Lessons from the Bible

[Berzerker]

Oxen stumble -> ark is falling over -> Uzzah stops it from falling -> Yahweh punishes him

context?

[Zevico]

The Old Testament is a story about shepherds and farmers, made for shepherds and farmers of a particular time, in a particular place, of a particular culture. Or perhaps it is a collocation of such stories making up their oral history. Its precepts and demands were made for them. No one applies those demands today because they are mostly archaic and useless.
The New Testament is much the same.
That a person may choose to read the Old or the New Testament with "modern eyes" is tantamount to reading it as that person chooses, viz, giving it their own meaning. To give another example--it is a little bit like a "progressive interpretation" rather than an "originalist" interpretation of a writtten Constitution (like the American Constitution). This is, in other words, an exercise in doublethink. People are quite free to engage in such doublethink if they wish, but to me it is not an intellectually compelling exercise.

[KrazyHorse]

I see Poly is getting back to its roots...

[giblets]

The Old Testament is a story about shepherds and farmers, made for shepherds and farmers of a particular time, in a particular place, of a particular culture. Or perhaps it is a collocation of such stories making up their oral history. Its precepts and demands were made for them. No one applies those demands today because they are mostly archaic and useless.
The New Testament is much the same.
That a person may choose to read the Old or the New Testament with "modern eyes" is tantamount to reading it as that person chooses, viz, giving it their own meaning. To give another example--it is a little bit like a "progressive interpretation" rather than an "originalist" interpretation of a writtten Constitution (like the American Constitution). This is, in other words, an exercise in doublethink. People are quite free to engage in such doublethink if they wish, but to me it is not an intellectually compelling exercise.

Well sure, you think it's archaic. But there are others who would have you know it's timeless.

[ur32212451]

So no Golden Calf issues?

I mean God hasn't even given the 10 Commandments to Moses yet so the Hebrews are not even familiar yet with the prohibition against false idols and what not... yet God specifically orders those who are true to kill every man, woman, and child... and those righteous few are then cursed to wander the desert for 40 years because of it.

Huh, God?

I have yet to meet a Christian who 1) was familiar with God's orders and 2) agreed with them. Yet why this revelation doesn't demolish their faith, I have no idea.

Now here is a fun thread where I can occupy myself between the long time I have between my Baseball Fantasy Picks.

These people (Israelis and other peoples from Egypt) had just observed the 12 Plagues of God unleashed on Egypt, crossed The Red Sea from the lower end of Sinai Peninsula to modern day Saudi Arabia, via the parting of the waters of the Red sea, and arrived at Mount Sinai upon which Moses received the Mosaic Laws from God, and the Giant Rock that God Split apart which allowed fresh water burst forth to satisfy the large number of people of the Exodus. This place was very near the village of Midian where Moses lived for forty years. Today, anyone can see Mount Sinai from a distance (Saudi Arabia has fenced it off and allows no one to go up the Mountain with a few exceptions, The whole top of the Mountain is Blackened by intense heat, and no one can explain this other than God passing by to give Moses the Law).

Despite this great witness to the peoples, they turned to their own foolish Gods fashioned from earthly materials, choosing to worship this rather than follow the true God who delivered them from harsh servitude and slavery in Egypt.

So, What exactly do you object to Al B Sure?

BTW, The Mosaic Law does not consist of 10 Laws, but of 613 Laws.

So I ask you, Did God really want to give these people of the Exodus this collection of 613 Laws we know as the Mosaic Covenant?

Note: Covenant means Contract.

And why did God give these peoples of the Exodus the Mosaic Covenant?

Any one may answer.

[Zevico]

Well sure, you think it's archaic. But there are others who would have you know it's timeless.

Certainly. Some come close, at least in some ways to adhering to the timeless values of the Old Testament, or of the New One (depending on their faith).

However, many in the West say and genuinely believe that they do, but in fact they practice a watered-down version of their faith. After all they are not stoning people for adultery. So quite plainly they are not adhering to the faith of the original Jews (for example).

[giblets]

And why did God give these peoples of the Exodus the Mosaic Covenant?

Any one may answer.

I give up. Why did he want the jews to not eat pork?

[giblets]

Certainly. Some come close, at least in some ways to adhering to the timeless values of the Old Testament, or of the New One (depending on their faith).

However, many in the West say and genuinely believe that they do, but in fact they practice a watered-down version of their faith. After all they are not stoning people for adultery. So quite plainly they are not adhering to the faith of the original Jews (for example).

Well, if they started their own religion that matches what they actually believe, it probably wouldn't feel real to them.

[ur32212451]

I give up. Why did he want the jews to not eat pork?

God has no problem with people eating pork, though it is not a good sourceof food for us to eat. He gave the people of the Exodus the Mosaic Laws because this is what they wanted to SEE, what will get them great blessings from God. They did not really understand that it was impossible to mature as humans by insisting on doing it their way. On stone/papyrus, it looked so easy to them, they shouted, 'This We Will Do!'. In reality, they could not do it no matter how hard they tried, for they found a contrary Law in their flesh that rebelled from the Mosaic Law.

