Part 2, NT Contradictions

 

24. What did Jesus say about the rooster?
(a) “The cock will not crow till you have denied me three times” (John 13:38).
(b) “Before the cock crows twice you will deny me three times” (Mark 14:30).
_______________________


25. Did Jesus bear his own cross?
(a) Yes (John 19:17)
(b) No (Matthew 27:31-32)
_______________________


26. Did Jesus die before the curtain of the temple was torn?
(a) Yes (Matthew 27:50-51; Mark l5:37-38)
(b) No. After the curtain was torn, then Jesus crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last (Luke 23:45-46)
_______________________


27. Did Jesus say anything secretly?
(a) No. “I have said nothing secretly” (John 18:20)
(b) Yes. “He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained
everything” (Mark 4:34). The disciples asked him “Why do you speak to them in parables?”
He said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given” (Matthew 13:10-11)
_______________________


28. Where was Jesus at the sixth hour on the day of the crucifixion?
(a) On the cross (Mark 15:23)
(b) In Pilate’s court (John 19:14)
_______________________


29. The gospels say that two thieves were crucified along with Jesus. Did both thieves mock Jesus?
(a) Yes (Mark 15:32)
(b) No. One of them mocked Jesus, the other defended Jesus (Luke 23:43)
_______________________


30. Did Jesus ascend to Paradise the same day of the crucifixion?
(a) Yes. He said to the thief who defended him, “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43)
(b) No. He said to Mary Magdelene two days later, “I have not yet ascended to the Father” (John 20:17)
_______________________


31. When Paul was on the road to Damascus he saw a light and heard a voice. Did those who were with him hear the voice?
(a) Yes (Acts 9: 7)
(b) No (Acts 22: 9)
_______________________


32. When Paul saw the light he fell to the ground. Did his traveling companions also fall to the ground?
(a) Yes (Acts 26:14)
(b) No (Acts 9:7)
_______________________


33. Did the voice spell out on the spot what Paul’s duties were to be?
(a) Yes (Acts 26:16-18)
(b) No. The voice commanded Paul to go into the city of Damascus and there he will be told what he must do. (Acts 9:7 & 22:10)
_______________________


34. When the Israelites dwelt in Shittin they committed adultery with the daughters of Moab. God struck
them with a plague. How many people died in that plague?
(a) Twenty-four thousand (Numbers 25:1 and 9)
(b) Twenty-three thousand (I Corinthians 10:8)
_______________________


35. How many members of the house of Jacob came to Egypt?
(a) Seventy souls (Genesis 46:27 & Ex 1:5)
(b) Seventy-five souls (Acts 7:14)
_______________________


36. What did Judas do with the blood money he received for betraying Jesus?
(a) He bought a field with it (Acts 1:18)
(b) He threw all of it into the temple and went away. The priests could not put the blood money into the temple treasury, so the priests used it to buy a field to bury strangers (Matthew 27:5)
_______________________


37. How did Judas die?
(a) After he threw the money into the temple he went away and hanged himself (Matthew 27:5)
(b) After he bought the field with the price of his evil deed he fell headlong and burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out (Acts 1:18)
_______________________

38. Why is the field called “Field of Blood”?
a) Because the priests bought it with the blood money (Matthew 27:8)
(b) Because of the bloody death of Judas therein (Acts 1:19)
_______________________

39. Jesus' death was supposedly a ransom for who?
(a) “The Son of Man came...to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
 (b) “Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all... “(I Timothy 2:5-6)
(c) if this can be applied here, Jesus said in Matthew, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel," (Matthew 15:24). To go along with this, Jesus even commands his disciples this, "These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel," (Matt 10:5).

_______________________


40. Is the Law of Moses useful?
(a) Yes. “All scripture is... profitable...” (2 Timothy 3:16)
(b) No. “ . . . A former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness... “(Hebrews 7:18)
_______________________


41. What was the exact wording on the cross?
(a) “This is Jesus the King of the Jews” (Matthew 27:37)
(b) “The King of the Jews” (Mark 15:26)
(c) “This is the King of the Jews” (Luke 23:38)
(d) “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19)
_______________________


42. Did Herod want to kill John the Baptist?
(a) Yes (Matthew 14:5)
(b) No. It was Herodias, the wife of Herod who wanted to kill him. But Herod knew that he was a righteous man and kept him safe (Mark 6:20)
_______________________


