Realization #01: It is actually fallen angels (and not God) who commit the vast majority of the Old Testament’s acts of violence & “divine wrath”.
There are quite a few folks – Christians & non-Christians alike – who have wondered about the seemingly contradictory nature of God as He is portrayed in the Bible. On the one hand, the Bible tells us that God is an embodiment of perfect, unconditional Love (Psalm 100:5, Matthew 5:48, 1 John 4:8-16, et al). On the other hand, the Bible also seemingly portrays the same God in a very different light – as a God who regularly commits acts that can only be characterized as evil (Genesis 6:7, Genesis 19:4-5, Genesis 38:7-10, Exodus 12:29, Exodus 14:28, Leviticus 10:1-3, Numbers 11:1-3, Numbers 16:35, Joshua 10:10-11, 2 Kings 1:9-12, 2 Kings 2:23-24 et al). Many non-Christians rave in response, of course; claiming that such a contradiction essentially proves that God doesn’t exist at all. And many Christians – at least those with any semblance of an awakened conscience – struggle mightily to somehow justify continuing to worship such a bipolar deity at all.
Indeed, while growing up in America’s “Bible Belt”, I had often wondered myself: How could an all-Loving God kill all of Egypt’s first-born during the initial Passover? … How could an all-Caring God command a father to kill his own son simply to test his faith? … How could an all-Forgiving God rain down fire and burn up the inhabitants of two entire cities?
Well, it turns out that the answer is pretty simple …
He didn’t!
Allow me to illuminate …
When I first started reading the Bible, I often wondered about the many names used by its authors for God. Sometimes God was referred to as “God”, other times as “LORD”, and still other times as “LORD God”. Like most new readers, I simply assumed that these terms were synonyms – that all of them described the same God; that the authors were simply alternating those names to make it easier on their readers. In fact, most Christians I know, and even most of the Christian preachers I have heard, still believe this to be the case. And yet, if we look closely at when & how these different terms are used, we can see that it very well might not be the case. Indeed, as I later delved into the Hebrew manuscripts themselves, it became clear that the translators of the ancient texts didn’t use the terms “God” and “LORD” interchangeably at all, but rather used them to represent two entirely different Hebrew terms in those writings.
Basically, almost every time we read “LORD” in the founding pages of the Hebrew Bible (from Genesis 1:1 through Exodus 3:14) it represents one of two Hebrew terms – either “Adonai” or “YHWH”; both intimate names for the ultimate, eternal Source most of us know as “God” … In contrast, almost every time we read “God” in the Hebrew Bible, it is representing the Hebrew term “Elohim”, which literally means “gods” … that’s right – “godS”; a plural term, referring to more than one spiritual being!
This information was in & of itself fascinating to me, and yet I didn’t give it much thought until I later decided to use this rediscovery to color-code the first book of the Bible. To do so, every time the word “God” showed up in Genesis, I shaded it lightly with an orange pencil, and every time the word “LORD” was read, I shaded it with green … Needles to say, the results were astounding — Almost without exception, every “evil” act performed by God was actually performed by the orange-shaded “God” (the plural Elohim), while the “LORD” (the actual, singular Godhead) seemed simply to Love & guide & forgive as a cool-green, never-ending source of compassion.
Without listing every instance – and without going into too much detail, consider the following examples:
*In the 9th chapter of Genesis, we hear the Elohim tell Noah and his sons not to merely “be fruitful and multiply” (as most English translations show), but rather to “tyrannically dominate & over-fill the Earth” (the actual Hebrew terminology used).
*In the 11th chapter of Genesis, we see the actual Godhead (the “LORD”) attempt to non-violently check the then unbridled hubris of humanity at the Tower of Babel.
*In the 17th chapter of Genesis, we see Abraham almost make a covenant with the one “LORD”, but then choosing to align himself with “God” (the fallen Elohim) instead.
*In the 18th chapter of Genesis, we hear God’s promise to not destroy Sodom & Gomorrah, and yet in Genesis’ very next chapter, we see two of the Elohim (fallen angels – in this instance, literally) destroy those two cities anyway.
*In the 22nd chapter of Genesis, we see “God” (the fallen Elohim) mislead Abraham into almost sacrificing his own son to prove his allegiance to them, whereupon a divine representative of the “LORD” (the actual Godhead) intervened and stopped their cruel nonsense.
*Most importantly, in the 3rd chapter of Exodus, the Elohim defiantly usurp the name of the actual God (Adonai or YHWH, read as “LORD”), and brazenly commence using it throughout the rest of the Pentateuch – indeed throughout the rest of the Old Testament – to fulfill for their own less-than-Kind ends (see specifically Exodus 3:13-15+, Exodus 6:2-7 & Exodus 6:28-29).
*As such, in the 12th chapter of Exodus, it is the Elohim (who are merely posing as “the LORD”) and not God Himself who actually kill all of Egypt’s firstborn children during the terrible night of the first Passover.
Not surprisingly, then, it is actually the Elohim – illegitimately posing as God (calling themselves either “the LORD your God” or “the LORD, the God of your ancestors”) who establish the large collection of bizarre (and often radically cruel & unjust) laws in the books of Deuteronomy and Numbers, and it is also the Elohim who actually perform all the evil deeds in the Bible thereafter!
In conclusion, please let it be understood that I am neither advocating nor rejecting any particular religion or any set of spiritual beliefs. Rather, I am merely offering valid Biblical scholarship that can empower each and every one of you to live a life that is both more enJOY-able and more Meaning-full …
*If you are not a Christian, you are now free to live in a Christian community &/or speak with conservative Christians about God & their Bible while feeling Compassion for them instead of anger.
*And if you are a Christian, you need no longer defend or rationalize or justify the immoral actions of the “God” in your Bible; knowing that those actions were not committed by God at all.
In essence, regardless of our particular religious beliefs (or even complete lack thereof), we are all here to emulate The Way of Jesus Christ; a Way of selfless Kindness that shows others only mercy and compassion and forgiveness and Love (and a way that knows all those traits to be active verbs, not mere passive ideals).
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