I'm in a bit of a rush today, so I might end up watching the last half later. I don't know how that affects your algorithm, but it's still worth watching it all (for anyone who's stumbled on this video). God throws a pretty good temper tantrum in this book. Gives the Jews the whole silent treatment. Elijah and Elisha as wizards is a pretty spot-on analogy.
I find it ironic that Christians have to do the thing in movies where they’ve got tack boards with string going everywhere to slap prophecies together. It’s conspiratorial mental gymnastics. Yet if you read the lines and take notes and cross-reference correctly, you get the exact opposite of a loving God. Having been raised by the church, I can hop into my weekly men’s group and dish cookie-cutter answers for faith and struggles and temptation like the back of my hand. Yet here I am, numb to what once convicted me so strongly; hearing these things that diss those who don’t believe and responding internally, “I don’t understand why holding up God’s ‘ways’ should be such a struggle for y’all who claim to be free from the burden of sin and shame.” It’s pitiful, and today’s study only blasts the truth. Looking forward to reading this 2nd Kings myself. Thank you!
If you read the story again this time thinking that the young, power-hungry Elisha got very bored of the old man, and then somehow ended up with his robe telling stories about why nobody can ever see the body, it gets more entertaining....
I'm really glad you mentioned the bear verse. I remember reading the Bible as a teenager and coming across this verse for the first time and my jaw hit the floor. I definitely didn't remember hearing it read in church. I was already pretty much a non-believer by that point but that verse made me laugh out loud at how ridiculous it all was.
Thank you for this secular Bible study. I forget how UNHINGED the books of the prophets are! I also remember reading these as a Christian, especially the story of Jehu and thinking how none of that was godly. Yet it was what was in gods heart to do. Like so many things I assumed the blame for it not working.
23:03 In 1983, the Washington Post reported that the U.S.Army had developed a portable weapons system that uses lasers to blind enemy soldiers in close-range combat. For ethical and moral reasons, the 1995 Protocol of the Geneva Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons bans the employment and transfer of laser weapons specifically designed “to cause permanent blindness or unenhanced vision.”
"The Mauling of the 42 Children by the Two She-Bears in Defense of a Bald Guy's Ego" is my favorite bible story. Also, Dr. Sledge from Esoterica does an amazing breakdown on the history and formation of 1st Temple Judaism from the Babylonian Exile that you touched upon with your second thought regarding the formation of these books into organized law. Would absolutely recommend his channel for further insights into all the wild weird stuff that got the Abrahamic religions where they are today.
Thanks for continuing your discussion on the individual books of the Bible. During my years of being a Christian the pastors I listened to only used individual verses of the Old Testament out of context to justify their main points of their sermons. I’m learning so much more of what is in the Bible.
Elisha unlocked Super Prophet Level 2! And was Elisha's ascension the very first UFO abduction? The tv guy with the funny hair may say, "Possibly!" What's the deal with all the random, mostly unnamed prophets wandering around, doing weird stuff? Like the one who tricks another prophet into accidentally violating God's orders, leading to that guy getting eaten by a lion (which apparently happened a lot!)? At least the trickster prophet felt bad about it...but shouldn't God have realized it wasn't the first guy's fault and punished his trickster instead?
This is amazing. As an atheist, I tried to read the Bible a couple years ago but it was so horrendously boring (I dont remember where I started but it was just pages and pages of genealogy) that I just couldnt do it. The commentary you provide is much more informative than what I could get from reading it myself. Thanks for the hard work! Do you also plan on doing something similar with the Quran?
My new year's resolution for 2024 is reading all 200 Brother's Grimm fairy tales and the way some of these bible stories are written is interestingly similar to fairy tales 18 centuries later.
Your channel has helped me so much, especially the how to come out video. I’ve been struggling with accepting my belief and because I’m at a religious university that requires worship, that deep-seated hurt, shame and trauma is very hard to deal with. I’ve found such solace in your content and it’s helped me deal with my anger, feelings of isolation, and perspective. Thank you so much for what you do, I really enjoy these deconstruction videos :)
Thats lovely to hear. Thank you so much! I am sorry to hear about your situation. I know how impossible it can feel when everything and everyone around you are so deep in this.
I'm glad you have some support in the environment you're in. If you can unwind from it there, you'll be able to carry that out into the world under any circumstances-- you may be going through a kind of initiation, which tends to involve a lot of feelings such as you describe coming up. They're just coming up to be healed, and here might be one place you're finding healing. Wishing you the best.
Excellent overview of 2 Kings and showing the highlights. You were right to point YHWH’s inability to keep his promises. Forever to him, just means until they mess up. I think the entire point of 1 & 2 Kings is to try to explain why the northern and southern kingdoms were conquered if they had the only true living God on their side. For Israel, they say because they never followed God’s commandments since the days of Egypt . For Judah, YHWH gave up on his promise to live in the temple forever and gave up on his promise to David because the Jerusalem and Judah “ so angered YHWH..” It is fascinating the authors view YHWH as only living in Israel and Judah. They say that YHWH “ expelled them from his presence.”
An atheist dies and goes to the hereafter. Greeted by a being in the hereafter the newcomer looks around and is struck by how few people there are, but the landscape is full of large windowless buildings. The atheist asks what is going on, why so few people and so many buildings. “Ah yes” the being says, “those buildings are for the various religious groups. That one there is full of Mormons, and that one there is full of Jehovahs Witness’, and over there are the Sunni Muslims, and over there…. you get the idea. We keep them all isolated so they can continue to believe that they are the only ones here!”
I have a suggestion. Have a glass of wine while listening to this. It's the only time I seem to be able to laugh out loud on this subject! You are perfect! ❤️
I quizzed my bald headed pastor about this one, and his final answer... You don't mess with GOD! so I said quiety "Ok baldy" he said "what did you say?" I replied "nothing, nothing, go on" Since then I've encountered two bears, both of which I scared away by yelling and charging them with sticks that I picked up on the Sabbath. And to this day I continue to "mess with God" and I'm still here to talk about it.
@@Bojan12 the bear incidents were months apart and completely coincidental, one was outside my tent, and the other was at my friend's house coming for the garbage left outside.
The famine in chapter 6 was not a natural famine. It was caused by a siege. The main part of the story ( chapter 7) is about how the siege was lifted. Also, in the Book of 2 Kings, Manasseh does not repent. By the way, doesn’t the story of Jehu seem like an actual coup. Perhaps Jehu’s coup is the beginning of where the Bible starts to become historically realizable.
7 is always a significant number. I would guess 42, being a multiple of 7, is somehow significant. But i agree, the idea that is is a historical reality is silly.
@thevulture5750 I said I would guess. That's not "know". As far as the part about it being reality, maybe I don't know with 100% confidence, but it's about as likely as Jack and rhe Beanstalk being reality.
The story is pretty specific, not just to the number of children, but even down to the number *and sex* of the bears! Why so specific? I strongly suspect there's some allusion here to Something that the original audience would have understood, possibly a religious or political group who maybe used the "she-bear" as their symbol or something, but whose actual context has been long lost to history. Similarly, there are certain strange passages in Shakespeare that seem to be referencing something that Londoners of his time would get, but we have no idea what they mean today...
It's always seemed pretty clear to me that King Josiah's reforms were some sort of trick. The priests "just happened" to find a Book of the Law written by no less than Moses (Deuteuronomy?) while spring cleaning the Temple, that says they've actually been worshipping "wrong" the entire time? Obviously, the current priests wrote it, the only question is, was the king himself in on it, too, or was he fooled as well? The sad thing is that this is what is always necessary when the times change to the point that traditional religion no longer serves the people's needs...which always happens eventually, because things always change! But religion can't allow for that, because it claims to be about "eternal" truths, so it has to trick people to allow itself to be "upgraded". Well, sometimes, most people just don't notice when their religion changes...Try telling theists that how they worship is very different from how their own ancestors did it 50 years ago, let alone 100, or 500 or 1000, and see what they say.
