#Exodus Study on plagues

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

Is it true that the 10 plagues were proven? (something about, sulphur in the rivers causing it to turn red)

No, it's not true that the 10 plagues were proven.

The plagues are: water turning to blood, frogs, lice, flies, livestock pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness and the killing of firstborn children.

Many of these aren't especially remarkable in the first place. Farmers in modern day first world countries still deal with insects, pests, disease outbreaks, etc.

There are hypotheses about how something like them could happen, or be interpreted as such, with a view to explaining why someone could wrap a completely real local natural phenomenon around a superstitious tale. The "water turning to blood" could be volcanic ash from an eruption, or red algae. But primitve people with no knowledge wouldn't have known what was going on.

In the same way that the Noachian flood myth, which indisputably never happened, couid have arisen from a real localized flood.

Even if they did happen, there's a whole bunch more steps required before concluding "therefore god." We'd be equally justified concluding "therefore intergalactic aliens," but more justified with simply "nature is weird."

The Titanic actually did sink, but that doesn't mean Jack and Rose were on it, or that whole thing with the necklace. People write fictional stories based on things that happened to them.

"Therefore intergalactic aliens" would arguably be a much more reasonable conclusion than "therefore god" considering the book that is the source of the fable gives the blame to the evil, malevolent deity who straightforwardly announces from the beginning that he's masterminding the entire episode.

Exodus 7:1-5

And the Lord said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.

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.

And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt.

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.

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.

Exodus 10:1-2

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:

And that thou mayest tell in the ears of thy son, and of thy son's son, what things I have wrought in Egypt, and my signs which I have done among them; that ye may know how that I am the Lord.

[andrewpcannon]

Daily Devotional Exodus 9:18-35

The gods of Egypt also had no control over the skies of Egypt. The Egyptian gods, Nut and Seth, are put to shame as Yahweh brings forth hail, thunder, and lightning in the most severe storm ever to have hit Egypt since it has been a nation. Like we have seen with the other plagues, Goshen, where the Hebrews live, is spared from the storm altogether. After God commands the storm to subside,…

[beardedmrbean]

[Huey Zoomer Anon]

I’m feel sorry for many Jewish people who feel betrayed by several artists and fandom blogs where you have to now hide your identity and such despite several years of them saying I “I’m a ally towards Jewish people!”

Well…I mention before I’m an African American with ADHD and Autism. And I felt alienated af even when I prefer very tamed villains that was coming out in the 2010’s

Pffft, the amount of pre 2010’s maniacs I like…

And another thing….a lot of leftists tend to forget the modern Jewish people ARE the descendants of the Hebrew tribes which you know are in the Bible/Torah?

Like…I think a lot of leftists (especially Americans) can’t comprehend that people in the European, Middle East, Asia, etc…see ancient civilizations in similars ways American see the Pilgrims.

Off tangent, it like people saying Dreamworks take on Moses is historically accurate…it almost like a fuckton of his descendants or those who are part of his tribe are still alive? Hint they are

And the left only really knows the exodus and holocaust part of Jewish history. And for the latter tragedy, they use it as a crunch to bash white people…while infantilize Muslims because remember the left mainly relies on the POP CULTURE take of history. So the fact that our education and entertainment systems mostly ignore Arab/Islam Imperialism.

They now think the original inhabitants of the Promised Land are colonizers because a lot of the Jewish Diaspora came back in masses in recent generations

Calling modern Israel a colonial place…are you saying that indigenous people who was heavily forced into financial, scientific, and other “white collar” jobs due to centuries of persecution are going to modernized themselves and make sure that are at mercy of monsters again.

Especially when the nearby Arab/Muslims basically said they want the Jews extinct or become their Dhimmi again?

Oh right right I read up on Middle East history before the euros part of it.

I don’t want to downplay, but I realize something

We are taught to hate the Nazis image, not it ideology. Because at the end of the day Nazism is built upon conflict theory which plagues colleges and systems to this day

I heard people (who are mostly likely adults) say that they loose empathy towards Anne Frank because they learned she was roughly our idea of upper middle class and had maids and such before the rise of the Nazis.

I think that should have been spread around Jewish communities to prepare them for the mess they are in rn

I mean I foreseen because my experience with the left…well at least you guys can counter it this time.

I’m feel sorry for many Jewish people who feel betrayed by several artists and fandom blogs where you have to now hide your identity and such despite several years of them saying I “I’m a ally towards Jewish people!” Well…I mention before I’m an African American with ADHD and Autism. And I felt alienated af even when I prefer very tamed villains that was coming out in the 2010’s Pffft, the amount of pre 2010’s maniacs I like…

There's a lot of people that got some really rude awakenings about the circles that cried about antisemitism over a horn in a game or yelled about having safe spaces for ethnic minorities to go to that they thought would be on their side.

