Ch2 23 Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God. 24 So God heard their groaning; and God remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them.Moses was born and did a few things but I'll skip ahead to this passage about God. God doesn't actively watch over us. He doesn't care about us in every moment. It wasn't until the sons of Israel cried out that God took notice. He must have momentarily forget about this great covenant he made with some of us since he had to remember it and take notice of them. He wasn't taking notice of the Egyptians and just the Hebrews. God doesn't care about the Egyptians. God doesn't care about all of the people.
Ch3 2 The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. 3 So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then He said, “Do not come near here; remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 He said also, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” Then Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.Here's another spot where I get the funny thought of aliens messing with humans from the biblical times. It'd just take some artificial light to create the illusion of a burning bush. Moses could have been told not to come near there so the trickery isn't given away by closer examination. It could also just be a story.
10 Therefore, come now, and I will send you to Pharaoh, so that you may bring My people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh, and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 And He said, “Certainly I will be with you, and this shall be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God at this mountain.”God wants to deliver his chosen favorites out of Egypt. He doesn't like Egyptians as much. He's a powerful guy but he decides to use Moses to get this done. Couldn't God have just done some miraculous stuff directly? Nope, God usually gets stuff done with the hands of a man. If a man is needed to deliver his people then is God an important part of the story? If the miracles are embellishments and this is really a story of Moses as a leader then God isn't an integral part of the story.
14 God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” 15 God, furthermore, said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is My name forever, and this is My memorial-name to all generations.The footnote for I AM says "Related to the name of God, YHWH, rendered Lord, which is derived from the verb HAYAH, to be." God says he's the God of Abraham and the line of people through Isaac and Jacob. This is his name forever. He doesn't say he's the God for all of humanity. I don't know why believers try to convert people not descended from Jacob since he's not everyone's God.
16 Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt. 17 So I said, I will bring you up out of the affliction of Egypt to the land of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey.”’ 18 They will pay heed to what you say; and you with the elders of Israel will come to the king of Egypt and you will say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So now, please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’God is the god of the Hebrews. He's not the god of the Egyptians or presumably large numbers of other people on the planet who aren't Hebrew.
19 But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go, except under compulsion. 20 So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My miracles which I shall do in the midst of it; and after that he will let you go. 21 I will grant this people favor in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. 22 But every woman shall ask of her neighbor and the woman who lives in her house, articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and you will put them on your sons and daughters. Thus you will plunder the Egyptians.”God will strike Egypt to let the Hebrews go. He'll also make sure they're not empty-handed so they'll get to plunder the Egyptians when they gain their freedom. God's a great guy but only to the Hebrews. Everyone else should watch out for the God of the Hebrews.
Ch4 21 The Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I said to you, ‘Let My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.”’”God can control the Pharoah but he decides he'll harden his heart so he won't let the people go. Why not just soften his heart so he does? Instead he wants his heart hardened so his firstborn son needs to be killed. Ridiculous! If you have power over someone's heart then do the right thing to make it better. God's a jerk again when it'd be so easy to be a loving god.
Ch5 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, otherwise He will fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”God is the the God of the Hebrews. He isn't the god of the Egyptians or anyone else if that phrase is correct. This loving god demands sacrifices or he will fall upon his people with pestilence or with a sword. He seems like such a wonderful god.
Ch6 2 God spoke further to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord; 3 and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name, Lord, I did not make Myself known to them. 4 I also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they sojourned. 5 Furthermore I have heard the groaning of the sons of Israel, because the Egyptians are holding them in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. 6 Say, therefore, to the sons of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from their bondage. I will also redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. 7 Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your God; and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. 8 I will bring you to the land which I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and I will give it to you for a possession; I am the Lord.’” 9 So Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses on account of their despondency and cruel bondage.I will take you for my people and I will be your god. This isn't the god of everyone. This is the God of the sons of Israel. If you're not descended from the sons of Israel then why should you follow this god?
20 Amram married his father’s sister Jochebed, and she bore him Aaron and Moses; and the length of Amram’s life was one hundred and thirty-seven years.Wait, what? Moses' mother was his father's aunt? Yet another chosen representative of God with a weird family history. Most of the important characters don't come from a simple coupling of man and woman who are unrelated and decide to marry which is supposed to be the biblical type of marriage and parenting. Apparently you're supposed to marry in the family and have children with extra wives and handmaids as needed.
