Updates from December, 2010 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts

  • DistroMan 20:00 on December 31, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , ,   

    Joshua 2: Spying and Treason 

    Joshua: Part 2 of 24
    Rahab and the Spies

    1 Then Joshua son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Shittim. “Go, look over the land,” he said, “especially Jericho.” So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there.

    Aw, come on, you’re shittim me again.  More spies?  Moral and ethical people don’t use spies.  It’s not what I’d call trustworthy.  Would they like being spied upon?  What happened to ‘do unto others’?

    2 The king of Jericho was told, “Look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land.”

    3 So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab: “Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land.”

    4 But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from.

    Lying.  Great behaviour.

    5 At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them.”

    6 (But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof.)

    7 So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as the pursuers had gone out, the gate was shut.

    8 Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof

    9 and said to them, “I know that the LORD has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you.

    10 We have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed.

    This shows that if any of this was real, that the people would not have rebelled and questioned God at all.  These people were so superstitious that these stories would have had them fleeing in fear, not hanging around waiting to be killed.  They would have believed that they had no chance of surviving.

    11 When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the LORD your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below.

    It didn’t fail enough for you to flee though.

    12 “Now then, please swear to me by the LORD that you will show kindness to my family, because I have shown kindness to you. Give me a sure sign

    13 that you will spare the lives of my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them—and that you will save us from death.”

    14 “Our lives for your lives!” the men assured her. “If you don’t tell what we are doing, we will treat you kindly and faithfully when the LORD gives us the land.”

    Trading her countrymen’s lives for her own.  Shameful behaviour.  Traitorous.

    15 So she let them down by a rope through the window, for the house she lived in was part of the city wall.

    16 She said to them, “Go to the hills so the pursuers will not find you. Hide yourselves there three days until they return, and then go on your way.”

    17 Now the men had said to her, “This oath you made us swear will not be binding on us

    18 unless, when we enter the land, you have tied this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and unless you have brought your father and mother, your brothers and all your family into your house.

    19 If any of them go outside your house into the street, their blood will be on their own heads; we will not be responsible. As for those who are in the house with you, their blood will be on our head if a hand is laid on them.

    20 But if you tell what we are doing, we will be released from the oath you made us swear.”

    21 “Agreed,” she replied. “Let it be as you say.” So she sent them away, and they departed. And she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

    22 When they left, they went into the hills and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had searched all along the road and returned without finding them.

    23 Then the two men started back. They went down out of the hills, forded the river and came to Joshua son of Nun and told him everything that had happened to them.

    24 They said to Joshua, “The LORD has surely given the whole land into our hands; all the people are melting in fear because of us.”

    Crap. How is it melting in fear if they are still there and only one person is helping them?   If they were that worried there wouldn’t have been a chance of the spies entering the city in the first place.  It would have been too well guarded.  This is a pathetic story to scare children, not sensible thinking adults.

    << Joshua 1      Index      Joshua 3 >>

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on December 30, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , , ,   

    Joshua 1: Another of God’s ‘Yes Men’. 

    Joshua: Part 1 of 24
    Joshua Installed as Leader

    1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide:

    For ‘death’ read ‘murder’.

    2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites.

    It would be nice to be able to read this book without having to translate everything into more factual language instead of the glossy coverup of the truth.  You murdered Moses.  It was your choice.  You told him ahead of time.  Take responsibility for your actions.  The truth is that the centrepiece of this whole book is a murderer.  That is what this book is based on and formed around.  Own it.

    3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.

    You don’t own it.  You get them to murder and steal it.

    4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.

    5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

    Then how come that land is still not theirs?  You are an impotent fool full of hot air.

    6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

    7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

    This has been repeated so many times it’s ridiculous.  If there was some instruction as to how to become strong and courageous it might have some value.  But no, this book hasn’t a clue how to teach people to be good.  It just orders them about like the sock puppets they are.

