Month: February 2010

Reference links:

Leviticus 6:1-7:27 Mark 3:7-30 Psalm 37:1-11 Proverbs 10:3-4

Overview of the Book of Leviticus Overview of the Gospel of Mark Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

More details about sacrifices: when to make them and how to make them properly. Sins that require a guilt offering include cheating in a deal, stealing, committing fraud, lying about lost property that was found, and lying while swearing to tell the truth. For all of these, the guilty party must return anything gained as a consequence of the crime plus an additional 20% and offer a guilt offering on the same day. Punishments are harsher for those who violate the purity laws of the community. Anyone who eats meat from a peace offering while they are ceremonially unclean or who eats blood ever will be cut off from the community.

This reading inspires interesting ideas about punishment in a nomadic tribe like that of the Israelites. Without permanent settlements, there seem to be two options for dealing with trouble makers: forgive them quickly or get rid of them completely. A group on the go would not find imprisonment practical.

New Testament

Crowds keep following Jesus because his fame has spread.

They came from all over Galilee, Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, from east of the Jordan River, and even from as far north as Tyre and Sidon. The news about his miracles had spread far and wide, and vast numbers of people came to see him.

Jesus was a star. He kind of acted like one.

Jesus instructed his disciples to have a boat ready so the crowd would not crush him.

He and his disciples seem to show little concern for the members of the crowd who were probably crushing each other. As long as Jesus can get away in his boat, it is all okay.

Jesus chooses 12 of his disciples as apostles. These 12 would have the special privilege of accompanying him and he would give them the authority to cast out demons.  The teachers of the religious law accuse Jesus of working by Satan’s power when he casts out demons. Jesus says this is silly because Satan would be fighting against himself if he allowed his power to be used to cast out demons.

However, if we believe the story about the pigs related in Matthew (and possibly again later?), then Jesus’ casting out of demons may not actually be as unambiguously against Satan as today’s text wants us to believe. In that story, Jesus casts the demons out of two men and sends them into a herd of pigs. The pigs go mad and plunge to their death (and, as far as we know, Jesus did not even apologize). This story makes it clear that casting out demons is not always the same thing as  working against Satan.

We also learn today that according to Jesus,

all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. This is a sin with eternal consequences.

The phrasing here is odd. It says that “all sin and blasphemy can be forgiven” but those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit “will never be forgiven”. Is this implying that there are some sins that God/Jesus could choose to forgive (and, in the process save a person from eternal suffering and torture) but will not? Or am I putting too much emphasis on this translation’s word choice?

Also, by these standards, I will never be forgiven. Ooops.

Psalms and Proverbs

Good advice from today’s reading in Psalms (mixed into the standard fare of “God will punish the wicked and reward the good”)

Stop being angry!
Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper —
it only leads to harm.

On the other hand, today’s Proverbs reading encourages negative attitudes toward those who are suffering and needy:

The Lord will not let the godly go hungry,
but he refuses to satisfy the craving of the wicked.
Lazy people are soon poor;
hard workers get rich.

As organizations from all over the nation that fight poverty and hunger and homelessness know, the sources of poverty cannot be simplified down to someone being lazy. The sources of hunger cannot be simplified to someone being ungodly. Attitudes like those expressed in the above Proverbs only make it harder for those in difficult circumstances to find their way out of them again.

Reference links:

Leviticus 4:1-5:19 Mark 2:13-3:6 Psalm 36:1-12 Proverbs 10:1-2

Overview of the Book of Leviticus Overview of the Gospel of Mark Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Yesterday we learned about burnt offerings and peace offerings. Today we learn about sin offerings. If the high priest or the entire Israelite community sins, even without realizing it, a young bull without blemish must be offered. When other people sin they offer various goats. The interesting thing about sin offerings is that the one who sins must lay their hand on the sacrifice’s head before the animal is killed. This, I suppose, represents a transference of the sin from the person to the animal. I wonder whether this was originally thought to symbolic or actual transfer of guilt.