43. Who was the tenth disciple of Jesus in the list of twelve?
(a) Thaddaeus (Matthew 10: 1-4; Mark 3:13 -19)
(b) Judas son of James is the corresponding name in Luke’s gospel (Luke 6:12-16)
_______________________


44. Jesus saw a man sit at the tax collector’s office and called him to be his disciple. What was his name?
(a) Matthew (Matthew 9:9)
(b) Levi (Mark 2:14; Luke 5:27)
_______________________


45. Was Jesus crucified during the day before the Passover meal or the day after?
(a) After (Mark 14:12-17) also Matthew and Luke
(b) Before. Before the feast of the Passover (John 13) Judas went out at night (John 13:30). The other
disciples thought he was going out to buy supplies to prepare for the Passover meal (John 13:29).
When Jesus was arrested, the Jews did not enter Pilate’s judgment hail because they wanted to stay clean to eat the Passover (John 18:28). When the judgment was pronounced against Jesus, it was about the sixth hour on the day of Preparation for the Passover (John 19:14)
_______________________


46. Did Jesus pray to The Father to prevent the crucifixion?
(a) Yes. (Matthew 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:42)
(b) No. (John 12:27)
_______________________


47. In the gospels which say that Jesus prayed to avoid the cross, how many times did ‘he move away from his disciples to pray?
(a) Three (Matthew 26:36-46 and Mark 14:32-42)
(b) One. No opening is left for another two times. (Luke 22:39-46)
_______________________


48. Matthew and Mark agree that Jesus went away and prayed three times. What were the words of the second prayer?
(a) Mark does not give the words but he says that the words were the same as the first prayer (Mark 14:3 9)
(b) Matthew gives us the words, and we can see that they are not the same as in the first (Matthew 26:42), thus contradicting Mark.
_______________________


49. What did the centurion say when Jesus dies?
(a) “Certainly this man was innocent” (Luke 23:47)
(b) “Truly this man was the Son of God” (Mark 15:39)
 (c) "Truly this was the Son of God," Matt 27:54
_______________________


50. When Jesus said, “My God, my God,” on the cross.... what language did he speak?

(a) Hebrew: the words are “Eli, Eli…“(Matthew 27:46)
(b) Aramaic: the words are “Eloi, Eloi..." (Mark 15:34)
_______________________


51. According to the gospels, what were the last words of Jesus before he died?
(a) “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46)
(b) "It is finished" (John 19:30).
(c) Matthew and Mark have him saying nothing beyond "my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" He just cries out with a load voice, like a hollering scream possibly.

This it would appear that Luke and John display a mission, whereas Mark and Matthew display disappointment because his enemies were victorious.
_______________________


52. When Jesus entered Capernaum he healed the slave of a centurion. Did the centurion come personally to request Jesus for this?
(a) Yes (Matthew 8:5)
(b) No. He sent some elders of the  Jews and his friends (Luke 7:3 & 7:6)
_______________________


53. If God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow... and in his law it says,

"Do not have sexual relations with your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter, whether she was born in the same home or elsewhere."

Then why did He have Cain and Seth marry their sisters?

1 Samuel 15:29
"And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent."

James 1:17
"...the Father of lights, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.
_______________________


54. Apart from Jesus did anyone else ascend to heaven? 
(a) No (John 3:13)
(b) Yes. “And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven” (2 Kings 2:11)
(c) Yes, Enoch (Gen 5:24)
_______________________


55. Who was high priest when David went into the house of God and ate the consecrated bread?
(a) Abiathar (Mark 2:26)
(b) Ahimelech, the father of Abiathar (I Samuel 1:1; 22:20)

Hard to be "God in the flesh," if you can't get your own scriptures correct!
_______________________


56. Was Jesus’ body wrapped in spices before burial in accordance with Jewish burial customs?
(a) Yes (John 19:39-40)
(b) No. Jesus was simply wrapped in a linen shroud. After the sabbath the women bought and came with "sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him,"  (Mark 16: 1)
 (c) no, In Matthew, Joseph doesn't use spices and the women don't have spices at all in the story and no one intends to use any on the body of Jesus.
(d) no, In Luke the women prepared the spices on Friday, but brought them on Sunday
_______________________


57. At what time of day did the women visit the tomb?
(a) “At the beginning of dawn” (Matt 28: 1)
(b) “Just after sunrise” (Mark 16:2)
(c) early dawn (Luke 24:1)
(d) when it was still dark (John 20:1)
_______________________


