Import jQuery

Taboo Facts from Scripture

God's ways are different than this world's.

Really.

Think about that for a minute -- different than this world's.

So different, in fact, by the end of this blog post, I guarantee many of my secular readers will be saying, "That God of the Bible that Judah's talking about can't be God, because that God doesn't fit my understanding of what God should be!"

Yes, you will be determining whether God is real by what you want God to be. And because you will find out that God is not who you wish him to be, you will question whether he's God.

Because God does not fit into your modern, pluralistic, western idea of God -- all love, peace, equality, tolerance, never raising a finger of judgment, never condemning an immoral act -- you will say, "That's not my God!"

And for you religious folks who already believe God, you might be in for a little shock too. What I will show here will go against some of your doctrines. You might question whether all of Scripture really is from God, because you too have been influenced by our pluralistic, secular western culture, and have your own ideas about who God is.

You will see why no one talks about these things, why they're so taboo! Because secular people will refuse to see a God who doesn't fit their definition, and religious folks will be weakened because their doctrines don't hold water.

Nonetheless, these taboo facts should be stated, if only to get a better picture of who God really is. Minus man's doctrines, ignoring secular conjecture.

So here are some taboo statements from Scripture, stated as concise and matter-of-factly as I can. Explanations for tricky ones at the end.

If any of you have some to add, or think I'm wrong about any of these, or have questions, please ask in the comments.

Without further ado,

Sexuality

The Torah prohibits male homosexuality and calls it sexual immorality on par with promiscuity, adultery, incest, and promiscuity.

The Torah does not mention female homosexuality, however Christian Scripture lumps both male and female homosexuality as sexual immorality.

Jewish and Christian Scriptures do not mention masturbation.

Polygamy is not commanded, but neither is it outlawed.1

Pornography is adultery: Messiah stated that if a man so much as looks at another woman in lust, he is committing adultery in his heart.

No mixed marriages: if you're an Israelite, God commanded that you do not marry a non-Israelite.

Servitude



The Torah does not command slavery, but neither does it outlaw it.2

In the New Testament, Paul comments on slavery, admonishing masters to be kind to their slaves, but does not abolish or condemn the practice.

God commands the wife to serve the husband, and the husband to serve God; the husband is the head of the family.

Hatred & violence

God commanded Israel go to war against the peoples occupying the land he gave them.

God killed the firstborn child of each family in Egypt.

God destroyed the cities of G'morah and S'dom and all the people within because of human sin, likely sexual immorality including homosexuality.

God commanded the Israelites in the Torah to destroy and drive out the people that were occupying the land he promised to Israel.

God does not love everyone. God spoke through a prophet, "Jacob (Israel) I loved, but Esau I hated."

Esau's grandson, Amalek, was especially hated by God; God commanded that Amalek's name be blotted out of memory, as God would be continually at war with Amalek and his descendants for what they did to Israel.3

The writer of Psalm 137 hated Edom (Esau) with passion, going as far to say happy is the one who seizes Esau's infants and dashes them on rocks.4

The writer of Psalm 139, attributed to King David, encourages the reader to hate those that hate God.

Messiah commands that you pluck out your eye if it causes you to stumble, or cut off your arm if it causes you to sin, or cut off your foot if it causes you to sin.

God commands that a woman's hand be cut off if she broke up a fight by grabbing one of them by the testicles. Yes, really.

King Josiah performed what many would call a religious cleansing in Israel5, including killing priests of other religions and tearing down their altars and places of worship, and was considered righteous for doing so.

When Israel was on its journey to the promised land and began fornicating with Moabite women who introduced idol and Ba'al worship, Moses commanded they be killed: "Take all the leaders of these people, kill them and expose them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that the Lord's fierce anger may turn away from Israel."

In response to Moses' command, a Levite named Pinchas saw one of the children of Israel fornicating with a Midianite woman in front of Moses and the whole assembly. Pinchas drove a spear threw both of them, and was considered righteous for it.6

God commanded that the parents of rebellious, gluttonous, drunken son can put their child on community trial if they choose. If the son is found guilty, he should be stoned to death.7

Jesus was violent on at least one occasion and was considered righteous for it.8

Jesus was not tolerant of other religions. In fact, he actively subverted the religious leaders of his time.