    8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

    The only law in the ‘Book of the Law’ is ‘do as I say or else’.  That is less than useless.

    9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

    You don’t just tell people to go and build a house if they don’t know how to do that.  They need information and instruction.  You give neither.

    10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people:

    11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your provisions ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.’”

    This is about the best this book can do.  Make ready for war.  :(

    12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said,

    13 “Remember the command that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you after he said, ‘The LORD your God will give you rest by giving you this land.’

    14 Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, ready for battle, must cross over ahead of your fellow Israelites. You are to help them

    15 until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

    16 Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.

    17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses.

    18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey it, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!”

    That is how you rule according to the bible.  Kill them if they don’t do as you wish.  Rule by fear.

    Index      Joshua 2 >>

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on December 29, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , passion   

    Passion Rekindled? 

    There comes a time, if not tended well, when the all encompassing flame that was your passion slowly decreases till it is but an ember. You attempt to rekindle it, but age and weariness fight against you. Too hard and you risk killing it for good, but to accept the status quo is too painful to contemplate. A few twigs here, a leaf there, a gentle puff of air. The flame rises, but settles back to the known and comfortable. Another attempt with more energy but to no avail. The warmth of the pale red ember barely warms you through the long night.

    Unknowingly, and without wishing it a second flame is born from the heat of your burning desire. Brighter, more brilliant than the first. It rises, keeping pace with your heartbeat, till you both reach such heights, the lightheadedness brings you back. You stumble with the shock of the unexpected, not knowing which foot should lead. To the right? To the left? Do you go forward, burst into flames, lighting the world for all to see for eternity or do you go back to tend and care for the lone little ember till it fades into nothingness, dark and cold?

    Would you be able to appreciate and embrace the flame if the ember had not tended lovingly to you?  Can you turn your back on the flame that calls to you with a strength you can hardly withstand?

    Be careful you do not shed tears where you stand, for that may extinguish all and bring on the cold, dark night of eternity.  Alone.

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on December 28, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,   

    Deuteronomy: The Post Mortem 

    Deuteronomy: What was it all about?

    Mostly, this book is nothing but hot air.  Lots of descriptions of going here and going there.  More I’ll do that if you do this from God.  The bloodshed has risen as against previous books and how much of that is to come remains to be seen.

    The most noticeable thing though is the lack of substance.  This is touted as a book to base your life upon.  It is a ‘moral compass’ can be heard from every corner of christendom, but they fail to back it up with any proof.  That is to be expected though, because turds floating in toilets don’t make good compasses.  I use that phrase because this book is a load of crap.  Nowhere is there to be found, so far at least, anything that could be rightfully called good advice.  I don’t count the section where you get told not to muzzle your ox while it’s working.  That is not about morals, but is a good example of how close the bible gets to being what it says it is.

    The amount of people killed on their journey is hard for me to calculate because numbers aren’t given.  All we do hear though is that they wipe out every living thing everywhere they go.  That is of course unless they need a few extra virgins in which case they spare them and divide them up like the spoils of war.  Even the priests get a few for their pleasure.

    There are now more instances of God and Moses admitting there are other gods.  Not just idols, but gods.

    The habit of naming everything and telling us where they are going is boring as hell.  If you were to sit down to study a subject and picked up a text book you would expect to get pertinent information.  This book gives you nothing.  Nobody could be expected to learn anything from it that could be termed useful.  Drain it, strain it, wring it out and the only good stuff left might fill a page or two.  If you are thinking that reading it will be time well spent, think again.  Half an hour at a library sifting through children’s books will give you a better grounding in what could be called right and wrong actions.  The lynchpin of the whole deal is the Ten Commandments and they are next to useless.  There isn’t a whole lot of good stuff in them and the ones that are were known before God made his appearance on the world stage.  Scraping up parts of what is already the moral code of the population and spreading it thinly through a book mainly to do with vile and barbaric behaviour is not how you should go about making a book of lessons about moral and ethical behaviour.  There is very little morals in this book and even less ethics.  So many times it contradicts itself.  How do you justify telling people not to kill when you are having them wipe out whole civilisations?  How do you get people to care for their families when you ask them to kill all the children and babies?  How do you get them to treat their animals humanely when you ask them to kill all the animals owned by those humans they slaughter?  How do you promote cleanliness when you promote the spraying of blood all over the place?  How do you promote freedom when you tell them to take slaves?  How do you expect people to live in harmony and peace when you place them at odds with each other?  How do you expect fairness when you play favourites?

