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As I studied the scriptures... trying to put the pieces together... about
contradictions... I began to see that Genesis doesn't stand alone in this story.
The origins of the Hebrew clan... the descendents of Noah and Abraham...
great and honorable men in their own right... truly good men...
are sometimes reflected in a future history of their written story... as if
it was a whole piece of work... and not just a mishmash of stories or a
separate history of various prophets and their lectures of the times...
but rather... one story reflecting another.
I mean... there is a contradiction in my analysis that scholars and worshippers
have accepted as... the heavenly way of the Hebrews... and all that the Hebrews did is the
way it was meant to be. We look at them as a protectorate of God... even holy.
But... it isn't that easy. Some things can't be easily reconciled.
Such a contradiction... is... in the story of Moses and the Israelites' return to Canaan.
The tribes had rebelled in the desert. Moses had disappeared into the mountain somewhere...
thought to be eaten by a lion, perhaps... and after some Hebrew spies snuck into Canaan
and saw the desert terrain... they had no desire to settle there.
They wanted to return to Egypt... even if it meant worshipping another god.
And then, Moses DID return... with laws... one of which was... "Thou shalt not kill."
As the story goes... Moses split the people... those who would stand with himself...
and follow these laws... and those who did not care for this God and these laws... rebels.
As the story goes... Moses made them drink gold dust... and the earth came up and
swallowed them.
Nevertheless... a great troop of Israelites marched into Canaan to conquer it and claim it
as their own. Didn't their God promise them... or promise Abraham... that it would be theirs?
But... Moses did not cross the Jordan into Canaan. And the Israelites who DID... began killing...
and they killed one tribe after another after another. They even killed the Edomites... the progeny
of Isaac... who had been the preferred inheritor by Isaac... the tribe of Esau... the hunter with the
body covered with red hair.
The battle with the Philistines... and the warrior Goliath... was described in Goliath's words,
"we shall see who will serve who." David won the day and became a great hero.
But... David had ambitions... to be king. And when he became king he established that
his kingship would stand for all time. But... this was not the way of Moses' design.
Moses' design was to have the elders of each tribe represent their tribes... and they would
meet in the Tent of God on Earth... the Tabernacle... and a Levite priest would oversee
the determinations made... by votes. Each tribe had a signet. Signets are used to sign
official documents and establish determinations.
David... watched Bathsheba as she bathed on her patio... and was enamoured with her.
This caused more than a little ruckus among the tribes... especially when it was known
how David had sent Bathsheba's husband (ya, she was married) to the front lines of
battle to assure his being killed. After all, he had neglected this beautiful woman,
did he not? So... David took her. He took lots of women. And so did his "prince" Solomon.
Oh... the wisdom of Solomon. We've all heard how WISE Solomon was.
Solomon decided to build a great temple... you know, a temple to God... a place where
the priests could perform their bloody sacrifices. He forced the tribes to send workmen
to build this grand structure... and they resented it all. The resentment was so strong
that only two tribes remained peaceful with the tribe of Judah... David's tribe. The Israelites
were split and weakened... and were conquered and carried off to Babylon... called "the
great exile." When they returned... there were few pieces of their history left to salvage.
No one spoke the language of the priests... and it took a long time for it to be translated.
This whole string of events was a great detour... and not at all in harmony with the law of Moses.
It is like... the rebels in the desert had survived and now controlled the nation of Israel...
rebelling against the laws of Moses and reverting to their ancestors' wickedness... and the
crimes of their forbearers. Violence... adultery... blasphemy... were the rules of David's tribe.
The way this whole history had begun... with Noah... being watched naked in his own tent...
and his outrage at Canaan... such that he considered Canaan not worthy of either honor or
respect... that he was a lowly character and was exiled from his tribe. And... then we have
David... who watched a married woman as she bathed on her porch... which might well be
considered SHAMEFUL to do... just as Canaan had brought shame on Noah.
Well... the stories reflect on each other with similar events... but with different responses.
And there is a contradiction in another way. Abraham could have conquered Canaan but
he kept the law of God and of Noah... there was to be no killing... no violence.
So... what do we do about a rebelious tribe that gains power by violence?
Do we do what the Egyptians did...? ban them from sitting at the same table as us?
After all... Jacob's sons were the only Hebrews around... so... it must have been
Jacob's tribe of grown men... spoiled and violent sons... that were banned from Egyptian houses.
Maybe the story of escaping their slavery... might have rather read... as a story
where they were EXPELLED... because... just like Canaan had no royal honor and
would be good for nothing but servanthood with such a mentality...
so, too, were these sons of Jacob... the shame upon the Hebrew tribe itself.
The pieces are there.
Are these the rebels of the desert... exiled by Moses for all time?
Are these the conquerors who terrorized the countryside?
Are these... the descendents... of the most honorable and patient Abraham?
Where... are the true sons of Abraham...? were they killed, too?
Abraham... who would not take so much as a shoe lace as booty for the salvation
of Lot and the peoples of the cities. He refused any reward... in order to keep his honor.
The covenant with Noah and God was... there was to be no violence... no bloodshed.
This truth... will not be ignored forever...
Violence is against God's law.
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