58. What was the purpose of the women going to the tomb?
(a) To anoint Jesus’ body with spices (Mark 16: 1; Luke 23:55 to 24: 1)
(b) To see the tomb. Nothing about spices here (Matthew 28: 1)
(c) For no specified reason. In this gospel the wrapping with spices had been done before the Sabbath (John 20: 1)
_______________________


59. A large stone was placed at the entrance of the tomb. Where was the stone when the women arrived?
(a) They saw that the stone was “Rolled back” (Mark 16:4) They found the stone “rolled away from the
tomb” (Luke 24:2) They saw that “the stone had been taken away from the tomb” (John 20:1)
(b) As the women approached, an angel descended from heaven, rolled away the stone, and conversed
with the women. Matthew made the women witness the spectacular rolling away of the stone
(Matthew 28:1-6)
_______________________


60. Did anyone tell the women what occurred to Jesus’ body?
(a) Yes. “A young man in a white robe” (Mark 16:5). “Two men ... in dazzling apparel” later described
as angels (Luke 24:4 and 24:23). An angel - the one who rolled back the stone (Matthew 16:2).
In each case the women were told that Jesus had risen from the dead (Matthew 28:7; Mark 16:6; Luke 24:5)
(b) No. Mary met no one and returned saying, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him” (John 20:2)
_______________________


61. When did Mary Magdelene first meet the resurrected Jesus? And how did she react?
(a) Mary and the other women met Jesus on their way back from their first and only visit to the tomb.
They took hold of his feet and worshipped him (Matthew 28:1-10)
(b) On her second visit to the tomb Mary met Jesus just outside the tomb. When she saw Jesus she did not recognize him. She mistook him for the gardener. She still thinks that Jesus’ body is laid to rest somewhere and she demands to know where. But when Jesus said her name she at once recognized him and called him “Teacher.” Jesus said to her, “Do not touch me...” (John 20:1-17)
_______________________


62. What was Jesus’ instruction to Mary?
(a) “...go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me” (Matthew 28: 10)
(b) “...go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father; and your Father, to my God
and your God” (John 20:17)
_______________________


63. Did Jesus prevent Mary from touching him on the day of the resurrection.
 (a) No (Matt 28:9-10)
 (b) yes (John 20:17)
_______________________


64. When did the disciples return to Galilee after the resurrection?
(a) Immediately  (Matthew 28:16-17).
(b) maybe never, but at least after 48 days if Luke wrote Acts. For Jesus told them to remain in Jerusalem (Luke 24:49).
 (c) maybe never, for Jesus told them remain in Jerusalem till they get the Spirit baptism, which came 48 days after his resurrection on Pentecost or during the Feast of weeks or Shavuot  (Acts 1:4-5)
 (Footnote) the counting of the 50 days to Shavuot starts on the 16th of Aviv/Nisan
_______________________


65. Was Jesus baptized?

 (a) Yes (Matt 3:16; Mark 1:9; Luke 3:21)

 (b) Doesn't say, rather John just points out who he supposedly was, because he saw the Spirit come upon him like a dove (John 1:29-34)

_______________________

66. After the Spirit came upon Jesus supposedly like a dove, where did Jesus go?

 (a) he was led up into the wilderness and was there 40 days (Matt 4:1; Mark 1:12; Luke 4:1) 

 (b) the next day he came by John again and gained 3 disciples that day: John, Andrew and Peter. The very next day he went up to Galilee and gained Philip and Nathanael. The third day he attended a wedding. Thus, no wilderness scene!

New Testament Contradictions (part 1)

Here is a quick list of 23 contradictions in the NT.... which teaches that the authors were "NOT" inspired.....

1. Who was the father of Joseph, husband of Mary?
(a) Jacob (Matthew 1:16)
(b) Hell (Luke 3:23)

2. Jesus descended from which son of David?
(a) Solomon (Matthew 1:6)
(b) Nathan (Luke 3: 31)

* keep in mind that the messiah must be from Solomon. Likewise, Luke's genealogy is not of Mary as lying apologetic people claim... read the passage, it is of Joseph

3. Who was the father of Shealtiel?
(a) Jechoniah (Matthew 1:12)
(b) Neri’ (Luke 3:27)

4. Which son of Zerubbabel was an ancestor of Jesus?
(a) Abiud (Matthew 1: 13)
(b) Rhesa (Luke 3:27)
Footnote: Yet, how could this be when according to the Tanach, in I Chronicles 3:19-20, the seven sons
of Zerubbabel are as follows:

a. Meshullam
b. Hananiah
c. Hashubah
d. Ohel
f. Berechiah
g. Hasadiah
h. Jushabhesed
Thus, the names of either Abiud or Rhesa do not fit in anyway.