    Onto Moses, he is lauded as the best thing that has happened to the Israelites.  God admits that everything will fall apart once Moses is gone, but then goes on to blame Moses for the wrongdoings of the Israelites and then kills him.  There’s gratitude for you.

    The bible is a sickening piece of trash.  It’s not good enough to be called bad literature.

    <<  Deuteronomy 34      Index      Joshua 1  >>

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on December 27, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,   

    Deuteronomy 34: God murders Moses. 

    Deuteronomy: Part 34 of 34
    The Death of Moses

    1 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan,

    2 all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea,

    3 the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar.

    4 Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.”

    5 And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD had said.

    Very childish and immature behaviour.  This is the same as showing a kid a nice sugary sweet and then scoffing it before his eyes and saying “Ner Ner, you can’t have it”!

    6 He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is.

    And to this day there has never been one ounce of proof for God’s existence, let alone Moses’ grave.  Fairy Story.

    7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone.

    Nope, there was no reason for him to die except God’s insistence on being a prick.

    8 The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over.

    If there is a time set for such things, then you are doing it as a duty and not because you were sad.  Do it while you feel it, not for show.

    9 Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the LORD had commanded Moses.

    10 Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,

    11 who did all those signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land.

    12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

    If he was the best, then there was even less reason to kill him.  Now when the people turn away, God has nobody but himself to blame.

    << Deuteronomy 33      Index      Deuteronomy: The Post Mortem >>

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on December 26, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , hot air, , , , , , , , ,   

    Deuteronomy 33: God – All words, no substance. 

    Deuteronomy: Part 33 of 34
    Moses Blesses the Tribes

    1 This is the blessing that Moses the man of God pronounced on the Israelites before his death.

    2 He said:“The LORD came from Sinai and dawned over them from Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran. He came with myriads of holy ones from the south, from his mountain slopes.

    Who are these myriads of holy ones?

    3 Surely it is you who love the people; all the holy ones are in your hand. At your feet they all bow down, and from you receive instruction,

    Again with the holy ones rubbish.

    4 the law that Moses gave us, the possession of the assembly of Jacob.

    Moses is talking about himself in the third person?

    5 He was king over Jeshurun when the leaders of the people assembled, along with the tribes of Israel.

    6 “Let Reuben live and not die, nor his people be few.”

    7 And this he said about Judah: “Hear, LORD, the cry of Judah; bring him to his people. With his own hands he defends his cause. Oh, be his help against his foes!”

    8 About Levi he said: “Your Thummim and Urim belong to your faithful servant. You tested him at Massah; you contended with him at the waters of Meribah.

    9 He said of his father and mother, ‘I have no regard for them.’ He did not recognize his brothers or acknowledge his own children, but he watched over your word and guarded your covenant.

    No regard for his parents?  Isn’t that breaking one of God’s laws?

    10 He teaches your precepts to Jacob and your law to Israel. He offers incense before you and whole burnt offerings on your altar.

    11 Bless all his skills, LORD, and be pleased with the work of his hands.  Strike down those who rise against him, his foes till they rise no more.”

    12 About Benjamin he said: “Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.”

    13 About Joseph he said: “May the LORD bless his land with the precious dew from heaven above and with the deep waters that lie below;

    14 with the best the sun brings forth and the finest the moon can yield;

    15 with the choicest gifts of the ancient mountains and the fruitfulness of the everlasting hills;

    16 with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness and the favor of him who dwelt in the burning bush. Let all these rest on the head of Joseph, on the brow of the prince among his brothers.