Paul revised Judaism for his own purposes, and Mohamed tried to revise it again in another direction and is nearly as successful as Christianity, and Joseph Smith revised Christianity much later and is still holding it’s own. David koresh went too far and burned out. Maybe the age of the religion is the only difference between a cult and a sacred tradition?
Yes, that is exactly what I thought when I first read it. The whole tribe of Levi was dedicated to a hereditary priesthood, inherited from father to son. How could the knowledge of rites & rituals completely disappear from their memory - especially as they concerned the powers granted to the Temple priests? It doesn't pass the smell test. At that time, Israel had split into 2 kingdoms. The northern kingdom was called Israel, and was very well off. It was fairly flat, and watered by good rainfall, the Sea of Galilee & the Jordan River, which made it a lush growing region. Judah, the southern kingdom, was a poor region that looked like the American badlands. It had craggy mountains, little rainfall and the Jordan River ended at the Dead Sea. With no outlet, the Dead Sea accumulated so much salt that nothing could live in it & it couldn't be used for drinking or irrigation. Judah did have the city of Jerusalem and the Temple, both of which were not very well off. People at that time could build their own altars & make their own sacrifices without needing a priest. The new laws that Josiah established gave that power solely to the Temple priests. That made visits to Jerusalem a required part of the faith. Think of how much money & goods poured into the coffers of the Temples and into the hands of Jerusalem residents who had to feed & shelter all those religious "pilgrims". I suspect that the "new found laws" were part religious reform & part financial scam on the part of Josiah & the Temple priests.
@@soyevquirsefron990 Interesting thought. When things get rigid and institutionalized, it's hard for them to change. And the longer they go on, often the more that happens.
Just a note about the book of Ruth. It was written during the Babylonian exile during the internal purge. Ruth, like Jonah, was written as a protest to curb the purge . It' shows that God uses all peoples for the betterment of his chosen people. That's also why the genealogy is so important.
Just an observation: If you keep saying it's gonna be a short one but it might be longer because you never know... you can just like, you have the video editor open, you can cut out the part where you say it's gonna be a short one if the video ends up, in retrospect, while you're sitting there with the finished video being a long one, being a long one. You can do that. You have the technology.
So much for the infallible, inerrant word of God. When I started studying comparative religions I was struck by how much more humane both Buddha and Krishna are than the Hebrew God. If I were going to believe in a fantasy it would be one of them but, preferring reality, I won’t be following any religion.
Given the challenging nature to actually read the Bible for oneself I’ve always said I would love to encourage my Christian friends to thoroughly read the books from Joshua to second kings. If nothing else, it seems to have some great biblical descriptions of the Israelite people and also, in more importantly, give us a depiction of this all love in God, Innoway Christians have never seen before.
Yes. Really any book will do on its own. At least thats what in seeing as i go through this series. The mass collection of evil after evil from book to book just exponentially grows it.
Love these Bible studies. It’s really nice to hear someone deconstructing the texts and pointing out how clearly fictional they are. ( and not even the best fiction. The Bible’s got nothing on say Tolkien, in the way of world building lol. So many gaps, inconsistencies , and we don’t even like the characters)
The differences between the Assyrian and Judahite accounts of the siege of Jerusalem is both interesting and extremely typical for the time. Both sides claim victory - the Bible celebrates Hezekiah's resistance to having the city taken by Sennacherib, but in Assyrian sources, Sennacherib gloats about having Hezekiah trapped "like a bird in a cage."
The Elijah + God synergy here is what Jesus told to his apostles: Ask and it shall be given. Plain and in full sight. No God's will, no small faith, just plain ask and given.
Something I don't understand is why people think god is honest. Sure, maybe he actually existed at Mt Sinai because 'you can't lie to a large group of people' but even if he did, you only have his word that he is honest about being good, which is quite circular logic and conflicts with how he actually apparently acted.
Wow to think for the first time I was scpetical of something you said, so I asked chat GPT and it confirmed that your totally correct! That's crazy I didn't know that heaven was a later development of the Judaic faith!
Woohoo we get to see bears attack evil kids gotta love "justice" .I would call Brandon bald but we see how that doesnt always work out for the name caller and I love bears.And Im thinking Brandon is gawds fav atheist.js Not much to say about this one but as usual well worth the wait.(Wizard powers activate)
Gods “mercy”: Smiting, killing, enslaving, to help “his people”. It’s astounding to me how preachers/priests/advocates for god, can talk about all the killing their god either does or commands to have done, in a way that doesn’t make people think, “Wow, what an awful god this is”. The way they have to justify gods actions and inactions to quell their cognitive dissonance and keep loving and worshipping him. It’s mind blowing. Religion is so insidious.
Might makes right. They call it “justice”. And to be fair, that’s usually what I think, when I read about all the dead women and babies, and virgins taken as plunder. “Our God, is an awesome God!” Yup, awesome at bloodshed.
It's that old team mentality that keeps us in warfare (and Yahweh was originally a war god): "If our side does it, it's fine. If they do the same to us, it's evil."
Maybe that's what makes it a truly holy book? Although I'm not atheist in the sense that I know there are different realities other than the physical ones, I sure am getting a lot from releasing the chains that religion put on me, by having it made really clear to me that the god I was taught to worship -- the god that formed Western European education, laws, social customs, and government-- is a sadistic, manic-depressive sob.
One of the archaeological evidence is of a king of Moab bragging about defeating the Hebrews and retrieving holy artifacts. This is of interest because Moab ALSO worshipped Yahweh. Its possible the human sacrifice was noted as an excuse because it would have been to Yahweh, so the usual "Hebrew sin causes Yahweh to make them lose" wouldn't fly as well.
Chat GPT confirms exactly what you say about the development of heaven as a later concept to improve on the meager Sheol. Chat GPT: The concept of heaven in the Jewish faith has evolved over time, and its development can be traced through various texts in Jewish religious literature. The Hebrew Bible, also known as the Tanakh, is a central source for understanding the early Jewish conception of the afterlife. In the early stages of the Hebrew Bible, the concept of an afterlife or heaven was not as clearly defined as in later religious traditions. The focus was often on the present life and the covenant between God and the Jewish people. The idea of Sheol, often translated as the "grave" or "pit," was a more general concept of an underworld where the souls of the deceased were thought to reside, without clear distinctions between the righteous and the wicked. As Jewish thought and theology developed, especially during the Second Temple period, the idea of a more distinct afterlife began to emerge. Influences from other cultures in the Ancient Near East, as well as developments within Jewish mysticism and apocalyptic literature, contributed to a more nuanced understanding of the afterlife.
I think people know how messed up the Bible is they just don't want to admit it I think most people want there to be a loving God myself included The issue with the Bible is like one of those picture memes once you see it you cannot unsee it!! I remember reading a passage where Jesus Said cut off your hand and throw it away and I was like ummm what... and was left starching my head
@rboland2173 Reminds me of that joke about the guy who tried to crucify himself, only to realize that, no matter how you try, you just can't get the third nail in!😅
What is really needed is for someone with the resources and connections to make a movie/series that SHOWS all of this stuff, not in a sanitized way, but the ACTUAL events as depicted. A picture is worth a thousand words, moving pictures a million, and as soon as people SEE the baby murder, the gang raped concubine cut into pieces to be mailed around Judea, Moses magic abortion juice forced onto women...esp today's youngsters who pride themselves on having a very high moral standard, the already bleeding church will start *hemorrhaging* followers...Best part is, they can't even claim it's a smear attempt, you can just respond, "This is literally and exactly what your book says"!
@@HandofOmega funny I had exactly the same thought. A tv series based on the Bible, the actual stories not a sanitized version, would be better than games of thrones. 😅 Hopefully some day.