5. Who was the father of Uzziah?
(a) Joram (Matthew 1:8)
(b) Amaziah (2 Chronicles 26:1)

6. Who as the father of Jechoniah?
(a) Josiah (Matthew 1:11)
(b) Jeholakim (I Chronicles 3:16)

7. How many generations were there from the Babylonian exile until Christ?
(a) Matthew says fourteen (Matthew 1:17)
(b) But a careful count of the generations reveals only thirteen (see Matthew 1: 12-16)

8. Who was the father of Shelah?
(a) Cainan (Luke 3:35-36)
(b) Arphaxad (Genesis 11:12)

9. Was John the Baptist Elijah who was to come?
(a) Yes (Matthew II: 14, 17:10-13)
(b) No (John 1:19-21)

10. Would Jesus inherit David’s throne?
(a) Yes. So said the angel (Luke 1:32)
(b) No, since he is a descendant of Jehoiakim (see Matthew 1: I 1, I Chronicles 3:16).
And Jehoiakim was cursed by God so that none of his descendants can sit upon David’s throne
(Jeremiah 36:30)

11. Jesus rode into Jerusalem on how many animals?
(a) One - a colt (Mark 11:7; cf Luke 19:3 5). “And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their
garments on it; and he sat upon it.”
(b) Two - a colt and an ass (Matthew 21:7). “They brought the ass and the colt and put their garments
on them and he sat thereon.”
This proves, among other fine examples, that author was not Jewish... because he didn't know what the Hebrew even says.

12. How did Simon Peter find out that Jesus was the Christ?
(a) By a revelation from heaven (Matthew 16:17)
(b) His brother Andrew told him (John 1:41)

13. Where did Jesus first meet Simon Peter and Andrew?
(a) By the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 4:18-22)
(b) On the banks of river Jordan (John 1:42). After that, Jesus decided to go to Galilee (John 1:43)

14. When Jesus met Jairus was Jairus’ daughter already dead?
(a) Yes. Matthew 9:18 quotes him as saying, “My daughter has just died.”
(b) No. Mark 5:23 quotes him as saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death.”

15. Did Jesus allow his disciples to keep a staff on their journey?
(a) Yes (Mark 6: 8)
(b) No (Matthew 10:9; Luke 9:3)

16. Did Herod think that Jesus was John the Baptist?
(a) Yes (Matthew 14:2; Mark 6:16)
(b) No (Luke 9:9)

17. Did John the Baptist recognize Jesus before his baptism?
(a) Yes (Matthew 3:13-14)
(b) No (John 1:32,33)

18. Did John the Baptist recognize Jesus after his baptism?
(a) Yes (John 1:32, 33)
(b) No (Matthew 11:2)

19. When Jesus entered Jerusalem did he cleanse the temple that same day?
(a) Yes (Matthew 21:12)
(b) No. He went into the temple and looked around, but since it was very late he did nothing.
Instead, he went to Bethany to spend the night and returned the next morning to cleanse the
temple (Mark I 1:117).

20. The Gospels say that Jesus cursed a fig tree. Did the tree wither at once?
(a) Yes. (Matthew 21:19)
(b) No. It withered overnight (Mark II: 20)

21. Did Judas kiss Jesus?
(a) Yes (Matthew 26:48-50)
(b) No. Judas could not get close enough to Jesus to kiss him (John 18:3-12)

22. Was Jesus born from a virgin woman.
 (a) Yes, according to Matt and Luke
 (b) No, according to Paul in Romans 1:3, for the word, seed, is "sperma" in Greek, where the word, "sperm" comes from.

23. What day of the month did Jesus die on?

 (a) the 15th of Aviv/Nisan according to Matthew, Mark and Luke, for in all three gospels Jesus' last supper was the passover and he was crucified the next day.

 (b) The 14th of Aviv/Nisan, for he dies on the day of Passover, this is why the Jewish rulers wouldn't go into the "Judgment hall" so they wouldn't get defiled so they could observe Passover later on (John 18:28). 

Click here for Part 2

Ancient Plagiarism - the infancy of Moses

The myths of Moses.... ancient plagiarism

Because the Judeans went into exile and were exposed to the myths and legends of Babylon, Assyria and the ancient Sumerians and Akkadians....