Ch7 8 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Work a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” 10 So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as the Lord had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts. 12 For each one threw down his staff and they turned into serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.Well look at that! The magicians of Egypt can perform the exact same miracle with their secret arts. The Egyptians also had their own gods so it appears the Lord isn't the only god or the only way to work these miracles. When I was a Christian it was often presented that miracles only occur from the Abrahamic God but her's the Egyptians doing the same tricks. It's the Bible so the Lord's miracle swallowed up the Egyptian's miracles. These stories reveal more when you look at them with a critical mind instead of blind faith.
Ch8 13 The Lord did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts, and the fields. 14 So they piled them in heaps, and the land became foul.Those poor frogs. Who would slaughter all of these creatures of God? Oh yeah, God did it.
Ch11 4 Moses said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘About midnight I am going out into the midst of Egypt, 5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the slave girl who is behind the millstones; all the firstborn of the cattle as well. 6 Moreover, there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been before and such as shall never be again. 7 But against any of the sons of Israel a dog will not even bark, whether against man or beast, that you may understand how the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’ 8 All these your servants will come down to me and bow themselves before me, saying, ‘Go out, you and all the people who follow you,’ and after that I will go out.” And he went out from Pharaoh in hot anger.God kills all of the firstborn of the guilty and the innocent among the Egyptians. What a wonderful and loving God of all of the people of Earth. Well, except for the Egyptians. God says screw the Egyptians because God intentionally hardened the Pharaoh's heart back in Chapter 4 for the expressed purpose of killing the firstborn. God caused all of this to have to go to this extreme.
Ch12 11 Now you shall eat it in this manner: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste—it is the Lord’s Passover. 12 For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord. 13 The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you live; and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.The Lord needs a sign on the house to know who not to kill. That's after the very particular instructions on preparing and eating a lamb and using the blood as the sign to passover their house. God doesn't know his own people without blood on two doorposts? It's a strange and unbelievable requirement.
14 ‘Now this day will be a memorial to you, and you shall celebrate it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations you are to celebrate it as a permanent ordinance. 15 Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, but on the first day you shall remove leaven from your houses; for whoever eats anything leavened from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day you shall have a holy assembly, and another holy assembly on the seventh day; no work at all shall be done on them, except what must be eaten by every person, that alone may be prepared by you. 17 You shall also observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt; therefore you shall observe this day throughout your generations as a permanent ordinance. 18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. 19 Seven days there shall be no leaven found in your houses; for whoever eats what is leavened, that person shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is an alien or a native of the land. 20 You shall not eat anything leavened; in all your dwellings you shall eat unleavened bread.’”Enough about the unleavened bread! Twice it's said that whoever eats anything leavened during the feast then that person shall be cut off from Israel. I wonder how many descendants of Israel have violated this and how few people are left who haven't been cut off. I'm sure many people have committed the simple act of eating the wrong kind of bread at the wrong time of the year. This seems really serious and really silly. Does this matter at all to those who aren't children of Israel?
29 Now it came about at midnight that the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle. 30 Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead.Lovely. This God is obviously a wonderful God that he even killed "the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon." Talk about adding insult to injury. The cattle too? They don't even understand what's going on with the Hebrews so why punish them?
33 The Egyptians urged the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We will all be dead.” 34 So the people took their dough before it was leavened, with their kneading bowls bound up in the clothes on their shoulders.They've been told repeatedly that they will become free of the Egyptians but they're in such a hurry that it must be noted that everyone took their dough before it was leavened.
9 They baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into cakes of unleavened bread. For it had not become leavened, since they were driven out of Egypt and could not delay, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.Here's the reason again for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Every household had the same cycle for making bread so all of their dough was unleavened. This story really focuses on a weird detail and then sets up a feast to cut off and exclude people from Israel if they mess up the feast.