@@HandofOmega nonstampcollector and darkmatter2525 do an amazing job of this, in animated form. I've gotten a lot out of them here on UA-cam, including being led to this channel.
great video if you are a christian thats 100% sure you will be resurrected into the new earth, its ok to like and appreciate this channel, its teaching you more in a short period about some of these things that modern eva will all your life. You just need to understand the context about what's happening and to whom its happening to and why, when it comes to the crazy sounding stuff in the OT
@leob3447 i understood he probably meant that, but you give excellent clarity, thank you. I made a generalized statement not connected to the validity of that particular story, a person that believes in Jesus doesn't need to have a literal belief of everything written, its fine to have disputed matters and still believe in a Christ. So I made a general statement, it was reduced to the story and thats fair because the video was about the story - but my point is, you eliminate 90% of the back and forth, when you remove the pagan false doctrine of hell and the religious retardation and mental illness that comes with it
@@LarryLarpwell If believing in Jesus causes you to act in a loving and generous way, I applaud that. But what about all the rape, murder, genocide, and torture ? How does all that become okay? Why is it even a part of the religious doctrine? And we haven't even gotten to the part where hell exists yet, that's all NT. Also, pagan beliefs are a ton more flexible than religions, and have to do with being in harmony with the world we live in -- with the land and seasons and weather. Instead of "conquering" them as Christian mythology seems to teach.
I really think that Elija and Elisha might have originally been the same character in a story. The story spreads to two distinct communities, gets embellished for, say, 300 years, and then later gets combined by a redactor when the OT was organized. Blending of two narratives from different sources is part of the Documentary Hypothesis for how the Hebrew Bible was composed. We also see several similar name pairs: Abram/Abraham. Sarah/Sarai...these stories were are close enough that the redactor kept them as the same person but then. made up some excuse for the name change. But what if the stories have diverged dramatically by the time the redactor has to combine them? Then perhaps the two similarly named people stay as different people but they interact. I wonder if any scholars have considered it? (There may well be reasons why it doesn't work)
There's a book by J. C. Ryle called "The Two Bears"; it's a collection of sermons for kids and the first one is, as the title would suggest, about the story of Elisha and the bears, and is basically intended to scare kids into obeying God... I know about it because my dad read it aloud to the family D: “I am going to tell you a story about a good man, two bears and some children. It is a story out of the Bible, and so you may be sure that it is all true. Stories in other books are often only make-believe, and tell us things that never really happened. Stories out of the Bible, you must remember, are true, every word. Never forget that!” - J. C. Ryle
What are your thoughts on the "Pints with Aquinas" channel? They recently did a video hypothesizing the the events of the Exodus were deliberately covered up by the Egyptians.
Lol! How ridiculous of an excuse. The egyptians were amazing record keepers, the details would astound you. Even their losses are recorded and their negative attributes like enslaving people. But when it comes to their largest slave operation, that time every single first born died, all the other plagues, that time their pharoh and all his soldiers drowned etc they somehow magically covered up every scrap of evidence. Lol there would be records everywhere. Like every single trade partner or political alliance would have also made note of these things.
Well if we can hypothesize then we can also do it like this: I assume that the ancient Israelites are the Hyksos. The Hyksos were foreign rulers in Egypt and treated the Egyptians badly. So much so that they got kicked out. They wore multicolored garments and if you think about the bible then you know that Joseph had a cloth of many colors. Genesis 37:3 "3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic. " Before the term "foreigns kings"was used the term "shepherd kings" was used. And if you read the story of Joseph carefully then you recognize that he ENSLAVED the common Egyptians FIRST. Does that prove that the ancient Israelites were the Hyksos? No, but it is possible to hypothesize.😉 So let's back up the part in which Joseph enslaved the common Egyptians and also let's compare it to how the ancient Israelites lived after the famine. Genesis 41:33-36 "33So now let Pharaoh look for a man understanding and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34Let Pharaoh take action and appoint overseers over the land, and let him exact a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance. 35Then let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and let them store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and let them keep watch over it. 36And let the food be appointed for the land for the seven years of famine which will happen in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not be cut off during the famine.”" That sounds wise at first to gather food so that you are prepared for an upcoming famine. But first let me remind you that the food was gathered from the common people. That is important later on. Now let's continue. Genesis 47:13-20 "13Now there was no food in all the land because the famine was very heavy, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14And Joseph gathered all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain which they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15Then the money came to an end in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan. So all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For our money is gone.” 16Then Joseph said, “Give up your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, since your money is gone.” 17So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses and the flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he fed them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18Then that year came to an end. And they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money has come to an end, and the livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left for my lord except our bodies and our land. 19Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.” 20So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field because the famine was severe upon them. Thus the land became Pharaoh’s." Read this carefully. There was a famine and he gathered before the famine happens much grain from the people. Now while the famine is happening he is gathering ALL the money that was found in Egypt and Canaan. You read that the people have no money any longer that means naturally that he gathered that money from them. The common people ask now for food and what did Joseph tell them? Since they have no money because he has taken that from them he told them to give him their livestock. Remember the grain was gathered from the people and the money was also gathered from the people. It is originally their money and their grain and he sold that grain to them for their livestock. After the year has ended the people still had no money and need food. So what has happened now? They need to sell their homes and even themselves as slaves. So he used the famine to take everything from the common people. The own nothing anylonger. Now let's take a look how the ancient Israelites are about to live. First let's look at the promise for them. Genesis 45:18 18and take your father and your households and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’ As you can see the BEST of the land of Egypt is promised to them. Did that stay that way in the famine? Let's see. Genesis 47:6 " 6The land of Egypt is at your disposal; have your father and your brothers settle in the best of the land, let them settle in the land of Goshen; and if you know any excellent men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”" Here the land is at their disposal. And they are now officially allowed to settle in the best of the land. Remember the common Egyptians will own nothing any longer after verse 13-20. All land is owned by the Pharaoh except the land of the priests. Now let's take a look how the Israelites are living. Genesis 47:27 "27Now Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in Goshen, and they took possession of property in it and were fruitful and became very numerous." The Israelites took POSSESSION of the property in it while the Egyptians have NOTHING aside from the Pharaoh and the priests. The famine was used to plunder the common people living in Egypt of everything they owned and worked for while his Israelites just moved in and took possession of the best of the land. With the help of the Pharaoh and the famine Joseph robbed the entire population of Egypt aside from the priests and at the same time took possession of the best parts of the land. So even if we take this story literally, could you blame the Egyptians to strike back later?
Brandon, its disturbing how closely your thought process is to mine on a lot of this stuff. You know thus material much better then I do but i found myself cataloguing all of Yahwehs atrocities and war crimes at one point, but unlike you I had to stop at numbers 31 because of how horrific it is. That being said, keep it up. I love this SBS.
Seeing that bears kill usually one person at a time, how would they get through all 42 of the kids without most of them running off while their friends are being attacked.This is almost an absurd of story as Samson tying all those fox tails together.Super strength would've not helped him in that regard..And talk about animal cruelty..wheeeewh!
I’ve always been in awe of how the actual creator of the universe would need horrible humans to win battles. It seems reasonable for god to wave a hand and all ills cured and all sins cleansed. No such luck. Before I arrived where I am now, I figured that if the god of the Bible was real, everything was for celestial entertainment. Nothing more nothing less. We were always behind the 8 ball especially if you are like me, a gentile. I don’t care what Paul who treated Jesus like an abstraction said. It’s so pathetic that the Jews would reject god who made himself human to sacrifice himself to himself would have to go with the second stringers rather than his chosen people to save.
Well, the WORLD is pretty messed up. Which I think implies human creation. We don't know enough about the universe to know if it's messed up, seems to me.
@@sundayoliver3147 I don't know what you mean by it implying human creation. Although humans are trying their best to change that, most suffering in the world is still natural, especially when you include animal suffering and the millions of years non-human animals have existed before humans did.
Thanks for another great video Brandon! Just a quick question though because you alluded to it in other videos as well...how do you know that the Israelites were more likely just an offshoot of canaanites historically speaking? That's a big claim and I would like to know more on that subject, because that's huge news to me that we know the actual historical origin of the jews!