They adopted many of their myths and changed them to reflect their new monotheistic views.

The birth and infant time of Moses seems to be exactly borrowed from the legends of a genuine Akkadian King, named Sargon the great. So, according to Exodus.... the mother of Moses put him in a covered basket that she covered in pitch to make it water proof. Then Pharaoh's daughter found it and so he was brought up in Pharaoh's house.... plus, he was supposedly from the priestly clan, the Levites.

Well, here are the legends of Sargon....

Quoted from worldhistory.org

"Sargon of Akkad (also known as Sargon of Agade and Sargon the Great, reigned 2334 to 2279 BCE), the founder of the Akkadian Empire, was a man keenly aware of his times and the people he would rule over. While he was clearly a brilliant military leader, it was the story he told of his youth and rise to power that exerted a powerful influence over the Sumerians he sought to conquer. Instead of representing himself as a man chosen by the gods to rule, he presented a much humbler image of himself as an orphan set adrift in life who was taken in by a kind gardener and granted the love of the goddess Inanna. According to the cuneiform inscription known as The Legend of Sargon (his autobiography), he was born the illegitimate son of a "changeling", which could refer to a temple priestess of the goddess Inanna (whose clergy were androgynous) and never knew his father. His mother could not reveal her pregnancy or keep the child, and so she placed him in a basket which she then let go on the Euphrates River. She had sealed the basket with tar, and the water carried him safely to where he was later found by a man named Akki who was a gardener for Ur-Zababa, the king of the Sumerian city of Kish."

Maregaal
11:38 pm
1/10/2022

Problems in the Tanach

As an old Orthodox Jew, that practiced the Torah strictly and who read from the Torah daily and meditated on it constantly.... I found many contradictions in the Torah and the rest of the Tanach.

With that said, I am compiling a list of all the contradictions I found and can remember from the top of my head.

I suppose I found well over 200 of them. I did have a list at one point, but my computer that had this list broke down. So, i am compiling them again.

Here is a small sample:

1) Who dug the well at Beer-Sheba
a. Was it Abraham (Gen 21:22-32)
b. Was it Isaac (Gen 26:23-33)

2) Which set of the Ten commandments is the correct set  when it comes to the reason behind the Sabbath?
a. Was it based on the six days of creation and Him resting on the seventh (Exodus 20:8-12 and Exodus 31:17)
b. Or, is it based on that fact we Jews were slaves in Egypt and were not allowed to rest (Deuteronomy 5:15)

3) What happened at the beginning?
a. Eve was made on the 6th day (Genesis 1:26-31)
b..Or, did she come at some unspecified time later, after Adam worked the garden for some time and after naming all of the animals (Gen 2)?

4) What is the proper procedure for some of the Shavuot (Feast of Weeks / Penticost) ritual?
a. 1 bull and 2 rams (Lev 23: 18)
b. Or, 2 bulls and 1 ram? (Num 28:27)

5) Concerning Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement
a. Did Moses give the ritual and commands of Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16 and 23:26-32, Number 29:7-11)
b. Or, did it come into existence after Nehemiah and Ezra, for the people fasted and did like deeds on the 24th, not the 10th and there was no mention of it in the law which they read from (Nehemiah 8 &9)

6) Israelite History...
a. Did the Israelites have a miraculous deliverance from Egyptian slavery as Exodus claims
b. Or were we the Hyksos that ruled in Avaris and who enslaved others, till King Ahmose defeated us and drove us to Canaan (Look up Ahmose & Hyksos)

7. Where was the law supposedly given?
a. Sinai (Exodus 19)
b. Horeb (Deut 4:10, 4:15, 5:2, 9:8, 1 Kings 8:9, 2 Chron 5:10, Psalm 106:19, Malachi 4:4)

8. According to the bible, when it gives the genealogy from Adam to Noah, then follow that to the last king of Judah, when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Temple in 586 BCE.... the bible claims that the flood happened in 2,507 BCE or there abouts according to that time line.

However, real historical facts is this: we have an uninterrupted list of kings of the Pharaohs of Egypt dating as far back as 3,100 BCE and possibly older. 

Hard to believe a flood myth that wiped out "all of mankind," yet we have historical evidence that clearly shows mankind was never touched as a whole by a flood and, thus, they continued on and didn't have to start over.

9....

