Prejudice, hatred and retaliation by God against individuals and religious group

[Guest guest]

Prejudice, hatred and retaliation by God against individuals and

religious groups. God is described as exhibiting intolerance and

anger towards humans in many Biblical passages:

 

God rejected a sincere offering:

 

Adam and Eve had two sons: Cain, a farmer, and Abel, a shepherd. Both

gave an offering to God: The former was a vegetable sacrifice; the

latter, animal. The Lord had no respect for either Cain or his

offering. This triggered Cain's murder of his brother. Liberal

theologians are divided on their interpretation of this passage. Some

believe it originated in a story of ritual human sacrifice. Others

suspect that God rejected Cain's sacrifice as inadequate because it

was plant and not animal. Many religious conservatives believe that

God's rejection of Cain and his sacrifice was related to unconfessed

sin in his life. Hebrews 11:4 supports the latter interpretation.

Genesis 4:2-5 " ...And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a

tiller of the ground... it came to pass, that Cain brought of the

fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also

brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And

the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and

to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his

countenance fell. "

 

 

God killed the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah:

 

God exterminated all of the inhabitants (men, women, children,

infants, newborns) of these two towns. Although many denominations

teach that the crime for which God punished these people was

homosexual behavior, other verses in the Bible show that the actual

crime was their lack of kindness towards and abusive of strangers.

Genesis 19:24-25 " Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah

brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew

those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the

cities, and that which grew upon the ground. "

 

 

God killed Onan because he avoided his duty to impregnate his sister-

in-law:

 

God had killed Er because he was wicked. This gave his brother, Onan,

the religious obligation to engage in sexual intercourse with Er's

widow. The resulting baby would be considered Er's offspring. Onan

did not want to impregnate Er's wife. The exact reason is unknown.

He practiced an elementary (and unreliable) form of birth control:

coitus interruptus. God killed him because he did not perform his

religious duty. These verses were used in the past to condemn

masturbation. That appears to be based on a misinterpretation of the

passage.

Genesis 38: 7-10 " And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight

of the LORD; and the LORD slew him. And Judah said unto Onan, Go in

unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy

brother. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and it came

to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it

on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother. And the

thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also. "

 

 

God killed Lot's wife:

 

Some men, who were actually angels, told Lot and his family to flee

from Sodom, advising them to not look back or stop until they reached

the mountains. Lot negotiated with the men to get permission to only

flee to a nearby town, Zoar instead of to the mountains. The men

agreed. Once they had reached Zoar, had met of the instructions of

the men, and were safe, Lot's wife seems to have assumed that they

could look back at the devastation -- at Sodom which contained the

remains of her son-in-laws, her more distant relatives (if any) and

her friends. God killed her and changed her to a pillar of salt.

Genesis 19:26 " But his wife looked back from behind him, and she

became a pillar of salt "

 

 

God attempted to kill Moses:

 

After God selected Moses to lead his people out of Egypt, he

apparently changed his mind and attempted to kill him. His wife

Zipporah took a piece of flint, amputated her son's foreskin and

touched Moses' feet with it. This apparently prevented God from

killing Moses. ( " Feet " in ancient Hebrew were sometimes used to refer

to male genitals). The story does not make a great deal of sense;

theologians have debated over its meaning for centuries without

resolution.

Exodus 4:24-26 " ...the LORD met him, and sought to kill him. Then

Zipporah took a sharp stone, and cut off the foreskin of her son, and

cast it at his feet, and said, Surely a bloody husband art thou to

me. "

 

 

God killed untold numbers of Egyptians:

 

God selected Moses to lead his people out of Egypt. But God

also " hardened the heart " of the Pharaoh (Exodus 4:21, 7:3, 14:4 and

14:17) so that the Pharaoh would not readily let the Jews leave. The

result was a series of 10 plagues of increasing severity, culminating

in the death of every first born human and animal in Egypt (except

for the Jews who had sprinkled blood on their doorposts). Finally,

the Pharaoh allowed the Jews to depart.