A sin offering of a female sheep or goat are required for refusing to testify, touching something that is unclean, and making foolish vows. Two turtledoves or pigeons can be substituted by those who cannot afford a sheep or goat. If you cannot afford that, grain can be substituted. Before we saw that Mosaic law incorporated the idea of punishment being related to the damage caused rather than punishing based on intent. Today we see the idea of punishment being proportional to the means of the one being punished. This concept of punishment seems much more subtle than that held by modern mainstream America. Today’s reading also emphasizes the point that punishment cannot be avoided just because the guilty one did not know they were committing a crime.

For defiling the Lord’s sacred property the punishment is a ram with no defects and payment for the damaged property plus 20 percent. Once this payment has been made, the defiler is forgiven. Forgiveness is another concept we have lost track of in modern American ideas about punishment.

New Testament

Jesus calls Levi (Matthew) to be one of his disciples.

Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.)

The Pharisees were baffled by this, but Jesus said,

Healthy people don’t need a doctor – sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.

This passage and other like it help illuminate an attitude I come across more often than I like. There are some Christians who give lip service to the idea that they are terrible sinners but show by their action and attitudes that they really believe they are better than everyone else. I have often wondered why they insist that they are sinners when they clearly do not believe it in their heart. Passages like this give a potential reason why: they think it brings them closer to Jesus. Ironically, this kind of public posturing really makes them more like the Pharisees than the sinners Jesus was dining with.

Today’s reading repeats the story about Jesus and his disciples breaking off and eating grain in a field on the Sabbath. The Pharisees accuse Jesus of breaking the law and Jesus responds by relating a story about how David ate sacred loaves of bread once. What struck me about the story this time is that the Pharisees were there to see this. What were the Pharisees doing? Following Jesus around? Even in grain fields on the Sabbath? Seems rather silly.

Jesus does make an interesting statement as part of his response:

The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.

We really do all need a regular day of rest to separate ourselves from our daily concerns and focus on the big picture.

Psalms and Proverbs

Today’s reading from the Psalms once again emphasize that everything the wicked do is evil and deceitful. They spend all of their times hatching evil plans. Once again, I am struct by the degree to which the Psalms draw caricatures of evil people. I believe few, if any, evil people have every been as constantly evil as the wicked are said to be the Psalms and yet these verses clearly impact how all atheists are perceived (since atheists are automatically assumed to be wicked, also, I believe, based on passages in Psalms and/or Proverbs).

Today’s section of Proverbs starts the “Proverbs of Solomon” (who we will later learn was a wise king of Israel and son of King David and a wife he won by less than honorable means).

Reference links:

Leviticus 1:1-3:17 Mark 1:29-2:12 Psalm 35:17-28 Proverbs 9:13-18

Overview of the Book of Leviticus Overview of the Gospel of Mark Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Here is what Wikipedia has to say about Leviticus:

Leviticus contains laws and priestly rituals, but in a wider sense is about the working out of God’s covenant with Israel set out in Genesis and Exodus – what is seen in the Torah as the consequences of entering into a special relationship with God (specifically, Yahweh). These consequences are set out in terms of community relationships and behaviour.

It also notes that, like the other books of the Torah, tradition ascribes authorship to Moses but modern scholarship attributes the book to an unknown priest or priests. Overall, Leviticus defines what sets the Israelites apart as the people of God. This puts it in a peculiar relationship with Christian belief. Christians consider some of the laws in Leviticus to be explicitly cancelled by Jesus, some implicitly cancelled, and some to still be valid. Decisions about which laws belong in the second and third categories vary widely.  Oddly enough, in my observation, this variation seems to split along contentious contemporary issues.

The end of Exodus described the completion of the Tabernacle. The framing for Leviticus is that God continues to talk to Moses from the Tabernacle. He gives Moses more instructions about God’s covenant with Israel.

Today’s reading focuses on various types of offerings. Animals given for burnt offering must be males without defect and prepared properly. The smell of their burning pleases the Lord.

Birds presented as burnt offerings get the following treatment:

The priest will take the bird to the altar, wring off its head, and burn it on the altar. But first he must drain its blood against the side of the altar. The priest must also remove the crop and the feathers and throw them in the ashes on the east side of the altar. Then, grasping the bird by its wings, the priest will tear the bird open, but without tearing it apart.

