Thoughts about God

yhwh, yahweh, jehova, jesus, god , the central figure in the christian theological system , and likely one of the most fought-over figures in western mythology , kind and loving, some call him. jealous and hateful, say others , perfect, all-knowing, truthful, all-powerful, merciful.... is this, then, the biblical god? , to answer this, we will turn to the bible, which is held by many to be god's own words, perfect in every respect , what, then, does the bible itself say about this figure? , as early as genesis 12:17, jehova ''god'' is shown to inflict disease on a man who is led to sin by one of god's own servants. shortly thereafter, in gen 20:2-3, god threatens to kill an innocent man , again because god's servant , abram , lied and led the man to sin , does god, then, not care that these people are innocent bystanders? , in gen 38:7, god "strikes down" er, son of judah, for being 'wicked in the lord's sight , what exactly this entails is never said , er dies without explanation. In verse 10 of the same chapter, onan, also the son of judah, is similarly struck down , his sin is that he "spilled his semen on the ground," which many over the years have taken to mean either masturbation or coitus interruptus , in both places, it specifically states that god struck the brothers down; not man, not animals, but god himself , in exodus, god again kills , perhaps the most telling verse is in exodus 4:24-26, in which god is preparing to kill a young boy (some texts say "the son of moses") when moses happens across the scene , there is no explanation given for this wrath , no sin mentioned, no rhyme or reason , the boy is saved from a meaningless death when the mother cuts off her son's foreskin and touches it to moses' feet , this, oddly enough , turns god's wrath away , in addition to direct murder, god also is recorded as directing others to kill in his name , the death penalty is lauded in exodus ; it is commanded for such diverse sins as murder and for working on the sabbath day , kidnapping, attacking or cursing one's parents , practicing witchcraft, sacrifcing to other gods, adultery, channelling spirits , blaspheming, converting from judiasm to another faith , not obeying god....all these command the death penalty , rebellious sons , prophets of other gods , false prophets of god , those who worship other gods, those who encourage the worship of other gods, those who practice pre-martial sex, even those who show contempt for judges or priests ....all must be put to death according to the word of god (Ex 21, Lev 19 and 20, Deu 13 and 17)

in exodus 32:27, moses states god ordered him to kill his israelite brethern....3000 of them. In number 14:12 , god threatens to kill the entire nation , in numbers 16, god kills nearly fifteen thousand people who object to the leadership of moses (so much for freewill); in numbers 21:6-8, he kills another ill-defined amount with poisonous snakes , numbers 32:10-13 god kills an entire generation of israelites, for refusing to obey , what about unintentional sin? ,1 samuel 6:19 records the dire fate of seventy israelites who dare to glimpse into the interior of the ark -- one look, and they are destroyed by the hand of the lord , another death occures in 1 samuel 25:38; a man is struck and killed by the lord , and, blessed be the ark , god kills a man for touching it in 2 samuel 11:4 , and lest we think that the israelites were the only people to feel the love of the lord , 2 kings 19:35 records the actions of an angel of the lord as it slaughters 185,000 assyrians , why would god wish to create such destruction and unhappiness? , the answer, again, is in the bible: he's wrathful and angry , he is jealous, vicious, and punishes children for the sins of the parents when the children themselves have done nothing , for examples of god's anger, hatred, and jealousy, you may scan any of the following verses:

exodus 4:14, 20:5, 22:24, 32:10, 34:7, 34:14 , leviticus 26 , numbers 22:22, 25:3 31:17 and 35 , deuteronomy 1:45, 4:24, 6:15, 31:17-18 , joshua 24:19-20 , judges 2:14, 10:7 , 1 kings 11:9, 14:22, 16:2, 16:13, 16:26, 16:33 , 2 kings 13:3, 17:11, 17:17-18, 21:6, 21:10-16, 26-28 , job 42:7 , psalm 5:5, 7:6, 7:11-13 , lamentations 1:12, 2:1, 2:3, 2:21-22, 4:11 , micah 5:15 , nahum 1:2 , zechariah 1:2 , malachi 2:16 , let's turn back to the issue of punishing children....does god really do that? god himself says, in exodus 20:5, that he is a jealous god and punishes the children for the sins of the father through the generations , it is stated again in exodus 34:7; yet apparently god's prophets misunderstood him, for in deu 24:16, moses erroneously states that children will not suffer for the sins of the parents, nor the parents for the sins of the father , this is quoted, again erroneously, in 2 king 14:6 , are there any recorded instance of god actually punishing a child for the parents' sin? , if god and his prophets contradict each other , god's actions will doubtlessly tell the truth of the matter , turn, if you please, to 2 samuel 12. king david , the ruler of israel, has seduced another man's wife and made her pregnant , in retribution , god causes the child to die , it has been suggested that this was not the "real" reason that the child had to die, but that maybe there was a secret sin on the child , for clarity's sake, i quote the verse itself , "nathan replied , 'the Lord has taken away your sin , you are not going to die. but because by doing this you have made the enemies of the lord show utter contempt, the son born to you will die." (2 sam 12:13-14) , it is further stated that david pleaded with god for the child's life, yet god caused it to die despite these pleas , it is not until ezekiel 18:4 that god himself finally sets the record straight on the matter , he tells ezekiel that children shall no longer be punished for the sins of the parents , did god change his mind? , i have been told that the very idea that god could change his mind is blasphemous , but in addition to the incident mentioned above, god threatens to wipe out the israelites many times, yet repents (changes his mind) when the israelites return to his worship; the rules of leviticus were supposedly changed with the coming of jesus christ , no one sacrifices animals to ''god'' anymore, yet the lord specifically states that no one shall come to him empty-handed; most people cut their hair despite the admonition in lev 19:27-28 that one shall not do so , the eye-for-an-eye laws of exodus and Leviticus seem a far cry from the "turn thy other cheek" philosophy of jesus, who supposedly carried god's words , throughout the bible it is repeated that israel is god's chosen people, yet in hosea 1:9, god states that "you are not my people, and i am not your god" , the bible states, however, that god does NOT change his mind , through both the words of god himself (malachi 3:6), and those of his prophets (1 sam 15:29) , how can god change his mind, yet say that he does not? can god lie? , what does god's word say about that? , before we deal with that issue specifically, i'd like to clarify the relation between "mind-changing" and lying , the bible is said to be the written word of god ; perfect and infallible , god is likewise said to be perfect (psalm 18:30, 19:7) , if god is perfect , then he cannot lie by definition , now as mentioned , god specifically says in malachi 3:6 that he does not change his mind ; as these words are spoken directly from god , we must assume they are true. yet god also said that children would be punished for the sins of the parents; later, he says they will not be , this is a