43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover: no foreigner is to eat of it; 44 but every man’s slave purchased with money, after you have circumcised him, then he may eat of it. 45 A sojourner or a hired servant shall not eat of it. 46 It is to be eaten in a single house; you are not to bring forth any of the flesh outside of the house, nor are you to break any bone of it. 47 All the congregation of Israel are to celebrate this. 48 But if a stranger sojourns with you, and celebrates the Passover to the Lord, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near to celebrate it; and he shall be like a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person may eat of it. 49 The same law shall apply to the native as to the stranger who sojourns among you.”I get annoyed every time God casually refers to slaves as a normal thing and then gives a rule specifically for handling slaves. This whole passage about what slaves, hired servants, and strangers can do and the rules for if they're circumcised or not is essentially crazy talk. Who can possibly believe God really wanted these rules and said these words?
Ch13 11 “Now when the Lord brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you, 12 you shall devote to the Lord the first offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to the Lord. 13 But every first offspring of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14 And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘With a powerful hand the Lord brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15 It came about, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the Lord killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to the Lord the males, the first offspring of every womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’The first offspring of a donkey shall be redeemed with a lamb but if I don't then I shall break its neck. That rule sounds good and holy so let's follow it.
Ch14 4 Thus I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.It wasn't convoluted enough how the Hebrews escaped the Egyptians. God again hardens the Pharoah's heart to torment the Hebrews and chase after them. This says the change of heart is caused by God. God was a jerk even though he ends up parting the sea and drowning the Egyptians.
Ch19 10 The Lord also said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments; 11 and let them be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 You shall set bounds for the people all around, saying, ‘Beware that you do not go up on the mountain or touch the border of it; whoever touches the mountain shall surely be put to death. 13 No hand shall touch him, but he shall surely be stoned or shot through; whether beast or man, he shall not live.’ When the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain.”These constraints and bounds for the people regarding the mountain where God will be seen make me think of a magician who needs the audience to be in a certain area to not see a trick of perspective from the wrong angle. Once the magic trick is ready then the ram's horn sounds to let the audience know they can see the show.
18 Now Mount Sinai was all in smoke because the Lord descended upon it in fire; and its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. 19 When the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him with thunder. 20 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain; and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 21 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down, warn the people, so that they do not break through to the Lord to gaze, and many of them perish. 22 Also let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, or else the Lord will break out against them.” 23 Moses said to the Lord, “The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for You warned us, saying, ‘Set bounds about the mountain and consecrate it.’” 24 Then the Lord said to him, “Go down and come up again, you and Aaron with you; but do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, or He will break forth upon them.” 25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.This is a magic show which can't be witnessed more closely. Trust in the storyteller when he says Moses faithfully relayed the words of God because it was too dangerous for anybody but him and Aaron to see God. There were two witnesses so it must be a true story, right?
Ch20 Then God spoke all these words, saying,The wonderful Ten Commandments starts with all of the demands of the self-described jealous God. God is insecure and his first priority is to not have other gods, make no idols, or take the name of the Lord in vain. I've done that last one a good bit and I'm left unpunished. I never keep the sabbath holy and do various work things and I'm unpunished for that too. Maybe it's because I'm not one of the people who was brought out of Egypt and the house of slavery. God wasn't talking to me or my ancestors.
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing loving kindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.This is an absolute requirement without consideration for terrible or evil parents who do not deserve to be honored. What if your father was the most evil person, killed your mother, and raped you? Should that father be honored?
13 “You shall not murder.The four good and useful commandments which match human morality and guidance from pretty much every other religion. Four out of ten isn't a good track record and it doesn't make for a good legal system or framework for a government.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”We end the list with thought crimes. We shall not covet or desire various things that don't belong to us as if our desires in our minds can be controlled. This is on the same list as murdering and stealing so I guess this is serious stuff.
The quick recap is that God is jealous so there's several things spiteful to God that we can't do which are important to cover before getting to murder, adultery, theft, and lying. After that are a few rules against desiring what you don't have and breaking those rules are only in your thoughts. It doesn't look like a perfect list from a perfectly logical intellect. Most elementary school children could make a better list of ethical behavior.
