Minorities are Chameleons

The communities with whom Jews had a fight in Old Testament were polytheistic. Judaism which is the root of Christianity proclaims monotheism. Christianity also in practical life propagates that its essence is monotheistic.
All the Indian communities who got converted to Christianity were definitely polytheistic in nature. So the conversion of Marathi Protestant Christians was the conversion from Polytheism to Monotheism.
Officially one may get converted or one may be forced to get converted but on subtle levels the process of conversion doesn’t take place at once. It’s a continuous process…probably the process goes on over for more than a generation. I think in a society where Marathi Protestant Christians is a minority, slowly, silently, a day by day but never completely a person keeps on converting. Thorough conversion is never possible for minority.
Minority is like a chameleon in a jungle who keeps on changing and matching his colors to the surroundings. Its nothing but his survival. Constant change which matches to the surroundings is the way of living of minorities.

Mesopotamia

In Judges 3 God makes Jews to serve the King of Mesopotamia for 8 years because they commit the sin of serving the other Gods.
About Mesopotamia: (reference from Wikipedia)
Mesopotamia is the region now occupied by modern Iraq, and parts of eastern Syria, southeastern Turkey, and southwest Iran. The name Mesopotamia here means "between" and "river", referring to the basins of the Euphrates and the Tigris rivers and the area in between. The geographical area watered by these two rivers is often referred to as the "Cradle of Civilization", since it was here that the first literate societies developed in the late 4th millennium BC, using a highly sophisticated writing system in the context of the emergence of the first cities and complex state bureaucracies.
The region was as one of the famous four river-based civilizations where writing was first invented, along with the Nile valley in Egypt, the Indus Valley in the Indian Subcontinent and Yellow River valley in China.
The earliest language written in Mesopotamia was Sumerian. Scholars agree that other languages were also spoken in early Mesopotamia along with Sumerian. Later a Semitic language, Akkadian, came to be the dominant language, although Sumerian was retained for administration, religious, literary, and scientific purposes. Different varieties of Akkadian were used until the end of the Neo-Babylonian period. Then Aramaic, which had already become common in Mesopotamia, became the official provincial administration language of the Achaemenid Persian Empire.
Mesopotamian people developed many technologies, among them metalworking, glassmaking, textile weaving, flood control, water storage, as well as irrigation. They were also one of the first Bronze age people in the world. Early on they used copper, bronze and gold, and later they used iron. Palaces were decorated with hundreds of kilograms of these very expensive metals. Also, copper, bronze, and iron were used for armor as well as for different weapons such as swords, daggers & spears.
The Mesopotamians used a sexagesimal (base 60) numeral system. This is the source of the current 60-minute hours and 24-hour days, as well as the 360 degree circle. The Sumerian calendar also measured weeks of seven days each. This mathematical knowledge was used in mapmaking.
The Babylonian astronomers were very interested in studying the stars and sky, and most could already predict eclipses and solstices. People thought that everything had some purpose in astronomy. Most of these related to religion and omens. Mesopotamian astronomers worked out a 12 month calendar based on the cycles of the moon. They divided the year into two seasons: summer and winter. The origins of astrology probably date from this time.
The religion of the people was polytheistic which is completely contrary to the Jews ideology.
Mesopotamian settlers were some of the first people to make beer and wine.

Baal & Ashtaroth

In Judges second chapter it is mentioned that once Israel ‘forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtaroth’.
Astaroth is depicted as a nude man with dragon-like wings, hands and feet, a second pair of feathered wings after the main, wearing a crown, holding a serpent in one hand, and riding a wolf or dog. Holding a serpent in one hand is an important depiction. This serpent could have had been the same one who deceived Eve in Eden. He is definitely the rival of Lord.
Overall the Jew’s history also denotes a strong abhorrence for any representation of ‘serpent’ (except Moses’ rod gets transformed into a serpent by God’s order). But overall serpent is taboo.
Contrary in Indian culture serpent is worshipped. How the converted communities of India would have had accepted (or still accepting) these age old symbols of Christianity is crucial aspect that should be studied

Joshua 19 - a reference of Bethlehem

Joshua 19 - a reference of Bethlehem

Total Destruction=?

Total regions destroyed by Sons of Israel are around 35. It includes around 31 kings defeated by Joshua and rest of the kings by Moses. Its not just 35 kings who were defeated....it means families living there were killed, 35 cultures, 35 civilizations, 35 ways of life.
Certainly globalization is much older than we think...
The only city made peace with the Israel was the Hivites living in Gibeon.