    Lovely words and all that, but with no substance.

    17 In majesty he is like a firstborn bull; his horns are the horns of a wild ox. With them he will gore the nations, even those at the ends of the earth. Such are the ten thousands of Ephraim; such are the thousands of Manasseh.”

    18 About Zebulun he said: “Rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, and you, Issachar, in your tents.

    19 They will summon peoples to the mountain and there offer the sacrifices of the righteous; they will feast on the abundance of the seas, on the treasures hidden in the sand.”

    20 About Gad he said: “Blessed is he who enlarges Gad’s domain! Gad lives there like a lion, tearing at arm or head.

    21 He chose the best land for himself; the leader’s portion was kept for him. When the heads of the people assembled, he carried out the LORD’s righteous will, and his judgments concerning Israel.”

    Greed and avarice.  A fair person would have an equal share for themselves and thereby show that the people mean something to him and not there just to make more for him.

    22 About Dan he said: “Dan is a lion’s cub, springing out of Bashan.”

    23 About Naphtali he said: “Naphtali is abounding with the favor of the LORD and is full of his blessing; he will inherit southward to the lake.”

    24 About Asher he said: “Most blessed of sons is Asher; let him be favored by his brothers, and let him bathe his feet in oil.

    25 The bolts of your gates will be iron and bronze, and your strength will equal your days.

    26 “There is no one like the God of Jeshurun, who rides across the heavens to help you and on the clouds in his majesty.

    27 The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. He will drive out your enemies before you, saying, ‘Destroy them!’

    Why did he put them there in the first place if not just to destroy them?  That is an evil act.

    28 So Israel will live in safety; Jacob will dwell secure in a land of grain and new wine, where the heavens drop dew.

    29 Blessed are you, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will tread on their heights.”

    And if God is to be believed, then he admits that he didn’t do a very good job or the people would not be fleeing from him in droves and worshipping other idols.  Bad god.  Bad deity.  :)

    << Deuteronomy 32      Index      Deuteronomy 34 >>

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on December 25, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,   

    Deuteronomy 32: God pisses in your pockets. 

    Deuteronomy: Part 32 of 34

    1 Listen, you heavens, and I will speak; hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.

    2 Let my teaching fall like rain and my words descend like dew, like showers on new grass, like abundant rain on tender plants.

    3 I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God!

    4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.

    Someone that has caused so much loss of life, even innocent babies, can never claim to do no wrong, be upright and just.

    5 They are corrupt and not his children; to their shame they are a warped and crooked generation.

    I know who is warped alright and it isn’t the people.

    6 Is this the way you repay the LORD, you foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?

    If he formed us, then everything that we do wrong is his own fault and he should be held accountable.

    7 Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past. Ask your father and he will tell you, your elders, and they will explain to you.

    8 When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.

    9 For the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance.

    10 In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye,

    11 like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft.

    And treating everyone else who lives in the same area like prey to be devoured.

    12 The LORD alone led him; no foreign god was with him.

    Admitting there are other gods again.

    13 He made him ride on the heights of the land and fed him with the fruit of the fields. He nourished him with honey from the rock, and with oil from the flinty crag,

    14 with curds and milk from herd and flock and with fattened lambs and goats, with choice rams of Bashan and the finest kernels of wheat. You drank the foaming blood of the grape.

    15 Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, they became heavy and sleek. They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior.

    16 They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols.

    He gives you freewill and condemns you for using it.

    17 They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God— gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear.

    You shouldn’t have to fear a god.

    18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.

    They remembered the god who killed babies.

    19 The LORD saw this and rejected them because he was angered by his sons and daughters.

    20 “I will hide my face from them,” he said, “and see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children who are unfaithful.

