Exod 6. 8.And I will bring you in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the LORD.
Did I mention that God was giving the land of Canaan to the Israelites?
Exod 6. 12.And Moses spake before the LORD, saying, Behold, the children of Israel have not hearkened unto me; how then shall Pharaoh hear me, who am of uncircumcised lips?
I confess, I don't know what that means, and I'm not sure I want to know.
Exod 6. 13.And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharaoh king of Egypt, to bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
Not too long ago God would only speak to Moses. Now He is speaking to them both. God has said, in effect, "enough of my games." Go ahead and get the people out of Egypt now.
Exod 6. 16.And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years.
Exod 6. 18.And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years.
Exod 6. 20.And Amram took him Jochebed his father's sister to wife; and she bare him Aaron and Moses: and the years of the life of Amram were an hundred and thirty and seven years.
So now my earlier question of how Moses was related to Joseph is answered. Levi and Joseph were brothers. Moses was great great grandson to Levi so Moses is 3rd great nephew to Joseph. There is little possibility that Moses ever knew Joseph and so his stories about him were likely based on family legends. It's quite possible the story of Joseph had been exaggerated here and there.
Moses' mother was also his great aunt as Amram had married his own aunt. If the Bible has been the guide book for our society, I can now understand why incest had been so prevalent.
After reading the genealogies of Moses and Aaron we read...
Exod 6. 26.These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said, Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies.
Now God is referring to the families of Aaron and Moses as armies. Moses is going to Egypt to get armies for God's plan for restitution, for the suffering He caused the Israelites, and to keep His promise to Abraham. The only thing the Canaanites have ever done wrong as a nation was to own land. And because the god Moses discovered in a burning bush on Mount Horeb caused the Israelites to suffer, He's going to have Moses kill off the Canaanites and take their land.
Exod 6. 30.And Moses said before the LORD, Behold, I am of uncircumcised lips, and how shall Pharaoh hearken unto me?
There's that expression again. Maybe "uncircumcised lips" means "unclean speech." Then again, maybe "uncircumcised lips" refers to Moses' slow speech. But I still don't see the connection between "uncircumcised" and "slow." There must have been other metaphors available for someone with a speech impediment.
Exod 7. 1.And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
This had to have thrown historians into a loop for millennia. God made Moses a god? It's pretty apparent from the fact that Aaron was made prophet that this means what it says, that he was talking about Moses being a God god. Moses must have had some fairly deep delusions about his stature; not unlike those of David Koresch and other religious leaders. Come to think of it, perhaps the modern religious leaders are just as deluded because they are heavily influenced by Moses. For the blind faith people have in the Old Testament, it shouldn't surprise us that the character of those in the past would surface in those of the present.
Exod. 7. 2.Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land. 3.And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.
I guess God isn't done playing games after all. He who has the power to create all the heaven and earth has chosen to not soften one man's mind. Not even for the benefit of his chosen people. He has waited 8 generations from Abraham to have Moses go in front of an Egyptian Pharaoh, seeking the end of suffering for his people, and God is going to make the Pharaoh's heart even harder than before. Good going God! Let's hear it for the Source of wisdom, charity, love, and all life.
Exod 7. 4.But Pharaoh shall not hearken unto you, that I may lay my hand upon Egypt, and bring forth mine armies, and my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments.
At least God is honest. The reason He wants the Pharaoh's heart hardened is because He wants Moses and his family to rise as a great army and lay destruction on Egypt.
Exod 7. 5.And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of Israel from among them.
God is on an ego trip. I'm sorry, but how am I supposed to view this? Am I to just be faithful and just accept the fact that God was having a bad-hair century? Am I supposed to believe that God is great because Moses is going to be God's agent of war? No wonder we have wars today. People who live their lives by the Bible have it engrained in their mind that war is a good way to solve problems. After all, God encourages war, right?
Exod 7. 7.And Moses was fourscore years old, and Aaron fourscore and three years old, when they spake unto Pharaoh.
Wow! Both men were in their 80's when this all started. They haven't even taken the land of Canaan yet. They haven't even made it back to Jethro's place yet. They haven't even wandered in the wilderness for 40 years yet.
Exod 7. 9.When Pharaoh shall speak unto you, saying, Shew a miracle for you: then thou shalt say unto Aaron, Take thy rod, and cast it before Pharaoh, and it shall become a serpent. 10.And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. 11.Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. 12.For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron's rod swallowed up their rods.
Give me a break! It isn't enough that we have to believe the greatest power in the Universe is going to help the descendents of Abraham get some land by killing a nation of innocent people, but now they're turning rods into snakes. It might have seemed believable if Moses was the only one that could do such a feat, since God showed him the trick personally. But every man on the Pharaoh's court allegedly could do the same thing. This is further evidence that Moses was influenced by Jethro. If Jethro was an Egyptian priest, then he would know the same tricks as the Pharaoh's priests and magicians. Whatever it was that made the rods appear as snakes, it wasn't all that divine if a court full of mere mortals could do it. God should have known better and given Moses a better trick.
Exod 7. 17.Thus saith the LORD, In this thou shalt know that I am the LORD: behold, I will smite with the rod that is in mine hand upon the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood.
This is the second reference to Moses claiming that he, himself, is God. It could easily be shrugged off as a punctuation mistake, but he has already clearly stated that he was God earlier. And besides, if the problem were punctuation, it would have been fixed a long time ago. This is not a trivial matter.
The river did turn to blood and it caused a great stink. In our modern industrial times, people who polluted the rivers probably thought that if God could do it for good cause, so could they. This is the first environmental disaster in recorded human history. If we are to believe the Bible is the word of God, we can at least find relief in knowing we won't go to hell for polluting.