Kings defeated by Moses:
1. Sihon king of the Amorites,
2. Og king of Bashan

Kings Defeated by Joshua:
1. the king of Jericho
2. king of Ai,
3. the king of Jerusalem
4. the king of Hebron
5. the king of Jarmuth
6. the king of Lachish
7. the king of Eglon
8. the king of Gezer
9. the king of Debir
10. the king of Geder
11. the king of Hormah
12. the king of Arad
13. the king of Libnah
14. the king of Adullam
15. the king of Makkedah
16. the king of Bethel
17. the king of Tappuah
18. the king of Hepher
19. the king of Aphek
20. the king of Lasharon
21. the king of Madon
22. the king of Hazor
23. the king of Shimron-meron
24. the king of Achshaph
25. the king of Taanach
26. the king of Megiddo
27. the king of Kedesh
28. the king of Jokneam in Carmel
29. the king of Dor in the heights of Dor
30. the king of Goiim in Gilgal
31. the king of Tirzah

Besides these region, there were many other regions which are refered in Joshua 13 which were ordered by the God to be triumphed.

monologue 11

And who were these Cannanites? ....weren,t they our relatives only?

Monologue 9 : Am I the Chosen One?

• Jewish heritage (Was Jesus a Jew?) Deuteronomy 17:15
• A member of the tribe of Judah tribe (Was Jesus a member?) Genesis 49:10
• A direct male descendant of King David and King Solomon (was Jesus a direct male descendent?) 2Samuel 7:12-13
• He must rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem (Did Jesus rebuild the temple?) Ezekiel 37:26-27
• He must bring all of the Jews in the world to Israel (Did Jesus bring all the Jews to Israel?)

Siege if Jericho

Siege of Jericho in Joshua 6 is believed tohad been taken place around 1500 century BC. Archeologist have found out that the city have been inhabited up to now by around 20 settlements. The oldest dates back to around 9000 BC.

Torah & Tanakh

The first 5 books of the Bible are called Torah in Judaism. It is the premiere scrpture of the Judaism as it was revealed to Moses by God. Some believe that Torah was given to Moses at onece, some believe that it was revealed to Moses intermittently and some believe that other people like Joshua might have written some part of it after Moses' death.
And the complete old Testament is called Tanakh in Judaism.

Monologue 8

As a child I used to feel that I should have been at the place of Joshua…listening to the word of God, leading all the sons of Israel… crossing the Jordan and entering into the new Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey. But I used to shudder when I used to think of war. It used to send shivers to my bones when I used to imagine the destruction of Jericho...the masccare of Ai. It used to distress me to think about the 12000 people who were killed. The people of Jerusalem, the people of Hebron, the people of Jarmuth, the people of Arad……so many of them…… I think as a child this destruction just used to depress me but when I entered in my youth…I think I started thinking about it explicitly that what exactly was lost in this destruction…..after all there was not just 31 kings whom Joshua and Moses defeated….there were many and manifold families who were just slewed….no one was spared … there were 31 WAYS OF LIFE that were exterminated….. It used to exhaust me to imagine the land flowing with blood and cries instead of milk and honey...

Monologue 7

As a child I used to think I should have been a Moses…taking care of thousands of people in the wilderness, guiding them, directing them but I used to get shuddered when I used to think of war…

Monologue 6

Since, I always had been very much inquisitive about everything. As a child when I came to know that God himself had buried Moses, I used to feel passionately that I should go to the top of Pisgah, to plains of Moab, to mount Nebo and search the place where God might have had buried the Moses, and come down again to my people and tell them that “See! I have found the secret of God!”

Death of Moses

Deuteronomy 34: Moses dies (should I use the word kill?) himself upon the word of the God, and God buries Moses.
If the person is recognized as ‘prophet’ i.e. God’s man, the tendency is to blur his pre-birth and post-death connections.
The tendency in Indian context can also be figured out as the concept of being 'swayambhu'.

Deuteronomy 30: Restoration Promised

Read somewhere that the restoration promised here was fulfilled somewhere in Ezra. The restoration which it is said that it should take place in 20th Century is predicted somewhere ahead after the Deuteronomy.
The restoration promised here denotes one more fact that the organism of this faith viz. “Judaism” is very unique and community specific. Independently at ideological level it does not have a strong universal appeal. The question is how this community specific faith is being interpreted and was interpreted by Marathi Protestant Christians.

