God of the Jews . . . and Only the Jews
By WizenedSage (Galen Rose) ~
Christians insist that Bible-god is the one true god who seeks the worship of all humans the world over. Unfortunately for them, those who wrote the Bible, whether ancient humans or god himself, painted a very different picture. In fact, there is a wealth of evidence in the Bible that Bible-god was never intended for anyone other than the Israelites, the ethnic Jews. The Bible clearly states the Jews were god’s chosen people and that Bible-god is a strictly regional, tribal god who really didn’t give a damn about Gentiles (non Jews) of any kind.
In speaking of the Jews in Deuteronomy 7:6, Bible-god says:
Now, could it be any clearer than that whose god Bible-god is?
Next, notice that Bible-god kills all the first-born of Egypt (who were not Jews) - even children of innocent slaves, because they didn’t matter to Bible-god:
If you weren’t a Jew, then king, slave, or cow, it was all the same to Bible-god.
As they leave Egypt, Bible-god makes exclusive and very specific promises to the Jews in Deuteronomy 6:
So, according to the Bible, Bible-god led the Jews out of Egyptian captivity and back into the Holy Land where everything - the cities, the houses, the vineyards, everything - was to be theirs. Prior ownership be damned. The best of the best the world had to offer was for the Jews, and only the Jews.
And, if those already in the so called Holy Land should resist? No problem. Bible-god simply commands the Jews to destroy whoever stands in their way, assuring them of his all-powerful assistance:
It’s pretty clear in that passage that Bible-god was looking out for the interests of the Jews only, and other people simply didn’t matter to him; they were to be destroyed without mercy.
Other tribes of the Holy Land were similarly a nuisance, so Bible-god orders the destruction of all the Amalekites, and tens of thousands of Syrians, Moabites, Philistines, Ammonites, Assyrians, 120,000 Judeans in one day, and many, many more.
Now how can anyone claim that Bible god is everyone’s god? How could it be any more obvious that Bible-god was invented by the Jews to be the god of the Jews and only the Jews?
We must ask, where do Christians get the idea that Bible-god wants their worship or gives a damn about them? Is it from an alleged new covenant based on the Gospels? A close reading of the words attributed to Jesus in the Bible easily debunks that theory. According to the Bible, only ethnic Jews were of interest to Jesus and he had no use or sympathy for the Gentiles except in extraordinary circumstances.
In Matthew 15, for example, Jesus travels to Tyre and Sidon and a Canaanite woman asks him to heal her daughter who is “grievously vexed with a devil.” Jesus at first ignores her, then his disciples ask him to send her away and Jesus says,
He is only there for the Jews, so he simply ignores her. She pleads with him further and he says, “It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs,” comparing this Gentile woman to a dog. Only her clever reply causes Jesus to decide to help her.
Now, Christians like to put a positive spin on this story in claiming that it shows Jesus will help anyone of great faith. Maybe so, but the passage clearly shows that Jesus favored the Jews, and had gone there to serve only the Jews. He really didn’t give a damn about this woman or any other Gentiles, but, if they groveled sufficiently, he might make an exception. Jesus clearly reflects his father’s crass, naked prejudice.
Jesus' final instructions to his disciples in Matthew 10 appear to seal the case as he couldn’t be any more specific:
His instructions, then, are to seek out ethnic Jews, to help them and bring them into the fold . . . and, he rather pointedly adds, to stay away from the Gentiles.
Jesus favored the Jews, and had gone there to serve only the Jews. He really didn’t give a damn about [...] Gentiles, but, if they groveled sufficiently, he might make an exception. Jesus clearly reflects his father’s crass, naked prejudice.Yes, Paul comes along later and claims Gentiles are welcome in Jesus’ religion, but he does so by ignoring the plentiful evidence throughout the Old Testament that Bible-god has already chosen his favorites and doesn’t really care if all the others are wiped out. In fact, he seems to prefer that.
In his attitude toward the Gentiles, Paul also contradicts the Gospel’s teachings. Paul’s writings are widely believed to pre-date the Gospels, so he was apparently getting his impressions of Jesus and his teachings from oral histories. But, the important point here is that the Gospels show Jesus’ teachings to be in line with the Old Testament concerning Jews and Gentiles, while Paul’s views are antithetical to both the Old Testament and the Gospels. While the Gospel of John does chastise the Jews in places, the author no doubt saw himself as a Jew, and likely was just pleading with the Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah.
Now, the clever apologist will find Biblical passages which appear to contradict my thesis - as we all know, whatever position you’re trying to support, the Bible has what you need. However, he will still need to explain why those passages I have presented here don’t mean what they so clearly say; that is, that god and Jesus have no positive interest in non-Jews.
So, why do modern Christians take Paul’s attitude that Bible-god wants to be everyone’s god, in direct contradiction to the Old Testament and Gospel texts? Apparently, they choose to believe whatever they wish to be true (or fear might be true), despite any evidence to the contrary. Although, to be fair, most Christians don’t know enough about the Bible to even be aware of the conflict. They get nearly all of their Bible “knowledge” from Sunday sermons and seldom bother to look any deeper. And what are they getting for knowledge? Well, a recent survey of graduating American high school seniors (likely three-quarters Christian) revealed that over 50 percent thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife. It’s really no wonder that very few Christians are aware that Bible-god and Jesus specifically deselected them from their godly concern.