contradiction ; god has changed his mind , if god changed his mind , god has lied (he said he did not change his mind) , if god did not change his mind , he has either lied in saying children would be punished , or in saying they would not be punished. god also says that no one may see him and live (exodus 33:20); this is repeated in ex 34:14 , yet in genesis 32:30 , jacob, after wrestling with a mysterious man on the side of the road, gives thanks to god , and says that he has seen god face to face, and lived , jesus, mentioned in the new testament , is according to some god incarnate....hundreds of people saw him and lived , did god lie when he said that no one could see him and live?, going back to the beginning of it all, we find another questionable occurance: the fall of man , in the beginning , if you'll recall, man was created in the image of god , they are placed in a garden , the garden of eden , which has in it, among other plants, two trees , the tree of knowledge of good and evil , and the tree of eternal Life, (gen 2:9) , god tells adam (who tells eve) that, should they eat from the tree of knowledge, they will "surely die." (gen 2:16-17) so says god , whose word is perfect , the serpent, ''Lucifer'', approaches eve, and tells her in genesis 3:4, that they will not surely die if they eat of the tree of knowledge, but will rather become like God and know the differences between good and evil. eve eats; she does not die, but gains knowledge , has god lied, saying they would die? did Lucifer tell the truth? it has been argued that god did not necessarily mean immediate death, but that adam and eve DID die, just as he said: of old age , this implies that before they ate of the fruit, that they were immortal , another examination of the bible reveals that this is not so , in Genesis 3:22, it says: ''and the lord god said, "the man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil , he must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever" , if adam and eve were created immortal , god would have to revoke their life; instead, he is afraid that they will GAIN immortality , he does not take away their immortality, but restricts them from gaining it , adam and eve were already mortal , god acts to prevent them from living forever , is this an empty threat, then? where is this "sure death" which god speaks about? they were going to die anyways; did he threaten them with nothing? did he lie? , for one final example, i take that of free-will. freewill is a major tenant of biblical philosophy; that one may choose to do good or evil, but will suffer the consequences of an erroneous choice , issues of duress and threat aside, god is supposed to honor free will; he will not force people to do one thing or another, but will let them decide and take responsibility for their actions, for good or for ill , is *this* true? , in ezekiel 20:32, a startling scene unfolds as the lord speaks to the israelites , i will briefly quote it here , "you say, 'we want to be like the nations, like the peoples of the world, who serve wood and stone.' but what you have in mind will never happen , as surely as i live, declares the sovereign lord, i will rule over you with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with outpoured wrath. ....i will take note of you as you pass under my rod, and i will bring you into the bond of the convenant , i will purge you of those who revolt and rebel against me" , where is freewill in this? , where is the choice of those israelites who wish NOT to be ruled , who wish NOT to be bound, who wish to worship other ways?, if they want to be like other nations, can they? , is that their free-willed choice? god says it will never happen , do they have a choice to enter the convenant? , apparently not. god says he WILL bring them into the bond ; any who object will be destroyed, is god honoring freewill?, again, it appears he may be lying , the implications of god as a liar has wide-ranging affects , if god is a liar, can we trust any of the bible? , if god is the evil one, the deceiver, then what or who is Lucifer? , who is truely deceiving the world , and how do we know this? perhaps we should think very carefully about the bible, god, and what is implied within , think about who you are worshipping.......and why.