Deuteronomy 22

Deteuronomy 22 Laws of morality

Monologue 5

Many years after … many thousand years after I know there will be some prophet like…like Moses whom people would love …whom people would look upon as an inspiration…whom people would consider as the essence of finest human elements ….that prophet will be like a…like a conscience of all the people who would guide them through all the adversities of their life…but that would be many many years after. Right now there is no one …there is only a Lord with me. He only talks to me and guides me. Sometimes I feel that He stops talking to me then I feel very helpless. I just brood over that why he has suddenly stopped talking to me? Is He not there? Is there no more anything which I can understand about Him? He seems almost finished for me and then all of a sudden I understand that its not He who is finished its me who has finished! Its me who has finished and that’s why I am not able to understand him. Its because of my inefficiency that I am not able to understand his sufficiency. He is infinite I am finite! He is the perfect and I am imperfect! He is the absolute and I am impotent!
At the time when I used to realize this I used to feel completely exhausted and tired! Then I used to feel too much tired. I used to feel tired of knowing that I am potent. I really tell you I used to feel very much tired. And I used to feel more tired as I used to realize that this journey of understanding Him can not be stopped. I have to walk. I used to just realize that the quest of understanding Him is not yet quenched. It has to go on…and I used to start again to walk…

and here enter the Messiah

After the 4 books, in the 5th book, in Deuteronomy 18 a prophet...a Messiah is guranteed by God through Moses. Messiah who later changed the course of human history. Undoubtedly from the time when the Messiah was promised i.e. since 1500 BC i.e. in thses 3500 years there had not existed a personality with purest essence of human being other than Jesus Christ. He is the Messiah.......undoubtedly! But lets try to see the paragraph Deuteronomy more closely.
As I surfed the net I came across one interpretation which tried to connect the paragraph where the prophet is promised with its preceding paragraph. In the preceding paragraph God just warns sons of Israel not to get deceived by the people who might say that they have the power to interprete omens or dreams, or they can caste the spell or call up the deads i.e. they are the people with divine powers. Emergence of such kind of people was very much possible at that time. To restrain people from such kind of things a prophet was promised by God. God knew that come what may people would fall victim to such kind of things so its better to promise the one prophet who would be Moses says "a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen"
Another thing is that, that the prophet was promised to the people of Israel. That means the prophet was the need of the people of the Israel. Such kind of need need not to be necessarily true for all the people of the world.
In case of Marathi Protestant Christians, who are mostly converted from the lower castes of India....there was never such a immidiate need of a person who is a prophet. My point is come what may Marathi Protestant Christians would never understand in real sense that what was exactly the need of such kind of "promise of prophet". The reason is quite simple that the socio-political-economical-cultural structure of "sons of Israel" and "Indian lower castes i.e. Marathi Protestant Christains" was never similar. So the "need of the prophet" was a very unique need limited to only the people of Israel of that time.
Another important thing here is that I am talking only abou the "need of the prophet" amd not the need of the values which Christ brought with him.
I know for sure that lot of Marathi Protestant Christians spend their precious time in understanding and explaining to others that how the work of Jesus Christ was the design of the God. Marathi Protestant Christians explain this concept to others about which they thenselves are not convinced. I think by doing this they do nothing bbut just harm the core of the Christ which are his values.
Christ is not Christ just because his years on this earth was the pre-thought design of the God, he is hrist because of his values. Thats why the universal appeal of Christ lies in his values and not the peripheral thing.
A common history is always needed to carry the faiths, beliefs ahead. With common history ot becomes easier for community to carry their faiths and beliefs ahead. In case of Marathi Protestant Christians or lets say the Indian Castes who got converted in Christianity this option of "common hostory" doesnt exist as the history of "people of Israel" is literally pretty far from them. Excluding history waht remains are the values. I think Christ is better understood in converted communities of recent years rather than in the communities who are following it for centuries.

Old Testament allows monarchy

Deuteronomy 17 allows the monarchy and puts complete hold on the system called "king"

Watertight Constitution

Moses tries to structure this constitution as watertight as possible. For example in Deteuronomy 13 God says through Moses that if any prophet prophecies something which comes true and he insists the people to follow some other God, God tells not to follow such a man because through this man He is testing the people.
Christs existence in such a risky community was awful!