God Annihilated the Mosaic Covenant upon Jesus's death on the cross, after Jesus kept the entire Mosaic Law throughout his lifetime. He established a New Covenant.

The difference between the two Covenants is that people had to keep the Mosaic Covenants 613 Commandments throughout their lifetime in order to obtain eternal life and the many other blessings and good things written n the Mosaic Covenant.

In the New Covenant, God keeps all who enter His presence via accepting His Son Jesus death and Blood as full forgivness of all sins they commit, past - present -future. Thus Salvation and its' many blessings (eternal life and the abundant life) are truly an unearned gift from God.

Now speaking of the Mosaic Laws, not all 613 laws applied to everyone, Some applied just to women, some just to men, some proscribed for the Levitical priesthood in tending to the Temple and the Land.

There were about 350 Laws that applied to all men, for example:

A hired worker must be paid in full at the end of the day he performed his work.

When caught in adultery, the adulterer must be stoned to death, and then hung on a tree for all to see.

You must build parapets on your rooftops.

[ur32212451]

I give up. Why did he want the jews to not eat pork?

Because they did not want to walk by faith in Him. The people of the Exodus were a stiffnecked people, very stubborn. They wanted a written contract from God that they would vow to keep if God gave them great blessings (Long life, abundant goods, good health, protection from enemies, peace and prosperity etc.), they insisted on such a covenant that they could see by their very eyes.

Only two people survived who were 19 and older at the time of the Exodus (Joshua - the proto-type of Jesus - and Caleb, both of whom had great faith in God), everyone else broke His Covenant given through Moses, and they all Perished, including Moses, who also failed to keep the Covenant that bears His name. Before His death, Moses re-delivered the Mosaic Covenant to the remaining offspring of pf the people of the Exodus that perished over the 40 years in the wilderness. They re-affirmed their commitment to keep the Mosaic Laws in return for the many great blessings they would receive for keeping these Laws, thereby signing on to the this Contract with God, sealed by the sprinkling of blood on them as they shouted out 'This we will do'.

Immediately after re-affirming their contract with God, God came to Moses and informed Moses that they are a stiffnecked people who will not keep His Covenant. God told Moses that there is hope, He will send another Prophet like He sent Moses, and Him they better listen to. All could be saved through this Prophet, and this Prophet was to be Jesus, the only Son of God, who would keep the Mosaic Covenant on our behalf and whose blood would wash away all our sins, Past - Present - and Future, for He shall deliver us from the curse of Adam and restore Humans relationship with God.

And I will answer my other question I asked in my above post. The purpose of the Mosaic Law was to cause sin among humans to increase that humans may learn and see their inability to save themselves and to do the good God created us to do.

The Earth is a refinery whereby God removes our impurities. When God made the Cosmos, He also made the Kingdom, We are purified in the Cosmos, but are destined for the Kingdom, if indeed we were chosen from before the Creation of the Cosmos and the Kingdom. For as Jesus said, My sheep know me and come to me, and He assures God the Father that, as the good Shepherd, He has not lost even one of His sheep.

[giblets]

The Earth is a refinery whereby God removes our impurities. When God made the Cosmos, He also made the Kingdom, We are purified in the Cosmos, but are destined for the Kingdom, if indeed we were chosen from before the Creation of the Cosmos and the Kingdom. For as Jesus said, My sheep know me and come to me, and He assures God the Father that, as the good Shepherd, He has not lost even one of His sheep.

You believe some people are predestined for hell? God made some people bad so that they could suffer for eternity?

[ur32212451]

You believe some people are predestined for hell? God made some people bad so that they could suffer for eternity?

I did not say that. In fact, the word Hell does not even occur in the Bible. Gehenna is sometimes translated as hell. Gehenna was where the garbage was burned in Jerusalem. Jesus use of Gehenna is that for one bent on doing evil is like garbage that has no good purpose other than to be burned. Jesus never preached the New Covenant before His death on the cross. To do so would have been a violation of the Mosaic Covenant. Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Covenant throughout His life, and upon His death, God annihilated the Mosaic Covenant, and the New Covenant went into effect. Now concerning People Like Adolf Hitler, Mao Tse Tung, Stalin, Pol Pot, I can not say what becomes of them, it is beyond my knowledge. God does not reveal everything, but He has made a clear path for our salvation and of our transformation into doing the good that we were created to do via Jesus and the indwelling Holy Spirit that works in us the effects to do the good we were created to do, which we need to practice and out into use that our very nature will lead us to do good, and to do it well.

It is like God giving use a sword, a shield, and a helmet, but we must practice using them to become proficient in their use.

There are many what-ifs in life. If you get bogged down in these, you may become paralyzed and never accomplish anything, never change.