Notes for continued writing:

Age of the patriarchs and their death... compared to the genealogy list, they should be around or still alive during the time of certain grand kids.

Case in point, when reading about Noah, he lives to a certain age and then dies and the narrative continues as if he is dead and no longer around.... YET according to the gene list.... he was still alive when Isaac was born. In fact, by that list, Noah dies when Isaac is like 12 years old.

****************

Who killed Goliath

Who wrote the torah, Moses or post-exile Jews?

A) Sumer myths mentioned Gen 1-11 = Post-exile
B) Urartu mentioned, Post-exile. They existed from 850 -590 BCE
C) Legends of a ziggiret = post exile
D) Flood, yet pharoahs still around = post exile
E) Mentioning Jewish kings in Gen 36
F) Death of Moses mentioned at the end of Deut
G) ANTI-Solomon laws in Deut 17
H) Yom Kippur mentioned, yet didnt exist till after Ezra

So.... that some stuff for you so far.

Biblical views of the universe

 An intro of what I will be discussing in my upcoming video regarding the biblical viewpoint of the universe

Following the name of El

 Just following the name of El, to see how far back it goes with verifiable history:

Ibal-pi-El  I  1870  BCE

Ibal-pi-El  II  1770 BCE

 Click here

and Here

Amut-pi-El 

Click here

It is said that Amut-pi-El visited Ugarit, a town known for worshipping El

Abba-El I

Sarra-El

Abba-El II click here

More links

The Physicality of El

The Physicality of El

The goal or purpose of this paper is to show the differences between the modern way thinking of "who" God is and "what" He is like.... and how this thinking developed over time or what it has evolved into since the time of Cyrus the Great.

To show the great influence Persia apparently had upon Jewish culture due to Zorasteriamism.

Then comparing these newer ways of thinking to the original views that Israeli or Jewish culture had before their exile into Babylon in 586 BCE when they were originally a polytheistic culture.

For the scripture was written and the stories within were developed while they were very polytheistic. For at that time the gods of Israel were very human like and we were made in their image and likeness.

In this old way of thinking, this pantheon of gods were limited in their knowledge and wisdom and these gods were viewed to be very physical like any man living today.

What happened over time however, after Cyrus...., the Judean elders started changing their stories from their original polytheistic past and narrative to a monotheistic view point.

However, because they were still developing at this time, the old viewpoints of El still come through. Likewise, one can see where they substituted the name of another deity with the name of El, where El originally didn't belong there.

For today "God" is viewed as a spiritual being with no physical body. "He" is also  omni-present and all-knowing or omniscient... and in other modern circles, having no human form whatsoever.

However, this is no where near the viewpoint of ancient Israel. In fact, Israel was no different, for example, than ancient Greece in their mythologies, where Zeus had a physical body, limited in this way and that way. He was the god of this and that and he had sons and those sons had children too.

El was viewed the same way. El was married to Asherah and they had about 70 children together, if not more.

El was the chief deity and the father of the gods or of the pantheon. He was creator of all and of mankind.

Some of his kids were Baal, Yamm, Mot, Dagon and others like Lotan who was a great sea monster deity where the word, "Leviathan" comes from. This mythology remains intact pretty much in the Tanach. Which is pleasing to see, because you are finally tapping into the truth of how ancient Israel actually thought.

So, in reality Israel acknowledged and was apart of the polytheistic Canaanite religion and/or mythologies. 

So.... let's move on with the words of the actual Tanach and see this ancient way thinking of how they viewed El as a physical being with limitations like other mythologies do with their gods.

******************************************

In Genesis 1, and through out the Bible... it says, "And God said.....," where He actually speaks. Thus, He physically has an actual voice and what comes from that voice is the very original of all languages, being Hebrew.

[Of course that is a biased way of thinking from Jewish culture]

This is an example of what the texts says:

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

The "us" in this text is actually a carry over from Israel's polytheistic days. For El was the Chief Deity, the Father of Gods and Creator of all. His wife Asherah, with their 70 sons and daughters and then their sons' sons and daughters. Baal, Yamm, Lotan, Dagon, Mot and Yehwah being some of them.

This forms the great council or heavenly court.

Do your history of the Canaanite Religion and also the Ugaritic texts.

So, then we read that El, the Father of this pantheon made man to look like Him as well as the other gods.

So El and this pantheon of deities have physical bodies.

El then "saw" all that he created and behold it was "very good."