Annihilation of 7 nations

The brutality of annihilation of 7 nations is subdued in Deteuronomy 9, as God says "Do not say in your heart when the LORD your God has driven them out before you, ‘Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is dispossessing them before you. “It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Well now the question remains of judging the brutality of these 7 types of people!!! With what parameters they were judged? Who is to decide those parameters?
They were not even given the choice to think upon the ideology of sons of Israel. They were just annihilated not even given a chance to convert. Its brutal than colonization!!

Deuteronomy 8

In Deuteronomy 8 God says through Moses that the 40 years of difficulties which were brought upon the sons of Israel were brought with an intention of disciplining the people, like father disciplines his son.
Here the exat moral stand of Moses are very much clear. The moral stand is pretty simple. He wanted his people to live happily forever. And by happiness he didn't mean just exploiting pleasures out of life. He meant happiness in real sense or lets say he tried to meant and define the happiness for his people. He definitely tried to connect the state of being happiness with a sturdy conscience.
Just as Plato made the mistake while defining his Republic to put aside the poets from ideal society, so also Moses has his own mistakes.
The ideology he tried to state is definitely not the ideal human existence but in human history it surely could be considered as one of the well tried steps towards towards achieving the ideal human existence.
I think Christ was well aware of this well-tried step, thats why he didnt say a criticizing word against it.

7 nations for one

So once upon a time there existed people the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.
God said that they are not fit to live there where they were living and he ordered that his people whom he called sons of Israel should live there for ever.
Here are thethings God ordered sons of Israel to do to these 7 nations:
"You shall tear down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire"

No visual representation of God

General indian tendency can confer divinity to any object or person or creture. Snake, elephant, Cow, Sun... all have been conferred with some kind of divinity. 4th chapter of Detueronomy completely denies the representation of God in any visual format.
This visual representation was denied until the Christ's Time. From Christ that is after his cricifixion this ideology started having a visual representation in form of 'cross' and 'christ'. Though the community started having new visual aspirations but the former ones were and are not yet completely deleted. Still Yaweh is faceless.
For Indian mentality the former ordinance of not representing God in any visual format is and has always been quite difficult to accept. 'Christ' and 'cross' was more convinient and inevitable choice for Indian mentality. I wonder if Yaweh really exists for Indian christians!

Religious movement or political movement

The movement of 40 years in wilderness begins in Exodus. For any sane reader it seems a religious movement when it begins but near the end of book of Numbers it becomes very much clear that it is more a political movement than religious movement. It seems here very much true that societies are formed on the basis of common enemy.
God's contant allusion that he intends to create nation out of this community also signifies that it was more a political movement rather than religious movement.
Christ's work could be termed as religious movement because he challenged values rather than person/persons or any ruler. Moses felt the need to free jews from the bondages of Egyptians but Christ never felt the need to leberate jews from Romans.

Numbers 31

Its enough now to glorify Moses upto Numbers 30: The slaughter of Midians is completely inhuman. Moses himself had lived in this region when he had fled from Egypt...he had also married to a Midian girl....but the incidence of massacre of Midians signifies that it is more a political incidence than religious one...

Daughters inheriting the property

Numbers 27: law of inheritance says that a daughter can inherit the property of her father only if her father does not have son.
Its really a good part about Yaweh!!!

Balaam's Ass

Balaam's ass speaking God's words denote that the movement started by Moses of achieving Promised Land was gaining momentum.
Balaam speaking the words of God substantiates that now the Yaweh has not just the Israelites as followers. Now sojourners are no more just sojourners.
It took long time for Moses to convince the king of Egypt but at the end of the numbers kngs are understanding the God within no time....

Death of Aaron

God ordered to kill Aaron because his tribe tried to rebell against God (Numbers 21).
Aaron was the one who constantly had tussles with Moses
1. He yielded to the people and made the molten calf which Moses never liked
2. It was he who criticized Moses for marryoing Cushaite woman

The Cloud of Tebernacle

To say that the cloud of tebernacle could be the UFO is too much of futile analysis!

Numbers is Septuagint Version

The Septuagint ( or"LXX") is the Greek version of the Old Testament translated in between 3rd to 1st century BC in Alexandria. It is the oldest of several ancient translations of the Hebrew Bible into Greek.
In Hebrew Bible the book of Numbers is called as "Bemidbar i.e., "in the wilderness." ". In Sptuagint version the book is called 'Arithmoi' i.e 'Numbers'

What is Leviticus?

