Numbers 14-17 and Psalm 90

I need to first take care of a little housekeeping business.....

A. I'm slightly disappointed that none of you boys mentioned the new layout

B. I want to invite the new readers as well as the ones who have been following us for a while to put your two cents in. We welcome your comments. I would especially like it if there were other skeptics out there.....People not 100% sure either way.

Let us begin.....

As I sat on my couch this morning, finishing up my reading I said out loud, much to the disdain of TuTu, my cat "COME ON, MAN!"

I don't know who I side with on this though. First, I find it odd that God is taking advice from Moses. Isn't he all- knowing? All-powerful? Why is Moses having to tell him to breathe deeply and count to ten, so to speak? I found that whole conversation unsettling. If He is so out of control with is wrath, what does that mean?

But I totally get why He's mad. I get it. Sorta. That's always been my problem with taking a really strong stand on any issue, I can ALWAYS see both sides.

I feel the Israelites. If they want to go back to Egypt and be slaves...whatever. I'm kinda with them. Why would I want to live in this "wilderness" (which btw gives the impression that its a really cool place like the Appalachians or something), fight giants and constantly fear that if I say or feel, or think the wrong thing that I'm going to be swallowed by the Earth. Man, THAT is pressure. I would have surly gone with the first batch.

But then I can absolutely see God and Moses point too. WHAT else do these people want Him to do to prove that he is in control?! Really? Seriously? IF I had not gone with the first group into Sheol, then I hope I would have been wise enough to just shut up and go with the flow. He has literally SPOKEN TO THEM. I'm not sure I buy this amount of ignorance.

I just can't wait till all of this is over, its a bit too Jerry Springer BC. All this back and forth, Moses and Aaron always falling on their faces, people dropping like flies, all the arguing, "Well, He told ME this!....Well, I heard Aaron say he was "all that", ooops there goes Moses again trying to calm the Lord down..."

I left today's reading feeling very frustrated. (and to top it all off, I saw tell of a "female" goat...not even called a she-goat! and oh how I dearly love the term she-goat, why did that also get taken from me....why?) FRUSTRATED

Leviticus 25-27

Looks like we're having a party folks...not just any party either, but a JUBILEE. I would say its a once in a lifetime party, but for theses folks it could very well be a 3 or4 in a lifetime party.



Here we have a sort of Sabbath year every 49 or 50 years. When looking this up for further info, I found a some confusion on whether it was actually to be on the 49th or the 50th year. I may need some clarification on this whole shindig.


So in this year you allow your farm land to rest. I think your debts get forgiven, and indentured servants are freed. I could totally get into this, the way I figure it, I could stave off the student loan people for at least 45 yrs. I could pay them a little here, a little there; in 50 yrs, taa daa I would be free.

Then we learn about what happens if you DON'T follow these rules that God has set forth. All sorts of bad stuff happens. Your fields won't produce, it won't rain, wild animals will kill your kids, you will be given to the enemy....it goes on and on.

I thought we learned earlier though that it wasn't about God punishing the bad guys and rewarding the good guys. I was told that's not the way it works. But here it says pretty bluntly that if you do good, good will happen to you. If you do bad, bad will happen to you.

He even says that He WILL NOT smell the fragrance of your sweet and soothing odors......I'm pretty sure, He means business. Do as I say or you will suffer greatly, I will break your pride, your children will suffer...its all just really bad.

This leads my thinking to this questions. Don't you think people who super duper sin, and claim to be Christians, don't really believe deep down in any of it. I'm just thinking if you really, really believed in this stuff, why would you EVER do anthing wrong.

Leviticus 14-18

Let me start of by saying....Let's all close out eyes for just a moment and try with all of our God given might, to imagine what it must have smelled like around that alter of theirs.

blood+ burnt flesh+ middle eastern heat= ?

As I began my readings this morning I at first was greeted with a big giant YAWN....more with the leapers? really?

Burn this, shave that, wash yourself...yadda, yadda, yadda

But then ladies and gentlemen we get to the good stuff....bodies oozing discharge. Discharge of all kinds...on chairs, in beds, on saddles...

So it would seem when a man discharges semen on a woman, they must wash and burn and sin offer? Be it in bed, a chair, or even a saddle.

It would also seem that when a woman has her period she mush wash and burn and sin offer.

Not only must the sex partners or the grumpy, bloated woman wash, burn and sin offer, but so must anyone who touches them.

Therefore are we to conclude that sex (doesn't specify between a married or unmarried couple) and having your period are both sins in which atonement needs to be made?

