Disclaimer: Make your own judgements, make your own decisions. The purpose of this page is to enlighten you, and to teach. This is not a mission of conversion, deconversion, hatred, or any other form of coersion. One should look inward to find the true spiritual self.
So, let's look at the OT:
I find it amazing that the OT is even accepted. What I find more amazing is that a lot of Christians even accept it as literal. Not only are the stories it contains unbelievable, but the principles and precedence it sets are not only inhuman, but frightening. The god of the OT, Yahweh, is vicious and unforgiving. The Halacha obedient Jews are proud to be the only ones who have a special covenant with their god Yahweh. Yahweh, in his book of laws depicts himself as a god, who mandates his people to commit genocide (1Samuel 15:3), fratricide (Exodus 32:27-28), cannibalism (Leviticus 26:29), robbery and theft (Exodus 3:22), to keep slaves (Leviticus 25:44-46), to discriminate against women, to despise children (Leviticus 27:2-8), to demand all gold to be delivered to himself and foster avariciousness (Exodus 25:3). Yahweh is a jealous God (Exodus 20:5), who not only hates all peoples on earth, but even his own Jews (Exodus 33:20). He threatens his own people with annihilation should they turn to Aryan-gods, or try to know him (Deuteronomy 6:15)(Genesis 2:16-17). So, with threats of extermination of his own people, he keeps them fearfully at his side. Yahwehs laws state clearly that Aryan Gods exist.(Genesis 3:22; Deuteronomy 6:16, 32:12). His jealousies then, would appear to stem from the fact that there apparently are 'other gods'. Someone once pointed out to me that the 'cannibalism' that I am alluding to is not 'mandated by God', and they were correct. After further reading, it appears that Yahweh threatened the Israelites that He would
Leviticus 26
27 "`If in spite of this you still do not listen to
me but continue to be hostile toward me,
28 then in my anger I will be
hostile toward you, and I myself will punish you for your sins seven times
over.
29 You will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your
daughters.
30 I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars
and pile your dead bodies on the lifeless forms of your idols, and I will abhor
you.
This is much better I agree. While we are at it, we need to verify the other scriptures that I sited.
First, genocide.
1 Samuel 15
1 Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the LORD sent to
anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the
LORD.
2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: `I will punish the Amalekites
for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from
Egypt.
3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy [1] everything
that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children
and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'"
4 So Saul summoned the
men and mustered them at Telaim--two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten
thousand men from Judah.
5 Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush
in the ravine.
6 Then he said to the Kenites, "Go away, leave the Amalekites
so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all
the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites moved away from
the Amalekites.
7 Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah
to Shur, to the east of Egypt.
8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive,
and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.
This is not the only scripture that denotes a direct command from Yahweh to basically annihilate an entire group of people. Take a look at what Yahweh commanded of Joshua. Here is a summary of what occurred in Joshua Chapter 10:
Josh 10:10-27 With the help of the Lord, Joshua
utterly destroys the Gibeonites.
Josh 10:28 With the Lord's approval, Joshua
utterly destroys the people of Makkedah.
Josh 10:30 With the Lord's
approval, Joshua utterly destroys the Libnahites.
Josh 10:32-33 With the
Lord's approval, Joshua utterly destroys the people of Lachish.
Josh
10:34-35 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly destroys the
Eglonites.
Josh 10:36-37 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly destroys
the Hebronites.
Josh 10:38-39 With the Lord's approval, Joshua utterly
destroys the Debirites.
Josh 10:40 (A summary statement.) "So Joshua
defeated the whole land ...; he left none remaining, but destroyed all that
breathed, as the Lord God of Israel commanded."
Here are direct quotes:
Joshua 10
28 That day Joshua took Makkedah. He put the city and
its king to the sword and totally destroyed everyone in it. He left no
survivors. And he did to the king of Makkedah as he had done to the king of
Jericho.
29 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Makkedah to
Libnah and attacked it.
30 The LORD also gave that city and its king into
Israel's hand. The city and everyone in it Joshua put to the sword. He left no
survivors there. And he did to its king as he had done to the king of
Jericho.
