The Skeptics Annotated Bible (174 page)

14
Ye shall not go after other gods
, of the gods of the people which are round about you;

(6.14)
“Ye shall not go after other gods.”

15 (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you)
lest
the anger of
the LORD
thy God be kindled against thee, and
destroy thee from off the face of the earth.

(6.15)
“Lest … the LORD … destroy thee from off the face of the earth.”

16
Ye shall not tempt the LORD your God
, as ye tempted him in Massah.

(6.16)
“Ye shall not tempt the Lord your God.”
103 Can God be tempted?
148 Is it OK to test (or tempt) God?

17 Ye shall diligently keep the commandments of the LORD your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he hath commanded thee.

18 And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and possess the good land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers,

19 To cast out all thine enemies from before thee, as the LORD hath spoken.

20 And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you?

21 Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand:

22 And the LORD shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes:

23 And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers.

24 And the
LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive
, as it is at this day.

(6.24)
“The LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive.”

25 And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the LORD our God, as he hath commanded us.

7
When the LORD
thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and
hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou
;

(7.1a)
“When the LORD … hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.”
God promises to cast out seven nations including the Amorites, Canaanites, and the Jebusites. But he just couldn’t do it. (See Joshua 15.63, 16.10, 17.12-13; Judges 1.21, 27, 3.1-5)

(7.1b)
“Seven nations greater and mightier than thou”
These nations were “greater and mightier” than the Israelites, who according to Ex 12.37 and Num 1.45-46 already had numbered more than a million. So the region, according to the bible, must have had a population of more than seven million!

(7.2-5) God tells the Israelites to kill, without mercy, all the inhabitants of the land that they conquer. If you do show any mercy to such strangers, “give your daughters to any of them, or “take” any of their daughters, then you’ll get God so angry that he’ll “destroy thee suddenly.”
Will God destroy those that intermarry?
80 Will God destroy those that intermarry?
109 To kill or not to kill
112 How should strangers be treated?

2 And
when the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them
:

(7.2)
“When the LORD thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them.”

3
Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.

(7.3)
“Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.”

4 For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods:
so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly.