taken out and killed and THEN it says the kingdom of Solomon was firmly established, right? Is this how the LORD/God intends to establish HIS kingdom? With blood and violence? Seriously, think about it. How are people supposed to get to heaven when they die? Well, they have to accept the blood of Christ and recognize that they cannot partake of the kingdom of God without the blood of Christ, correct? Do you REALLY think that lasting peace can be established upon blood?


5. I Kings 3:1
1 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and married one of his daughters. He brought her to live in the City of David until he could finish building his palace and the Temple of the LORD and the wall around the city.

Questions

     1) Uhmmm...I'm just wondering if by this time the Pharaoh ruling Egypt had forgotten the whole Moses/Aaron/Let My People Go thing? Do the Egyptians really have that short of a memory?

     2) Do you really think that the Egyptians would ever have allowed the leader of the very people who were responsible for the deaths of all the firstborn in the land to marry the Pharaoh's daughter?

     3) Tell me again why these kings of the people of Israel who supposedly loved the LORD/God so much consistently married people who worship many gods and who are for all intents and purposes...enemies?

6. I Kings 3:4-5

4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place. Solomon used to offer a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

5 That night the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, "What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!"

Questions

     1) A THOUSAND burnt offerings? Goodness gracious that is a lot of animals, isn't it? What is the precise origin of these burnt sacrifice rituals? Is there anything in the Bible that can verifiably show the origin of God's request/apparent need for blood sacrifices?

     2) Being as though God is supposed to know all and see all, why did He bother to ask Solomon what he wanted? Didn't He already know?

     3) If God/the LORD is everywhere WHY does He persist to appear to people in dreams and visions and talking burning bushes, hummm? Why doesn't He simply talk? I mean, for Christ's sake...He IS supposed to be everywhere, right?

7. I Kings 3:6

6 Solomon replied, "You showed faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued your faithful love to him today by giving him a son to sit on his throne.

Questions

     1) David was honest and true and faithful to the LORD even through he broke a whole bunch of God's commandments when he coveted Uriah's wife, slept with Uriah's wife, murdered Uriah, stole Uriah's wife, lied/tried to hide his deed when he tried to get Uriah drunk to sleep with Bathsheba...do you wish to start over here, because is sure as hell seems David is most certainly NOT honest and true and faithful, right?

8. I Kings 3:8

8 And here I am in the midst of your own chosen people, a nation so great and numerous they cannot be counted!

Questions

     1) A nation so great that it cannot be counted? And HOW MANY times was a census taken of the people of Israel that gave definitive numbers, hummm?

     2) At this point in the Bible the people of Israel STILL do not number as the stars in the heavens, do they?

     3) Since we are talking numbers for the moment do you think it appropriate to remind God/the LORD how many of His people were murdered in WWII? What was that number? About...ohhh...SIX MILLION, right?

     4) If God keeps killing off His people there will not be a nation left to become great and no one will have to worry about counting anything but the headstones, right?

9. I Kings 3:9

9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”

Questions

     1) Discern between good and evil? Are we talking about the real world version of good and evil, or God's version of good and evil that seems to change with whatever purpose best serves God?

     2) Like I mentioned before, how can this group of people become or continue to be a great people when God consistently kills them off?

10. I Kings 3:22-28

22 Then the other woman interrupted, "It certainly was your son, and the living child is mine." "No," the first woman said, "the living child is mine, and the dead one is yours." And so they argued back and forth before the king.

23 Then the king said, "Let's get the facts straight. Both of you claim the living child is yours, and each says that the dead one belongs to the other.

24 All right, bring me a sword." So a sword was brought to the king.

25 Then he said, "Cut the living child in two, and give half to one woman and half to the other!"

26 Then the woman who was the real mother of the living child, and who loved him very much, cried out, "Oh no, my lord! Give her the child--please do not kill him!" But the other woman said, "All right, he will be neither yours nor mine; divide him between us!"

27 Then the king answered and said, “Give the living child to the first woman, and by no means put him to death; she is his mother.”

28 When all Israel heard the king's decision, the people were in awe of the king, for they saw the wisdom God had given him for rendering justice.

Questions

     1) Isn't this one of the more twisted stories in the Bible?

     2) The people were in AWE? Seriously? They saw this as wisdom in rendering justice?

