OK, I’ve finished Numbers. This one was at least interesting since stuff happened. It’s a real page turner… The Israelites did this, they killed people, the Israelites disobey God, God smites the Israelites, etc… If a cynic were to read this, it would only confirm his idea that this stuff is all made up. Despite being led around by a pillar of fire and eating manna from heaven, the Israelites continue to doubt Moses and question God. Obviously, the miraculous things didn’t actually happen and people were reacting to the bossing around by Moses. How else could people rebel? I have to admit, this has some appeal, it is far easier to believe that Moses did all this stuff (minus the pillar of flame and the appearance of God) himself and this caused the Israelites to rebel. Of course that also raises the question of how did they get out of Egypt if it wasn’t for the miracles? If Moses was indeed manipulating the Israelites for his (and his brother’s) benefit, why didn’t he go across the Jordan river?
Lots of questions either way really. I find the story of the Israelites rebelling to be rather comforting actually. They were living with obvious signs of God every day and managed to question Him anyway. I dunno, maybe they were stupid, but I think that it’s a great example of human behavior. “Sure, OK, He feeds us with manna from heaven every day, leads us with a pillar of fire at night, delivered us from Pharaoh, but defeating the people across the Jordan river? C’mon, how stupid does He think we are?” That is far more extreme than the typical jew or Christian today, but the basic concept and lesson still applies…
Once again, I can’t recommend this book to anyone that wants to be convinced, there is plenty to question if you are so inclined. I keep hoping that one of these books will really show me what all the fuss about the Bible really is, I haven’t seen it yet…