Suppose you were to make a movie of a re-enactment of this scene. The priest, spattered with the blood of sacrificial animals, wrings the neck of a turtledove and tears it open, all with his bear hands. He then burns it, exclaiming upon how the scent is pleasing to his God. I wonder if most Christians would believe you if you told them this was part of their religious heritage.

God also accepts grain offerings. Whether raw, baked, or fried, God likes grain offerings to be presented with olive oil but no yeast or honey. The prohibition against yeast in offerings I can understand as hearkening back to the exodus from Egypt, but why no honey?

An animal sacrificed as a burnt offering has its whole body burned. An animal presented as a peace offering may be male or female, but still must have no defects. The priests only burn part of the animal on the altar. All animal sacrifices involve lots of spattering of blood on the altar. It was definitely not a sanitary affair.

Also, the Israelites are not allowed to eat any fat or blood. Is anyone reading knowledgeable enough about Jewish dietary law to provide more enlightenment about the prohibition against eating fat? Does it apply only to large, separable chunks of fat? Does it also apply to marbled fat?

New Testament

Jesus, James, and John visit the home of Simon (Peter) and his brother Andrew. While there, Jesus heals Simon’s mother-in-law and many demon possessed people. Not surprisingly, since Mark is thought to be a source for Matthew, this is consistent with the story in Matthew. In fact, I have a feeling there is going to be a lot of redundancy as we go through the gospels.

It is interesting to compare stories across the gospels. In Matthew, the story of Jesus healing the leper was short (Matthew 8:1-4):

Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside. Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”

Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this. Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you. Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of leprosy. This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.”

In Mark, we get all that, but additionally learn that Jesus sternly warned the man not to tell and that the man went and told people anyway. This caused people to follow Jesus all over,

and he couldn’t publicly enter a town anywhere. He had to stay out in the secluded places, but people from everywhere kept coming to him. 

We also get more details about the paralyzed man Jesus healed in Matthew 9:2-8. Jesus was being mobbed by a crowd at a home he was visiting. Some clever folks wanted to get a paralyzed man to him, so they lowered the man on a mat through a hole in the ceiling. That makes for a much better story.

Psalms and Proverbs

Apparently, Folly is also a woman. A brash woman.

Reference links:

Exodus 39:1-40:38 Mark 1:1-28 Psalm 35:1-16 Proverbs 9:11-12

Overview of the Book of Exodus Overview of the Gospel of Mark Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

We finish Exodus today! More repeats as we get another description of the priest’s clothing: the ephod, chest piece, robes, and hat. After that Moses inspects everything and blesses it.

Now that all the pieces are complete Moses puts the Tabernacle together, and we get a repeat of where everything belongs. The text makes it sound like Moses put it all together alone. He probably did not (some of the pieces would have been impossible for one man to move alone), but the idea is still entertaining.

Moses erected the Tabernacle by setting down its bases, inserting the frames, attaching the crossbars, and setting up the posts. Then he spread the coverings over the Tabernacle framework and put on the protective layers, just as the Lord had commanded him. … [more setup details] … Then he hung the curtains forming the courtyard around the Tabernacle and the altar. And he set up the curtain at the entrance of the courtyard. So at last Moses finished the work.

Once everything is set up,

the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. Moses could no longer enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. 

It is interesting that Moses could not enter the Tabernacle when the glory of God filled it. Earlier, in Exodus 33, we ready how God, in the form of a cloud, would hover at the entrance to the tent of meeting and talk with Moses. I guess Moses could interact with God’s cloud, but not be immersed in it?

In any case, the cloud served as a signal to the Israelites which helped them determine when they could travel. They traveled, following the cloud, whenever it lifted from the Tabernacle. When it stayed settled on the Tabernacle, they would not travel.

And that’s the end of Exodus.

New Testament

The book of Mark gets off to a quick start! But first, some background. According to Wikipedia:

The Gospel of Mark … is the second of the four Canonical Gospels in the New Testament, but is believed by most contemporary scholars to be the first gospel written, on which the other two synoptic gospels, Matthew and Luke, were partially based.

This belief is based partially on the fact that Matthew and Luke agree with Mark on the details mentioned in Mark, but they disagree with each other on the details not mentioned in Mark. Having only started Mark and not yet got to Luke, I cannot assess that yet.