The book of Leviticus contains the statutes and ordinances and laws which the LORD established between Himself and the sons of Israel through Moses at Mount Sinai.

Monologue 4

It just sends shivers through my bones when I read Leviticus 24. Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth....and life for life. When i was young I used to think am I being blasphemous if I dont agree with it? but now I no more think like that. Now I think and I am sure that the God who spoke to Moses and gave these ordinances is the smae one within me...telling me that lets not agree with it. It would be blasphemous if I say that God is wrong in Leviticus 24, I know that and I would never say that. Because I know...oh Father! Oh God You are the perfection and You can not be wrong. Its we who misunderstands You, misinterpretes You. Moses might have misheard You. Leviticus 19 sundry laws are not sundry. If God my Father says "You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly", we do have the responsibility to define the "faireness" of "judgement". Before carrying out the ordinance of "Fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth....and life for life" one has to first of all judge fairly and I think that the distance between the 'judging' and the 'judgement' is not just 5 chapters but infinite. The judge can keep on giving fair chance to the culprit until his own death and still the distance between 'judging' and 'judgement' wont dissolve at all. Eye for eye and life for life may help culprit to understand the value of eye and life but certainly not realize the value. And if he understands and not realize he will always remain far away from the God who is the perfect value of Life.

Hag Hamatzot

'Hag Hamatzot' i.e. the festival of unleavened bread. It is a 7 day festival God told to observe strictly. Leaven is similar to yeast but definitely not yeast. In marathi the word used for leaven is "khameer". Definitely for marathi christian people the concept "khameer" is completely alien. 'Bread' has never been a part of our living. The word "bhakri" for bread is a good effort but lead to more complications. 'bhakri' can not be unleavened.
Besides "bhakri", "bread" and "leaven" are not just eatable things but they are the cultural products with some values attached to it. The process of unleavening has significance because leaven is considered as an element encouraging sin. Like many other rules of cleanliness of Leviticus the process of unleavening has importance.
The point is if leaven is not a part of living of this land how exactly the religion 'christianity' is interpreted in this land. Definitely the people here are missing the nuances. Or in other words it can be said that the community is understanding only the universally appealing characteristics of the religion like "love", "forgivence" etc.
I mean to use the "Mendhpaal" for "Shepherd" in "God is my Shepherd" is an intelligent choice definitely because if the word "Dhangar" is used, God himself gets framed in another caste in Indian context.
In this context only the christianity still remains much more 'foreign' to the people here.

No statue ...only Statute

No statue ...only Statute

Monologue 3

Leviticus 19

Why Cain's sacrifice was not accpted?

Now i understand partially that why Cain's sacrifice was not accpted. Leviticus' first few chapters put lots of rules and regulation abt how the offering should be presented. Cain might have violeted one of the rules of offerings.

Burnt Offering

Burnt Offering - The name in Hebrew was 'olleh', meaning ascending as smoke, given because this sacrifice was to be wholly consumed and to rise in smoke toward heaven. Similar to the concept of Yadnya...
English word 'burnt offering' does not convey this meaning. Marathi translation should be checked.

Protestantism?

Protestantism = Bible - Levites

Protestantism?

Protestantism = Bible - Leviticus

effort to trace the creation of human being...

Every civilization has its own effort to trace the creation of human being. The effort is not just to understand the past but it is also an effort to reach where we are today. This effort should be respected at any cost. In an attempt to understand it one should certainly explore its logical connections but at the end of it one should respect it.

Leviticus 12: Laws of Motherhood

Leviticus 12 says that a woman will be unclean for 7 days after she gives birth to a male child and for 2 weeks if she gives birth to a female child. The book further says that she would be unclean just like in her days of menstruation.
I think i should see that when exactly human world became aware of clinical causes of menstruation.

The chapter is important one!

Leviticus-another attempt to establish order

Leviticus seems to be another attempt to establish order and coherency in the world after Genesis. The content of the first few chapters of the Genesis is like a free-verse-order of the world. There are no rules as such except not to eat the fruit of knowledge tree. There is no hierarchy as such except human being and others. And most important is there are no moral or ethical rules as such which Genesis' first few chapters try to establish. Its a free-flow-utopian construction which can be desired by any human being.
On the other hand through Leviticus the attempt is to build much more definite social order with definite rules and regulations to guide.........a "statute" in other words. Afterall human being has travelled a long way ahead from Adam to Moses.
In Leviticus 16:29 the same word 'statute' is used making God's intention very much clear.