Exodus 12:29 " And it came to pass, that at midnight the LORD smote

all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh

that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in

the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. And Pharaoh rose up in

the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there

was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was

not one dead. "

 

 

Religious civil war among the Israelites:

 

Two religions were followed by the Israelites at the time: one group

worshipped Pagan Gods; the other worshipped the God of the Torah. God

was displeased, and decided to break his promises to Abraham, Isaac

and Israel. He was prepared to destroy all of the Israelites because

of the religious beliefs of the Pagan minority. Moses convinced God

to permit just the slaughter of the 3,000 adult male Pagans, and

their wives and children.

Exodus 32:28 " ...Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and

out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his

brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor. And

the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there

fell of the people that day about three thousand men. "

 

 

God ordered Israelites to destroy Pagan temples:

 

God ordered the Israelites to drive various Pagan tribes out of

Palestine, and to desecrate the religious altars, obelisks and idols

that had been used in worship. God later orders that they not inter-

marry with people from other tribes.

Exodus 34:11 " ...behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the

Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and

the Jebusite. Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with

the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a

snare in the midst of thee: But ye shall destroy their altars, break

their images, and cut down their groves: For thou shalt worship no

other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. "

 

 

Rejection of women, and disabled or imperfect men as priests:

 

Women were prohibited from the priesthood. Men who have bodily

defects were also not allowed to become priests. This included a man

who was blind or lame or a dwarf, or who had a broken nose, an extra

finger, a humped back, pimples, scabby skin, crushed testicles, etc.

Leviticus 21:16-23 " ...Whosoever he be of thy seed in their

generations that hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the

bread of his God. For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he

shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat

nose, or any thing superfluous, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or

brokenhanded, Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in

his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; "

 

 

God killed Jews at Taberah:

 

During the 40 years of wandering through the desert, some Jews

complained about their hard life. God heard the complaints, became

angry, and destroyed some outlying parts of the camp, presumably

killing the inhabitants:

Numbers 11:1 " And when the people complained, it displeased the LORD:

and the LORD heard it; and his anger was kindled; and the fire of the

LORD burnt among them, and consumed them that were in the uttermost

parts of the camp. "

 

 

God killed Jews at Kibroth-hatta'avah:

 

God had provided manna for the Israelites to eat in the desert. But

the people found a steady diet of manna (and nothing else) to be

intolerable; they missed meat. They wept because they no longer

enjoyed the varied diet that they had enjoyed in Egypt. God was

enraged. He caused quails to converge on the camp so that the

Israelites would have plenty of meat. Afterwards, he killed large

numbers of the people with a plague because of their complaining.

Numbers 11:10-34 " Then Moses heard the people weep throughout their

families...and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; Moses also

was displeased...And there went forth a wind from the LORD, and

brought quails from the sea, and let them fall by the camp...And

while the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the

wrath of the LORD was kindled against the people, and the LORD smote

the people with a very great plague. "

 

 

God killed 250 Jewish leaders and their families:

 

Korah, Dathan, Abiram and about 250 of the leaders of the Israelites

decided that they wanted to abandon God's instructions and adopt a

more democratic form of government. They complained to Moses about

the status of the priesthood. They believed that the entire

congregation is holy, and that the priests should not exalt

themselves above the common folk. They also objected to Moses' status

as a dictator. God caused the ground to open and swallow the four

main leaders. They were and their families were killed and descended

into Sheol, the underground caverns where the dead live a shadowy

existence. God sent fire to burn alive the remaining 250 leaders,

their wives and children.

Numbers 16:1-35 " Now Korah...and Dathan and Abiram...and On...rose up

before Moses, with...250 princes of the assembly, famous in the

congregation, men of renown: And they gathered themselves together

against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much

upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them,

and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves

above the congregation of the LORD?...And the LORD spake unto Moses

and unto Aaron, saying, Separate yourselves from among this

congregation, that I may consume them in a moment...And it came to

pass...that the ground clave asunder that was under them: And the

earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and

all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They,

and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and

the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the

congregation. And there came out a fire from the LORD, and consumed

the 250 men that offered incense. "

 

 

God sent a plague which killed 14,700 Jews:

 

Following the mass murder of 254 leaders and their families, almost

all of the Israelites complained about the terrible loss of life

among these holy people. God was displeased and sent a plague which

killed almost 15,000 Israelites.