I am no expert (and my memory for details isn’t great) but having watched hundreds of videos by biblical scholars I think that the answer is archeology. Archeologists not only haven’t found any trace of Moses and the migration of millions from Egypt but there’s no evidence of a clearly distinct Israelite group in the region. Abraham, the patriarchs, Moses seems to be an origin myth that the compilers of the Bible put together from various older traditions to create/reinforce a national identity. Not very different from what Virgil did when he wrote the Aeneid, according by which the Romans descended from the Trojan hero Hector who, after the fall of Troy, had eventually settled in central Italy.
Well, Yahweh was originally one of the gods in the Canaanite pantheon, which certainly leads to some kind of origin/connection...but I'd be interested in knowing more, too.
How is the mere point that if there are some contradictions made as to how old someone was when that person became a king have any bearing on determining it’s all fiction regarding the divinity of someone that of the people believed to be The God above all other gods? It’s one thing to be questioning if the rest is bunk, but just questioning it does not automatically mean it’s all bunk. To simply make that point of it makes one question doesn’t logically show that belief the God in question is invalidated, especially when the points being brought as being contradictory don’t have anything directly connected to what the believed in God did such as how was someone when they became a king. If one was thinking rationally one would have to look deeper in determining belief in said God was false, such as finding actual evidence that proves there cannot be a God who wants us to rely on faith when it comes to following that God as opposed to relying on established evidence. It’s also weird that in this world where there is much suffering and death that happen to children today and that such and deaths have occurred with children throughout history where it’s believed that God has taken those children away from their mortal lives that the commentator is so hung up that God takes away 42 children and calls it murder for that God who is believed to have given them life on Earth in the first place, but doesn’t mention that it’s believed that God takes away children from this life well beyond those 42. It’s believed that the God in question set up the conditions for this brief mortal life in which we would be tested and that it’s believed that same God has authority to call times up for an individual and their test of mortal life is finished, and yet the commentator ignores those points of belief and insist that the God in question is a murderer. That’s like calling judge in a capitol murder case a murderer when that judge sentences a convicted murderer to receive the death penalty. Now the thing is unlike an actual murderer who has nothing to do with a victims afterlife that is not the case when it comes to Yahweh. The commentator never went on about what Yahweh did to those 42 children after they died. If Yahweh made those children suffer for eternity, then that would make the God in question to be rather immoral, but there was nothing given about Yahuweh being that way to those 42 children who were taken away from this life for how they treated one of his chosen servants but that incident did show to others of the covenant people how they should treat someone, who according to their traditions was their God’s chosen servant. Also, how does making your enemy blind take away that enemy’s free will? Making that enemy blind doesn’t take away their ability to choose to harm someone. All that does is impede how well they could follow through with their initial plan since they it was probably expected that their initial plan to harm involve that enemy to be able to see their intent come to fruition. Also, how is the account of Elijah’s ascension and Elisha’s obtaining more of the power or authority that Elijah has mythical? How does being able to help others with that power just a power grab that didn’t involve Elisha becoming closer to God instead of becoming closer to God because he used that power to serve others?
It is books like these that make you wonder whether or not the Bible was written and compiled as one massive prank. Does this make God Loki or something similar? Maybe God was adopted.
@@MindShift-Brandon Yeah I can picture it: God: "Look at these morons. I'm omniscient, but I have no idea how this happened. I gotta start over with a whole new group of monkeys. [sigh] Jesus." Jesus: "WHAT!?" God: "Not you, you lazy hippie."
Been binge watching these and one thing i notice is u say isnt the point to yeach about God. But before the greeks the bible was simply known as the history of the israelites. So it seems more like these people were just passing down stories/lessons to their descendants but mainly the history of the accumulation of their culture
The scribes who stole ancient myths and repurposed them to promote their Hebrew god belief had no idea how to construct a coherent story that would inspire critical thinking readers. So sad for children with parents who believe without question.
Just a playful comment this time, but you should watch more anime. A lot of Americans do not know the inherent glory and fun of self development, and what can be more peak self development than acension to higher realms?
@@MindShift-Brandon Maybe he used too much space in the heavenly storerooms for hail and ran out...But who even needs manna? What if the people just woke up one day, and the hunger pains were just...gone, God simply suspended their need for food for however long the siege lasted? Wouldn't that be miraculous as well? The story of the mothers eating the children, whether it really happened or not, is a great illustration of a principle we should always be mindful of, that "a million is a statistic". These stories don't touch people, because it's too easy to abstract "a plague/famine wiped out so many", but this one example really gets into your head because it *humanizes* the event. And, even tho the author didn't intend to, it also drives home to us today that God CHOSE to allow this to happen, when he could easily have stopped it.
prophets, miracle workers, and gods, never made any food for anyone...farmers do. and better farming methods increased food production manyfold, not by magic.
Since you already mentioned the cannibalism part in 2 Kings let's add some more parts about cannibalism. Since it seemed to be a "proper" means of punishment in the bible. So take a look at this: Leviticus 26:27-29 "27‘Yet, if in spite of this you do not obey Me, but walk in hostility against Me, 28then I will walk in wrathful hostility against you, and I, even I, will discipline you seven times for your sins. 29Further, you will eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters you will eat." Context punishment. Deuteronomy 28:53-57 "53Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom Yahweh your God has given you, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you. 54The man who is refined and very delicate among you shall be hostile toward his brother and toward the wife he cherishes and toward the rest of his children who remain, 55so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, since he has nothing else remaining, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in all your gates. 56The refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and refinement, shall be hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter, 57and toward her afterbirth which issues from between her legs and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in your gates." Context punishment. Isaiah 49:26 "26“I will feed those who mistreat you with their own flesh, And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine;" Context enemy nations. Ezekiel 5:9-10 "9And I will do among you what I have not done and the like of which I will never do again because of all your abominations. 10Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnant to every wind." Context punishment. Jeremiah 19:7-9 "7I will empty out the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem to the point of destruction in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. 8I will also make this city an object of horror and of hissing; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and hiss because of all its slaughtering. 9I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them.”" Another round of punishment. Isaiah 19:19-20 "19By the fury of Yahweh of hosts the land is burned up, And the people are like fuel for the fire; No man spares his brother. 20 They slice off what is on the right hand but still are hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied; Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm." Context anger against Israel. Lamentations 4:10 "0The hands of compassionate women Boiled their own children; They became food for them Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people." Another round of wrath here. 2 Kings 6:28-29 "28And the king said to her, “What is the matter with you?” And she said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29So we boiled my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.”" Context siege. (You already mentioned that one in the video)
What can you do? We’re all alone in times new Roman No allegiance Chasing a wish over a cliff If you insist on daydreaming Wake up, we need you No more daydreaming Don’t fall asleep now
I am sorry, but as someone who majored in social norms studies. Its almost comical how you keep having revolations after revolations about how American society works just by reading the bible from a secular perspective. Here in Scandinavia we usually start secular education after we leave our parents and kindergarten, so any cult programming does not survive long gladly.
For the same reasons Christians listen to sermons at church for decades over a God they already believe in and has his words written in a book. Despite it being in a book, people that can read still rely on the pastor. In Brandon's case: To help persons who are in the deconverting process to understand the bible really for what it is.
@@MindShift-Brandon Some form of idealism? If God didn't exist, man is a deluded ape. "The betterment of mankind" would be a modern mythos. Without God, no hope.
Cant speak for mindshift but for me to help those who felt the way I did years ago.The fear of religion and its teachings and thinking I was the only one who thought the way I did.Those who are about to deconvert,are deconverting or just want real answers!. Secondly theology is my hobby for me no different than talking about LoTR,being a star wars fan,or studying a different culture.And do theists have a monopoly on gawd things?And why would a theist care what atheists do in their spare time?(not saying you are or arent a theist)After all theists would have to think atheists were "evil" since we turned our backs on gawd.(even thought most dont think theres is a gawd.I am agnostic atheist) Not as good with words as Brandon but I hope that helps if that was even a serious question.