31 Then Joshua and all Israel with him moved on from Libnah to
Lachish; he took up positions against it and attacked it.
32 The LORD handed
Lachish over to Israel, and Joshua took it on the second day. The city and
everyone in it he put to the sword, just as he had done to Libnah.
33
Meanwhile, Horam king of Gezer had come up to help Lachish, but Joshua defeated
him and his army--until no survivors were left.
34 Then Joshua and all
Israel with him moved on from Lachish to Eglon; they took up positions against
it and attacked it.
35 They captured it that same day and put it to the
sword and totally destroyed everyone in it, just as they had done to
Lachish.
36 Then Joshua and all Israel with him went up from Eglon to Hebron
and attacked it.
37 They took the city and put it to the sword, together
with its king, its villages and everyone in it. They left no survivors. Just as
at Eglon, they totally destroyed it and everyone in it.
38 Then Joshua and
all Israel with him turned around and attacked Debir.
39 They took the city,
its king and its villages, and put them to the sword. Everyone in it they
totally destroyed. They left no survivors. They did to Debir and its king as
they had done to Libnah and its king and to Hebron.
40 So Joshua subdued the
whole region, including the hill country, the Negev, the western foothills and
the mountain slopes, together with all their kings. He left no survivors. He
totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had
commanded.
41 Joshua subdued them from Kadesh Barnea to Gaza and from the
whole region of Goshen to Gibeon.
42 All these kings and their lands Joshua
conquered in one campaign, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for
Israel.
Destroying other cultures that did not worship Yahweh as the one true god was a running theme. He was bloodthirsty and relentless. War was a central theme for all major characters in the OT. Let's now move on to fratricide. If you are wondering, Webster defines fratricide as: "one that murders or kills his or her own brother or sister or an individual (as a countryman) having a relationship like that of a brother or sister." Even if these verses are referring to the latter definition, it is still unsettling to hear these words, and to try and fathom this type of activity.
Exodus 32
22 "Do not be angry, my lord," Aaron answered.
"You know how prone these people are to evil.
23 They said to me, `Make us
gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of
Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him.'
24 So I told them, `Whoever
has any gold jewelry, take it off.' Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it
into the fire, and out came this calf!"
25 Moses saw that the people were
running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a
laughingstock to their enemies.
26 So he stood at the entrance to the camp
and said, "Whoever is for the LORD, come to me." And all the Levites rallied to
him.
27 Then he said to them, "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel,
says: `Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp
from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and
neighbor.'"
28 The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three
thousand of the people died.
So Yahweh commanded the Levites to kill his 'brother and friend and neighbor.' Why? Because Yahweh was frustrated with the people. They never learned. After all of the trials and tribulations they had endured, they still strayed from Yahweh. So, in FRUSTRATION, He has them kill all of their family and friends. Once again, this does not sound like an all powerful god. This sounds like a lesser god, which we can touch on in more detail later. Let's move on to robbery and theft, for we have already discussed cannibalism.
Exodus 3
19 But I know that the king of
Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him.
20 So I will
stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will
perform among them. After that, he will let you go.
21 "And I will make the
Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you
will not go empty-handed.
22 Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any
woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing,
which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the
Egyptians."
This is the first verse brought forth here that might be open to interpretation. It states that the Egyptians will be 'favorably disposed' toward the people. Did they give all of their silver and gold to them? I seriously doubt it. I doubt it most especially because of the end, which says they will 'plunder' the Egyptians, or, as the KJV states, "ye shall spoil the Egyptians." Now on to slavery. This one bothers me a great deal. This is a running theme in both the OT and the NT. Although the NT goes into long statements as to how to treat slaves, it never ONCE denounces it. Thus, we have the history we have. How could a god who is for all support such and institution? That has been a long time question I have never answered, and also plays into the theme we will touch on once again about morality and God. What is interesting is the next two themes I mentioned are both dealing with slavery. The discrimination has to do with the price of slaves:
Leviticus 25
"`If one of your
countrymen becomes poor among you and sells himself to you, do not make him
work as a slave.
40 He is to be treated as a hired worker or a temporary
resident among you; he is to work for you until the Year of Jubilee.
41 Then
he and his children are to be released, and he will go back to his own clan and
to the property of his forefathers.