I get that they are both unclean, who doesn't want a long hot shower after either of these, but I don't get why go so far as to say we need to atone for them. They are both natural and needed for procreation?

We hear a gain from Aaron who sorta gets told he better tremble a bit when entering the Holy of Holies. And we read about all the sacrifices he must make because his sons were such nimrods. Lots of blood, burning, and washing...

Then more stuff about killing animals. You kill something to eat, first you must bring it to the tent and offer it to the Lord. He then keeps some of it and gives it as a gift back to you....I'm telling you what, I'm not sure I would have made it through all of this. I don't know how these people had any time to discharge semen? Its a wonder they didn't die out all together.

Alas, we get to the big one Chapter 18. Again though I'm not totally sure they needed all the sex rules. Maybe that's what He was doing. Like how you try to keep your teenagers involved, keep them busy, so they don't have time to get into trouble.

We learn you don't have sex with your father (sadly too late for Lot's girls), your mother, your aunt, uncle, cousins, your sister, brother, sister in law, brother in law, neighbors wife, sisters, a mother and her daughter....

You shall not have sex with a woman on her period, you shall not sacrifice your children to the fire god (not sure where that came from?) and at last, the one we all know and love.......a man shall not lay with a man as he would a woman...

So....basically the way I see it, having sex with a woman on her period, sacrificing your kids to the fire god and gay sex are one in the same. Not only that but how many people throughout history have married their cousins?

I'm not trying to be a smart wild ass, I'm just trying to see the difference. Again, we have held on to very few of theses Old Testament rules....so why this one?

Leviticus 5-7

Well back to the reason we are here, my Bible reading for the day.

We have:
12 burnt entrails
11 rams without blemish
10 shekels of silver
9 sprinkles of blood
8 sin offerings
7 pieces of unleavened bread
6 young pigeons
5 golden calfs (oh...wait that was earlier, we've gotten rid of those)
4 parts of an ephah of fine flour
3 cereal offerings
2 TURTLEDOVES (ok so this ENTIRE joke was just so I could use that!)
1 sweet and satisfying odor

Then we get more blood and and more sin forgiveness....nothing really new in today's reading.

Since I don't have anything really to discuss, let me just share my favorite part of today's reading (being a vegetarian, I especially love it)

ready........go

And he shall offer all its fat, the fat tail and the fat that covers the entrails, and the two kidneys and the fat thats on them at the loins, and the lobe or appendages of the liver, which he shall take away with the kidneys

I pretty much threw up a little after reading that part, who knew the liver had a lobe anyway....blahhh

Leviticus 1-4

With this reading we get all sorts of ways to atone for one's sins.

You are given several options and I'm not sure but I think ones no better or worse than the other.

You have your burnt offering, which involves A LOT of blood, blood smearing, sprinkling...etc

Then you have your cereal offering, which I like MUCH better. You can offer it raw, you can bake it, fry in a pan, it can be covered with oil... this seems like a way better choice for me. With the added benefit that Aaron and his sons get left-overs.

The smell of the cereal is JUST as sweet and satisfying to the Lord, so I say let the animals live.

Basically that's it for this first reading from Leviticus.

What I want to point out is the fact that we can look at these offerings and they seem archaic and strange. So what sets these crazy traditions apart from the ones we still hold on to. Are we picking and choosing?

We choose the 10 commandments, we choose the explanations for what we do when someone does__blank__ to us.

We do not choose burnt offerings for sin atonement, we do not choose to be still on the Sabbath (for the most part), we use baking powder liberally at all times....so who's to say what we hold onto and what we let go of?

...but I'm going to venture a guess its got a little something to do with Jesus (read with the Spanish pronunciation, please).

Exodus 25-29

Again with today's reading, the specifics simply slayed me. The movie rolling in my mind of Moses trying to keep up with those directions had me rolling with laughter.


My "Believer on Retainer" told me I didn't really have to read all of those specifics about the building of the ark. I have to admit though, I was intrigued by the specific directions.

It does tend to lend to the authenticity of the Bible. Like, why would anyone leave that in after all of these years if it weren't important. I just keep thinking that through its many writes and rewrites, someone would have said

"can't we just leave all this useless drivel out, no one reads it anyway"

And because its still here, well to me that sort of says something; what is says I'm not quite sure.



I wish a had a video of myself reading about the blood and the mutilation of the bull, it would probably be quite funny.

The details, are confusing, again to me. I mean what is all the "fat that covers the entrails, and the appendage that is on the liver...." about?! and the blood! They are dabbing blood, pouring blood, sprinkling blood, pretty much everything but drinking blood.