For me, being disconnected from my family (because I’m no longer a believer) has been such an intense, sad experience, and I’d like for future generations to not share in this unnecessary harm. It damages so many lives and relationships. I’m thankful for Brandon’s work to educate the next generation
Happy SBS day! Wild stuff in this one.
I'm in a bit of a rush today, so I might end up watching the last half later. I don't know how that affects your algorithm, but it's still worth watching it all (for anyone who's stumbled on this video).
God throws a pretty good temper tantrum in this book. Gives the Jews the whole silent treatment. Elijah and Elisha as wizards is a pretty spot-on analogy.
No worries at all and thanks so much!
Elisha tried to ignore those kids' insults, but he just couldn't bear it.
The insults just became doubly unbearable.
I find it ironic that Christians have to do the thing in movies where they’ve got tack boards with string going everywhere to slap prophecies together. It’s conspiratorial mental gymnastics.
Yet if you read the lines and take notes and cross-reference correctly, you get the exact opposite of a loving God.
Having been raised by the church, I can hop into my weekly men’s group and dish cookie-cutter answers for faith and struggles and temptation like the back of my hand. Yet here I am, numb to what once convicted me so strongly; hearing these things that diss those who don’t believe and responding internally, “I don’t understand why holding up God’s ‘ways’ should be such a struggle for y’all who claim to be free from the burden of sin and shame.”
It’s pitiful, and today’s study only blasts the truth. Looking forward to reading this 2nd Kings myself. Thank you!
Thanks for this great comment! We have all been there. At least we are here now
If you read the story again this time thinking that the young, power-hungry Elisha got very bored of the old man, and then somehow ended up with his robe telling stories about why nobody can ever see the body, it gets more entertaining....
Ha! Love that.
I'm really glad you mentioned the bear verse. I remember reading the Bible as a teenager and coming across this verse for the first time and my jaw hit the floor. I definitely didn't remember hearing it read in church. I was already pretty much a non-believer by that point but that verse made me laugh out loud at how ridiculous it all was.
Right?!
The number of 42 children killed by bears is actually very symbolic. 42 is the answer to life the universe and everything.
Ha! Got me
Maybe we just solved that mystery of what the question was!? Ha Ha Ha 🤣
Is Douglas Adams Elijah reincarnated?
So we should strive to be mauled by bears or if we grow up have our children be mauled by bears since thats the meaning of life?
@@K4rm4ness Sadly no! A book of the Bible written by Douglas Adams would have been amazing. I might even convert in that case.
Thank you for this secular Bible study. I forget how UNHINGED the books of the prophets are!
I also remember reading these as a Christian, especially the story of Jehu and thinking how none of that was godly.
Yet it was what was in gods heart to do. Like so many things I assumed the blame for it not working.
That part about Jehu and gods heart I think is the most damning part. Thanks for watching!
23:03 In 1983, the Washington Post reported that the U.S.Army had developed a portable weapons system that uses lasers to blind enemy soldiers in close-range combat. For ethical and moral reasons, the 1995 Protocol of the Geneva Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons bans the employment and transfer of laser weapons specifically designed “to cause permanent blindness or unenhanced vision.”
Even modern enemies of each other know better than god!
That time i sneezed in my moms face when i was a baby and blinded her that was biblical prophecy fulfilled.. praise jesus!
@MindShiftSkeptic But god didn't permanently blind people if you're an alluding to Elisha.
"The Mauling of the 42 Children by the Two She-Bears in Defense of a Bald Guy's Ego" is my favorite bible story.
Also, Dr. Sledge from Esoterica does an amazing breakdown on the history and formation of 1st Temple Judaism from the Babylonian Exile that you touched upon with your second thought regarding the formation of these books into organized law. Would absolutely recommend his channel for further insights into all the wild weird stuff that got the Abrahamic religions where they are today.
Nice ill check that out. Thanks!
Thanks for continuing your discussion on the individual books of the Bible. During my years of being a Christian the pastors I listened to only used individual verses of the Old Testament out of context to justify their main points of their sermons. I’m learning so much more of what is in the Bible.
Glad to hear it, Duane! Thanks
Elisha unlocked Super Prophet Level 2! And was Elisha's ascension the very first UFO abduction? The tv guy with the funny hair may say, "Possibly!"
What's the deal with all the random, mostly unnamed prophets wandering around, doing weird stuff? Like the one who tricks another prophet into accidentally violating God's orders, leading to that guy getting eaten by a lion (which apparently happened a lot!)? At least the trickster prophet felt bad about it...but shouldn't God have realized it wasn't the first guy's fault and punished his trickster instead?
"I'm not saying it was aliens...but it was aliens."
It really does seem like Elijah was conveniently disappeared and the guy who took his clothes insisted God took his body straight to His side.
This is amazing. As an atheist, I tried to read the Bible a couple years ago but it was so horrendously boring (I dont remember where I started but it was just pages and pages of genealogy) that I just couldnt do it. The commentary you provide is much more informative than what I could get from reading it myself. Thanks for the hard work! Do you also plan on doing something similar with the Quran?
Thank you very much. Glad its useful! I will have to leave the quran to an ex muslim. My expertise is in the biblical cannon
@@MindShift-Brandongreat reply. There are several ex muslims on youtube with first hand experience of islam.
My new year's resolution for 2024 is reading all 200 Brother's Grimm fairy tales and the way some of these bible stories are written is interestingly similar to fairy tales 18 centuries later.
Your channel has helped me so much, especially the how to come out video. I’ve been struggling with accepting my belief and because I’m at a religious university that requires worship, that deep-seated hurt, shame and trauma is very hard to deal with. I’ve found such solace in your content and it’s helped me deal with my anger, feelings of isolation, and perspective. Thank you so much for what you do, I really enjoy these deconstruction videos :)
Thats lovely to hear. Thank you so much! I am sorry to hear about your situation. I know how impossible it can feel when everything and everyone around you are so deep in this.
I'm glad you have some support in the environment you're in. If you can unwind from it there, you'll be able to carry that out into the world under any circumstances-- you may be going through a kind of initiation, which tends to involve a lot of feelings such as you describe coming up. They're just coming up to be healed, and here might be one place you're finding healing. Wishing you the best.
Excellent overview of 2 Kings and showing the highlights.
You were right to point YHWH’s inability to keep his promises. Forever to him, just means until they mess up.
I think the entire point of 1 & 2 Kings is to try to explain why the northern and southern kingdoms were conquered if they had the only true living God on their side. For Israel, they say because they never followed God’s commandments since the days of Egypt . For Judah, YHWH gave up on his promise to live in the temple forever and gave up on his promise to David because the Jerusalem and Judah “ so angered YHWH..”
It is fascinating the authors view YHWH as only living in Israel and Judah. They say that YHWH “ expelled them from his presence.”
Always appreciate your comments!
An atheist dies and goes to the hereafter.
Greeted by a being in the hereafter the newcomer looks around and is struck by how few people there are, but the landscape is full of large windowless buildings.
The atheist asks what is going on, why so few people and so many buildings.
“Ah yes” the being says, “those buildings are for the various religious groups. That one there is full of Mormons, and that one there is full of Jehovahs Witness’, and over there are the Sunni Muslims, and over there…. you get the idea. We keep them all isolated so they can continue to believe that they are the only ones here!”
ha!
I have a suggestion. Have a glass of wine while listening to this. It's the only time I seem to be able to laugh out loud on this subject! You are perfect! ❤️
Ha! Love that. Glad to bring a bit of levity!
"Lot of imagery here, and this has been dealt with extensively thru the arts of the ages " - Brandon
Understatement award. 😂 🎉🎉🎉
I absolutely love this series!
Thanks, Kami!
I quizzed my bald headed pastor about this one, and his final answer... You don't mess with GOD! so I said quiety "Ok baldy" he said "what did you say?" I replied "nothing, nothing, go on" Since then I've encountered two bears, both of which I scared away by yelling and charging them with sticks that I picked up on the Sabbath. And to this day I continue to "mess with God" and I'm still here to talk about it.