If the ancient authors wanted to convey modern viewpoints of several circles and that of Maimonides, where "God" doesn't have any form whatsoever ...

They could have just as easily wrote, El created the light.... El created mankind from the dust of the earth..... without saying: El said; El saw; let us make mankind in our image; and so forth.

But, let's continue....

In Genesis 3, after we see the man (Adam) eating the fruit that his wife gave him.... 

We see this:

"....And they heard a noise from God walking in the garden.... ....[so they] hid themselves."

So we see El literally walking in this unique garden and while walking makes noise.... Adam and Eve get startled by El,  because they didn't expect him there and so they hid themselves. 

So, you see how this is like old Greek mythology where the gods have physical bodies and like those mythologies.... we then see El asking the odd question, "Where are you" indicating his limits of knowledge and thus displaying man's cute mythologies?

In the modern evolution of Judaic and Christian thinking, this seems very odd.... because with the modern thinking of theology one believes that "God" is all knowing.... yet here El doesn't know.

Remember, these are the mythologies from old pantheon days. Where a certain god is known for this and another deity is known for that.

So, again, here we see El with a very physical body making noise as he walks in the garden, whether that be from crushing leaves under foot, brushing against a limb with his garment, to whatever else the noise supposedly came from when El walked.

The cherubs El puts in place to guard the tree of life are also physical, else what is the point of threatening them with death from a physical sword that they are holding. 

In this myth, by the way, this is the lesson that modern thinkers don't grasp, because of whatever influences they might have. Christians have their influences separated from Jewish though. Nonetheless, here it is...

The gods of this pantheon are eternal to a point.... and this tree of life is the only way for man to escape their normal destined doom of natural death.

Christian "spiritual death" and their apologetics don't apply here.  

Remember, Adam and Eve are new to existence.... not like they had parents telling them while growing up that are constantly reminding them that some trees are for food while others are there to just look at. 

So, Adam and Eve were destined to die as it was, for that is how El made them. However, El gave them an opt out by providing the tree of life there.

However, they never took of that tree, ever. And, as long as they never ate from it.... they were just going to die at some point.

This is the whole meaning behind the words of El when he says.... "surely die" if they should dare eat of the tree of knowledge. 

Why? Because it is clear El didn't want them to eat from both trees, so if they ate from the knowledge tree first by disobeying... El would then prevent them from eating from the very powerful tree that would give them eternal life. Thus, they would "surely die" in their natural state and so blowing their chance for eternal life.

In this, by the way, we see why Paul is soooo wrong in his wild theology in that death came to all men due to Adam sinning. Nope, not at all, rather death was their natural state or order or normal outcome. Furthermore, their sin was atoned for from the animals El provided their garments from. The consequence of their transgression however was that they were permanently banned from the garden and so had to work way more harder to get food for themselves. 

From this whole narrative comes the polytheistic and mythological answers to:

1) why we die; 

2) why weeds form; 

3) why women have pain during labor;

4) why we, of all species, wear clothes

5) and why we work from the sweat of our brow just to eat, where the other species don't seem to

6) why snakes slither and have no limbs

7) why we have an innate fear of snakes or serpents

Seven answers to life's questions wrapped up in one convenient myth. 

Now lets move on: 

When we get to the tower of Babel story, we see the heavenly court having some sort of meeting again... so El wants to do something about it. 

This myth obviously came later, to give a mythological reason why an old ziggurat never got completed. If this myth originated in Babylon, or earlier in Sumer.... Israel adopted it while there after 586 BCE.... which in and of itself tells us that the Judeans were still very much polytheistic at the time.

Nonetheless, here it is and here we see the physical aspects of El....

[5] And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men were building.
[6] And the LORD said, Behold, the people are one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
[7] Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
[8] So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

So you see how old this thinking is, soooo mythological in its delivery? Its exactly like the myths of the Greeks. Where El and the other gods are somewhere above and they had to physically come down to "see" what is going on. Then El asks the other gods to help in confounding them all. 

And so.... they had to come down just to confound them. 

In modern thinking, "God" is all knowing and all powerful and can do things without help and doesn't need to go somewhere just to do something.

Thus, if you leave these stories in their original polytheistic mindset, they are much easier to understand. But what you have today are the modified, edited and redacted versions of these old myths.... thanks to the elders of Judea that came back to Jerusalem sometime after Cyrus the Great which started promoting a monotheistic worldview.... which isn't their genuine heritage.

Moving on....