The Gospel of Mark was traditionally believed to not necessarily be strictly ordered, despite the narrative structure. Instead, an anonymous author traditionally identified as Mark, a cousin of Barnabas and/or a disciple of Peter, is said to have written the document to preserve the well known sayings and doings of Jesus.


Both the beginning and end of Mark are abrupt. The beginning starts with Jesus’ baptism and ministry; it contains no nativity. What is traditionally believed to be the ending of Mark is now believed to be an addition by a later author. The original ending (Mark 16:8) is rather abrupt. Both at the beginning and the end, it is unknown whether this abruptness is intentional or the result of the original being lost.

We begin with a supposed fulfilled prophecy:

It began just as the prophet Isaiah had written:

“Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
and he will prepare you way.
He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
Clear the road for him!'”

This prophecy is fairly reasonably in context, if only because the context is so vague it could refer to anything. The problem is that the context is not the context the author of Mark seems to think it is. According to the footnote, this is not even one quote. The first two lines are identified as being from Malachi 3:1. The last three are identified as being from Isiah 40:3! Once again, the Bible builds up the case for it not being the unerring word of God by showing failures of later books to correctly quote earlier books.

The text identifies John the Baptist as the messenger and Jesus as the one who would be coming. John baptizes Jesus. The Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus from the heavens, and a voice declares Jesus to be the voice’s son (the voice, presumably, is God’s).

John was arrested and Jesus started preaching in Galilee. He finds his first disciples, all fishermen (Simon, Andrew, James, John). He teaches in the synagogue in Capernaum and cast out an evil spirit. The audience thought this was awesome.

Psalms and Proverbs

Nothing of particular note in Psalms. Some nice lines from Proverbs.

If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit.
If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer.

Reference links:

Exodus 37:1-38:31 Matthew 28:1-20 Psalm 34:11-22 Proverbs 9:9-10

Overview of the Book of Exodus Overview of the Gospel of Matthew Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Today’s reading is another recap episode. We get a detailed description of the building of the Ark of the Covenant, the table, the lamp stand, incense altar, washbasin, and courtyard curtains.

Useless but entertaining trivia: The Bible conveniently summarizes the materials used to craft all of this.

• 2193 pounds of gold, donated by the people. At current prices of about 1000 per ounce, this is worth $35 million.
• 7545 pounds of silver, received from the census tax. The census counted the population of Israel at 603,550 men over 20 (because those are the only people who count). At current prices of about $15 per ounce, this is worth $1.8 million.
• 5310 pounds of bronze, at least some of which was from the bronze mirrors of the women. I couldn’t find current prices, but the values I found mostly hovered around $1.50 per pound. At that rate, this is worth about $8000.

New Testament

We finally finish the Book of Matthew! Maybe in the next gospel we will get to see that overwhelmingly obvious love for all of us that is supposed to be scattered all over the Bible.

But before we get there, we have to finish today’s reading. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (wouldn’t you hate to be “the other Mary”?) visit Jesus’ tomb only to find an angel had rolled away the rock protecting the entrance and Jesus missing. The angel tells the women that Jesus had risen from the dead. They went to tell the disciples what had happened. On the way, they met Jesus and worshiped him.

Apologists hold up the empty tomb as clear proof that the resurrection really happened. They often overlook the obvious possibilities that the whole incident was fabricated or that the body was stolen. The author of Matthew shows slightly more awareness of the second possibility:

some of the guards went into the city and told the leading priests what had happened. A meeting with the elders was called, and they decided to give the soldiers a large bribe. They told the soldiers, “You must say, ‘Jesus’ disciples came during the night while we were sleeping, and they stole his body.’ If the governor hears about it, we’ll stand up for you so you won’t get in trouble. So the guards accepted the bribe and said what they were told to say. Their story spread widely among the Jews, and they still tell it today.

Good attempt, but it fails to cast any real doubt on the suspicion that maybe Jesus’ body was just stolen.

The Book of Matthew closes with Jesus meeting with the disciples and telling them,

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. An be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

This is another one of those passages that was used to justify a lot of trouble historically. Although, for example, the mass murder of Native Americans in the US was really about territory and power, this type of religious rhetoric was certainly used as justification.