Numbers 16:41-49 " ...all the congregation of the children of Israel

murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, Ye have killed the

people of the LORD...And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Get you

up from among this congregation, that I may consume them as in a

moment. And they fell upon their faces. And Moses said unto Aaron,

Take a censer, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on

incense, and go quickly unto the congregation, and make an atonement

for them: for there is wrath gone out from the LORD; the plague is

begun...And he stood between the dead and the living; and the plague

was stayed. Now they that died in the plague were 14,700, beside them

that died about the matter of Korah. "

 

 

God orders genocides:

 

The Israelites had exterminated the Amorites. God ordered them to

also wipe out the Bashan in the same way.

Numbers 21:34-35 " And the LORD said unto Moses, Fear him not: for I

have delivered him into thy hand, and all his people, and his land;

and thou shalt do to him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the

Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon. So they smote him, and his sons,

and all his people, until there was none left him alive: and they

possessed his land. "

 

 

God sends plague which killed 24,000 Israelites:

 

While in Shittim, all of the Israelites began to follow another

religion. They worshipped Baal, a God of the Moabites and other Pagan

tribes. The Biblical text is a bit confusing here. It says that: God

ordered Moses to kill all of the tribal leaders of Israel as

punishment

 

 

God sent a plague as punishment:

 

Moses ordered that all Israelites who had worshipped Baal be

executed. (Since all of Israel was involved in Pagan worship, this

would presumably include everyone.)

A young man, Phinehas, saw an Israelite man, Zimri, with a Moabite

woman, Cozbi. Phinehas became enraged that one of their men had

become involved with a woman from another tribe. He murdered both of

them with a single spear thrust. God was pleased with this action and

stopped the plague at the point that 24,000 had died.

Numbers 25:1-18 " And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to

commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the

people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and

bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor:

and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. And the LORD

said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up

before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD

may be turned away from Israel. And Moses said unto the judges of

Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.

And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his

brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight

of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping

before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. And when

Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he

rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand;

And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of

them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So

the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. And those that

died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. And the LORD spake

unto Moses, saying, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron

the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel,

while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the

children of Israel in my jealousy. Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto

him my covenant of peace: "

 

 

God orders genocide of the Midianites:

 

God ordered that the Midianites be exterminated because of their

religious beliefs and practices. The Israeli army kills all of the

Midianite men, and took the women and children captive. Moses was

angry that the army had taken the women captive instead of murdering

them. He ordered all of the boys and any women who were not virgins

to be killed in cold blood. Virgin girls, some 32,000, were allowed

to live.

Numbers 31:7-41 " And they warred against the Midianites, as the LORD

commanded Moses; and they slew all the males...And the children of

Israel took all the women of Midian captives, and their little ones,

and took the spoil of all their cattle, and all their flocks, and all

their goods...Moses was wroth with the officers of the host...And

Moses said unto them, Have ye saved all the women alive?...Now

therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman

that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children,

that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for

yourselves. "

 

 

God orders extermination of residents of Canaan:

Canaan is an area which includes modern-day Israel, the occupied

territories, and part of Lebanon and Syria. Its borders are defined

in Numbers 34:1-12. The Canaanites were well established there.

According to the Bible, Joshua led the Israeli army into Canaan

killing any adults and children who did not vacate the land. God's

motivation for ordering this destruction appears to have been the

religion of the Canaanites. Their carved stones, molten images, and

open-air religious sanctuaries were to be desecrated and destroyed.

Much of the book of Joshua describes the carnage.

Numbers 33:50-52 " And the LORD spake unto Moses...saying...When ye

are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall drive

out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all

their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck

down all their high places: "

 

 

God hardened the hearts of the Canaanites so that they would resist

the invasion of the Israelites:

 

Joshua 11:19-20 " There was not a city that made peace with the

children of Israel, save the Hivites the inhabitants of Gibeon: all

other they took in battle. For it was of the LORD to harden their

hearts, that they should come against Israel in battle, that he might

destroy them utterly, and that they might have no favour, but that he

might destroy them, as the LORD commanded Moses. "

 

 

All of the people in Jericho men, women and children, were killed or

murdered:

 

Joshua 6:21 " And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city,

both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with

the edge of the sword. "

The king of Ai was kidnapped and later murdered. All of the rest of

the inhabitants, young and old, were killed or murdered.

