Exodus 12:29

29 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.

According to the Book of Exodus, in an effort to force Ramses to release the Israelite slaves, God kills all firstborn in Egypt, with the exception of the Israelites who smeared blood over their door. What did these children do?

It was Ramses who refused to let Moses’ people go, not these children. Their only sin was being born first to the oppressors of the Israelites. They were killed to prove a point, but was this really a good thing? All Christians are taught this story, and many take this passage for granted, thinking of the Egyptians as the bad guys. After all, it’s okay for the children of the bad guys to die, right? Absolutely not. Such a stance is morally reprehensible. Why would a just, moral, and loving god kill innocent children?

Some may say that such children, being under the age of accountability, would go straight to Heaven. However, such a mode of thought implies that infanticide is okay. There is no question about it. Yahweh has committed infanticide, a highly immoral act.

Deuteronomy 3:1-7

1 Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei.
2 And the LORD said unto me, Fear him not: for I will deliver him, and all his people, and his land, into thy hand; and thou shalt do unto him as thou didst unto Sihon king of the Amorites, which dwelt at Heshbon.
3 So the LORD our God delivered into our hands Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining.
4 And we took all his cities at that time, there was not a city which we took not from them, threescore cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan.
5 All these cities were fenced with high walls, gates, and bars; beside unwalled towns a great many.
6 And we utterly destroyed them, as we did unto Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women, and children, of every city.
7 But all the cattle, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves.

This is very straight forward. It is yet another example in the King James Bible wherein God commands genocide. In this instance, it is for little more than the land, cattle and riches that the people possessed. It seems as if the Israelites were little more than the bandits of a corrupt god. Could you believe that these are the commands of a god who claims to be the embodiment of love?

Numbers 31:40

40 And the persons were sixteen thousand; of which the LORD’S tribute was thirty and two persons.

Upon reading all of the Book of Numbers, chapter 31, you find a story wherein Yahweh has Moses destroy an entire city, steal all the loot, burn the city to the ground, and keep all the virgin girls for themselves. At the end of this, Yahweh demands that a portion of the spoils be sacrificed to him. This includes the virgin girls that they kept alive.

Of the 16,000 virgins that they spared, Yahweh demands that thirty-two be sacrificed to him. Let it never be said that only heathens perform human sacrifice. Yahweh seems to have no problem with having people slain in his name, ritually or otherwise. This is not something that a good god would demand.

Numbers 31:17-18

17 Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him.
18 But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

This is a simple story laid out in the Book of Numbers, chapter 31. Yahweh commands Moses to gather an army and destroy the Midianites. He gathers 12,000 men to destroy this city. They kill every man, take everything of value, and burn their homes to the ground. They take the women, children, and goods to Moses. Then, he tells them to kill all but the virgin girls, which they were to keep for themselves.

While Yahweh did not specifically command that Moses take the virgin girls, he did condone it. He demands that a portion of the spoils, including the virgins be sacrificed to him. Is this something that a good god would demand? Is this something that a good god would even allow to happen?

Moses, under the command of Yahweh, destroys an entire city, kills all but the virgin girls, sacrifices a portion of them to Yahweh, then allows all others to be divided up amongst the Israelites. Yahweh and Moses obviously have no respect for human life and even less respect for women.

1 Samuel 18:27

27 Wherefore David arose and went, he and his men, and slew of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tale to the king, that he might be the king’s son in law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter to wife.

Upon reading the entirety of the First Book of Samuel, chapter 18, we see that this is part of a story. It is essentially all explained in this single verse. Saul wanted David to die, so he gave him the task of getting one hundred philistine foreskins. David not only survived, he over-delivered by bringing back two hundred foreskins.

None of this was commanded by Yahweh, so it does not point to his immorality. However, David was said to have Yahweh’s favor, which he did not lose through this act. The point of the story is that this is just plain disgusting. Offering any body parts as payment for the privilege of marrying a man’s daughter is obscene in it’s own right. Requiring that this body part be the severed skin from the tip of a man’s phallus is that much more obscene. This is not a verse you hear in church, and it certainly isn’t something you tell children in Sunday school.

Exodus 21:20-21

20 And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished.
21 Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.

First, the words for he is his money are often read as for he is is property in other translations. Some have suggested the the term smite implies that they were struck only once in the wrong place, while the term beat implies that they were struck several times.

They suggest that the law is to protect the slaves from masters who would strike them and accidentally kill them and is supposed to discourage people from beating their slaves. When you read through the various translations of the verse, you find that the term beat is used most often, followed by strike and smite. What you’re doing however, is arguing semantics over something that has been translated from a completely different language. What we are looking for is not the specific language used but the meaning of the language used.

It appears obvious that the author of the passage intended it to mean beat, as is evidenced by the various translations coming to the same conclusion. Whether hit once or several times, this passage still protects masters who would beat their slaves as long as they got up before two days. Additionally, it is possible to cause damage to certain blood vessels that will cause a person to appear fine until put under sufficient strain to cause the vessel to rupture and kill him or her. This means that this law could protect a master who beat his slave, caused such damage, yet had the slave die three days later while trying to lift something heavy. That being said, it is clear that the author of the Book of Exodus is suggesting that it is perfectly acceptable to not only own slaves but also beat them within an inch of their life, as long as they can get up and walk within one or two days.

Modern morality understands that such actions are assault and are immoral, no matter what the circumstances are. Not only did Biblical law allow the owning of slaves, but it also put laws in place to protect evil and abusive masters. Anyone with a heart can tell that this is simply unacceptable.