18 All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was.
22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. 23 You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. 24 You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. 25 If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. 26 And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’That alien with thunder, lightening, trumpets (loud speaker), and smoke really scared those people. I think it's funny to think of this as a story of an alien because it does kind of fit. God again says he wants sacrifices of God's creatures as burnt offerings. Is our God really that primitive in his desires of us? What would be the purpose of such a request? It's another of the million clues that this was written by man for man's purpose. This isn't an obvious retelling of words from an intelligent deity.
Ch 21 “Now these are the ordinances which you are to set before them: 2 “If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment. 3 If he comes alone, he shall go out alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall go out alone. 5 But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.The great loving God instructs us in slavery of our fellow humans.
7 “If a man sells his daughter as a female slave, she is not to go free as the male slaves do. 8 If she is displeasing in the eyes of her master who designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed. He does not have authority to sell her to a foreign people because of his unfairness to her. 9 If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her according to the custom of daughters. 10 If he takes to himself another woman, he may not reduce her food, her clothing, or her conjugal rights. 11 If he will not do these three things for her, then she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.Here's some special rules for your female slave. You can designate her for you or your son. If you take her for yourself and then take another woman then you can't reduce her food, clothing, or her conjugal or marital rights. Apparently you have to keep having sex with her even if you take another woman.
Exodus continues with various rules for personal injuries such as as killers shall be put to death.
16 “He who kidnaps a man, whether he sells him or he is found in his possession, shall surely be put to death. 17 “He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.Kidnapping and cursing your parents is punishable by death too. It's a popular punishment under God's laws.
20 “If a man strikes his male or female slave with a rod and he dies at his hand, he shall be punished. 21 If, however, he survives a day or two, no vengeance shall be taken; for he is his property.Oh wait, slaves are just property so killing one is punished, but it isn't punished with death.
26 “If a man strikes the eye of his male or female slave, and destroys it, he shall let him go free on account of his eye. 27 And if he knocks out a tooth of his male or female slave, he shall let him go free on account of his tooth.Don't beat your slaves too badly or you'll have to set them free.
Ch 22 16 “If a man seduces a virgin who is not engaged, and lies with her, he must pay a dowry for her to be his wife. 17 If her father absolutely refuses to give her to him, he shall pay money equal to the dowry for virgins.There's some extra sundry laws that are kind of wild. You can seduce a virgin and pay a dowry for her to be your wife or if her father won't give her up then you just pay for her virginity like some kind of prostitute. Oh, and don't allow a sorceress to live if you know how to identify a sorceress. If you sacrifice to any god other than the Lord then you shall be utterly destroyed.
18 “You shall not allow a sorceress to live.
19 “Whoever lies with an animal shall surely be put to death.
20 “He who sacrifices to any god, other than to the Lord alone, shall be utterly destroyed.
21 “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 22 You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. 23 If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; 24 and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.
25 “If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest.Wait a minute, there's lots of believers acting wrong and oppressing strangers to countries like the United States. I've been poor and charged interest by so-called believers. They're not following their rules!
Ch 23 9 “You shall not oppress a stranger, since you yourselves know the feelings of a stranger, for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.The book isn't perfect or concise. Here we have a repetition of not oppressing a stranger which was a rule in the last chapter in sentence 21.
12 “Six days you are to do your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor so that your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as your stranger, may refresh themselves. 13 Now concerning everything which I have said to you, be on your guard; and do not mention the name of other gods, nor let them be heard from your mouth.The son of your female slave can rest? What about the female slaves or other male slaves? I thought slavery was a bad thing. Apparently not to God. The King James Version says the "son of your handmaid," but why is the son of your handmaid working for you unless this really is about slavery? This translation is probably more accurate even though it isn't politically correct anymore.
23 For My angel will go before you and bring you in to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; and I will completely destroy them. 24 You shall not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds; but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their sacred pillars in pieces. 25 But you shall serve the Lord your God, and He will bless your bread and your water; and I will remove sickness from your midst. 26 There shall be no one miscarrying or barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days. 27 I will send My terror ahead of you, and throw into confusion all the people among whom you come, and I will make all your enemies turn their backs to you. 28 I will send hornets ahead of you so that they will drive out the Hivites, the Canaanites, and the Hittites before you. 29 I will not drive them out before you in a single year, that the land may not become desolate and the beasts of the field become too numerous for you. 30 I will drive them out before you little by little, until you become fruitful and take possession of the land. 31 I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. 32 You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. 33 They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”This is another fine example of a loving god for all of the people of Earth, or not. God will completely destroy these other people. He won't drive them out too quickly (I thought he said completely destroy?) so his chosen people don't get too much land all at once. God sometimes says any other gods are false gods but he doesn't do that here. He just says they shouldn't make a covenant with the other people's gods or serve their gods.
