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.’