Aaron's Silence

In Leviticus 10, Aaron's sons Nadab and Abhiu are killed by God because they offered some strange fire before the God. God's fire consumes them. Moses says to Aaron "It is what the LORD spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored." So Aaron therefore remains silent.

Aaron's Silence

In Leviticus 10, Aaron's sons Nadab and Abhiu are killed by God because they offered some strange fire before the God. God's fire consumes them. Moses says to Aaron "It is what the LORD spoke, saying, ‘By those who come near Me I will be treated as holy, And before all the people I will be honored." So Aaron therefore remains silent.

why the text of the Bible is numbered?

the intention of the Lord is not to write some free-flowing literary piece but establish a sturdy, unchangable constitution.

Perhaps its true about every religious scripture of the world!

Why God appears so stern in Old Testament?

I think what Moses is trying to do in first few books is to streamline the whole community life with very honest intentions. In the context God makes him to do this by giving him various ordinances and regulations. While conveying these ordinances and regulations God starts appearing very stern to us or lets say to the people of last 3 centuries.
These ordinances and regulations are nothing but the somehow a naive replication of "penal code system" or "constitution" of any democratic nation of the modern world. What has happened is that, that each of us has been able to segregate his/her personal life from community life. In more apt words Ican say that now one approaches to the religious scriptures for more personal spiritual life. Thats why we keep on hearing expressions like "religion is personal matter!". The other side of the coin is one has stopped approaching religious scriptures for guidance to have better community life. For better community life we have accepted the "constitution" and "penal code system" of our nations cherishing our so called "rights" and "responsibilities". In Leviticus 10:9 the word rightly used is "statute" which signifies what God wants exactly for the community.
Standing on this stair of segregation automatically God of Old Testament starts appearing very very stern and also to a certain extent insane. But if I would have existed where democratic system is absent the same God would have appeared to me very much rational and sane.

Levites - Brahmins

Levites - Brahmins

12

old testament - the story of 12 tribes propagating the faith
new testament - the story of 12 desciples propagating the faith

God is death?

in exodus 33 God says “You cannot see My face, for no man can see Me and live!” ........God is Death?

3 levels of religion

exodus 25 onwards ...atleast upto 29th chapter are thoroughly impracticable in this age. i even doubt whether it was practised in 5th century AD in the middle east.
the practice of the procedures mentioned in these chapters is even an obsolete notion when christianity started enrooting in India in 19th century.
despite of this descripancy the religion exists with all its genuineness in the country. nothing is obsolete in real life of this century. this partial accptance of religious text divides religion itself into 3 catagories.
3 of them exist altogether:
1. religion mentioned in the religious text
2. religion propagated and favoured by religious institution
3. and religion lived according to the needs of the era

genesis 3:10 versus exodus 20:26

Genesis 3:10, 11 Adam said "“I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten..........etc.

in Genesis 3:10 Adam comes to know about his nakedness (and also the readercomes to know abt it)

was God happy with the nakedness of Adam before?..............could be possible but God certainly lost few basic hopes for this human being after! otherwise he wouldn't have ordered in exodus 20:26 ‘And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’

exodus 19: truly cinematic

exodus 19 is truly cinamatic.............i just loved it .....too good!!
this old testament god is always acting upon some unspecified reasons. i think old tstament is more appealing to Inidan mentality rather than new testament.

i just love exodus 19 for its cinematic experience!!

could be the last monologue

i dont understand which of Your revelation i am not able to grasp. You make us fear, You make us obey, You send afflictions upon those who are inefficient to understand You and you hardenes the hearts of others so they will afflict us and in the end we may understand You, but i dont know, rather i feel that some of the aspect of your perfection i am missing.
where am i to go? its again near you i have to come again and again to unerstand you! my people gathered near Sinai mountain to see You and You told Moses to tell the people not to come too close to the mountain lest they may loose their lives. Moses saw You from the mountain or upon the mountain i dont know. You were on that mountain or from the mountain there was a way to see you, i dont know, i dont understand! but if You were upon that mountain but..... i think mountain is best seen in its completeness, in perfection....... when one is away from the mountain.
i dont understand which of the aspect of Your completeness i am not able to see! oh! i bessech redeem me from this affliction ...........which was the song my people sung when you brought them out of Egyptian's affliction?
they sung “You blew with Your wind, the sea covered them; They sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who is like You among the gods, O LORD? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, Awesome in praises, working wonders? You stretched out Your right hand, The earth swallowed them. You in you mercy has led the people whom You have redeemed; In Your strength You have guided them........... to........... Your............... holy habitation................You in your mercy???!!has led the people?? in Your mercy? mercy...............that is in your loving kindness has led my people and also guided them.....
Your Mercy..............YOUR LOVING KINDNESS!!!
IS THIS THE ASPECT I AM MISSING? besides being majestic and awesome
YOU, THE LORD IS ALSO LOVE.........?!!!.................................