Ch 24 Then He said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and seventy of the elders of Israel, and you shall worship at a distance. 2 Moses alone, however, shall come near to the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor shall the people come up with him.”Here's another fun scene for imagining this as a story of an alien encounter. The 70 elders shouldn't get too close and see what's really going on.
5 He sent young men of the sons of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to the Lord. 6 Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7 Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” 8 So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant, which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”More animal sacrifices as a peace offering to the Lord with blood sprinkled on the people. Why aren't religious people doing this anymore?
9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. 11 Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank.We're back to where I like to imagine this as an alien encounter with the pavement of sapphire being some part of an alien ship. The idea amuses me and it's as plausible as many other things in the book.
Ch 25 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Tell the sons of Israel to raise a contribution for Me; from every man whose heart moves him you shall raise My contribution. 3 This is the contribution which you are to raise from them: gold, silver and bronze, 4 blue, purple and scarlet material, fine linen, goat hair, 5 rams’ skins dyed red, porpoise skins, acacia wood, 6 oil for lighting, spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense, 7 onyx stones and setting stones for the ephod and for the breastpiece. 8 Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them. 9 According to all that I am going to show you, as the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furniture, just so you shall construct it.What the heck does God want with porpoise skins? Here he's wanting a sanctuary built for him so that he may dwell among the Israelites. He'll give them the plans but they have to do all of the work. Couldn't he create his own house since he created an entire universe? This is followed by very specific instructions for building the Ark of the Covenant, Table of Showbread, Golden Lampstand, Curtains of Linen and Goat's Hair, Boards and Sockets, The Veil and Screen, Bronze Alter, Court of the Tabernacle, and the Garments of the Priests. It turns out the porpoise skins are a part of the tent covering along with ram's skins.
This whole next bit should be read for the detailed treatment of god's creatures and requirements for holy garments. I don't know how anyone can say this any different than the other mythologies of the time. How can anyone take this stuff seriously as a religion? How can this kind of stuff be believed in our modern scientific age?
The SacrificesThe crazy specific sacrifices don't end there.
10 “Then you shall bring the bull before the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the bull. 11 You shall slaughter the bull before the Lord at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 12 You shall take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar with your finger; and you shall pour out all the blood at the base of the altar. 13 You shall take all the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and offer them up in smoke on the altar. 14 But the flesh of the bull and its hide and its refuse, you shall burn with fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
15 “You shall also take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram; 16 and you shall slaughter the ram and shall take its blood and sprinkle it around on the altar. 17 Then you shall cut the ram into its pieces, and wash its entrails and its legs, and put them with its pieces and its head. 18 You shall offer up in smoke the whole ram on the altar; it is a burnt offering to the Lord: it is a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord.
19 “Then you shall take the other ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands on the head of the ram. 20 You shall slaughter the ram, and take some of its blood and put it on the lobe of Aaron’s right ear and on the lobes of his sons’ right ears and on the thumbs of their right hands and on the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the rest of the blood around on the altar. 21 Then you shall take some of the blood that is on the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and on his garments and on his sons and on his sons’ garments with him; so he and his garments shall be consecrated, as well as his sons and his sons’ garments with him.
22 “You shall also take the fat from the ram and the fat tail, and the fat that covers the entrails and the lobe of the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them and the right thigh (for it is a ram of ordination), 23 and one cake of bread and one cake of bread mixed with oil and one wafer from the basket of unleavened bread which is set before the Lord; 24 and you shall put all these in the hands of Aaron and in the hands of his sons, and shall wave them as a wave offering before the Lord. 25 You shall take them from their hands, and offer them up in smoke on the altar on the burnt offering for a soothing aroma before the Lord; it is an offering by fire to the Lord.