I am continually fascinated by how much of the Bible Christians can ignore in order to support their wishful thinking.
In speaking of the Jews in Deuteronomy 7:6, Bible-god says:
“For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.”
Now, could it be any clearer than that whose god Bible-god is?
Next, notice that Bible-god kills all the first-born of Egypt (who were not Jews) - even children of innocent slaves, because they didn’t matter to Bible-god:
“And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle” (Exodus 12).
If you weren’t a Jew, then king, slave, or cow, it was all the same to Bible-god.
As they leave Egypt, Bible-god makes exclusive and very specific promises to the Jews in Deuteronomy 6:
“And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not. . . ”
So, according to the Bible, Bible-god led the Jews out of Egyptian captivity and back into the Holy Land where everything - the cities, the houses, the vineyards, everything - was to be theirs. Prior ownership be damned. The best of the best the world had to offer was for the Jews, and only the Jews.
And, if those already in the so called Holy Land should resist? No problem. Bible-god simply commands the Jews to destroy whoever stands in their way, assuring them of his all-powerful assistance:
“When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou; and when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them. . . “ (Deuteronomy 7).
It’s pretty clear in that passage that Bible-god was looking out for the interests of the Jews only, and other people simply didn’t matter to him; they were to be destroyed without mercy.
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| The Victory of Joshua over the Amalekites in St. Petersburg. |
Now how can anyone claim that Bible god is everyone’s god? How could it be any more obvious that Bible-god was invented by the Jews to be the god of the Jews and only the Jews?
We must ask, where do Christians get the idea that Bible-god wants their worship or gives a damn about them? Is it from an alleged new covenant based on the Gospels? A close reading of the words attributed to Jesus in the Bible easily debunks that theory. According to the Bible, only ethnic Jews were of interest to Jesus and he had no use or sympathy for the Gentiles except in extraordinary circumstances.
In Matthew 15, for example, Jesus travels to Tyre and Sidon and a Canaanite woman asks him to heal her daughter who is “grievously vexed with a devil.” Jesus at first ignores her, then his disciples ask him to send her away and Jesus says,
“I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
He is only there for the Jews, so he simply ignores her. She pleads with him further and he says, “It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs,” comparing this Gentile woman to a dog. Only her clever reply causes Jesus to decide to help her.
Now, Christians like to put a positive spin on this story in claiming that it shows Jesus will help anyone of great faith. Maybe so, but the passage clearly shows that Jesus favored the Jews, and had gone there to serve only the Jews. He really didn’t give a damn about this woman or any other Gentiles, but, if they groveled sufficiently, he might make an exception. Jesus clearly reflects his father’s crass, naked prejudice.
Jesus' final instructions to his disciples in Matthew 10 appear to seal the case as he couldn’t be any more specific:
“These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, ‘Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.’ ”
His instructions, then, are to seek out ethnic Jews, to help them and bring them into the fold . . . and, he rather pointedly adds, to stay away from the Gentiles.
Jesus favored the Jews, and had gone there to serve only the Jews. He really didn’t give a damn about [...] Gentiles, but, if they groveled sufficiently, he might make an exception. Jesus clearly reflects his father’s crass, naked prejudice.Yes, Paul comes along later and claims Gentiles are welcome in Jesus’ religion, but he does so by ignoring the plentiful evidence throughout the Old Testament that Bible-god has already chosen his favorites and doesn’t really care if all the others are wiped out. In fact, he seems to prefer that.
In his attitude toward the Gentiles, Paul also contradicts the Gospel’s teachings. Paul’s writings are widely believed to pre-date the Gospels, so he was apparently getting his impressions of Jesus and his teachings from oral histories. But, the important point here is that the Gospels show Jesus’ teachings to be in line with the Old Testament concerning Jews and Gentiles, while Paul’s views are antithetical to both the Old Testament and the Gospels. While the Gospel of John does chastise the Jews in places, the author no doubt saw himself as a Jew, and likely was just pleading with the Jews to accept Jesus as the Messiah.
Now, the clever apologist will find Biblical passages which appear to contradict my thesis - as we all know, whatever position you’re trying to support, the Bible has what you need. However, he will still need to explain why those passages I have presented here don’t mean what they so clearly say; that is, that god and Jesus have no positive interest in non-Jews.
So, why do modern Christians take Paul’s attitude that Bible-god wants to be everyone’s god, in direct contradiction to the Old Testament and Gospel texts? Apparently, they choose to believe whatever they wish to be true (or fear might be true), despite any evidence to the contrary. Although, to be fair, most Christians don’t know enough about the Bible to even be aware of the conflict. They get nearly all of their Bible “knowledge” from Sunday sermons and seldom bother to look any deeper. And what are they getting for knowledge? Well, a recent survey of graduating American high school seniors (likely three-quarters Christian) revealed that over 50 percent thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife. It’s really no wonder that very few Christians are aware that Bible-god and Jesus specifically deselected them from their godly concern.
I am continually fascinated by how much of the Bible Christians can ignore in order to support their wishful thinking.