    It has to be less stressful for them.

    21 They made me jealous by what is no god and angered me with their worthless idols. I will make them envious by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation that has no understanding.

    22 For a fire will be kindled by my wrath, one that burns down to the realm of the dead below. It will devour the earth and its harvests and set afire the foundations of the mountains.

    23 “I will heap calamities on them and spend my arrows against them.

    Sounds more like you’re playing with yourself.

    24 I will send wasting famine against them, consuming pestilence and deadly plague; I will send against them the fangs of wild beasts, the venom of vipers that glide in the dust.

    25 In the street the sword will make them childless; in their homes terror will reign. The young men and young women will perish, the infants and those with gray hair.

    26 I said I would scatter them and erase their name from human memory,

    Which hasn’t happened.

    27 but I dreaded the taunt of the enemy, lest the adversary misunderstand and say, ‘Our hand has triumphed; the LORD has not done all this.’”

    28 They are a nation without sense, there is no discernment in them.

    Then why didn’t you give them discernment?

    29 If only they were wise and would understand this and discern what their end will be!

    Why didn’t you give them wisdom?

    30 How could one man chase a thousand, or two put ten thousand to flight, unless their Rock had sold them, unless the LORD had given them up?

    31 For their rock is not like our Rock, as even our enemies concede.

    32 Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are filled with poison, and their clusters with bitterness.

    33 Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras.

    34 “Have I not kept this in reserve and sealed it in my vaults?

    35 It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them.”

    36 The LORD will vindicate his people and relent concerning his servants when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free.

    Then how will he have people if they are all gone?

    37 He will say: “Now where are their gods, the rock they took refuge in,

    38 the gods who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offerings? Let them rise up to help you! Let them give you shelter!

    Those are the things you did to them.  Taking the best of everything they worked hard to get.

    39 “See now that I myself am he! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.

    Nothing has happened, life has gone on, people are happy, sad, safe and in danger just as they ever were.  You’re not being here hasn’t changed a thing.  You’re being here never changed a thing.  You are a figment of a powerhungry fools imagination and are just as impotent.

    40 I lift my hand to heaven and solemnly swear: As surely as I live forever,

    41 when I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and repay those who hate me.

    Bring it on.

    42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood, while my sword devours flesh: the blood of the slain and the captives, the heads of the enemy leaders.”

    Just as you’ve always done.  More bloodshed.

    43 Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement for his land and people.

    44 Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people.

    45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel,

    46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law.

    It is not a law.  It is a claim of power he doesn’t have, a claim for retribution he’ll never take, a claim of love he doesn’t have and a claim to exist which he never has.

    47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

    Idle words is exactly what they are.

    Moses to Die on Mount Nebo

    48 On that same day the LORD told Moses,

    49 “Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession.

    50 There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people.

    Only your murderer can tell you where and when you are going to die.

    51 This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites.

    What is your punishment for being an arsehole to your people?

    52 Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

    Breaking your promise to your people one at a time.

    << Deuteronomy 31      Index      Deuteronomy 33 >>

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on December 24, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , fear, , , , , , , , ,   

    Deuteronomy 31: More fear mongering… 

    Deuteronomy: Part 31 of 34
    Joshua to Succeed Moses

    1 Then Moses went out and spoke these words to all Israel:

    2 “I am now a hundred and twenty years old and I am no longer able to lead you. The LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’

    God is supposed to be able to fix you.  He has the power.  If you die, it is at his command.  Of course, he did tell you a while ago he was going to kill you.

    3 The LORD your God himself will cross over ahead of you. He will destroy these nations before you, and you will take possession of their land. Joshua also will cross over ahead of you, as the LORD said.

    4 And the LORD will do to them what he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, whom he destroyed along with their land.

    5 The LORD will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you.

    Once again, God could just wipe them out in an instant.  There is no need for the two peoples to face off in a battle.  The only reason is if God wants to watch the bloodshed.