Jesus called people names: hypocrite, white-washed tomb, prophet-stoner, thief, murderer, son of the devil, to name a few.

Dress and appearance

God told us that clothing made of mixed materials is forbidden. Yes, really.

God commanded that men do not shave the sides of their beards or heads in mourning for the dead.

God told us that tattooing, piercing, or otherwise marring oneself in mourning for the dead is wrong.

Christian doctrines

The term "trinity" is not found anywhere in Scripture.

There is no Scriptural basis for a "3-in-1" God, either from the Christian or Jewish Bibles.9

No where in Scripture is a record of anyone asking Jesus into his heart.

The apostles, including Paul, ruled that new gentile believers should start by follow 4 laws from the Torah, 3 of which are dietary. Modern Christians do not keep any 3 of them.

Easter, Christmas, Lent, and many other Christian holidays are not found in Scripture.

Adoration and Eucharist (Communion) are not found in Scripture. Penance (confession to Catholic priests) is not found in Scripture.

Paul commanded gentiles keep the feast of Passover, yet Christians do not keep this.

Christians do not keep a succinct commandment of their own Messiah, where he told his followers to keep the Torah.

Alcohol is permitted throughout Scripture; even Jesus drank strong wine.

The word "church" does not appear anywhere in the gospels.10

Jewish doctrines

While modern religious Jews wear hats (either yarmulkes, top hats, or turbans), there is no such commandment in Scripture.11

While modern religious Jews do not shave their beards or sidelocks, there is no such general commandment in Scripture, only a specific one in relation to mourning for the dead.

The Jewish practice of separating meats and dairy is not found in Scripture.12

According the the Jewish Bible, in the book of Daniel, the Messiah must come before the destruction of the 2nd Temple. The Temple was destroyed ~30 years after Jesus.

While many Orthodox Jewish men in Israel live off welfare and study Torah as their profession, there is no such commandment in Scripture. It is arguable they are breaking a commandment to work by the sweat of their brow.

God instituted animal sacrifices; only blood atones. Since there is no Temple, Jews have no atonement for sin.

There is no commandment that the Temple must be in Jerusalem.

There is no commandment that there must be a Temple. 13

God commanded Israelites to occupy all the land He promised them which includes all of modern-day Israel, all the Palestinian territories, all of Lebanon, large parts of Syria, Jordan, and Egypt.

God commanded Israel to drive out the inhabitants of the land he gave them, otherwise they would be a thorn in Israel's side.

Israeli democracy is not Scriptural. The western idea of democracy itself is Greek, not Scriptural, and it's triumph in Israel is a postmortem defeat of the Maccabees.

---

Whew. Have you deleted this blog from your bookmarks yet? ;-)

We just exposed the trinity, Roman Catholic sacraments, democracy, the sinner's prayer, Palestinian rights to Palestine, Jewish religion, Christian religion, the church, homosexuality, Israelite mixed marriages, pacifism, and Christmas. Oh, and I mentioned that God hates some people!

See what I mean? God is not your idea of Him.

For many of you, your mind is fighting you, trying either to explain away God's deviation from your understanding of what he should be, or trying to discredit these things and put them aside.

But a wise person understands God's reign is very different from the world's perception of good. God's goodness doesn't always match our idea of goodness.

God isn't what the world wants -- a tolerant, passive, many-paths-to-him, never angry kind of God. God isn't what the world expects.

-----

1. Several of the patriarchs, including Abraham, Solomon, and possibly Moses had multiple wives. We must remember that at this time in history, many women died in childbirth. Polygamy may have been a way to ensure the survival of one's offspring. Messiah later commented on marriage, saying, "From the beginning, God made them male and female, and for this reason a man shall leave his parents and cling to his wife." This statement suggests a monogamous, heterosexual relationship as God's ideal for humanity.

2. Instead, it regulated slavery, perhaps because the agricultural society of the time so heavily relied on it. Our western minds, perhaps thanks to Hollywood, tend to picture slavery with an abusive slaveholder whipping some poor slave. The reality would have been different, however: slavery at that time was much like the employer/employee system of today, where one serves another in order to survive. Israelites were not allowed to take fellow Israelites as servants.

3. Who is Esau's descendants today? Some have suggested they moved into the Middle East with his near relatives of Ishmael and his descendants. Ishmaelites today are modern Arabs. Another theory according to Jewish tradition, Esau's descendants were the progenitors of Rome.