26 “Then you shall take the breast of Aaron’s ram of ordination, and wave it as a wave offering before the Lord; and it shall be your portion. 27 You shall consecrate the breast of the wave offering and the thigh of the heave offering which was waved and which was offered from the ram of ordination, from the one which was for Aaron and from the one which was for his sons. 28 It shall be for Aaron and his sons as their portion forever from the sons of Israel, for it is a heave offering; and it shall be a heave offering from the sons of Israel from the sacrifices of their peace offerings, even their heave offering to the Lord.
29 “The holy garments of Aaron shall be for his sons after him, that in them they may be anointed and ordained. 30 For seven days the one of his sons who is priest in his stead shall put them on when he enters the tent of meeting to minister in the holy place.
38 “Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one year old lambs each day, continuously. 39 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; 40 and there shall be one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering with one lamb. 41 The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the Lord. 42 It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the tent of meeting before the Lord, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there. 43 I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My glory. 44 I will consecrate the tent of meeting and the altar; I will also consecrate Aaron and his sons to minister as priests to Me. 45 I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God. 46 They shall know that I am the Lord their God who brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might dwell among them; I am the Lord their God.God dwelt among the sons of Israel and requested a continual burnt offering before the people would meet with him and he would speak to them. I don't think all of these specific requests like some entitled rock star sounds like an actual creator of the universe. It reads to me like they were scammed by someone claiming to be a god. It moves on to more crazy requests about incense and oil.
Ch 31 12 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 13 “But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely observe My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you. 14 Therefore you are to observe the sabbath, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day there is a sabbath of complete rest, holy to the Lord; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall surely be put to death. 16 So the sons of Israel shall observe the sabbath, to celebrate the sabbath throughout their generations as a perpetual covenant.’ 17 It is a sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed.”The seventh day as sabbath is so serious that anyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death. If you work on the sabbath then you shall be cut off from among the people. Oh wait, the very next sentence says whoever does any work on the sabbath shall surely be put to death. I guess it isn't technically a contradiction since death does cut you off from the people. Clarity isn't a strong point here. The important thing to note is this is forever so we should start putting a LOT of people to death for working on the sabbath. Moses is given two tablets of the testimony at this time.
18 When He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.
Ch 32 7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go down at once, for your people, whom you brought up from the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They have quickly turned aside from the way which I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf, and have worshiped it and have sacrificed to it and said, ‘This is your god, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt!’” 9 The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. 10 Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them; and I will make of you a great nation.”God is quickly replaced by a golden calf even though his people were just visiting with him and speaking to him in chapter 25. God sends Moses away so he can get all pissed off about it and says he will destroy the obstinate people. If these are his chosen people above all others then he picked poorly.
11 Then Moses entreated the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does Your anger burn against Your people whom You have brought out from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians speak, saying, ‘With evil intent He brought them out to kill them in the mountains and to destroy them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your burning anger and change Your mind about doing harm to Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants to whom You swore by Yourself, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heavens, and all this land of which I have spoken I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people.The all-knowing all-powerful loving god was so angry at his chosen people that Moses had to change God's mind from destroying them. Moses was just a man and he changed God's mind. Sure, likely story.
19 It came about, as soon as Moses came near the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing; and Moses’ anger burned, and he threw the tablets from his hands and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. 20 He took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire, and ground it to powder, and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.Moses destroys the first tablets of the testimony with God's words on them. They may have been really great words, the best words. We may never know because those chosen people sucked and didn't deserve them. Aaron says not to blame him because Moses knows the people were prone to evil.
21 Then Moses said to Aaron, “What did this people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?” 22 Aaron said, “Do not let the anger of my lord burn; you know the people yourself, that they are prone to evil. 23 For they said to me, ‘Make a god for us who will go before us; for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.’ 24 I said to them, ‘Whoever has any gold, let them tear it off.’ So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf.”
25 Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies— 26 then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. 27 He said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.’” 28 So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. 29 Then Moses said, “Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord—for every man has been against his son and against his brother—in order that He may bestow a blessing upon you today.”The wonderful chosen people are cut down again by about 3,000 men because they killed the ones that were out of control. Do you really want to be associated with this kind of god and these kinds of followers?