Also a good number that were prepared because they saw the writing on the wall when the womens march decided that Pride flags with the Star of David on them would be banned, still gotta hurt though.

And another thing….a lot of leftists tend to forget the modern Jewish people ARE the descendants of the Hebrew tribes which you know are in the Bible/Torah?

ya, we're supposed to trust the science when the covid vaccine hit, but for some reason a plethora of genetic studies proving that are invalid somehow.

Like…I think a lot of leftists (especially Americans) can’t comprehend that people in the European, Middle East, Asia, etc…see ancient civilizations in similars ways American see the Pilgrims.

Some do I'm sure, there's others that have been there forever too, but human migration is nothing new at all

Off tangent, it like people saying Dreamworks take on Moses is historically accurate…it almost like a fuckton of his descendants or those who are part of his tribe are still alive? Hint they are

Last name is Cohen, there's a fair chance you're in the Levite line I believe it is.

And the left only really knows the exodus and holocaust part of Jewish history. And for the latter tragedy, they use it as a crunch to bash white people…while infantilize Muslims because remember the left mainly relies on the POP CULTURE take of history. So the fact that our education and entertainment systems mostly ignore Arab/Islam Imperialism.

That's been wild to me the entire time I've been aware of all of it, these guys hacked and slashed their way all the way into Spain with their 3 choices of convert, pay jizya, or die.

Not even going to talk about the slavery they did, I don't care what privileges some of them may have had, you're still someones property.

They now think the original inhabitants of the Promised Land are colonizers because a lot of the Jewish Diaspora came back in masses in recent generations

Calling modern Israel a colonial place…are you saying that indigenous people who was heavily forced into financial, scientific, and other “white collar” jobs due to centuries of persecution are going to modernized themselves and make sure that are at mercy of monsters again.

not 100% on who the original are, but they sure as shootin are the oldest we know of, and I'm not sure what the cutoff is for years living somewhere as a people and culture it takes for folks to be considered indigenous and how many away it takes for them to lose that status.

Especially when the nearby Arab/Muslims basically said they want the Jews extinct or become their Dhimmi again? Oh right right I read up on Middle East history before the euros part of it.

Both on that first one, and ya it's wild how short on information about that region so many people are, as I've told you before I don't actually recall learning much if anything about the Ottoman Empire in my k-12 years, and I'm sure that's not unique.

I don’t want to downplay, but I realize something We are taught to hate the Nazis image, not it ideology. Because at the end of the day Nazism is built upon conflict theory which plagues colleges and systems to this day I heard people (who are mostly likely adults) say that they loose empathy towards Anne Frank because they learned she was roughly our idea of upper middle class and had maids and such before the rise of the Nazis.

First bit is shown out when you have people all over that have absolutely no clue how to classify fascism,

And ya, the loss of empathy for her and her family is beyond depressing there, it should actually go to show that it didn't matter if you were well off financially and socially when the ss showed up, all that mattered and all it took to sign your death warrant was your grandmother on your mothers side being Jewish, you could be Catholic and it didn't matter, you were still Jewish to them.

I think that should have been spread around Jewish communities to prepare them for the mess they are in rn I mean I foreseen because my experience with the left…well at least you guys can counter it this time.

Good number of them knew and all, even if they weren't prepared for the level it would get to, when the previously mentioned Anne Frank discourse started and gained traction folks started getting the idea I think.

[gyspy-moon-rose]

Witchcraft The Beginnings.

Witchcraft. It is a very simple word with a deep meaning and history. The idea of witchcraft stretches over a long period of time and spreads throughout the world. The idea becomes known around 560 B.C. when the two Old Testaments condemn witches, until today. The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 were one of the most well-known witchcraft trials over the world. But many have also occurred before then. The idea originated in Europe and had traveled to the New World.

Witchcraft has been described as working with the Devil. If a person were a witch, that person would have made a pact with the Devil, and would be able to perform black magic. Scientists who study the witchcraft trials say the hysteria has to do with people’s idea about how everyday events can be explained. The events are explained in terms of a belief of witchcraft. People want order in their society and hate chaos. Anything like enemies and catastrophes make people feel they are not part of the natural order. Whatever threatens the order is considered witchcraft.

The two Old Testaments, Exodus and Leviticus, had first condemned witches around 560 B.C. with the quotes, “Exodus 22:18 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. ” and “Leviticus 20:27 A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them.” The anonymous Jewish priest wrote them in present-day Iraq during the reign of Evil Merodach, a dark time of Jewish exile. The priest might have been assigned to write them by other priests and scribes.

Many arguments about witches follow 560 B.C. Each statement is contradicting the one before it, and many recent arguments are always accepted as the new and correct theory. For example, around 420 C.E., a church leader, St. Augustine, argued that demons and witches could not function under the face of God. This is accepted as the new orthodoxy of the Church. But in 1273, Thomas Aquinas argued that dangerous demons and witches are roaming the country.

Witch-hunts were popular and people felt it was a necessity to conduct the hunts. From the mid-1400s to the mid-1600s, witchcraft trials erupted, sending death rates up. From 50,000 to 80,000 people were executed throughout Europe. About eighty percent of those executed were women. The deaths per country varied, with a high of 26,000 in Germany to about 10,000 in France, 1,000 in England, and only four in Ireland. The Reformation divided Europe between Protestant regions and those loyal to the Pope, but Protestants also took witchcraft seriously.

Witch hysteria swept France in 1571 after Trois-Echelles, a defendant accused of witchcraft from the court of Charles IX, announced to the court that he had over 100,000 fellow witches roaming the country. Judges responding to the ensuing panic by eliminating those accused of witchcraft most of the protections that other defendants enjoyed.

Once in a while between the witch-hunts, many inspiring and frightening events happened. In 1453, and epidemic swept France and killed several children. The public had blamed the disease on black magic.

The people of France then took several suspects and tortured them harshly. The accusers tortured the suspects until five of them confessed of having caused the plague.

The witches were soon hanged.

Not long after, in 1484, Pope Innocent VIII declared that witches were meeting with the Devil and casting spells that destroyed crops and killing infants. He asked two friars, Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, to publish a full report on witchcraft. The Malleus Maleficarum ("Hammer of Witches") was published in 1486. It relegated the old orthodoxy that said witches were powerless under the face of God.

The Malleus Maleficarum suggested that one way to determine a person a witch was to find a Devil’s Mark on their body, and to have the suspect brought to court walking backwards to minimize their chances to cast spells on officials.

In 1566, England executed its first witch, Agnes Waterhouse. She was a wrinkled old woman with a hunched back. She was thrown into jail, and suffered long days of fear and hunger, until she confessed to the evil deeds she was charged with. She had used a cat named Satan to conduct her evil work. Waterhouse had used the cat to kill the neighbor’s hogs, kill widow Goodday’s flock of geese and cow, and kill her own husband. She rewarded Satan by giving him blood to drink from her own face. Agnes Waterhouse was hanged immediately.

Less than thirty years later, King James was sailing with his wife, Princess Anne, from his honeymoon in Denmark when the ship experienced fierce storms and rough waves. The ship’s captain had convinced King James that witches were real when he blamed them for causing the horrible weather. When six Danish women confessed to having created the storms, King James began to take witchcraft seriously. When he arrived in Scotland, he burned many witches. This became the largest witch-hunt in British history.

The famous playwright, Shakespeare had written a play that was performed in 1606. The play was called Macbeth. In Macbeth, Macbeth encountered three witches. These three witches play important roles in the tragedy.

The largest witch-hunt in French history occurred from 1643-1645, but following the witch-hunt of France, trials in Europe start to decrease in the late 1640s. Soon Europe’s history of witchcraft faded away. In 1682, England executed its last witch, Temperance Lloyd.

What contributed to the end of witchcraft execution and hunts in Europe was the Enlightenment, beginning around the late 1680s. The Enlightenment brought reason, doubt, and humanitarianism. Each helped defeat superstitions. The Enlightenment said that there was no real evidence that there were witches that caused harm, and that the use of torture upon them to force out confessions was cruel.

The two Old Testaments, which had the quotes that the Jewish Priest wrote, had affected people of Europe because they influenced so many arguments of witches and God, and people were willing to believe the latest statement made about witches. When the two Old Testaments explained that witches were to be killed, St. Augustine argued that they were actually powerless under God. St. Augustine’s view was accepted, and many people did not worry. But later, the accused confessed on having witchcraft powers, and people in Europe believed them and started freaking out. They wanted eliminate any trace of evil in the area.

Europe was done with witch-hunts, but the history of witchcraft affected the Salem Witch Trials in the Massachusetts Bay Colony area because the Puritans took the history, ideas, and beliefs of witchcraft with them to the New World. The Puritans thought they were safe, but when the afflicted girls started acting strangely, they thought it was witches that were tormenting them. They thought they were witches because they thought back in Europe they wiped out the witches, but the New World was full of unknown things. To the Puritans, any little strange behavior is strange, unusual, and not normal. Anything similar was considered bad, and because the Devil was associated with evil, he himself was involved in the hysterias.

The Puritans were afraid of the Devil because they believe the imaginary world of God and the Devil is as real as their visual world, them, and the Native Americans. The Puritans believe the Devil and the Native Americans are the same. The witchcraft idea comes from people’s religion, beliefs, and fears. The Puritans still had the ideas of witchcraft stuck in their heads.

This is why the idea of witchcraft still lives on today

Timeline:

c. 560 BC: The Bible condemns witches with two quotes.

c. 420: St. Augustine argues witchcraft is an impossibility.

1208: Satan becomes sinister following.