The only sense I can make out of any of it, is like, its a big test. An obstacle course, to prove your love for the Lord?

I know I'm not suppose to be trying to figure it all out. Sometimes however, thats hard for me to turn off. At times I can be a bit like a 4yr old. I want to know why? Why this? Why that? Why?

I must say that I do like that the smell if the bull's entrails burning is a smell that is sweet and satisfying to the Lord.

I enjoy that visual.

Exodus 18-24

At last we make it to the climax of Moses great journey.

He receives the Big 10 no-no's and the people he's been leading actually hear from the Big Guy himself.

As a teacher I relate this to having the principal actually come into class to speak to the kids about their behavior. You say something over and over and the don't listen, so you push that button on the wall and say "Can you have Mr. Whatshisname come to my classroom please." Just like the people who hear God speak the kids are like "OK!! We'll listen to Mrs. Stone, you don't have to come down again!!"

The 10 Commandments are exactly what I expected them to be. We are all familiar with these. They are at the heart of our justice system even today. What I found terribly interesting is all the stuff that followed and how crazy specific it was.

I think one of them went something like this,

"If you have a she- goat and you allow your she- goat to wander into the field of another she- goat and your she- goat looks at the other with disdain, and it happens to fall on the first day of the third month and the owner of the second she- goat likes his toast butter side up, then the first she- goat must give her milk to make cheese for the party of the offspring of the owner of the second; if the attendees of the party find the cheese in the least little bit repugnant then .......somebody must die."

I may have the wording a bit off, but it was along those lines.

The Big 10, I get and I see why they are important and long lasting. They are still relevant today, however I want to know what's with all of that other? Was that from God as well? If so, why be so specific?

I have a point and a question, but I need the clarification first,I shall wait to hear from Jamie, as his clarification might answer my question....

Exodus 14-17

Well boys and girls, I made a mistake yesterday and read a bit too far, therefore today's will be rather short.

Today we watch as poor Moses is trying to keep everybody happy. I mean, he's lead them out of bondage, you think that would be enough. But noooo they want food and water as well.

I can't help feeling bad for these people that God chooses to do his work here on Earth. In the movie playing in my mind, Moses has about had it, much like Abraham.

I just want him to yell "ENOUGH WITH THE COMPLAINING, PEOPLE!"

This guy has performed miracle after miracle in order to free these people, he PARTED A SEA for crying out loud, you think they would give him a break.

But Moses troops on, he gets them water and he gets them a steady stream of manna from heaven. All that he asks is that they take just what the need, no more, no less; they do not leave any, because it will spoil, and that on the 6th day they take double because on the 7th, there shall be none.

Do they listen?

Some do, some don't.

Do you think he stood outside on Sunday and watched the people who came out looking for their manna and said "REALLY?! You can't be serious? I simply ask that you take double on the 6th day, as there will be none on the 7th day, and THAT you cannot manage?"

However, God always delivered, but at one point he was even like "Moses, bro...what is with these people.....it's like they need some sort of written laws to abide by!?" (OK, so I made the last part up, but I bet some sort of ancient light bulb went off over His head)

Even being a Skeptic, I am pretty sure that if all of these crazy things, such as bread raining from the sky and frogs taking over the world, were happening around me, I wouldn't question Moses motives.

But I do think that at times Moses doesn't even know what his next move is. It seems like at each turn he's awaiting further instructions. This may be part of the problem, he's getting his info in a "need to know" basis.

I just hope he's getting enough sleep.

Jacob and Sons

Job 31-42

I am combining two days readings into one post.

We are drawing toward the end of Job and his problems. His friends continue to argue that Job has done something.

They go on to tell us the reader as well as Job that God only does bad things to the wicked, and to the righteous he only does good things. Which is the basic principle of Karma.

The Buddhist believe that for every good action that you perform, you receive good and vice-versa. In the case of Job the argument would be made from a Karma standpoint that the wicked that he did was perhaps in another life.

God finally speaks up and sorta lets em have. He rains down questions, asking the men, can YOU do this? Can YOU do that? In an attempt to show them that no matter how long they discuss the problem they will never understand His reasons and actions. For, He is God the all-powerful, creator of the heavens and the Earth.

Job apologizes for boasting and trying to understand. God forgives Job but isn't so easy on the three know it all friends. Job was honest about his actions and these guys would not listen, acting and speaking as it they KNEW how this whole thing was playing out.

