If nothing had been recorded in the Old Testament of the sayings and doings of the Jewish God, but that which is related concerning him in giving the law on Mount Sinai, and of his giving instruction to Moses how to fit out the Tabernacle, it is of itself sufficient to show the absurdity of Jehovah’s being the God of Nature. To unite in one person the attributes of the great and all-powerful God, with the contemptible arrangement of giving patterns for curtains, and a thousand trifling things of no importance whatever, and to take forty days to garnish his church, and, while so doing, to let, from sheer neglect, his people lose sight of Moses, and then to destroy three thousand persons in consequence of such want of foresight, is too much for credulity to digest.
When we notice the importance attached to rites and ceremonies the most unimportant, and then again how lavish the Jewish God is of human life, and totally regardless of human suffering, we dare not for a moment give credence to the strange stories and foolish whims of the Bible God, and palm them upon the all-bountiful Author of Nature. Moses, after coming down the last time from the mount, begins to prepare for the priesthood, by saying, that the firstlings of cattle, whether of the ox, or the sheep which are of the male kind, belong to the Lord; but the firstling of the ass was to be redeemed by substituting a lamb! But if the owner had no lamb to offer, the neck of the ass was to be broken; as if the Lord had said—if you have nothing better to give, I will not accept of a young jack-ass!
Whoever wrote the Book of Exodus, has made the God of Israel appear like unto an old clothes-man, giving orders for a thousand ornaments for his worship, which would disgrace a heathen temple; such as giving orders for all kinds of brass work; likewise, gold and silver ornaments; all kinds of oils and spices; particular patterns of cabinet work; what kind of leather skins, and, also, of what particular color, to grace his house withal: and even down to the cut and color of the garments: not forgetting to give instruction concerning the making of breeches for Aaron and his sons! In the present day, it is no uncommon thing for ladies to wear the breeches; but in those days, when breeches were cut by inspiration, it would have been no small crime for a woman to have stepped into Aaron’s inexpressibles, or those of his sons. How is the dignity of the Governor of the World disgraced, by ascribing to him an employment fitting only for a pedler in old clothes!
Let' us compare the majestic grandeur of Jupiter, the supreme god of the Greeks, to the peddling, gossipping concerns that the writers of the Old Testament have palmed on Jehovah, the God of the Jews! Hear what the poet says of Jupiter, when challenging all the gods to oppose his power:—:
“Let down our golden, everlasting chain,
Whose strong embrace holds heaven and earth and main;
Strive all, of mortal or immortal birth,
By this to drag the thunderer down to earth;
Ye strive in vain; if I but lift this hand,
I heave the heaven, the ocean, and the land;
’T is thus I reign, supremely and above;
Such are men and gods compar’d to Jove!”
The contradictions, as recorded in the Bible, concerning Jehovah, are so barefaced, that it is impossible to reconcile them. It is said in many parts of the Old, and also in the New Testament, that no man can see God and live; but we are told that Moses conversed with Jehovah, face to face, as one conversing with his friend. It is in many places recorded that God never repents—“For he (God) cannot lie nor repent.” In many other places it is recorded that Jehovah has repented and taken a contrary course in his dealings with the sons of men. I again repeat, that if no other account had been recorded of the conduct of the Jewish God, but what we have mentioned, it is impossible to believe Jehovah to be any thing but a man-made God.
After the death of Moses, Joshua was appointed as his successor. His business was to complete what Moses had left undone, in subjugating or destroying the nations on the other side of Jordan. The first exploit of Joshua was to send spies to Jericho to examine the strength of the city. These spies entered the house of Rahab, the harlot, where they were treated with kindness; it being such a house as would in modern times be termed a house of bad fame. That it was a house of ill-fame, the proof is positive; because the harlot’s father, mother, and all the family, were saved when Joshua took the city, because Rahab had concealed the spies: so no doubt remains as to the character of the house, and that it was entirely under her control and that the whole family were supported from the wages of prostitution.
Viewing this account as having actually taken place, as Christians must do, as believers in the Bible, it was a very proper house at which the spies would resort; for it was a house at which all were welcome; where all sorts of news could be collected. After the spies had become somewhat familiar with Mrs. Rahab, they informed her who they were, and the nature of their errand. All on a sudden, they were about to be arrested by the city authorities; and when forced to depart, Rahab extorted a promise from the spies that her whole family should be saved when Jericho should fall. Such a promise, the spies could not well deny, after having been so kindly treated. Rahab, consequently, let them out by a private way; and, on returning to Joshua, they praised the Lord for having directed them to so hospitable and honorable a mansion as the house of the virtuous Rahab. This was the Lord’s doings, as also the exploit of the seven rams’-horn trumpets that threw down the walls of Jericho; and it is marvellous in our eyes—praised be his name!
Here, serious reader, pause and wonder how Infinite Wisdom can bring good out of apparent evil, by taking into his employment murderers, thieves, and harlots! and also, how such characters have immortalized their names, when their actions have been connected with faith in the Jehovah of Israel! For this noble act of betraying the city of Jericho, and giving the spies comfortable lodging, and no doubt, also, very agreeable bedmates, Rahab secured the favor of Jehovah, and her name is recorded in connection with many others of equal virtue; for Paul says, in Hebrews xi., 31,—“By faith, the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies in peace.” Nothing is acceptable to the Lord, without faith,—that faith “which keeps the souls of sinners as sweet as salt does meat.”
After the taking of Jericho and destroying every thing that had life, (the family of Rahab excepted,) Joshua followed in the same destructive course as had been commanded by Moses, which command Jehovah gave on the other side of Jordan. If the warfare pursued by Moses and Joshua did really take place, and Jehovah gave the orders, it is idle prate to talk of a God of justice. And when the Lord is made to say that he (the Lord) hardened the hearts of those Kings on either side of Jordan, that a plausible appearance of justice in their destruction might be made out,—for Christians to sing of a God of mercy, is horrible indeed. Whether a God ever commanded or encouraged the Jews in their wars of extermination, under Moses, Joshua, or any other of their generals, or not, Christian nations, as well as individuals, have drank deep of the spirit of religious warfare. A Lord of hosts, a fighting God, has given a sort of license to mortals to torment each other for his glory.