😁
Someones is going to pay huge price
@@Bojan12 or not!
@@Bojan12 the bear incidents were months apart and completely coincidental, one was outside my tent, and the other was at my friend's house coming for the garbage left outside.
@@Bojan12 so yah no God involved and no price to pay for supposedly messing with imaginary sky daddy, sorry to disappoint you 🧒
Happy Thursday! Thanks for the work that you do.
Happy Thursday indeed! Thanks so much.
Brandon will you he touching the new Testament? The New Testament is the Heart of Christianity
@kamalibrathwaite8225 I will indeed. Just going in order.
The famine in chapter 6 was not a natural famine. It was caused by a siege. The main part of the story ( chapter 7) is about how the siege was lifted. Also, in the Book of 2 Kings, Manasseh does not repent. By the way, doesn’t the story of Jehu seem like an actual coup. Perhaps Jehu’s coup is the beginning of where the Bible starts to become historically realizable.
7 is always a significant number. I would guess 42, being a multiple of 7, is somehow significant.
But i agree, the idea that is is a historical reality is silly.
How do you know?
@thevulture5750 I said I would guess. That's not "know". As far as the part about it being reality, maybe I don't know with 100% confidence, but it's about as likely as Jack and rhe Beanstalk being reality.
Atheists claim don't know
The story is pretty specific, not just to the number of children, but even down to the number *and sex* of the bears! Why so specific? I strongly suspect there's some allusion here to Something that the original audience would have understood, possibly a religious or political group who maybe used the "she-bear" as their symbol or something, but whose actual context has been long lost to history. Similarly, there are certain strange passages in Shakespeare that seem to be referencing something that Londoners of his time would get, but we have no idea what they mean today...
The KJV Bible is mathematically encoded. Search for video "thy word be verified"
Man, I couldn't bear to try to read the bible. Thanks for making it possible to see it for what it is. You are doing us a great job!
My pleasure!
It's always seemed pretty clear to me that King Josiah's reforms were some sort of trick. The priests "just happened" to find a Book of the Law written by no less than Moses (Deuteuronomy?) while spring cleaning the Temple, that says they've actually been worshipping "wrong" the entire time? Obviously, the current priests wrote it, the only question is, was the king himself in on it, too, or was he fooled as well? The sad thing is that this is what is always necessary when the times change to the point that traditional religion no longer serves the people's needs...which always happens eventually, because things always change! But religion can't allow for that, because it claims to be about "eternal" truths, so it has to trick people to allow itself to be "upgraded". Well, sometimes, most people just don't notice when their religion changes...Try telling theists that how they worship is very different from how their own ancestors did it 50 years ago, let alone 100, or 500 or 1000, and see what they say.
Paul revised Judaism for his own purposes, and Mohamed tried to revise it again in another direction and is nearly as successful as Christianity, and Joseph Smith revised Christianity much later and is still holding it’s own. David koresh went too far and burned out. Maybe the age of the religion is the only difference between a cult and a sacred tradition?
@@soyevquirsefron990the only difference is the number of followers.
Yes, that is exactly what I thought when I first read it. The whole tribe of Levi was dedicated to a hereditary priesthood, inherited from father to son. How could the knowledge of rites & rituals completely disappear from their memory - especially as they concerned the powers granted to the Temple priests? It doesn't pass the smell test.
At that time, Israel had split into 2 kingdoms. The northern kingdom was called Israel, and was very well off. It was fairly flat, and watered by good rainfall, the Sea of Galilee & the Jordan River, which made it a lush growing region.
Judah, the southern kingdom, was a poor region that looked like the American badlands. It had craggy mountains, little rainfall and the Jordan River ended at the Dead Sea. With no outlet, the Dead Sea accumulated so much salt that nothing could live in it & it couldn't be used for drinking or irrigation.
Judah did have the city of Jerusalem and the Temple, both of which were not very well off. People at that time could build their own altars & make their own sacrifices without needing a priest. The new laws that Josiah established gave that power solely to the Temple priests. That made visits to Jerusalem a required part of the faith.
Think of how much money & goods poured into the coffers of the Temples and into the hands of Jerusalem residents who had to feed & shelter all those religious "pilgrims". I suspect that the "new found laws" were part religious reform & part financial scam on the part of Josiah & the Temple priests.
@@soyevquirsefron990 Interesting thought. When things get rigid and institutionalized, it's hard for them to change. And the longer they go on, often the more that happens.
@@Herschel1738 Wow, interesting thoughts. And makes sense.
Brandon, these are so good. You’re doing a great job. Thank you.
thanks so much
Just a note about the book of Ruth. It was written during the Babylonian exile during the internal purge. Ruth, like Jonah, was written as a protest to curb the purge . It' shows that God uses all peoples for the betterment of his chosen people. That's also why the genealogy is so important.
Just an observation: If you keep saying it's gonna be a short one but it might be longer because you never know... you can just
like, you have the video editor open, you can cut out the part where you say it's gonna be a short one if the video ends up, in retrospect, while you're sitting there with the finished video being a long one, being a long one. You can do that. You have the technology.
lol! yes, youre right. thanks for being funny with the feedback.
Throughout the entire Bible, God is always “having enough of it” and throwing his tantrums.
So much for the infallible, inerrant word of God. When I started studying comparative religions I was struck by how much more humane both Buddha and Krishna are than the Hebrew God. If I were going to believe in a fantasy it would be one of them but, preferring reality, I won’t be following any religion.
yes, i have a video coming soon on which other gods I woudl worship before Yahweh...hint, most of them!
Given the challenging nature to actually read the Bible for oneself I’ve always said I would love to encourage my Christian friends to thoroughly read the books from Joshua to second kings. If nothing else, it seems to have some great biblical descriptions of the Israelite people and also, in more importantly, give us a depiction of this all love in God, Innoway Christians have never seen before.
Yes. Really any book will do on its own. At least thats what in seeing as i go through this series. The mass collection of evil after evil from book to book just exponentially grows it.
That's putting it mildly.
15:00 Bart Ehrman says the one verse we base the whole trinity doctrine was a later scribal addition.
Definitely educational!
Thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Love these Bible studies. It’s really nice to hear someone deconstructing the texts and pointing out how clearly fictional they are. ( and not even the best fiction. The Bible’s got nothing on say Tolkien, in the way of world building lol. So many gaps, inconsistencies , and we don’t even like the characters)
The differences between the Assyrian and Judahite accounts of the siege of Jerusalem is both interesting and extremely typical for the time. Both sides claim victory - the Bible celebrates Hezekiah's resistance to having the city taken by Sennacherib, but in Assyrian sources, Sennacherib gloats about having Hezekiah trapped "like a bird in a cage."
I love that. Thanks for adding it in.
Wow, and not just that time...same technique being employed today in the political realm.
Interesting and entertaining fer sure.Thanks!
Glad to hear it! thank you.
I look forward to this biblestudy every week!
Thanks so much for being here
It's a somewhat fun story. Not good for religion, but interesting ancient literature.
Tell it like it is! 🎉
Moses' legacy on full display here.. quite the united tribes we have here
Ha right? Just failed from the onset
The Elijah + God synergy here is what Jesus told to his apostles: Ask and it shall be given. Plain and in full sight. No God's will, no small faith, just plain ask and given.
Yes exactly!! Wow how much did that promise not hold true
Something I don't understand is why people think god is honest. Sure, maybe he actually existed at Mt Sinai because 'you can't lie to a large group of people' but even if he did, you only have his word that he is honest about being good, which is quite circular logic and conflicts with how he actually apparently acted.
Wow to think for the first time I was scpetical of something you said, so I asked chat GPT and it confirmed that your totally correct! That's crazy I didn't know that heaven was a later development of the Judaic faith!
Its pretty nuts when you start to see the realities of all this.
Careful using chatgpt to verify facts tho, it gets confused a lot
The 2 bears story is a metaphor for Ursa major and Ursa minor.