God leaves it up to Job to pray for them. Job does and God shows his forgiveness.

God doubles Jobs fortunes, allowing him to have more beautiful children and live a long happy life.

The End.

The sayings that came to mind when I read this story are as follows:

A. God never gives us anything we cant handle
B. This too shall pass.

C. What does not kill us, makes us stronger.

with C being my favorite, I am a strong believer in C....

About the pictures on this post:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Blake%27s_Illustrations_of_the_Book_of_Job

Job 11-17

I reread yesterday's as well a today's. The reason being that I can't quite figure out why this whole thing doesn't sit well with me.

So today was more of the same. Job's friends accusing him, say "you musta done something, think back, man!....God just doesn't DO this to good people...."

Here Job gets pretty Biblically angry. He basically tells his friend "Look Mr. Smarty Pants, I know just as much as you know about how God works, I know what He's capable of, JUST LIKE YOU!"

Don't we all have one of these friends in our lives, just a real know-it-all, who thinks he's better, smarter, wiser than you...(did I say he? whoops, why would I say he and not she? Truth be told, I have a he and a she)

Job continues on with his blessings and thanksgivings......

I suppose what I'm, having trouble with is how does all of this fit in with free-will. In Chapter 12 Job lists all of these things that He can do, how He can supply, how He can make great. Here's where my writing skills fail me.....maybe if I try to allow you to follow my train of thought...

I'm thinking:

ok so Job was a great guy, and God is just trying to test him......

Then I think about the argument, "how is it that children suffer excruciating torture" of which I am usually told "because man has free will, and the people torturing the child are choosing to do it"

Then I go back to Job and I wonder if he could have used his free will to make himself better.

Then I think, could God be testing the children who are suffering, and if so where does that leave the free will argument.

Then I think, what happened to Job was not at the hands of SOMEONE else, so maybe that's where it differs.

But then I think, but it says that He can do this and He can do that, so does that mean He does intervene more than we think. And if so, what about free will?

This may make absolutely no sense, I haven't a clue why this argument has been so hard for me to get into words. Maybe because it's a cyclical argument and those are never easy.

I like reading this Book though. The writing is lovely.

Genesis 31-35

We open today with more deceit, more misunderstanding.

Here's where I take a bit of comfort. I find it reassuring that even then, even with these devout people, there can be this much drama, and "well, why didn't you just SAY so" kind of stuff.

The Lord tells Jacob to go back to his fathers land and so Jacob sneaks away, and Rachel steals the idols from the house. (the Bible I'm reading explains that if you are the possessor of these family idols that you have claim to the families estate).

Again with the deceit.

"Jacob said that God said that if Laban said, all the speckled flock shall be yours. The flock only bore speckled. If Laban said, all the streaked flock shall be yours. The flock only bore streaked."

DRAMA

I sorta keep forgetting that Issac gave Jacob this blessing. I keep wondering why Jacob is so blessed by the Lord, when he deceived his father and brother. I guess Issac gave a pretty powerful blessing.

Jacob, his ladies, and their brood of kids leave.

When Laban finds out, he sets out after them.

When he gets there he's like "hey! what up?! why you didn't let me tell everybody goodbye? I didn't get to tell my girls bye, kiss my grand kids goodbye......"

He is however a bit angry about his idols. Rachel has them hidden in her saddle. Nobody, not even Jacob knows shes got em.

Then when her dad want to search her saddle she gives the excuse we ladies love to use to get out of ANYTHING, she's says "dad, I'm on my period don't make me get up...."

and just like all men, he leaves it alone.

I am in constant amazement at the things we have gotten from the Bible, including apparently the ultimate excuse for women.

The two men talk it out, make a covenant, set up a monument, eat a sacrifice....you know, they worked through their differences just like any men would.

All kidding aside (just for a minute though) I think this demonstrates what I was mentioned earlier.

Misunderstandings.

If you have a problem with someone, you have to discuss it. Don't assume you know whats going on in their heads. Don't listen to what other people say is going on. First you have to listen to yourself and understand what part you have taken in the disagreement. Which some may argue, is God talking to you. Then you have to go straight to the source of the problem, the other person.

None of this "he said, she said" stuff, that drives me nutso.

They patch things up brilliantly, and the fam is on their way.

...on the way Gods Angles meet Jacob and basically tell him that his bro is waiting for him with a small army and hes going to take him out. Jacob send the Angels to tell his brother that hes sorry and sends him some she-goats and stuff....

I'm just thinking that if Angels were passing notes for me or if I was receiving messages from Angels I'd listen.