Joshua 8:25 " And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men

and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai. "

 

 

Five armies from southern Canaan joined together to fight the Israeli

army, and were wiped out:

 

The five kings were captured and murdered in cold blood. The

Israelites then attacked each of the cities in the area: Makkedah,

Libnah, Lachish, Eglon, Hebron, and Debir. Every person was killed.

Joshua 10:28-39 " ...Joshua took Makkedah...he let none remain: and he

did to the king of Makkedah as he did unto the king of Jericho. Then

Joshua passed from Makkedah, and all Israel with him, unto

Libnah...and he smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the

souls that were therein; he let none remain in it...And Joshua passed

from Libnah...and smote it with the edge of the sword, and all the

souls that were therein...Then Horam king of Gezer came up to help

Lachish; and Joshua smote him and his people, until he had left him

none remaining. And from Lachish Joshua passed unto Eglon...and all

the souls that were therein he utterly destroyed that day. And Joshua

went up from Eglon...and smote it with the edge of the sword...and

all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining...he...

destroyed it utterly, and all the souls that were therein. And Joshua

returned, and all Israel with him, to Debir...and utterly destroyed

all the souls that were therein; he left none remaining: "

 

 

An alliance of many kings joined to fight Joshua. They were defeated:

 

The Israelites " did not leave any that breathed. "

Joshua 11:4-15 " And they went out, they and all their hosts with

them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in

multitude, with horses and chariots very many. And when all these

kings were met together, they came and pitched together at the waters

of Merom, to fight against Israel...And the LORD delivered them into

the hand of Israel, who smote them, and chased them unto great Zidon,

and unto Misrephothmaim, and unto the valley of Mizpeh eastward; and

they smote them, until they left them none remaining. And Joshua at

that time turned back, and took Hazor...And they smote all the souls

that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying

them: there was not any left to breathe: and he burnt Hazor with

fire. And all the cities of those kings, and all the kings of them,

did Joshua take, and smote them with the edge of the sword, and he

utterly destroyed them, as Moses the servant of the LORD commanded.

Joshua...left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses. "

 

 

Two kings on the east side of the Jordon river, and 31 kings on the

west side were killed and their cities destroyed:

 

Joshua 12: 1-24 " Now these are the kings of the land, which the

children of Israel smote, and possessed their land on the other side

Jordan toward the rising of the sun, from the river Arnon unto mount

Hermon, and all the plain on the east: Sihon king of the

Amorites...Og king of Bashan...And these are the kings of the country

which Joshua and the children of Israel smote on this side Jordan on

the west [list deleted]...all the kings 31. "

 

 

God threatens to kill men who allow their children to marry outside

their group:

 

God forbade men of ancient Israel from allowing their sons and

daughters from marrying people from the surrounding Pagan nations -

people who were not part of Israel.

Deuteronomy 7:3-4 " Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy

daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt

thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from

following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of

the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly. "

 

 

Destroy the temples of other religions:

 

No places of worship are to be tolerated; all are to be destroyed.

Deuteronomy 12:2-3 " Ye shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein

the nations which ye shall possess served their gods, upon the high

mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And ye

shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their

groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their

gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place. "

 

 

God permits a human sacrifice:

 

Jephthah led the fight against the Ammonites. He promised God that if

he was victorious that he would conduct an human sacrifice, ritually

murdering the first person to meets him on his return to his house.

God gives him the victory, and does not intervene when Jephthah

ritually murders his only daughter.

Judges 11:30-39 " And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If

thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine

hands, Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of

my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of

Ammon, shall surely be the LORD's, and I will offer it up for a burnt

offering...And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold,

his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and

she was his only child...And it came to pass at the end of two

months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according

to his vow which he had vowed... "

 

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