Woohoo we get to see bears attack evil kids gotta love "justice" .I would call Brandon bald but we see how that doesnt always work out for the name caller and I love bears.And Im thinking Brandon is gawds fav atheist.js Not much to say about this one but as usual well worth the wait.(Wizard powers activate)
Ha. Hilarious comment. And thank you so much
Gods “mercy”: Smiting, killing, enslaving, to help “his people”. It’s astounding to me how preachers/priests/advocates for god, can talk about all the killing their god either does or commands to have done, in a way that doesn’t make people think, “Wow, what an awful god this is”. The way they have to justify gods actions and inactions to quell their cognitive dissonance and keep loving and worshipping him. It’s mind blowing. Religion is so insidious.
Mind blowing for sure. I cant believe i used to justify (or try to) this stuff
Might makes right.
They call it “justice”.
And to be fair, that’s usually what I think, when I read about all the dead women and babies, and virgins taken as plunder.
“Our God, is an awesome God!”
Yup, awesome at bloodshed.
It's that old team mentality that keeps us in warfare (and Yahweh was originally a war god): "If our side does it, it's fine. If they do the same to us, it's evil."
I love these series!
Elijah wasn't "pro-life" 😂😂😂
Ah! The Bible a gateway to atheistsm.
Ha, you said it! Thanks for being here
Maybe that's what makes it a truly holy book? Although I'm not atheist in the sense that I know there are different realities other than the physical ones, I sure am getting a lot from releasing the chains that religion put on me, by having it made really clear to me that the god I was taught to worship -- the god that formed Western European education, laws, social customs, and government-- is a sadistic, manic-depressive sob.
One of the archaeological evidence is of a king of Moab bragging about defeating the Hebrews and retrieving holy artifacts. This is of interest because Moab ALSO worshipped Yahweh. Its possible the human sacrifice was noted as an excuse because it would have been to Yahweh, so the usual "Hebrew sin causes Yahweh to make them lose" wouldn't fly as well.
Nice.
Thanks!
Chat GPT confirms exactly what you say about the development of heaven as a later concept to improve on the meager Sheol.
Chat GPT:
The concept of heaven in the Jewish faith has evolved over time, and its development can be traced through various texts in Jewish religious literature. The Hebrew Bible, also known as the Tanakh, is a central source for understanding the early Jewish conception of the afterlife.
In the early stages of the Hebrew Bible, the concept of an afterlife or heaven was not as clearly defined as in later religious traditions. The focus was often on the present life and the covenant between God and the Jewish people. The idea of Sheol, often translated as the "grave" or "pit," was a more general concept of an underworld where the souls of the deceased were thought to reside, without clear distinctions between the righteous and the wicked.
As Jewish thought and theology developed, especially during the Second Temple period, the idea of a more distinct afterlife began to emerge. Influences from other cultures in the Ancient Near East, as well as developments within Jewish mysticism and apocalyptic literature, contributed to a more nuanced understanding of the afterlife.
I think people know how messed up the Bible is they just don't want to admit it
I think most people want there to be a loving God myself included
The issue with the Bible is like one of those picture memes once you see it you cannot unsee it!!
I remember reading a passage where Jesus Said cut off your hand and throw it away and I was like ummm what... and was left starching my head
You cant unsee it is right!
@rboland2173 Reminds me of that joke about the guy who tried to crucify himself, only to realize that, no matter how you try, you just can't get the third nail in!😅
What is really needed is for someone with the resources and connections to make a movie/series that SHOWS all of this stuff, not in a sanitized way, but the ACTUAL events as depicted. A picture is worth a thousand words, moving pictures a million, and as soon as people SEE the baby murder, the gang raped concubine cut into pieces to be mailed around Judea, Moses magic abortion juice forced onto women...esp today's youngsters who pride themselves on having a very high moral standard, the already bleeding church will start *hemorrhaging* followers...Best part is, they can't even claim it's a smear attempt, you can just respond, "This is literally and exactly what your book says"!
@@HandofOmega funny I had exactly the same thought. A tv series based on the Bible, the actual stories not a sanitized version, would be better than games of thrones. 😅 Hopefully some day.
@@HandofOmega nonstampcollector and darkmatter2525 do an amazing job of this, in animated form. I've gotten a lot out of them here on UA-cam, including being led to this channel.
great video
if you are a christian thats 100% sure you will be resurrected into the new earth, its ok to like and appreciate this channel, its teaching you more in a short period about some of these things that modern eva will all your life. You just need to understand the context about what's happening and to whom its happening to and why, when it comes to the crazy sounding stuff in the OT
Yeah, special pleading ftw, all the time!
@@Vadjong what’s a special pleading ?
@leob3447 i understood he probably meant that, but you give excellent clarity, thank you. I made a generalized statement not connected to the validity of that particular story, a person that believes in Jesus doesn't need to have a literal belief of everything written, its fine to have disputed matters and still believe in a Christ. So I made a general statement, it was reduced to the story and thats fair because the video was about the story - but my point is, you eliminate 90% of the back and forth, when you remove the pagan false doctrine of hell and the religious retardation and mental illness that comes with it
@@LarryLarpwell If believing in Jesus causes you to act in a loving and generous way, I applaud that. But what about all the rape, murder, genocide, and torture ? How does all that become okay? Why is it even a part of the religious doctrine? And we haven't even gotten to the part where hell exists yet, that's all NT. Also, pagan beliefs are a ton more flexible than religions, and have to do with being in harmony with the world we live in -- with the land and seasons and weather. Instead of "conquering" them as Christian mythology seems to teach.
@@sundayoliver3147 you are in a simulation, God is running it, real "Christianity" isn't about conquering anything
I really think that Elija and Elisha might have originally been the same character in a story. The story spreads to two distinct communities, gets embellished for, say, 300 years, and then later gets combined by a redactor when the OT was organized. Blending of two narratives from different sources is part of the Documentary Hypothesis for how the Hebrew Bible was composed. We also see several similar name pairs: Abram/Abraham. Sarah/Sarai...these stories were are close enough that the redactor kept them as the same person but then. made up some excuse for the name change. But what if the stories have diverged dramatically by the time the redactor has to combine them? Then perhaps the two similarly named people stay as different people but they interact. I wonder if any scholars have considered it? (There may well be reasons why it doesn't work)
There's a book by J. C. Ryle called "The Two Bears"; it's a collection of sermons for kids and the first one is, as the title would suggest, about the story of Elisha and the bears, and is basically intended to scare kids into obeying God... I know about it because my dad read it aloud to the family D:
“I am going to tell you a story about a good man, two bears and some children. It is a story out of the Bible, and so you may be sure that it is all true. Stories in other books are often only make-believe, and tell us things that never really happened. Stories out of the Bible, you must remember, are true, every word. Never forget that!” - J. C. Ryle
More than disgusting
Yike! Nothing like religion for terrifying kids into submission.
What are your thoughts on the "Pints with Aquinas" channel? They recently did a video hypothesizing the the events of the Exodus were deliberately covered up by the Egyptians.
Lol! How ridiculous of an excuse. The egyptians were amazing record keepers, the details would astound you. Even their losses are recorded and their negative attributes like enslaving people. But when it comes to their largest slave operation, that time every single first born died, all the other plagues, that time their pharoh and all his soldiers drowned etc they somehow magically covered up every scrap of evidence. Lol there would be records everywhere. Like every single trade partner or political alliance would have also made note of these things.
Well if we can hypothesize then we can also do it like this: I assume that the ancient Israelites are the Hyksos. The Hyksos were foreign rulers in Egypt and treated the Egyptians badly. So much so that they got kicked out. They wore multicolored garments and if you think about the bible then you know that Joseph had a cloth of many colors.
Genesis 37:3
"3Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his sons because he was the son of his old age; and he made him a varicolored tunic. "
Before the term "foreigns kings"was used the term "shepherd kings" was used.
And if you read the story of Joseph carefully then you recognize that he ENSLAVED the common Egyptians FIRST.
