YHWH’s True Image

June 19, 2009, 8:16 am by dc-agape.

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Exodus Chapter 5:22-6:27

Moses, still arrogant enough to press YHWH, whines to his god about the failure to change the Pharaohs mind and the additional suffering that the Israelites are now suffering.  A number of things come to my Atheist mind as I read YHWH response.  First, YHWH continues to show that he has planned the whole thing out, every detail…the suffering, the sin, the punishment, and finally (very late) the rescue.  It also shows me that YHWH is at the same time somewhat forgetful.  After four generation and at least 240 years, he finally “remembers” his covenant.

Exodus 6:5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.

Even though YHWH is supposed to be omniscient he seems very forgetful if he has to “remember” what he has promised, even if it is hundreds of years earlier.  The last thing that YHWH’s response to Moses shows me is how he planned all this suffering (both the upcoming Egyptian and the present Israelite suffering) for one purpose.  That purpose is to make it known that he is their dictator:

Exodus 6:7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.  Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

Not only is this extreme arrogance but it is the most naïve thing possible.  Does not this omniscient being know that it will not even take a generation for them to forget the purpose of his plan for their suffering?  He certainly does not get the title omniscient from the Book of Exodus.

Well Moses goes to the elders of the Israelites with this new revelation.  They have no faith in Moses and do not believe that YHWH will save them.  But would you?  Instead of improving, this whole set of events has made things worse and there is no time to even think about hope.  That is how bad Moses and YHWH have made things.  Moses reports back to YHWH and tells him that he does not believe that the Pharaoh will be any more responsive than the elders.  And for the moment that is where the story ends with YHWH commanding Moses and Aaron to get the people out of Egypt.

For some unknown reason the chapter switches to a lineage of Moses and Aaron.  Two odd things are important here.  One is who Amram, Moses’ and Aarons’ father, marries.  The second is which tribes are listed with the heads of the family.  Amram marries his father’s sister!  You have to remember that YHWH has not set down the rules of marriage yet, that won’t take place until the Book of Leviticus (Lev 18:12).  So it was OK then but then YHWH changed his mind!  This means that YHWH is not immutable; he does change with the times.  In this same list of family leaders two other marriages are described, both of them are not married to close relatives (Exodus 6:23 and 6:25).  The other odd thing about this list of family heads is that it only lists three tribes: Reuben, Simeon, and Levi.  Only three sons of Leah are mentioned.  Why are the three younger sons of Leah, the sons of Rachel, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah not mentioned?  Either someone has edited out the other nine tribes of Israel or YHWH really does not think they are important. 

This chapter has shown a number of things about YHWH that are not favorable.  In fact, they are so hideous that I wonder why anyone who reads these things would believe that this monster exists.  I have shown that YHWH is uncaring, forgetful, naïve, arrogant, and he is not immutable.  But I guess with the “god bias” these things are overlooked.

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