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https://sites.google.com/site/esterlighthorse/theopoly

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http://shoon4774-thegreatestlieevertold.blogspot.com/

Deuteronomy Part I: Just a Few Questions

With ALL of these questions posed in regards to the Bible wouldn't it be nice to be able to access the questions in one place instead of flipping between blog postings? Now you can! The questions for the first five books of the Bible, the Pentateuch are now in one compilation, and there is no need whatsoever to flip-flop between various posts! Go here for your copy:
http://www.amazon.com/Turkey-Broth-Spirit-Questions-Pentateuch-ebook/dp/B00GVLQ0CY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385499539&sr=8-1&keywords=ester+lighthorse



Rounding Out the Pentateuch

FINALLY we have reached the last book of the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Holy Bible written by Moses. Well, traditionally these five books are held to have received the majority of their information from Moses. I suppose it is entirely likely that there are many who hold a slightly or even significantly different opinion as to who authored these first five books of the Holy Bible. That, however, is a different subject for a different posting. Here, we are continuing with going book by book in the Bible and listing particular verses and any questions I have in regards to these particular verses.

These questions are part of why I DO NOT believe in the Holy Bible as total truth, why I do not believe in a great deal of the assertions and ideals and practices presented in the Holy Bible and interpreted by religion in general, and why I think there is no such individual or ultimately divine person or being known as God.

I do not have answers to many of my questions, but make no mistake...I DO have some answers. But what I am doing here is NOT giving you my answers (with the exception to a very few cases) because what I really want is to hear YOUR answers. I do not wish for my own answers to mar your response. If you DO believe in the purported total truth of the Holy Bible and if you DO believe in God and if you DO have answers to any of these questions please make a response in the comment link at the end of the posting.

Some of the questions I have are so simple they sound absurdly ridiculous. Some of the questions seem to be quite common for believers and non-believers alike. Some of the questions require greater consideration than your general run-of-the-mill pondering. Some of the questions demand if not require the individual to render far more than the passing, intellectual glance.

If you wish to use verses as references please remember to note the passage location so that I may look it up.

Remember, I am NOT trying to turn you away from what you believe; besides, if you truly love and believe in God that is not even an issue for you to concern yourself with, correct? Does it not say in the Holy Bible that once you are in the Father's hands, you are always in the Father's hands? So, do not fret my many questions. I just want your answers.

In your response please be as clear and concise as possible because, for all I know you just may be able to provide me with an answer that is superior to my own answer, or lack thereof.

Tell me your answers. Tell me why you believe. Tell me why I should believe as you believe.

Give me...a reason...to believe.

And now, here are questions for the book of Deuteronomy.

1. Deuteronomy 1:8
8 See, I have placed the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and their descendants after them.

Questions

     1) Is this the Old Testament version of manifest destiny?

2. Deuteronomy 1:10
10 The LORD your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day like the stars of heaven in number.

Questions
     1) Did the LORD forget how many stars were in the sky when He promised Abraham's and Isaac's and Jacob's descendants that they would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens?

     2) Do you think there is any truth whatsoever or even the slightest remote possibility of God's promise to multiply the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to the point where they are as numerous as the stars when you stop and consider that there are about ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND MILLION stars in our own Milky Way galaxy, and in addition to that about 100 billion galaxies in the universe? 

     3) Isn't it just a TAD over-exaggerating for God/the LORD to utter such an absurd, grandiose promise, especially when He is supposed to know everything?

     4) Is God exaggerating here?

     5) Do you equate exaggeration with lying?

     6) Is God lying here?

3. Deuteronomy 1:12-13
12 How can I myself alone bear your cumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?

13 Choose wise and discerning and experienced men from your tribes, and I will appoint them as your heads.'

Questions
     1) Did God/the LORD not think about things such as a system for addressing the many issues of the people of Israel or at least bring such issues up to Moses and Aaron before they left Egypt?

     2) If it was God/the LORD who brought the people out of Egypt and if it was God/the LORD who made many many promises to provide the people a great land flowing with milk and honey, did the people of Israel reasonably rely on an assumption that if God/the LORD was going to provide this great land He would also provide the necessary leadership and logistics?