Psalms and Proverbs

Aw shucks, I guess I will never obtain wisdom.

Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom.
Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment. 

Reference links:

Exodus 35:10-36:38 Matthew 27:32-66 Psalm 34:1-10 Proverbs 9:7-8

Overview of the Book of Exodus Overview of the Gospel of Matthew Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Nothing of interest today. Today’s reading contains a detailed description of the building of the Tabernacle and describes how the people of Israel were so generous they donated more than enough supplies for everything. This pretty much repeats the earlier description of what the Tabernacle should be like.

New Testament

We finally get to the crucifixion, and I have nothing interesting to say about it. Plus, I am feeling snarky. Moral of the story: do not stay up late bowling with friends. =)

The Roman soldiers force some dude named Simon to carry Jesus’ cross for awhile. This is surprising, because the standard story I hear is that Simon volunteered to carry Jesus’ cross because he was faithful or something. Maybe we will read that version in one of the other gospels.

The people passing by mock Jesus as he is tortured to death (at least, I consider crucifixion a form of torture). Then Jesus dies.

At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. At about three o’clock, Jesus called out with a loud void, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

If Jesus is wholly one with God in some supposedly intentionally confusing trinity, what does it mean when Jesus asks why God has abandoned him?

Jesus’ death causes quite a commotion.

Then Jesus shouted out again, and he released his spirit. At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, rocks split apart, and tombs opened. The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people.

It seems odd that no surviving records outside the Bible corroborate this claim. If I were like those people who say evolution could not have happened because we have not found all transitional forms, then I would be forced to conclude that these things probably did not happen at Jesus’ death because there is not 100% certain evidence for them. Oh wait! No I wouldn’t, because then I would assume the Bible is special.

Jesus gets buried by Joseph of Arimathea, and the priests decide to put a guard at the tomb to make sure Jesus’ body is not stolen by his followers.

Psalms and Proverbs

Finally, we get to some wisdom in Proverbs, and it is actually pretty good.

Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return.
Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt.
So don’t bother correcting mockers;
they will only hate you.
But correct the wise,
and they will love you.

Reference links:

Exodus 34:1-35:9 Matthew 27:15-31 Psalm 33:12-22 Proverbs 9:1-6

Overview of the Book of Exodus Overview of the Gospel of Matthew Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

It seems the point of Moses getting upset and smashing God’s tablets was to give the Biblical author a chance to repeat himself (although Moses has to chisel it out this time instead of God just writing it out for him; no wonder it took forty days). Selective repetition emphasizes certain points, so let’s see what points God/the Biblical author thought were worth emphasizing.

God describes himself. Remember, this is the God who would have killed all of Israel for worshiping the golden calf if Moses had not reminded him of his promises to the patriarchs. This is the God who murdered and tortured Egyptians just to show his own power. Here is how he describes himself:

Yahweh! The Lord!
The God of compassion and mercy!
I am slow to anger
and filled with unfailing love and faithfullness.
I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.
I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.
But I do not excuse the guilty.
I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren;
the entire family is affected —
even children in the third and fourth generations.

The last four lines are consistent with the God we have seen so far. The rest does not seem as fitting. Also, if God lavishes love for a thousand generations and lays sin upon children for three or four, are the children of a sinner who is the grandchild of a faithful follower loved or punished?

God also considers it worthwhile to repeat that the Israelites should under no conditions make treaties with the people who live in the land they will soon be conquering. Instead, they are supposed to destroy all marks of the foreign religions. I am not sure the God of the Bible would be happy with the people who allow other faiths to have buildings of worship in their communities.

As for the rest: Celebrate some festivals; give God the firstborn animals and children; keep the sabbath; do not combine blood and yeast in offerings; do not cook young goats in the milk of their mothers. Not quite as interesting as the first couple repetitions.

After this Moses goes back down to the people. He glows brightly with the glory of God and covers his face. Shiny!

New Testament

Pilate gave the Jews a chance to release one prisoner, as was traditional. Prompted by the priests who had had Jesus arrested, the crowds chose a notorious prisoner, Barabbas. So the people who the priests feared would rise up in rebellion if they acted against Jesus earlier were able to persuade the people to act against him so quickly?