1273: Thomas Aquinas argues that dangerous demons exist.

Mid-1400s: Witchcraft trials erupt in Europe.

1453: An epidemic killed a few children in France. The public blamed it on black magic and tortured five people until they confessed. They were executed.

1484: Pope Innocent VIII and Malleus Maleficarum.

Early to mid-1500s: The Reformation sends death rates up after Trois-Echelles, an accused witch, announced that he had over 100,000 fellow witches roaming the country. Judges responding to the ensuing panic by eliminating those accused of witchcraft.

1566: England executes its first witch, Agnes Waterhouse.

1591: King James authorizes the torture of suspected witches in Scotland.

1606: Shakespeare's Macbeth performed with witches playing important roles.

1643-1645:The largest witch-hunt in French history occurred.

Late 1640s: The number of trials in France began to decrease.

1682: England executes its last witch, Temperance Lloyd.

January 1692–May 1693: Salem Witch Trials in the New World.

[thewordinblackandred]

Hey y'all! I'm Micah, the host of the leftist Bible study podcast The Word in Black and Red. We are just finishing up recording our first season of the show, covering the book of Genesis. As we head into the second season, this time covering the book of Exodus, I'm looking for even more co-hosts to come on and share their leftist Bible takes. If you have thoughts on any of the following stories, please reblog them, and I'll be in contact!

- S 2.5 Exodus 4:1-17: The Snake Staff and the Withered Hand

- S 2.6 Exodus 4:18-31: Emergency Circumcision

- S 2.8 Exodus 6:1-27: God Reassures Moses of his Calling

- S 2.10 Exodus 7:14-25: Plague I: The Blood

- S 2.11 Exodus 8:1-15: Plague II: The Frogs

- S 2.12 Exodus 8:16-32: Plagues III & IV: The Lice & the Swarms

- S 2.13 Exodus 9:1-12: Plagues V & VI: The Death of Cattle & the Boils

- S 2.14 Exodus 9:13-35: Plague VII: The Thunder & Hail

- S 2.15 Exodus 10:1-20: Plague VII: The Locusts

- S 2.16 Exodus 10:21-29: Plague IX: The Darkness

- S 2.17 Exodus 11: God Announces the Final Plague

- S 2.18 Exodus 12:1-28: The First Passover

- S 2.19 Exodus 12:29-13:16: Plague X: The Firstborn

- S 2.20 Exodus 13:17-15:21: Pharaoh's Army Lost at Sea

- S 2.22 Exodus 17:8-16: Israel Defeats Amalek

- S 2.23 Exodus 18: The Vanguard Organizes the Masses

- S 2.24 Exodus 19: Arrival at Mt. Sanai

- S 2.25 Exodus 20: The Ten Commandments

- S 2.26 Exodus 21-22:15: Slavery, Violence, & Property

- S 2.27 Exodus 22:16-23:9: "Seduction" Marriage, Immigrants, and Usury

- S 2.28 Exodus 23:10-19: Sabbath Rest

- S 2.29 Exodus 23:20-33: Joshua Foretold

- S 2.30 Exodus 24: The Mosaic Covenant

- S 2.31 Exodus 25-28: Instructions for God's Dwelling and Vestments

- S 2.32 Exodus 29-31: Proper Worship & the Sabbath

- S 2.34 Exodus 33: Moses Seeks for and Sees God

- S 2.35 Exodus 34-35:3: God's Character, the Renewed Covenant, & Moses' Shining Face

- S 2.37 Exodus 40: God Enters God's Dwelling

FAQ:

"But how can you be a Christian and leftist?" Because Jesus is!

"The Bible isn't about politics. Why are you bringing your own personal agenda to the text?" We all always bring our own biases to the text. The question is simply whether we acknowledge them or not. Most interpretations of the Bible you'll hear twist the Bible to support the status quo. We read the Bible, usually pretty straightforwardly, and realize that that interpretation isn't congruent with the book written by an oppressed people about their liberatory God.

"I don't really know the Bible all that well. What can I contribute?" Your perspective! We read the Bible from a leftist and liberationist perspective, and a big part of the liberationist perspective is that everyone has something to add to our understanding of the Bible. We offer many, often contradictory, readings of a story in each episode. Your job as a co-host isn't to know the Bible in and out, but to do as much reading and/or research as you need to feel comfortable sharing your thoughts with a broader audience.

If you're interested, it doesn't hurt to just post a take! Worst case scenario, you can tell me you're not interested later on. More likely, you'll have a great time recording with us and I'll be DMing you again to get you into new episodes!