     3) Why didn't God discuss this with the people, or at least with Moses and Aaron before they all left Egypt, thus making God's chosen people better prepared? 

4. Deuteronomy 1:16-17
16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.

17 You shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for the judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.

Questions

     1) Sooo...when these verses discuss not being partial and judging justly, listening to ALL whether they are small or great, does this NOT apply to gays and lesbians?

     2) Wouldn't passing judgment upon an individual or group of individuals based on their sexual preferences qualify as being partial in judgment? 

5. Deuteronomy 1:21
21 Behold, the LORD thy God hath set the land before thee: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath said unto thee; fear not, neither be discouraged.

Questions
     1) You know what this verse reminds me of when I read it? It reminds me of the folks traveling across the Atlantic in search of a land of tolerance and freedom...the New World, right? I mean, just as the land that God promised His people was already occupied, so the New World was already inhabited by the Native Americans, correct?

     2) Do you think the Puritans and Quakers and Pilgrims and Separatists and religious folk and every one else who went along with them, do you think they had this verse in mind when setting foot on what later became U.S. soil? 

     3) Considering their trials and tribulations on the other side of the Atlantic do you think these people saw the vast, rich land of North America and figured that God/the LORD/Divine Providence had placed the land before them, and all they had to do was to subdue the Native Americans and TAKE IT?

     4) Is inappropriate seizure of real property part of God's/the LORD's modus operandi?


6. Deuteronomy 1:30-31
30 The LORD your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,

31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the LORD your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’

Questions
     1) The LORD went before His people and fought on their behalf? He fought on their behalf while they were in Egypt?

     2) Who led the people of Israel into Egypt in the first place?

     3) Who hardened Pharaoh's heart against the Israelites?

     4) Who, in exhibition of a stunning show of hatred, disrespect, contempt, and total disregard for human life MURDERED all of Egypt's firstborn, including innocent children/babies and down to the last animal? How the f**k does that qualify as fighting on someone's behalf?

     5) Since when and according to whom did God/the LORD carry anything or anyone with Him through the desert (well, He sure as shit carried along His out-of-control anger and equally unrestrained jealousy)?

     6) Did God categorize the persistent water shortages, persistent food shortages (until manna), persistent mind games played by God, and persistent meandering about the desert in circles for forty fucking years as carrying and caring for His chosen people? 


7. Deuteronomy 1:32-33
32 But for all this, you did not trust the LORD your God,

33 who went before you in the way to seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.

Questions
     1) How in the hell did God think His people would react to the stupid shit He put them through on purpose?!

     2) Would you trust someone who promised you a La Jolla, California mansion of your choice, but who neglected to tell you that you would have to kill the residents of that mansion in order to obtain possession/title to the property?

     3) What good does it do to have a pillar of fire and a pillar of smoke to protect the people of Israel when the vast majority of their problems and dangers suffered were instigated by the very same God who was claiming to protect them?


8. Deuteronomy 1:34-36
34 Then the LORD heard the sound of your words, and He was angry and took an oath, saying,

35 Not one of these men, this evil generation, shall see the good land which I swore to give your fathers,

36 except Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!

Questions

     1) Why the hell is God taking an oath when by His own nature He is supposed to be total truth? Wouldn't such an attribute as ultimate truth negate the need to make an oath or promise?

9. Deuteronomy 1:40
40 But as for you, turn around and set out for the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.

Questions

     1) Isn't God making grand promises to the people of Israel and then looking for ways to revoke the promises either in part or in full total bullshit?

10. Deuteronomy 2:5-6
5 do not provoke them, for I will not give you any of their land, even as little as a footstep because I have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession.

6 You shall buy food from them with money so that you may eat, and you shall also purchase water from them with money so that you may drink.

Questions

     1) Sooo...God is basically saying that if you pass through land that the LORD does not want for His people you must pay them (the people of the land) for whatever goods are needed, but if it is land God wants you to have then screw paying for anything and just take it all?

11. Deuteronomy 2:7
7 For the LORD your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the LORD your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.

Questions

     1) The people lacked nothing? Nothing? What about going for days without water, and quite frequently at that? What about the situations where the people lacked of food? How the hell does that qualify as a generous sprinkling of blessings?

     2) Sooo...wandering in the freaking desert boonies for forty damn years is God watching out for and blessing His people?

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