Yesterday, the Israelites were portrayed as extremely changeable; they went from worshiping God to worshiping a golden calf just because the calf was there. Today, we see that the crowds that are equally changeable. I would say that the crowds are swayed with unrealistic ease, but then I remember what crowds are like today and think maybe the people in the time of Moses and in the time of Jesus were no more or less changeable than the people now.

Pilate’s wife tries to persuade him to release Jesus because she dreamed that he was innocent (what would people say if the spouses of modern politicians tried to use their dreams to influence public policy?). Pilate tries to get the crowd to release Jesus, but the crowd says to crucify him and agrees to take responsibility for his death. I am not good with history, but I believe that this is one of those passages that has been wrongly used to justify antisemitism in the past. Even if this story were true and if the people could take on responsibility for Jesus death by declaring it, one could hardly say a crowd that had gathered one day in Jerusalem had the power to bind all of the Jewish people.

And then some Roman soldiers make fun of Jesus. It makes me glad we live in a society where such behavior is considered unacceptable (unless you’re a guard watching suspected terrorists wait, I do not talk about current events on this blog).

Psalms and Proverbs

Psalms continues with the theme that God watches over those who are faithful to him. For two of the lines in today’s reading, I will give a half point to those who believe that everyone will be saved:

He made their hearts,
so he understands everything they do.

The verse does not explicitly support the universal salvation viewpoint, but it could be used to supplement such an argument.

Proverbs contains more prelude to discussing wisdom. Believers in pseudoscience should take this verse to heart:

Leave your simple ways behind, and begin to live;
learn to use good judgment.

Reference links:

Exodus 32:1-33:23 Matthew 26:69-27:14 Psalm 33:1-11 Proverbs 8:33-36

Overview of the Book of Exodus Overview of the Gospel of Matthew Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Today’s we come to the story of the golden calf.

The people get bored waiting for Moses and ask Aaron for an idol. Aaron says “sure”, takes all their gold, melts it, and makes a calf. The people see the calf and say that it is the God that brought them out of Israel.

God notices the idol worship and sends Moses down to stop it, but not until after he threatens to kill them all. Moses dissuades God by appealing to his ego,

“O Lord! ” he said. “Why are you so angry with your own people whom you brought from the land of Egypt with such great power and such a strong hand? Why let the Egyptians say, ‘Their God rescued them with the evil intention of slaughtering them in the mountains and wiping them from the face of the earth’? Turn away from your fierce anger. Change your mind about this terrible disaster you have threatened against your people! Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You bound yourself with an oath to them, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the start of heaven. And I will give them all of this land that I have promised to your descendants, and they will possess it forever.”

So the Lord changed his mind about the terrible disaster he had threatened to bring on his people.

Moses tells the people of God’s anger. Aaron makes up some weak excuse about how he threw the gold into the fire, a calf just popped out. God and Moses decide that the situation calls for mass murder. Moses gathered all those who considered themselves on the side of God and

told them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Each of you, take your swords and go back and forth from one end of the camp to the other. Kill everyone – even your brothers, friends, and neighbors.” The Levites obeyed Moses’ command, and about 3,000 people died that day.

Brutal, primitive, morally reprehensible.

Here is my guess as to the real story. Aaron took advantage of an absence of Moses to make a grab for power. Moses returned and a power struggle ensued. As part of this power struggle, Moses murdered some people. This scared enough to convince them to follow Moses. The people are portrayed as weak willed and stupid to make Aaron look sinful and strengthen Moses’ claim to be God’s chosen leader.

After the murders, God sends a plague on the Israelites just to make sure they are good and punished. Lovely.

New Testament

When we last saw Jesus, the Jewish religious teachers were trying him for blasphemy. Today, Peter denies three times that he is Jesus’ follower, just as Jesus predicted he would. Jesus gets taken to the Roman governor, Pilate, so that he can be put to death. Judas feels guilty about causing Jesus’ death and hangs himself after giving the money back to the priests.

The bit about Judas supposedly fulfills another prophecy.

This fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah that says,

“They took the thirty pieces of silver —
the price at which he was valued by the people of Israel,
and purchased the potter’s field,
as the Lord directed.”

The footnote cites two locations: Zechariah 11:12-13 and Jeremiah 32:6-9. Here is the passage from Zechariah:

I told them, “If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.” So they paid me thirty pieces of silver.

And the LORD said to me, “Throw it to the potter”-the handsome price at which they priced me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the LORD to the potter.

Zechariah seems to be speaking symbolically and/or prophetically here, so he could be speaking of Judas. However, the passage does not mention a field at all, just a potter. Furthermore, the text cited Jeremiah, not Zechariah. Let’s see what the relevant passage in Jeremiah says.

Jeremiah said, “The word of the LORD came to me: Hanamel son of Shallum your uncle is going to come to you and say, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth, because as nearest relative it is your right and duty to buy it.’

“Then, just as the LORD had said, my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard and said, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin. Since it is your right to redeem it and possess it, buy it for yourself.’

“I knew that this was the word of the LORD; so I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel and weighed out for him seventeen shekels of silver.

This passage is completely different! There is no feasible way it can be interpreted to be talking about the same thing as the first passage. Furthermore, it bears even less resemblance to the so called prophecy. It seems like the author of Matthew just got a bit confused and conflated two different passages. Oops.

Another prophecy fail. Maybe the worst one yet.

Psalms and Proverbs

Today’s reading from the Psalms presents an interesting juxtaposition to the reading from Exodus.

But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever;
his intentions can never be shaken.

Really? Tell that to Moses, who persuaded God not to kill the people of Israel. The reading form Exodus specifically says, “So the Lord changed his mind”.

Today marks the fifth day of Wisdom going on about how great she is without actually conveying any wisdom. Better than droning on about immoral women, I suppose.

Reference links:

Exodus 30:11-31:18 Matthew 26:47-68 Psalm 32:1-11 Proverbs 8:27-32

Overview of the Book of Exodus Overview of the Gospel of Matthew Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Sneak preview! Later in the Bible, God will get super angry at David for taking a census. God does not explain why he is angry. Today’s reading gives a possible reason. God tells Moses,

Whenever you take a census of the people of Israel, each man who is counted must pay a ransom for himself to the Lord. Then no plague will strike the people as you count them. Each person who is counted must give a small piece of silver as a sacred offering to the Lord.

So maybe God’s anger at David was because David failed to have the people ransom themselves with silver.

God gives details for making a wash basin, anointing oil, and incense. He then tells Moses that the people should keep the Sabbath holy and gives him a couple stone tablets with the terms of the covenant written by the finger of God.

New Testament

Plot summary: Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss. Armed men arrest Jesus. One of Jesus’ followers moves to defend Jesus, but Jesus tells him to stop, but not until an enemy ear has been detached from its owner. The disciples flee. The high priests and teacher of religious law try to trap Jesus with false witnesses. Jesus is finally convicted when he does not deny being the Messiah or the Son of God and says that he will someday sit at the right hand of God.

Now, I do not believe in killing people for blasphemy, but I think I have to agree with the religious teachers that this is something they could legitimately consider blasphemy. So everyone deserves some blame here. On the one hand, the religious teachers plotted Jesus’ death because they saw him as a threat. On the other hand, it would be difficult to say that he was convicted of blasphemy unjustly.

On thing is clear, however. the subsequent beating of and spitting upon of Jesus by the gathered crowds is not how civilized legal proceedings should conclude.

Psalms and Proverbs

Today’s reading from the Psalms has more good sense once you ignore the bit about God and the Christian conception of sin and replace them with more humanistic notions.

When I refused to confess my sin,
my body wasted away,
and I groaned all day long.

When you do something wrong, and you know it, and you cannot get rid of the guilt, it does eat at you. Your emotional state effects your physical well being and your ability to live your life properly. It has nothing to do with God’s discipline, but the effect is certainly real.

Proverbs continues to personify wisdom. Almost to the point where, if these passages were to be taken literally, Wisdom could be considered the Goddess consort of God the creator.

I was the architect at his side.
I was his constant delight,
rejoicing always in his presence.
And how happy I was with the world he created;
how I rejoiced with the human family!