[artandthebible]

Moses and Aaron Changing the Rivers of Egypt to Blood

Artist: Bartholomeus Breenbergh (Dutch, 1598–1657)

Date: 1631

Medium: Oil on Panel

Collection: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Biblical Narrative: Exodus 7:17-25

Description

Bartholomeus Breenbergh set the story of God's first plague against the Egyptians in a luminous, spacious Italian countryside, filled with romantic classical ruins inspired by examples he had studied in Rome. In a vast vista of space, the highlighted ruins stand starkly against the sky in the central ground. Using translucent layers of sensitive brushstrokes, Breenbergh masterfully fused figures and scenery, giving his imaginary setting a role equal to that of the narrative.

Despite their small size, the gestures of the figures in the foreground tell the story. In the center, Moses points toward Aaron, who stretches his rod and turns the Egyptian waters into blood in order to convince the pharaoh to permit the Israelites to leave Egypt. The pharaoh, wearing a Roman tunic, an Oriental turban, and European ermine-lined cape, observes in astonishment as the hideous miracle unfolds.

Dutch landscape painters often took their narrative subjects from the Old Testament, but they rarely depicted this incident.

[justalowlyservant]

My Thoughts On: Genesis and Exodus

Okay, I'm coming into this partway through my reading of the Bible, so forgive me if my thoughts on Genesis and the earlier parts of Exodus are a little bit undetailed or fuzzy.

Genesis is absolutely INSANE. I fully understand now why God felt the need to create so many rules for His people. I know some people say that parts of the Mosaic Law are archaic in this day and age, but looking at what people were getting up to in the time of Abraham and his immediate descendants, you can still see how it was a major improvement at the time. I won't get into details on what kind of things went down in Genesis just due to lack of time right now, but I very much recommend you read it for yourself. If these people existed today, they'd be starring in the trashiest reality tv shows imaginable.

Well, I guess I can give ONE specific line. It's not one of the trashier ones, but I still think it might me one of my favorite quotes in the entire Bible.

Genesis 27:11 - 'But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, "Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man."

Yes you are, Jacob. Smooth little baby man.

Also, to clear things up, I'm using an English Standard Version Study Bible for this read-through, if my avatar didn't make that obvious.

Exodus below!

Moving on to Exodus, I won't really talk about the plagues themselves, since pretty much everyone knows about those at least. What I will say is that Exodus helped me to solidify my position on the whole matter of Free Will vs God's Sovereignty. Basically, how I see it now is that we still bear responsibility for our own choices, and we make our own choices within the confines of the universe God created, but every choice that we make conforms to God's will. He exists outside of time, and even if we make our own choices, God has ALWAYS known what choices we would make, from the beginning of creation. Thus, nothing happens outside of God's will. Pharaoh was responsible for his own choice not to free the Hebrews, but from the beginning of everything God planned for that to happen. If a person accepts God, it's because He allowed it. If a person denies God, it's because He allowed it. Again, we still have responsibility for our own choices, but every choice we make is a part of God's plan. That's how I see it at least, I'm no Theologian or expert on stuff like this.

Moving on from Egypt (literally), we get to another one of my favorite parts of the Bible, and reading it, I realized there was even more to laugh about than I initially thought.

It's the whole situation with the golden calf. I already knew the part about Moses coming down the mountain, seeing the Hebrews worshipping the calf, and throwing down the tablets with the Ten Commandments in anger, breaking them. What I did NOT know what everything that happened immediately after.

So, Moses, angry with his people, smashes the golden calf. Understandable. Then he grinds the calf into dust. Again, I get it, he wants to get rid of every trace of it. Then he throws the dust into water. Uh... okay. And THEN, he forces the people who were worshipping the golden calf to DRINK THE DUST-WATER. Moses is a lunatic! I mean, I get that they were being stupid about worshipping a false idol after everything God had just done for them, but still. Moses really was not messing around.

Oh, and then Aaron, Moses' brother who fashioned the golden calf, gives perhaps the lamest excuse ever for how this happened: "uh, well, I just... threw some gold into a fire and out came a calf! Crazy, huh?"

Yes, that's what he said. It's not a direct quote, but still. What makes it even funnier is that an earlier verse explicitly said that Aaron fashioned calf with tools, like the Bible itself is calling him out.

Okay, I'm running out of time, so here's the last major thing I wanted to mention. I'll admit, reading through all the chapters about dictating the materials to be used for the Tabernacle, then gathering the materials for the Tabernacle, then building the Tabernacle was... a bit of a slog. But towards the end, I think I finally understood the importance of it all.

It was to show the loving care that went into building God's dwelling place among the Hebrews. How important it was to them, that they'd give up so many precious materials, gold and silver and fancy linens, to construct it.

I think there's this tension in Christianity between two view points. On the one hand, you have people who want to honor God by building big, elaborate churches. Beautiful, artistic buildings to show how much we love Him. Palaces for the Lord.

And on the other hand, there are those who believe we should keep church buildings simple, and use the extra money and resources in order to help the poor and underprivileged. After all, did Jesus not say that serving the poor was equivalent to serving HIM?