YES THE LORD IS ALSO LOVE!

monologue 2

40 days i am walking on this worm sand..............40 days! how my people would have survived 40 yeras in the wilderness? what was that survival? left an egypt with an aim of reaching to the place which they had not seen! just beleiving in the word of moses! why ........why did they leave egypt? they should have left but not just upon the word of moses! there should have had something else upon which they should have leaft egypt! not with moses as a leader but everyone being a moses.
if it would have had happened in the present would have had been somthing else.......no i dont want manna i want answers to my questions. oh god i want my answers!

manna................mushrooms!!!

manna can be mushrooms? the word menu and manna have any relation?
for 40 years god provided manna? 40 years!!!!!! the counting is quite suspicious from the genesis only. but even if i reduce 40 years to 4 years the period os quite long. and even if this "time" mystery is solved the "manna" mystery remains almost untouched!

i in this land also have "amrut" or "somrasa" which has resemblance to manna at conceptual level! but that doesnt even solve the mystery!

but what is the mystery abt? these people left egypt and they survived in the wilderness, thats the fact thats the truth. so even if at some time the mystery is solved what will happen? what would happen if it was proved that manna was provided by god? so my journey is not towards manna but towards god and i want to prove him through manna?!

Come to me no more moses!!!!

Monologue 1

what a day it is?!
A day when my people decided to leave the Egypt. A day we call Passover. A day when the firstborn of those were killed who refused to obey God.
That day and this day! when I, the firstborn of my family is set about to kill himself. the first one and the only one!
Am I really going to have this journey of suicide! is it necessary to walk on this path or these people have forced me to walk on this path? I dont understand them but I love them!
i think its absolutely fine to understand oneself. In these 33 years I have tried enough to understand myself. the journey is endless. i must stop it! lets spill this blood and conclude the whole matter!!! lets passover! let the firstborn be killed and let God fulfill his wish!

from community to communion

Exodus - written by Moses.
Moses killed Egyptian and fled.
Pharoe orderes midwives of the era to kill the sons of Israel. Moses is saved and brought up in an Egyptian family and that too a royal family.
he was a product of Nile, an orphan but got smoothly absorbed in Egyptian family. nobody questioned who he was?


Wahtever, Moses was brought up away from his community for a long time......'the quest for roots' made him to create a catalogue of his community. A community which reached to communion in New Testament

from community to communion - thats the story of bible

Shephards - Dhangar

Before entering Egypt on Joseph's request, Joseph told Jacobe and his family not to disclose their identity of being shepherd. He informed him Egyptians hate shepherds. .....................'lord is my shepherd'................Christ is symbolized as a lamb.............a parable of shepherd told by Christ.

All these imagery, all these contexts, symbols and the text enter in a country viz. India where a community viz. Dhangar already exists with its different texture and culture! Somewhere in maharashtra dhangars are called kurmars. they observe or used to observe more casteism than others.
What exactly would have happened with the psyche of Indians while accepting this new middle east context?

Hebrew - tower of babel

Hebrew is amongst afro-asiatic language family. Today Hebrew is spoken by 7 million people and afro-asiatic languages speakers are over 300 million (i.e. 3crore).
can there be any nexus between the story of tower of babel and afro-asiatic language family?

Teraphim

While leaving Laban's house Jacobe's wife Rachael stole Laban's idols. In few versions it's said that they were God's images and in few versions they have been termed as Teraphim. Who were these Teraphims? and How they got vanished?

Adam and Eve were not alone

Cain's sacrifice was not acceptable to God. .....why?
Cain was cursed and at the same time marked lest he should not be killed......why?
cain says to god that he fears to leave and wander the earth as he will be killed by other men.
who are these other men? who created these other men?
that means that earth was inhabited by others!
Adam and Eve were not alone!!!!!!!!!