Reference links:

Exodus 29:1-30:10 Matthew 26:14-46 Psalm 31:19-24 Proverbs 8:14-26

Overview of the Book of Exodus Overview of the Gospel of Matthew Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Today we learn how Aaron and his sons must be consecrated before they can serve the Lord. It seems odd that Aaron and his sons become the line of priests. Why not Moses and his sons? Was it because the priests had to be good public speakers, and that was Aaron’s role? Was it because Moses had not circumcised one of his son’s properly?

Priests are consecrated by the sacrifice of a bull and two rams. These animals must be without defect; God is picky about that. The blood of these sacrifices gets smeared on the altar and on the priests. For example, the second ram undergoes the following process:

slaughter it, and apply some of its blood to the right earlobes of Aaron and his sons. Also put it on the thumbs of their right hands and the big toes of their right feet. Splatter the rest of the blood against all sides of the altar. Then take some of the blood from the altar and some of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it on Aaron and his sons and on their garments. In this way, they and their garments will be set apart and holy.

Such rituals show that the God of the Old Testament is a primitive God, very similar to other primitive Gods. God wants bloody sacrifices and enjoys the smell of burning meat. Once again, I am surprised that people expect that reading the Bible would make any non-believer think more highly of the Christian God. There are moments of inspiration (we get one later today even), but they are far outweighed by these moments.

New Testament

Plot advancement! The disciple Judas Iscariot agrees to betray Jesus to the priests for 30 pieces of silver. The reasons behind Judas’ betrayal are glossed over. Why would he betray Jesus? The standard explanation is that he was an evil person, but I feel like the story must be more complicated than that. (Unless, as is not unlikely, the betrayal story is complete fiction; then Judas is just a plot device.) The story has not paid much attention to Judas, so we cannot glean much information about his personality. However, we have seen a lot about Jesus’ personality, and what we have seen indicates that he can be harsh, impatient, and moody. Perhaps Judas had come to the conclusion that Jesus really was a dangerous lunatic and was not so much betraying Jesus as turning him in.

After Judas agrees to betray Jesus, the disciples gather for the Passover supper. Jesus reveals that one of them betray him, and they all wonder (or pretend to wonder, in Judas’ case) the identity of the betrayer. When Judas asks Jesus if he is the betrayer, Jesus more or less indicates that that is the case.

During the meal, Jesus blesses some bread, saying

Take this and eat it, for this is my body.

He then blesses a cup of wine saying,

Each of you drink from it, for this is my blood, which confirms the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.

As discussed above, the idea of a God who needs bloody sacrifices to give forgiveness comes off as primitive (and, to be honest, kind of disgusting). Also, I know different denominations disagree as to whether the bread and wine were symbolically or actually Jesus’ body and blood. In my opinion, if the transformation was not symbolic, it is icky.

After supper, Jesus prays,

My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.

And prays again,

My Father! If this cup cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will be done.

And prays a third time, saying the same things. For the first time in the Book of Matthew, Jesus appears less than confident and self-assured. He seems afraid and humble. I actually feel sympathy for him.

Psalms and Proverbs

The Psalms often mention God’s earthly protection for those who prove faithful to him. Yet reality shows that the faithful receive no more protection from hardship than the rest of us. It seems like modern Christianity, realizing this, has revised this protection to be spiritual and eternal, not material and finite. However, this flies in the face of the protection described here.

Today’s Proverbs reading continues to present the nature of wisdom. Forget for a moment the hypocrisy of those Christians who claim to have wisdom while disdaining two vital tools of wisdom, critical thinking and the scientific method. If you can move beyond that, the text presents some enjoyable sentiments.

Common sense and success belong to me [wisdom].
Insight and strength are mine.
Because of me, kings reign,
and rulers make just decrees.
Rulers lead with my help,
and nobles make righteous judgments.

I love all who love me.
Those who search will surely find me.
I have riches and honor,
as well as enduring wealth and justice.
My gifts are better than gold, even the purest gold,
my wages better than sterling silver!

…

The Lord formed me from the beginning,
before he created anything else.

The last two quoted lines give one of those rare glimpses of a deity that seems worthy of this wonderful universe we live in.