I can honestly understand both sides, and I think both view points have their time and place. On a personal level, I do think I agree more with the view point of saving the money for the poor over building elaborate churches; my church isn't exactly a work of art, but we don't have much money, and we do our best to help people in our community and beyond. At the same time, I won't begrudge those who want to honor God by building churches as beautiful works of art. I think it's a worthy pursuit in its own right.

Anyways, I'm rapidly running out of time. I have to leave for work in about half an hour. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I hope you enjoyed it, and that maybe you were able to learn something new in the process. May God bless you, and may you have a wonderful day!

[freebiblestudies]

Line Upon Line Lesson 060: Locusts

Exodus 10:15 - For they covered the face of the whole earth, so that the land was darkened; and they ate every herb of the land and all the fruit of the trees which the hail had left. So there remained nothing green on the trees or on the plants of the field throughout all the land of Egypt.

Locust swarms still occur to this very day.  Ethiopia was hit by a particularly severe outbreak of locusts in 2020-2021. 

 The Bible records that a massive locust swarm devastated the land of Egypt.  The eighth plague was so severe that even Pharaoh acknowledged his sins against God and asked for forgiveness.

Today we are going to study what the Bible says about locusts.

Let’s read together Deuteronomy 28:32, 42; Proverbs 30:27; Judges 6:3-6; and Jeremiah 51:27.

The Bible often refers to the destructive power of locusts. Powerful enemies  of Israel who had a multitude of warriors were sometimes compared to locusts.

Let’s read together Joel 1:1-6; Joel 2:24-26; Amos 7:1-2; and Revelation 9:1-7.

When we read about locusts in visions and prophecies, we are now equipped to understand those visions and prophecies.  Locusts are linked to judgment and destruction.  We will save those Bible studies for another time.

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Jeremiah Confronted by a False Prophet

1 The following events occurred in that same year, early in the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah. To be more precise, it was the fifth month of the fourth year of his reign. The prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, who was from Gibeon, spoke to Jeremiah in the Lord’s temple in the presence of the priests and all the people. 2 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, ‘I will break the yoke of servitude to the king of Babylon. 3 Before two years are over, I will bring back to this place everything that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took from it and carried away to Babylon. 4 I will also bring back to this place Jehoiakim’s son King Jeconiah of Judah and all the exiles who were taken to Babylon.’ Indeed, the Lord affirms, ‘I will break the yoke of servitude to the king of Babylon.’”

5 Then the prophet Jeremiah responded to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the Lord’s temple. 6 The prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do all this! May the Lord make your prophecy come true! May he bring back to this place from Babylon all the valuable articles taken from the Lord’s temple and the people who were carried into exile. 7 But listen to what I say to you and to all these people. 8 From earliest times, the prophets who preceded you and me invariably prophesied war, disaster, and plagues against many countries and great kingdoms. 9 So if a prophet prophesied peace and prosperity, it was only known that the Lord truly sent him when what he prophesied came true.”

10 The prophet Hananiah then took the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck and broke it. 11 Then he spoke up in the presence of all the people. “The Lord says, ‘In the same way I will break the yoke of servitude of all the nations to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon before two years are over.’” After he heard this, the prophet Jeremiah departed and went on his way.

12 But shortly after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke off the prophet Jeremiah’s neck, the Lord spoke to Jeremiah. 13 “Go and tell Hananiah that the Lord says, ‘You have indeed broken the wooden yoke. But you have only succeeded in replacing it with an iron one! 14 For the Lord God of Israel who rules over all says, “I have put an irresistible yoke of servitude on all these nations so they will serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. And they will indeed serve him. I have even given him control over the wild animals.” 15 Then the prophet Jeremiah told the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah! The Lord did not send you! You are making these people trust in a lie! 16 So the Lord says, ‘I will most assuredly remove you from the face of the earth. You will die this very year because you have counseled rebellion against the Lord.’”

17 In the seventh month of that very same year the prophet Hananiah died. — Jeremiah 28 | New English Translation (NET Bible) NET Bible copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved. Cross References: Genesis 7:4; Exodus 32:12; Leviticus 26:14; Deuteronomy 18:22; Deuteronomy 28:48; Joshua 9:3; Joshua 10:12; 1 Kings 1:36; 1 Kings 14:15; 1 Kings 22:28; 2 Kings 24:13; 2 Kings 25:27; 1 Chronicles 3:19; 2 Chronicles 36:10; Psalm 107:16; Jeremiah 1:2; Jeremiah 7:8; Jeremiah 14:14; Jeremiah 15:12; Jeremiah 20:6; Jeremiah 22:10; Jeremiah 25:11; Jeremiah 27:2; Jeremiah 27:10; Jeremiah 27:12; Jeremiah 29:1; Jeremiah 37:19; Ezekiel 33:33; 1 Corinthians 14:16

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

What are your thoughts on the He Gets Us ads that have been taking reddit like an eleventh plague upon religious trauma subs?