In Genesis 18, we see El appearing physically before Abraham as one of the three "men" and there Abraham talks with him after running to meet them all. Abraham also physically gives them food to eat, and water to wash their feet. So here we see a very physical deity!!!

Here is a snippet:

[1] And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
[2] And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
[3] And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
[4] Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
[5] And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.

[7] And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
[8] And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.

[33] And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.

So we see that El is very physical and the two other "men," who are the two angels in the next chapter that visit Lot.

Moving on...

In Exodus... Moses sees his physical back...

Exodus  33

[18] And he (Moses) said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.
[19] And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
[20] And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.
[21] And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:
[22] And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by:
[23] And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.

So we see here, El is still a very a physical being. What I find interesting is that this particular author is way down the line of Israel's theological evolution. While the author still admits El is very physical... for some reason this particular author thinks El's face can't be seen, though elsewhere other authors don't share that view. 

Again, the modern Torah was written sometime after 380 BCE, after Ezra, and before 285 BCE when the Greek Septuagint was created in Alexandria Egypt.

Moving on.... 

1 Kings 22:

 [18] And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would prophesy no good concerning me, but evil?

[19] And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.
[20] And the LORD said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner.
[21] And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will persuade him.
[22] And the LORD said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also: go forth, and do so.
[23] Now therefore, behold, the LORD hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy prophets, and the LORD hath spoken evil concerning thee.

This is a fine example of the "heavenly court" being seen as we see in Gen 1 and Gen 11 with the word, "us" being used in those passages. Though this story is heavily modified to reflect monotheism now and that only angels instead of the other deities makeup this heavenly court. 

I just wish they left the story alone... nonetheless El is physical and you can see him and that he has a chair to sit on. 

Ohhhh, this throne actually reminds me of the creation narrative again, something I skipped over. 

In those narratives, like with other gods in other mythologies, we see El tired and needs to be refreshed after creation.... for here is Exodus

Exodus 31

[17] It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.

In story of Noah, El seems to have forgotten about Noah while he was on the ark, for this is what we read:

Genesis 7:24 - 8:1

And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth... 

Okay, so far we see El with a very physical body; he doesn't know everything; and he gets tired and needs to be refreshed. He eats and washes his feet and so forth. Lastly, like in other myths, El can seemingly get distracted and forget things.  

Moving on to Isaiah....

Isaiah 6

[1] In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
[2] Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
[3] And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
[4] And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
[5] Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
[6] Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
[7] And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

This is very physical stuff and El definitely has a physical body as well as these seraphim and the objects that are seen and used. 

One passage I don't care to use because how long it is, but.....

Ezekiel 1,  I will let you read on your own.

Next comes from Daniel 

Daniel 7 

[9] I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
[10] A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.

What I find interesting is this about Daniel....

This book was written after Alexander the Great died and after the time his generals has all ready been reigning for some time.... and yet, El is still seen as a physical person. Another note on this.... this author obviously don't share the views of the author of the certain passage of Exodus where El's face can't be seen. Maybe it was a priest that wrote Exodus and he is just used to the holy of holies ritual where "God" can't be seen and, thus, he must go in with smoke from the incense. 

Keep in mind that this is what the "law" says....

Leviticus 16:13

[13] And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not

We know that Yom Kippur doesn't exist till after Ezra, namely after Nehemiah 9. For in Nehemiah 8, we see them reading the whole law.... whatever version that was.... and there is no mention of Yom Kippur. Nope, only after the Tabernacle Feast do the people do something very simular to Yom Kippur on the 24th, not the 10th as what our current Torah says.

So, the authors of the unique passage found in Exodus and that of Lev 16, have simular views... if it is not the same person. Yet, Daniel who came later, doesn't hold the view that His face is not allowed to be seen.

Nonetheless, it is clear that the bible teaches that El is a physical being that you can actually see and feel.

So.... you can see that Judaism and Christianity has evolved over time to deal with whatever made them change their views over time. The views primarily changed due to people not willing to admit that their religious views don't align with facts, truth and real history. They don't align because they are mere inventions by superstitious story tellers. 

At the root of things there "might be" a genuine historical nugget, but it breaks off from there and becomes something all to itself.

What needs to be said is this....

After coming back from Babylon and Persia, the elders redacted the narratives so that they reflected condemnation for worshipping other gods where in fact that was their normal culture in the past. This is why there is so much worship of Baal and Asherah and other gods in the scriptures.

Maregaal

11:04 pm

1-4-2022