The strangest of all happens next and I wish there was some way I could show somebody the scene that's was playing in my head when I read this...

"Then He said, Let Me go, for day is breaking. But Jacob said, I will not let You go unless You declare a blessing upon me"

That's pretty bold I think. It reminds me a bit of the scene in Forrest Gump when Captain Dan takes on the storm.

and Jacob here, is named Israel because he contended with God

I actually screamed "WHAT?!" aloud when I then read about the 12 brothers going into the town after all the men had been circumcised and were "sore", and KILLING them all. You see one of them had slept with their sister, but it had all been smoothed over by Jacob. I didn't see that one coming at all...

We end today with the end of Issac's life. Jacob has also lost Rachel, who dies in childbirth having her second son.

These are not exactly "good" people. They lie, they steal, they cheat, and they kill. Just like Scarlett plans to do in order to never be hungry again. I wonder then if from them we are to learn that although they are not perfect, they give thanks to God first always, they listen when he speaks and they love the best way they know how?

Genesis 26-30

Ok again I had to find a visual because of all this reproducing that's going on.

I am so excited to be closing in on Joesph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I've heard: It was red and yellow and green and brown , and black and ochre and peach And ruby and olive and violet and fawn And lilac and gold and chocolate and mauve And cream and crimson and silver and rose And azure and lemon and russet and grey And purple and white and pink and orange.....AND BLUE!

so sorry for the brief lapse into my world of show tunes.

..................and now ladies and gentlemen my very serious and mature discussion of my Bible readings for today.

I think today's theme is deceit. Everybody's deceiving everybody in these chapters.

It all starts with Issac and the old "she's my wife not my sister" bit again. No ones seems to tire of this gag. The problem with it is, they seem to be assuming the worst of these people. Once they find out that the woman is indeed a wife and not a sister they usually say something like, "Man! Why didn't you JUST tell us that! Had we slept with her, we'd be in a heap of trouble!"

Issac moves around and digs some wells, and names some wells. Until one night God speaks to him and there Issac builds an altar, sets up his tent and digs a well. In that order which I see is important. Thanks to the Lord, home, then work.

and so the drama begins.

Apparently Issac, who is blind at this point, loves his smooth son Esau more than his hairy son Jacob. (and rightly so, some might say)

He asks his eel of a son to go hunting and once he's killed something, cook it the way he likes and bring it to him. When he does that he shall bless him.

Now Issac's wife Rebekah, favors the hairy beast of a son, Jacob?

She want him to get the blessing. So she devises a plan to trick the blind Issac into blessing Jacob. Jacob tells her that hes worried Issac will feel his hairiness and call him out as a cheat and impostor.

I feel like Jacob doesn't really want to do this but does as his mothers says.

The plan works and Jacob receives the blessing. We learn in a bit that it worked too. He has a butt load of sons.

But just as all plans which involve deceit, it sort of falls apart at the end. Esau brings his meat and when Issac realizes what he's done he tells Esau basically "I'm sorry, I've given my one blessing to your brother and now you must serve him"

Thus begins a feud among brothers. Rebekah (who actually caused all the problems, in my opinion) told Jacob to leave until his brother calmed down.

And now we get into Jacob. I just THOUGHT we had seen the worst with Abe and his maids and such. Jacob's sexcapaids make Abraham look like a monk.

In choosing a wife, I think Jacob is involved in a "what goes around, comes around" sort of thing. He is now the one who's deceived.

He works for seven years in order to get his wife Rachel and the very night he is to have her, her dad sends her older, duller sister in to sleep with Jacob. Thus, he is blindly deceived just as his father was. Now he's got this dull gal Leah and he has to work sever more years for Rachel, the one he truly loves.

So begins the great baby wars.

Leah is poppin boys out left and right. The Lord has made Rachel barren to make up for Leah's embarrassment of not being good enough. Therefore, Rachel has Jacob sleep with the maid, then Leah is barren and she has him sleep with her maid, then Rachel can have babies and FINALLY the star of one of my favorite shows is born.....JOSEPH.

After the love-fest something very strange happens that I did not understand at all and shall call on my my trusted friend Jamie for explanation. I didn't understand the division of animals and the rods of the trees and the wells??

I realize that I'm writing with a lot of humor, its something I can't help, it's how I see most things. However, I am reading seriously and thinking about it everyday. I feel like I may need to read it again, once I'm through. This first time I'm just so into the drama of it. I just so good, I get really into the stories....I guess what I'm saying is I hope I'm not disappointing you.