I'm going to be generous and assume that it's a problem in Reddit's algorithm. But then, I don't quite know how Reddit's ad system works. If it's deliberate, than it's unacceptable to be putting it into those types of subs. I'd hope people were reporting them as inappropriate. Imagine ads for Tinder in a spouse-abuse recovery sub. Or Triple Whopper ads in a bulimia recovery sub.

I'm sure there'd be endless complaints if the "there's probably no god" ad was targeted into /r/christianquestions.

They lost their shit and called it offensive when it was simply posted out in the open in public space. It's not like billboard trucks were parked right outside their churches.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2009/jan/09/atheist-bus-campaign-asa

The advertising regulator has received almost 150 complaints that an atheist ad campaign, proclaiming "There is probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life", is offensive to Christians and other religions that believe in a single God.

"How dare you tell people to stop worrying and enjoy life?!? What's wrong with you, you monster?!?"

Regarding "He Gets Us":

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2023/02/13/this-billionaire-is-a-donor-behind-the-jesus-focused-super-bowl-ads/

The group behind the Jesus-focused ads is He Gets Us, a limited liability company that says it’s an initiative of The Servant Foundation, a public charity and Christian foundation based in Kansas that last year launched a $100 million effort to improve the image of Jesus, as the Washington Post reported. One of the backers of the initiative is billionaire David Green, the founder of craft store chain Hobby Lobby, who is estimated by Forbes to be worth $14.8 billion.

I mean, he can spend his money however he likes, but it's weird that Jesus needs so much human assistance. Surely if he was real, they could just put him on TV. There's plenty of networks that would pay for the privilege. Why would I want to follow a savior and god who was that helpless? If he can't even convincingly exist, what's he going to do in the war against evil? (The evil he created.)

It seems like Xians are finally acknowledging the exodus - pun intended - of "nones."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/Ad-Meter/buzz-meter/2023/02/12/he-gets-us-super-bowl-ad-commercial-jesus/11243476002/

In a September 2022 modeling, the Pew Research Center estimates that if Christians in the USA continue leaving religion at its current rate, Christians of all ages will shrink from the current 64% to “between a little more than half (54%) and just above one-third (35%) of all Americans by 2070.” The study also estimates that if current trends continue, those identifying with no religion will increase from the current 30% to “somewhere between 34% and 52% of the U.S. population.”

Also in the above USA Today article:

a group touting itself as a “movement to reintroduce people to the Jesus of the Bible and his confounding love and forgiveness.”

You know, forgiveness for things we didn't do, which nobody else did either. Except the crime of existing as a human.

The "Jesus of the Bible" is a pretty nasty piece of work. It's only with modern interpretation, editing, revision and cherry-picking that he's been refashioned into the "gentle Jesus, meek and mild" we are told about today.

The "Jesus of the Bible" is a racist, sexist, xenophobic, slavery-endorsing, anti-Semitic mobster. I suppose in a way I'm all for reintroducing people to that, so I can go:

And from the Forbes article:

The ad ended with the phrase “Jesus loved the people we hate.”

As has been made abundantly clear, "Jesus" doesn't care about humans. He doesn't care whether you hate someone or not. All he cares about is whether he hates them or not. And whether he hates you or not depends on what you give him. He loves people who idolize him, not people who are good, decent or moral.

What you want is irrelevant; he just wants you to join his enablers and flying monkeys.

Matthew 12:30

He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.

Luke 11:23

He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.

Jesus doesn't give a shit about you until you grovel at his feet and feed his rampant narcissism. That is, he's pathologically incapable - at least as far as fictional characters are capable of anything - of genuine, benevolent, sincere altruism.

Mark 7:25-30

For a certain woman, whose young daughter had an unclean spirit, heard of him, and came and fell at his feet: The woman was a Greek, a Syrophenician by nation; and she besought him that he would cast forth the devil out of her daughter. But Jesus said unto her, Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it unto the dogs. And she answered and said unto him, Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children's crumbs. And he said unto her, For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter. And when she was come to her house, she found the devil gone out, and her daughter laid upon the bed.

Matthew 15:22-28

And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

"Tell me you're a filthy dog and maybe I'll cure your daughter with my magic powers that cost me nothing to use as freely as I wish."

So, "Jesus loved the people we hate" isn't the selling point they think it is. Jesus loves Gerald Ridsdale and George Pell, for example. They'll join Hitler in heaven. On the other hand, he also hates the people we love. Such as my atheist parents; he regards them as "not with me" and therefore "against me."

Matthew 10:32-33

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

It's always about him. That's how narcissists operate.

"Jesus loved the people we hate" kind of blows the whistle on the whole "love the sinner, hate the sin" thing, though, huh? They're admitting they do hate "the sinner."