42 Because the Israelites are my
servants, whom I brought out of Egypt, they must not be sold as slaves.
43
Do not rule over them ruthlessly, but fear your God.
44 "`Your male and
female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy
slaves.
45 You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you
and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your
property.
46 You can will them to your children as inherited property and
can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow
Israelites ruthlessly.
47 "`If an alien or a temporary resident among you
becomes rich and one of your countrymen becomes poor and sells himself to the
alien living among you or to a member of the alien's clan,
48 he retains the
right of redemption after he has sold himself. One of his relatives may redeem
him:
49 An uncle or a cousin or any blood relative in his clan may redeem
him. Or if he prospers, he may redeem himself.
50 He and his buyer are to
count the time from the year he sold himself up to the Year of Jubilee. The
price for his release is to be based on the rate paid to a hired man for that
number of years.
51 If many years remain, he must pay for his redemption a
larger share of the price paid for him.
52 If only a few years remain until
the Year of Jubilee, he is to compute that and pay for his redemption
accordingly.
53 He is to be treated as a man hired from year to year; you
must see to it that his owner does not rule over him ruthlessly.
54 "`Even
if he is not redeemed in any of these ways, he and his children are to be
released in the Year of Jubilee,
55 for the Israelites belong to me as
servants. They are my servants, whom I brought out of Egypt. I am the LORD your
God.
Leviticus 27
This last topic is rather interesting,
and widely debated. These verses comment on a touchy subject, 'monotheism'. In
these verses, Yahweh clearly states, "Thou shalt have no other gods...", "Ye
shall not go after other gods...", "...the man is become as one of us..." These
all infer that there are 'other' gods. This is plain and simple language. In
fact, the last verse (Gen 3:22) sounds ironically like the Greek and Roman
accounts. The conversations between Zeus and other gods (esses). Is this what
it really means though? The Christian perspective in hindsite was that this is
evidence of the 'trinity', a concept never fleshed out until the 'Gospel' of
John, which we have already mentioned to have been written ~120 CE. How was
this accounted for before this time? I am not really sure, and am still
studying this issue. What fascinates me is the relationship between this
verse's accepted concept of the Trinity and the others, which repeatedly state
in the OT "For the LORD thy God is a jealous God." This must not correlate to
the Trinity in this case, for why would the Father be jealous of the Son, or of
the Holy Spirit, or vice versa? These contexts which are repeated so often in a
running theme of the OT must refer to 'other' gods. The reply posed by
advocates of the Bible is this however: 'These vereses and references to
'other' gods are pointed out to be 'false' gods, such as graven images." A
point to be considered of course. This does not, however, explain Yahweh's
vicious and vehement demands for monotheistic behavior. For example, if He was
most concerned with people bowing to 'false' gods such as objects, and statues,
then why does he find it so threatening that He must state: "Thou shalt not bow
down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and
fourth generation of them that hate me", or "...lest the anger of the LORD thy
God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth."
These are not the words of someone who wants people to 'stop playing games' and
serve the only God, but are actually the words of a god who fears competition,
and is violently jealous (as He stated). Here are other examples:
Exodus
34
13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their
Asherah poles.
14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is
Jealous, is a jealous God.
15 "Be careful not to make a treaty with those
who live in the land; for when they prostitute themselves to their gods and
sacrifice to them, they will invite you and you will eat their
sacrifices.
Deuteronomy 4
23 Be careful not to forget the covenant of
the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in
the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden.
24 For the LORD your
God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
25 After you have had children and
grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time--if you then become
corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the LORD your God
and provoking him to anger,
Deuteronomy 32
19 The LORD saw this and
rejected them because he was angered by his sons and daughters.
20 "I will
hide my face from them," he said, "and see what their end will be; for they are
a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful.
21 They made me jealous
by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them
envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that
has no understanding.
22 For a fire has been kindled by my wrath, one that
burns to the realm of death below. It will devour the earth and its harvests
and set afire the foundations of the mountains.
23 "I will heap calamities
upon them and spend my arrows against them.
These are examples of
someone who is truly jealous. In modern society, we would fear a person who
said such things in anger against anyone.