Exod 7. 21.And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. 22.And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments:
Notice the Pharaoh one-upped Moses? What did he do, have the magicians also turn the water to blood? This is probably one of the most stupid contests in history.
Exod 8. 1.And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 2.And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: 3.And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: 4.And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. 5.And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. 6.And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. 7.And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt.
How laughable! This must be the root inspiration for all modern day slap-stick comedies. Aaron waves a magic wand over the water and the land is filled with frogs. So what does Pharaoh have his magicians do? He has them wave their magic wands over the waters and make even more frogs. While God, Moses and Pharaoh are playing dungeons and dragons, all the innocent people in the land are suffering. It's kind of like the war between nations today, all in the name of peace.
After the frogs event, Pharaoh called upon Moses and asked him to ask God to get rid of them. The Pharaoh should probably have asked his magicians since they brought on half of them.
These three things Moses did, he turned the rod into a snake, changed the water to blood, and made a plague of frogs. Yet back on Mount Horeb God told him he would turn a rod into a snake, make his hand appear as a leper and then heal it again, and turn the water to blood. Why did God change his mind, or did Moses just not get his story straight?
Exod 8. 12.And Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh: and Moses cried unto the LORD because of the frogs which he had brought against Pharaoh. 13.And the LORD did according to the word of Moses; and the frogs died out of the houses, out of the villages, and out of the fields. 14.And they gathered them together upon heaps: and the land stank.
God does what Moses says to Him. Interesting. This further reinforces the idea that Moses thinks he is a god.
First polluted water, now polluted land. I'm speechless.
Exod 8. 16.And the LORD said unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch out thy rod, and smite the dust of the land, that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 17. And they did so; for Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod, and smote the dust of the earth, and it became lice in man, and in beast; all the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 18.And the magicians did so with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not: so there were lice upon man, and upon beast.
Fortunately for the magicians, they could not bring forth lice. The problem would only have been worse if they had. So now we have the first use of biological warfare. And who's to blame? It's not Saddam Hussein. Ah..., now I see how the Bible is influencing our modern leaders.
Exod 8. 21.Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. 22.And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.
How do we know God is the Lord in the midst of the earth? Because with this plague he decided to keep it away from the land of Goshen, where the Israelites lived. I'm impressed.
Next God sends a plague that kills all the cattle, sheep, and oxen in Egypt, but he doesn't let one of the Israelite's animals die. I'm so hopelessly lost from my spiritual path now. My head is buzzing with all kinds of nonsense from a sick excuse for a God. I came to the Bible looking for spiritual guidance and I'm reading a Steven King thriller novel instead. I don't see how humanity has kept this book at the center of its altars for 6000 years. It just doesn't seem possible.
Exod 9. 8.And the LORD said unto Moses and unto Aaron, Take to you handfuls of ashes of the furnace, and let Moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of Pharaoh. 9.And it shall become small dust in all the land of Egypt, and shall be a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast, throughout all the land of Egypt. 10.And they took ashes of the furnace, and stood before Pharaoh; and Moses sprinkled it up toward heaven; and it became a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast. 11.And the magicians could not stand before Moses because of the boils; for the boil was upon the magicians, and upon all the Egyptians.
And now we know that chemical warfare was first used by God, too. All along the West has been deceived in its ways. Saddam Hussein is the true believer and servant of God, as is evident from his faithful actions.
Exod 9. 13.And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of the Hebrews, Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14.For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thine heart, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayest know that there is none like me in all the earth.
A statement like that makes you want to stand up and say, "I'm proud to be a Christian(, Jew or Muslim.")
Heaven forbid there be more than one of these Gods!
Exodus 9. 22.And the LORD said unto Moses, Stretch forth thine hand toward heaven, that there may be hail in all the land of Egypt, upon man, and upon beast, and upon every herb of the field, throughout the land of Egypt. 23.And Moses stretched forth his rod toward heaven: and the LORD sent thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; and the LORD rained hail upon the land of Egypt. 24.So there was hail, and fire mingled with the hail, very grievous, such as there was none like it in all the land of Egypt since it became a nation.
God also uses weather warfare. For the first time in recorded human history, mankind is capable of matching this type of warfare. And when we do, it will be because a part of our psyche was influenced by the awesome power of the God we worship. Undoubtedly, we will witness such a war being waged in the name of God.
Exod 9. 34.And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.
Exod 10. 1.And the LORD said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh: for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, that I might shew these my signs before him:
Who is to blame here? Are we so blind and brainwashed that we can't see what's being said? We're told that the Pharaoh is the bad guy because he has this hard heart. And in practically the very next sentence we're told that God really did it just so he could show his signs. Is it possible that the whole planet has been overtaken by a sick cult for over 6000 years? Is Moses really the hero he has been made out to be? Is this the God we want to worship? I suddenly have this incredible feeling I was born into a society that has been living in Plato's Cave for 6000 years.
The story of Moses gets worse. As a good luck charm, Moses builds an ark and has it covered in gold. God himself will reside in this Ark of the Covenant and bring good fortune to the armies of Moses as he marches on. Moses sends spies into the land of Canaan and then ultimately wages war, killing every man, woman and child. Moses will die before the war is over, but his armies continue the genocidal march until the Canaanites are extinct. Later, Judaism will arise from the ashes of Canaan under the name of Israel. Millions of people are slaughtered in God's name so that Abraham's children can have land for their herds. This is the story of the Bible and the source of our Christian, Jewish and Muslim heritage today.
Needless to say, I did not find the Truth in the Bible.