R&I ~ MJM
Hi
A Biblical Story About a Monster, a Genocidal Maniac, and Paedophile Soldiers.
Part II The Prequel!
According to the Book of Genesis, the Midianites were the descendants of Midian, who was a son of Abraham and his wife Keturah: “Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bore him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah” [Genesis 25:1–2, KJV]. This would suggest that the Israelites and the Midianites were of the same Abrahamic family.
Abraham’s great-grandson Joseph, after being thrown into a pit by his brothers, was sold to either Midianites or Ishmaelites.[Genesis 37:28]
It is uncertain which deities the Midianites worshipped. Through their apparent religiopolitical connection with the Moabites [Numbers 22:4-7], they are thought to have worshipped a multitude, including Baal-Peor and the Queen of Heaven, Ashteroth. According to Karel van der Toorn, “By the 14th century BC, before the cult of Yahweh had reached Israel, groups of Edomites and Midianites worshipped Yahweh as their god.”[Karel van der Toorn, Family Religion in Babylonia, Ugarit, and Israel: Continuity and Change in the Forms of Religious Life (Leiden: E. J. Brill), p. 283.]
Moses The Killer
It is not hard to see that Moses from before the exodus was a born killer and had no qualms about killing kith and kin (Friends and family). From the Bible, we read:
Moses spent 40 years in voluntary exile in Midian after killing an Egyptian.[Exodus 2:11-15] There, he married Zipporah, the daughter of Midianite priest Jethro [Exodus 2:21] (also known as Reuel). Jethro advised Moses on establishing a system of delegated legal decision-making.[Exodus 18] Moses asked Hobab, the son of Reuel, to accompany the Israelites travelling towards the promised land because of his local knowledge, but Hobab preferred to return to his homeland.[Numbers 10:29-31]
Biblical Terrorism: The Story of Phinehas
The story of Phinehas is told in the book of Numbers (25:1-18). Numbers 25 is dedicated to Ba’al worship at Peor. As the feminist theologian, Rosemary Radford Ruether (1936- ) writes: “In the Hebrew Scriptures the chief rival of Yahweh is Ba’al. Yahweh seeks to supplant the worship of Ba’al, taking over from Ba’al the functions of providing rain and fertility.”[132] While Israel lived in Shittim, the people of Israel began “to whore with the daughters of Moab,” the Bible informs us. They invited the Israelites to the sacrifices of their gods, and those “daughters of Moab” apparently had considerable success with their invitations because the Israelites “bowed down to their gods” (Numbers 25:2). The Bible spells out what this means: “So Israel yoked himself to Ba’al of Peor.”
This made the Lord angry. He addressed himself to Moses and said: “Take all the chiefs of the people and hang them in the sun before the Lord, that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel.” Extract from Chapter 2: Freethought I: Criticism of Religion
During the Baal-Peor episode, when Moabite women seduced Israelite men, Zimri, the son of a Simeonite chief, got involved with a Midianite woman called Cozbi. The couple were speared by Phinehas [Numbers 25:6-8, 14-15] and the war against Midian followed.[Numbers 3:1-18] From all biblical sources it appears that the Moabites and the Midianites were a tribal confederacy.
[132] Ruether, “The Politics of God in the Christian Tradition,” p. 331.
In the Days of Judges
During the time of the Judges, Israel was oppressed by Midian for seven years until Gideon defeated Midian’s armies.[Judjes 6:7-9] Isaiah speaks of camels from Midian and Ephah coming to “cover your land”, along with the gold and frankincense from Sheba.[Isaiah 60:6] This passage, taken by the Gospel of Matthew [ii:1-2] as a foreshadowing of the Magicians/Magi’s gifts to the infant Jesus, which has been incorporated into the Christmas liturgy. Which is itself is a beautiful story, however, when seen in the context with Moses it lost all its lacklustre or shine!
Also as I said above the Israelites and Midianites were family, Moses also is connected by marriage to Midianites. There must be a word for the likes of Moses who believes in an invisible deity, before that of reality who committee barbaric acts of genocide on people who were family!
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Keep safe!
Cofion
Jero Jones
Article URL : https://breakingnewsandreligion.online/discuss/