4. The psalmist hated Edom (Esau) for their taking Israel captive and sending them to Babylon as slaves, saying,
Remember, Lord, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. "Tear it they cried, "tear it down to its foundations!" O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.

5. Josiah tore down all the houses of worship of Ba'al, rounded up their prophets and families of prophets and killing them all. He destroyed the fertility Asherah poles setup in the Temple courtyard. He removed the Topheth, where parents were sacrificing their children to Molech. He dug up the bones of pagan priests and burned them on their own altars, then destroyed the altars. He used tax money to repair the Temple in Jerusalem.

6. God considered this single act of Pinchas so righteous, God removed the plague he put on Israel for their nation-wide fornication.

7. Given the preconditions for this community trial, we conclude the son must have been at least a teenager or young adult.

8. See Righteous Anger, Righteous Violence

9. The theology of Trinity is taken from the a verse in Matthew 28 where Messiah tells the apostles to baptize in "the name of the Father, Son, and Spirit". However, some ancient translations do not have Matthew 28 present, thus this may have been a later insertion. Either way, trinity is not mentioned.

10. In modern translations, Matthew contains 2 references to "church", but there is no basis for this translation, as literal translations render it "assembly". Further, some ancient translations actually render it "house of prayer". See Upon This Disciple I'll Build My New Religion for more info.

11. The Cohen HaGadol, high priests, however, are commanded to wear turbans.

12. The practice comes from ruling of Jewish sages who saw the Scriptural commandment "Do not boil a goat kid in its mother's milk" and took it a step further and separated all meats and dairy.

13. There is, however, a commandment that there must be a Tabernacle, a kind of movable Temple.

18 comments:

  1. Wait, Christians eat food sacrificed to idols, drink blood (or eat food with blood in it), and things that have been strangled? I don't know about the blood (probably guilty there), but I've never eaten something offered to idols to my knowledge, nor anything strangled.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nathan,

    Much of the beef we eat is strangled or otherwise killed without draining the blood, which was the intent of the command.

    We also eat food with blood in it - who hasn't eaten a rare steak?

    You're right about food from animals sacrificed to idols.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey Judah,
    I am loving your blog lately, lots of great knowledge. I got a couple of questions though. What about when Jesus was baptized and the voice of the Father came from heaven and the Holy Spirit ascended in the form of a dove? Isn't that an example of the trinity? And I always thought that when Jesus taught about adultery, and he mentions looking at a woman in lust and then immediately after says that if your right hand causes you to sin to cut if off that he was talking about masturbation. I could be wrong though.

    ReplyDelete
  4. No basis for a 3-in-1 God, eh? There are scores of references throughout the Scriptures, whether formulaic or not! Guess you missed 2 Corinthians 13:4--an obvious one!

    "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with you all" (NAS 95).

    The day that people such as yourself are flushed and eradicated from the Messianic movement will be a great day indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hayley,

    Regarding trinity, there is certainly a Father, Messiah who's the son of God, and God's spirit. But that does not mean that God is 3-in-1... see my reply to anon below.

    Regarding masturbation, you're right, it's possible that verse implies masturbation. It's not conclusive; he mentions eyes first, then hands, then feet. He's not talking about masturbation in all of those. It's possible he's not talking about masturbation in any of those.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anon,

    Trinity is not mentioned in the New Testament or anywhere else. You point to a passage that cites Father, Son, and spirit (as did I in the post).

    I point you to Revelation and Daniel and Isaiah which speak of the seven spirits of God.

    Your citation doesn't indicate a triune God any more than my citation indicates a heptune God.

    All I'm saying is, God is more than we can imagine. Father, son, spirit? Yes. More than that? Yes.

    Forgiving your insults,
    -Judah

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Judah,

    You forgot the most important reason why people choose to not believe in God. They get mad because God doesn't do things their way and serve all their needs so they turn their back on Him.

    The only one that I would quibble with is that I don't think God, in the OT,prohibits all marriages but only that of Jews and non-Jews. He had a special purpose in keeping the Jewish people separate from the rest of the world. That purpose was to raise from among them the Messiah Who would bring salvation to all peoples. God is not a racist.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Excuse me, the above post should read 'mixed-marriages'. Someday, I'll learn to edit BEFORE I hit submit...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Pam, I actually agree with the mixed marriages thing. I think it's fine for folks to have mixed race marriages.