Remembering, of course, that Xian love is - like every cult - only for other Xians.

John 13:34-35

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

"My disciples" ... "love one another." There is no instruction for universal love, and obligatory love is a demonstration of not understanding love in the first place.

I'm not even sure who the ads are intended for. If you're already a Xian, why are they recruiting for a club you've already joined? And Jesus is clear: only belief is necessary for salvation.

And if you aren't already a Xian, why would these ads convince you of the existence of this storybook character in the real world? It seems to be the Xian refusal to acknowledge that people legitimately don't believe what Xians and the bible claim, and are just "angry" at or "hate" their fairytale characters.

Circling back, I hope, and am going to be charitable and give them the benefit of the doubt until I see evidence otherwise, that they're not being predators deliberately targeting the ex-religious subs, and that it's just the algorithm putting "topic = religion" together.

However, these are the same people who think that questioning whether any of it is actually true is a personal failing and moral flaw. And whine that non-believer blogs exist at all. All while $100m ad campaigns for their thing air on TV. The writing appears to be on the wall.

Next time you get a religious whiner, point out the "He Gets Us" campaign and tell them to either be consistent and condemn it, or else shut up.

[andrewpcannon]

Daily Devotional: Exodus 11:1-10

Here, we read that Moses and the Israelites have favor in the sight of many Egyptians, even Pharaoh’s servants. Yet, Pharaoh’s heart is hardened. Thus, we arrive at the final plague that God predicted in Exodus 4:23. At midnight on this day, God will Himself go into the midst of Egypt to take the firstborn of every Egyptian family, slave family, and cattle family. But, God will not harm the…

[askvectorprime]

Dear Vector Prime,

I have been looking into the ancient history of the Uniend Cluster recently and came across something that I haven’t been able to find another mention of. In the book I have been studying from, Exodus on page 4, it mentions “the hub” to my knowledge the only other “hub” is the network of cyber-formed worlds in which a version of your brother Liege Maximo is rumored to reside in a different cluster. Could you please provide some more details Mr.Prime?

Dear Hub Hunter,

You certainly are a dedicated researcher! Fortunately, I can attest that the Hub of this universe was much less sinister—during Cybertron’s Golden Age, the Hub was merely a vast network of cyberformed asteroids lashed together into a vast network housing dozens of space bridge portals and connected via a tangle of high-speed slam trains. It derived its name from the fact that it would have been the central “hub” of Cybertron’s colonies, a “grand central station” from which a prospective Cybertronian traveler could easily visit any one of Cybertron’s many colonies. Unfortunately, the Hub was only half completed when the Rust Plague put an end to any hope of a star-spanning galactic empire.

[geostatonary]

tonight in torah study, we discuss the balance of justice and mercy and the punishing of a society that's party to atrocity, the size limits on demon magics, and hypothetical sandwich recipes based on other israelite tribes that aren't reuben

[deadboyfriendd]

apologies to send an ask so quickly but for your WIP doc game, the title "the salt grows heavy" simply goes too hard for me not to ask about it. that's some biblical chapter title, i think a monk in 1453 wrote a treatise on it. some lot's wife pillar shit. i am desperate for crumbs. or grains (of salt).

AHHHH (also don't worry, I got your other ask, it's just gonna take me a lil to cook up the thoughtful answer your deserve!)

On theme with being heavily influenced by my current reads, The Salt Grows Heavy is the title of a book by one of my favorite authors, Cassandra Khaw! This story, despite being a very quick read, shook me to my very core and I'm STILL thinking about it to this day. It is, in essence, a retelling of the events that happen after the gruesome events of The Little Mermaid. On a side note, I love this story because it isn't disney-centric and doesn't capitalize too much off of the fairytale. It actually took me a really long time to realize that we were all talking about the same mermaid. This creatrure, however, is a deep sea creature. She isn't beautiful in the traditional sense, she isn't traditionally feminine or really even human-esque for that matter. In this book, she is wandering around a seaside village in the midst of a plague epidemic and she comes across a Frankensrtein's monster-adjacent plague doctor with a dark past involving death, magic, and ritual sacrifice. It is bleak, but theres a solidarity in the torture of each of them. They find solace in being undesirable creatures with inherently painful existences together.

The fic that I plan on writing is an extension off of THIS story (an extension of an extension, if you will.) Without giving away too many of the details, the main protagonist is continuing plague doctor!Steve's studies. There's a heavy adam and eve dynamic here, in which she essentially assumes his role as the plague doctor, carving herself from his rib as she immerses herself into his position in an effort to try to put him back together. She learns about his existence before the short span he knew here, and she learns about the human condition while sourcing pieces for her plague doctor. She learns about playing God, and the human ideal of a God, as she recreates her boy in a strange exodus of love and loss. This was a weird little passion project for me, and I'm not expecting it to do very well. I'm just taking my time and having fun with it!