    6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

    7 Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their ancestors to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance.

    8 The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

    Repeat, repeat, repeat.

    Public Reading of the Law

    9 So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and to all the elders of Israel.

    Glorified moving men.

    10 Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Festival of Tabernacles,

    11 when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing.

    12 Assemble the people—men, women and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns—so they can listen and learn to fear the LORD your God and follow carefully all the words of this law.

    13 Their children, who do not know this law, must hear it and learn to fear the LORD your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

    It would seem a better proposition to have people living without fear.  Of God or anyone else.

    Israel’s Rebellion Predicted

    14 The LORD said to Moses, “Now the day of your death is near. Call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, where I will commission him.” So Moses and Joshua came and presented themselves at the tent of meeting.

    Smack Joshua over the head with a bottle of champagne.

    15 Then the LORD appeared at the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the cloud stood over the entrance to the tent.

    16 And the LORD said to Moses: “You are going to rest with your ancestors, and these people will soon prostitute themselves to the foreign gods of the land they are entering. They will forsake me and break the covenant I made with them.

    17 And in that day I will become angry with them and forsake them; I will hide my face from them, and they will be destroyed. Many disasters and calamities will come on them, and in that day they will ask, ‘Have not these disasters come on us because our God is not with us?’

    Maybe they do this in the quest for a more loving and just god.  Someone who won’t have them quaking in fear worrying about the next calamity that will befall them.

    18 And I will certainly hide my face in that day because of all their wickedness in turning to other gods.

    You should hide your face in shame at the way you have treated them.

    19 “Now write down this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them.

    20 When I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I promised on oath to their ancestors, and when they eat their fill and thrive, they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my covenant.

    21 And when many disasters and calamities come on them, this song will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into the land I promised them on oath.”

    When you have all the power needed to change things and have it go the right way, the fault lies only with you.

    22 So Moses wrote down this song that day and taught it to the Israelites.

    23 The LORD gave this command to Joshua son of Nun: “Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the Israelites into the land I promised them on oath, and I myself will be with you.”

    24 After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law from beginning to end,

    25 he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD:

    26 “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God. There it will remain as a witness against you.

    Then why doesn’t God just change things?  Not have them be so difficult.  Show the people some real love.  Stop scaring the crap out of them day after day.

    27 For I know how rebellious and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the LORD while I am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die!

    28 Assemble before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can speak these words in their hearing and call the heavens and the earth to testify against them.

    29 For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.”

    The other question you have to ask is whether God set things up to happen this way.  He does have all the power.  Nothing happens that he doesn’t know about and allow.  So who’s to blame here?

    The Song of Moses

    30 And Moses recited the words of this song from beginning to end in the hearing of the whole assembly of Israel:

    He must have had some really gnarly PA System to accomplish that.

    << Deuteronomy 30      Index      Deuteronomy 32 >>

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on December 23, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,   

    Deuteronomy 30: Yaaaaawwwwwwnnnnn 

    Deuteronomy: Part 30 of 34
    Prosperity After Turning to the LORD

    1 When all these blessings and curses I have set before you come on you and you take them to heart wherever the LORD your God disperses you among the nations,

    2 and when you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today,

    3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you.

    4 Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the LORD your God will gather you and bring you back.

    5 He will bring you to the land that belonged to your ancestors, and you will take possession of it. He will make you more prosperous and numerous than your ancestors.

    6 The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.

    Again with circumcising the heart.  What is that supposed to mean?

    7 The LORD your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you.

    You seem very intent upon punishing everyone all the time.  It would seem logical that a ‘good book’ would focus on good, but the bible is so full of retribution and hatred that it’s hard to find any good in here whatsoever.

    8 You will again obey the LORD and follow all his commands I am giving you today.

    9 Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your ancestors,

    10 if you obey the LORD your God and keep his commands and decrees that are written in this Book of the Law and turn to the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

    The Offer of Life or Death

    11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.