    The commandment was to Israelites; in the post I said. Since even gentiles could join Israel, it was not a matter of race, but rather, a matter of faith.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Now here's a thought. Boy, people are gonna hate me for even suggesting this.

    Racist implies dislike or favoritism of a people due to descent. Doesn't God favor the Jewish race? Doesn't God war against Esau's race?

    Admittedly, they're from the same family line, both descendants of Isaac... anyways, just thinking out loud.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Put it another way, isn't it perfectly alright for God to favor whom he chooses and curse whom he choses based on the sins of their fathers?

    In the Torah, in fact, it's part of the 10 Commandments, God says,

    "I, YHWH your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments."

    In this sense, God could punish, even hate, the descendants of one man. It's not racism, but it is justice passed down from generation to generation.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Judah,

    Ooops, I guess I misread as well as misediting. Are you sure this isn't Monday?????

    ReplyDelete
  13. Judah,

    I don't believe God shows favor to the Jews because He likes you guys better. He chose your people because you suit His purpose. That isn't racism.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hey Judah,

    I would like to weigh in on a few of these.

    Certainly the Bible doesn't mention a thing called a "Trinity," but is seems to me that it is there none the less. I think it is difficult for our feeble, finite minds to get a handle on what God is really like. He chose to describe Himself in terms we could understand. The Bible talks about God as the Father and God the Son and God's Holy Spirit. The Father sent His Son into the world to die for our sins so that we may be saved by His life. He sent His Spirit into the world to convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment. Are all of these different attributes of one God? Are all of these separate God's? I think the Bible suggests the former. Do you believe Jesus was God? I know I do. Do you believe a man can be separated from his word? Can God be separated from His?

    There may be no instances of someone inviting Jesus into their heart, but there are verses that talk about God placing His Spirit into our hearts. 2 Corinthians 1:22 and Galatians 4:6 come to mind. There are also other verses that talk about us/God opening our hearts to Him.

    The church wasn't formed until Pentecost, so why should it be mentioned in the Gospels? The church, of course, is the body of Christ, which is composed of all believers. That thing we attend on Sunday, that we call church, is really just a congregation of believers.

    I agree that drinking in and of itself isn't a sin; however it can become that one if it takes the place of God in your life. But, this is true of anything.

    I know that I don't have God all figured out. The more mature I get, the less I lean on my own understanding and trust the Spirit of God to lead me and give me wisdom.

    In Christ,
    Gary

    P.S. Are there any Jewish feasts that occur during the time of my trip in September (9-11)?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Gary, I actually agree.

    I think the sinner's prayer, for example, is a righteous thing. I only say it is not recorded in Scripture to keep a proper perspective.

    I pointed out all these things not because of my own theologies. I believe in Father, Son Messiah, and Spirit of God. I believe drinking can be abused (I personally don't drink.) I believe the sinner's prayer is a good thing.

    It's kind of taboo to say this stuff isn't in Scripture; it's so crucial, so integrated into our religion today. But better to hear it from a fellow believer than an atheist who wants to shake your faith.

    September 9-11, hmm, I'm not sure if any of the Feasts are falling on those days! I'll have to check.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Pam,

    He didn't choose Jews because he likes us better. Hahaha. So true and stated so simply. Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  17. In regards to masturbation I thought also what Haley said and also how in 1 Corinthians 7:1-6 (NIV) .....V2 But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.....

    Why not say to the men like he said in verse 1 to not marry. (masturbation)should take care of much of the lust one has... [I think]if it were the case.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi Judah,
    I'm a Christian and believe wholeheartedly with what you said...there is no trinity. Some Christians are amazed to learn that the term "God the Son" does not exist in the scriptures. That term is not used - not ever - not even once. While there is God, there is Jesus, and there is Holy Spirit, their relationship is not "trinitarian". Peter declares his faith in Jesus'identity in Matthew 16, "But what about you, he[Jesus] asked. Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven."
    Mark 12v28 and 29 - "And one of the scribes came up and heard them debating, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?"Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one..."
    Linda

    ReplyDelete

Appending "You might like" to each post.