30 On the next day Moses said to the people, “You yourselves have committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the Lord, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.” 31 Then Moses returned to the Lord, and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves. 32 But now, if You will, forgive their sin—and if not, please blot me out from Your book which You have written!” 33 The Lord said to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book. 34 But go now, lead the people where I told you. Behold, My angel shall go before you; nevertheless in the day when I punish, I will punish them for their sin.” 35 Then the Lord smote the people, because of what they did with the calf which Aaron had made.The 3,000 killed weren't enough apparently since God smote some more people for worshiping a golden calf. He certainly is a jealous and unforgiving god.
Ch 33 7 Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, a good distance from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the Lord would go out to the tent of meeting which was outside the camp. 8 And it came about, whenever Moses went out to the tent, that all the people would arise and stand, each at the entrance of his tent, and gaze after Moses until he entered the tent. 9 Whenever Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent; and the Lord would speak with Moses. 10 When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would arise and worship, each at the entrance of his tent. 11 Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend.God and Moses would speak face to face just as a man speaks to his friend, but only after a pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent. I still think it's funny to imagine this is the work of some alien messing around with his spaceship.
20 But He said, “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” 21 Then the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by Me, and you shall stand there on the rock; 22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will take My hand away and you shall see My back, but My face shall not be seen.”God and Moses would speak face to face but now God says Moses can't see his face and live. Which one is right?
Ch 34 Now the Lord said to Moses, “Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered.Ah, so the words of the testimony aren't forever lost to us because the Lord will repeat them.
6 Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; 7 who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”The Lord is still going to go with calling himself compassionate and gracious right before saying he'll punish the guilty and their offspring to the fourth generation? If he's really slow to anger then that anger boils over for generations. I'm sure my great-grandchildren should be held accountable for my actions. That sounds smart and wise.
10 Then God said, “Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles which have not been produced in all the earth nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you. 11 “Be sure to observe what I am commanding you this day: behold, I am going to drive out the Amorite before you, and the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. 12 Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. 13 But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim 14 —for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God— 15 otherwise you might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and they would play the harlot with their gods and sacrifice to their gods, and someone might invite you to eat of his sacrifice, 16 and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might play the harlot with their gods and cause your sons also to play the harlot with their gods. 17 You shall make for yourself no molten gods.What's this? This is is the covenant that was destroyed by Moses and is now restored? The Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. The first offspring from every womb belongs to him with sacrifices and broken necks. Also, not boiling young goats in its mother's milk is important enough to carve in stone. What happened to the spoken Ten Commandments in chapter 20? This says he wrote "the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments" after giving this written account of the covenant. Are the Ten Commandments the same thing as this covenant or different things? Maybe these are commandments governing the Ten Commandments. Either way, this is confusing though I do agree with the importance of goat boiling rules.
18 “You shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread. For seven days you are to eat unleavened bread, as I commanded you, at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in the month of Abib you came out of Egypt.
19 “The first offspring from every womb belongs to Me, and all your male livestock, the first offspring from cattle and sheep. 20 You shall redeem with a lamb the first offspring from a donkey; and if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck. You shall redeem all the firstborn of your sons. None shall appear before Me empty-handed.
21 “You shall work six days, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during plowing time and harvest you shall rest. 22 You shall celebrate the Feast of Weeks, that is, the first fruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. 23 Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord God, the God of Israel. 24 For I will drive out nations before you and enlarge your borders, and no man shall covet your land when you go up three times a year to appear before the Lord your God.
25 “You shall not offer the blood of My sacrifice with leavened bread, nor is the sacrifice of the Feast of the Passover to be left over until morning.
26 “You shall bring the very first of the first fruits of your soil into the house of the Lord your God.
“You shall not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.”
27 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” 28 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did not eat bread or drink water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
29 It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. 30 So when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him.I'm still imagining Moses speaking with an alien and the alien has some sort of radiation which makes Moses' face glow. The book moves on to the building of all that stuff for the tabernacle detailed about many chapters ago including the porpoise skin.
The Glory of the Lord
Ch 40 34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 Throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; 37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. 38 For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.Yep, I'm still thinking they have an alien messing with them by putting a cloud over the tent. Thus ends the story of Exodus.
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