    12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”

    13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?”

    14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

    15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.

    See, you could have left out the death and destruction.  That would have increased the good to evil ratio, but nooooo, you have to go with the nasty shit all the time.

    16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

    17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them,

    18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

    Scare tactics never work.

    19 This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live

    This could have been phrased in a more positive way, but you have to go with witnesses against you, death and curses.

    20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

    Tripe.  Utter tripe.

    << Deuteronomy 29      Index      Deuteronomy 31 >>

     

  • DistroMan 20:00 on December 22, 2010 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , , , horror story, , , , , , ,   

    Deuteronomy 29: blah blah blah 

    Deuteronomy: Part 29 of 34
    Renewal of the Covenant

    1 These are the terms of the covenant the LORD commanded Moses to make with the Israelites in Moab, in addition to the covenant he had made with them at Horeb.

    2 Moses summoned all the Israelites and said to them: Your eyes have seen all that the LORD did in Egypt to Pharaoh, to all his officials and to all his land.

    3 With your own eyes you saw those great trials, those signs and great wonders.

    4 But to this day the LORD has not given you a mind that understands or eyes that see or ears that hear.

    Are you freaking kidding me?  No mind or eyes to understand yet you’ve blamed nearly everything you could think of on them and punished them endlessly.  If you didn’t give them minds or eyes, whose bloody fault it is?  YOURS!!!

    5 Yet the LORD says, “During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.

    6 You ate no bread and drank no wine or other fermented drink. I did this so that you might know that I am the LORD your God.”

    7 When you reached this place, Sihon king of Heshbon and Og king of Bashan came out to fight against us, but we defeated them.

    8 We took their land and gave it as an inheritance to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

    9 Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do.

    10 All of you are standing today in the presence of the LORD your God—your leaders and chief men, your elders and officials, and all the other men of Israel,

    11 together with your children and your wives, and the foreigners living in your camps who chop your wood and carry your water.

    12 You are standing here in order to enter into a covenant with the LORD your God, a covenant the LORD is making with you this day and sealing with an oath,

    13 to confirm you this day as his people, that he may be your God as he promised you and as he swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

    14 I am making this covenant, with its oath, not only with you

    15 who are standing here with us today in the presence of the LORD our God but also with those who are not here today.

    16 You yourselves know how we lived in Egypt and how we passed through the countries on the way here.

    17 You saw among them their detestable images and idols of wood and stone, of silver and gold.

    18 Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.

    19 When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,” they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.

    20 The LORD will never be willing to forgive them; his wrath and zeal will burn against them. All the curses written in this book will fall on them, and the LORD will blot out their names from under heaven.

    Up to 20 and nothing whatsoever but hot air.  Will that change?  Let’s see…

    21 The LORD will single them out from all the tribes of Israel for disaster, according to all the curses of the covenant written in this Book of the Law.

    22 Your children who follow you in later generations and foreigners who come from distant lands will see the calamities that have fallen on the land and the diseases with which the LORD has afflicted it.

    23 The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, which the LORD overthrew in fierce anger.

    24 All the nations will ask: “Why has the LORD done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?”

    25 And the answer will be: “It is because this people abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, the covenant he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt.

    26 They went off and worshiped other gods and bowed down to them, gods they did not know, gods he had not given them.

    27 Therefore the LORD’s anger burned against this land, so that he brought on it all the curses written in this book.

    28 In furious anger and in great wrath the LORD uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land, as it is now.”

    29 The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

    Lame, lame and um, really lame.  Stories to scare children and morons again.  Where is the ‘moral compass’?  Bubble wrap has more uses.

    << Deuteronomy 28      Index      Deuteronomy 30 >>

     

← Older posts

c
compose new post
j
next post/next comment
k
previous post/previous comment
r
reply
e
edit
o
show/hide comments
t
go to top
l
go to login
h
show/hide help
shift + esc
cancel