Does that prove that the ancient Israelites were the Hyksos? No, but it is possible to hypothesize.😉
So let's back up the part in which Joseph enslaved the common Egyptians and also let's compare it to how the ancient Israelites lived after the famine.
Genesis 41:33-36
"33So now let Pharaoh look for a man understanding and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt. 34Let Pharaoh take action and appoint overseers over the land, and let him exact a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance. 35Then let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and let them store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and let them keep watch over it. 36And let the food be appointed for the land for the seven years of famine which will happen in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not be cut off during the famine.”"
That sounds wise at first to gather food so that you are prepared for an upcoming famine. But first let me remind you that the food was gathered from the common people. That is important later on. Now let's continue.
Genesis 47:13-20
"13Now there was no food in all the land because the famine was very heavy, so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14And Joseph gathered all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan for the grain which they bought, and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. 15Then the money came to an end in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan. So all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us food, for why should we die in your presence? For our money is gone.” 16Then Joseph said, “Give up your livestock, and I will give you food for your livestock, since your money is gone.” 17So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them food in exchange for the horses and the flocks and the herds and the donkeys; and he fed them with food in exchange for all their livestock that year. 18Then that year came to an end. And they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money has come to an end, and the livestock are my lord’s. There is nothing left for my lord except our bodies and our land. 19Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we and our land will be slaves to Pharaoh. So give us seed, that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”
20So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh, for every Egyptian sold his field because the famine was severe upon them. Thus the land became Pharaoh’s."
Read this carefully. There was a famine and he gathered before the famine happens much grain from the people. Now while the famine is happening he is gathering ALL the money that was found in Egypt and Canaan. You read that the people have no money any longer that means naturally that he gathered that money from them. The common people ask now for food and what did Joseph tell them? Since they have no money because he has taken that from them he told them to give him their livestock. Remember the grain was gathered from the people and the money was also gathered from the people. It is originally their money and their grain and he sold that grain to them for their livestock. After the year has ended the people still had no money and need food. So what has happened now? They need to sell their homes and even themselves as slaves. So he used the famine to take everything from the common people. The own nothing anylonger.
Now let's take a look how the ancient Israelites are about to live. First let's look at the promise for them.
Genesis 45:18
18and take your father and your households and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you will eat the fat of the land.’
As you can see the BEST of the land of Egypt is promised to them. Did that stay that way in the famine? Let's see.
Genesis 47:6
" 6The land of Egypt is at your disposal; have your father and your brothers settle in the best of the land, let them settle in the land of Goshen; and if you know any excellent men among them, then put them in charge of my livestock.”"
Here the land is at their disposal. And they are now officially allowed to settle in the best of the land.
Remember the common Egyptians will own nothing any longer after verse 13-20. All land is owned by the Pharaoh except the land of the priests. Now let's take a look how the Israelites are living.
Genesis 47:27
"27Now Israel lived in the land of Egypt, in Goshen, and they took possession of property in it and were fruitful and became very numerous."
The Israelites took POSSESSION of the property in it while the Egyptians have NOTHING aside from the Pharaoh and the priests.
The famine was used to plunder the common people living in Egypt of everything they owned and worked for while his Israelites just moved in and took possession of the best of the land. With the help of the Pharaoh and the famine Joseph robbed the entire population of Egypt aside from the priests and at the same time took possession of the best parts of the land.
So even if we take this story literally, could you blame the Egyptians to strike back later?
If only Elisha had asked God to re-grow his hair. So much unpleasantness could have been avoided.
Go Brandon
Thank ya!
Brandon, its disturbing how closely your thought process is to mine on a lot of this stuff. You know thus material much better then I do but i found myself cataloguing all of Yahwehs atrocities and war crimes at one point, but unlike you I had to stop at numbers 31 because of how horrific it is.
That being said, keep it up. I love this SBS.
Appreciate that!
Seeing that bears kill usually one person at a time, how would they get through all 42 of the kids without most of them running off while their friends are being attacked.This is almost an absurd of story as Samson tying all those fox tails together.Super strength would've not helped him in that regard..And talk about animal cruelty..wheeeewh!
the absurdity is everywhere, but yes i have a top 10 absurd bible stories, im putting together and this is one of them.
The kids knew they were part of. Gods an and gladly stood in line t0 be made by bears one by one l. O. L.
Maybe god inspired the bears to kill more efficiently, like all those wonderful miracles of genocide he also helped create?
@@sundayoliver3147 I think that most of those children would've ran away while their companions were being mauled/eaten.
"there's no metaphor for killing 42 children with bears..."
You read the book “Genesis and the Moses Story”? If so what were your thoughts?
God is pro-life, as long as you ignore all the people he has killed.
Exactly and also gives free will except when he intervenes
I’ve always been in awe of how the actual creator of the universe would need horrible humans to win battles. It seems reasonable for god to wave a hand and all ills cured and all sins cleansed. No such luck. Before I arrived where I am now, I figured that if the god of the Bible was real, everything was for celestial entertainment. Nothing more nothing less. We were always behind the 8 ball especially if you are like me, a gentile. I don’t care what Paul who treated Jesus like an abstraction said. It’s so pathetic that the Jews would reject god who made himself human to sacrifice himself to himself would have to go with the second stringers rather than his chosen people to save.
"This is not a good god" - true
"This is not the creator of the universe" - Are you sure about that? The universe is pretty messed up.
Well, the WORLD is pretty messed up. Which I think implies human creation. We don't know enough about the universe to know if it's messed up, seems to me.
@@sundayoliver3147 I don't know what you mean by it implying human creation. Although humans are trying their best to change that, most suffering in the world is still natural, especially when you include animal suffering and the millions of years non-human animals have existed before humans did.
Thanks for another great video Brandon! Just a quick question though because you alluded to it in other videos as well...how do you know that the Israelites were more likely just an offshoot of canaanites historically speaking? That's a big claim and I would like to know more on that subject, because that's huge news to me that we know the actual historical origin of the jews!
Great point. Ill cover this more in a future video
I am no expert (and my memory for details isn’t great) but having watched hundreds of videos by biblical scholars I think that the answer is archeology. Archeologists not only haven’t found any trace of Moses and the migration of millions from Egypt but there’s no evidence of a clearly distinct Israelite group in the region. Abraham, the patriarchs, Moses seems to be an origin myth that the compilers of the Bible put together from various older traditions to create/reinforce a national identity.
Not very different from what Virgil did when he wrote the Aeneid, according by which the Romans descended from the Trojan hero Hector who, after the fall of Troy, had eventually settled in central Italy.
Thanks, that makes sense. I'll wait for Brandon's video for more information. @@pansepot1490
Well, Yahweh was originally one of the gods in the Canaanite pantheon, which certainly leads to some kind of origin/connection...but I'd be interested in knowing more, too.
How is the mere point that if there are some contradictions made as to how old someone was when that person became a king have any bearing on determining it’s all fiction regarding the divinity of someone that of the people believed to be The God above all other gods?
It’s one thing to be questioning if the rest is bunk, but just questioning it does not automatically mean it’s all bunk.
To simply make that point of it makes one question doesn’t logically show that belief the God in question is invalidated, especially when the points being brought as being contradictory don’t have anything directly connected to what the believed in God did such as how was someone when they became a king. If one was thinking rationally one would have to look deeper in determining belief in said God was false, such as finding actual evidence that proves there cannot be a God who wants us to rely on faith when it comes to following that God as opposed to relying on established evidence.
It’s also weird that in this world where there is much suffering and death that happen to children today and that such and deaths have occurred with children throughout history where it’s believed that God has taken those children away from their mortal lives that the commentator is so hung up that God takes away 42 children and calls it murder for that God who is believed to have given them life on Earth in the first place, but doesn’t mention that it’s believed that God takes away children from this life well beyond those 42.
It’s believed that the God in question set up the conditions for this brief mortal life in which we would be tested and that it’s believed that same God has authority to call times up for an individual and their test of mortal life is finished, and yet the commentator ignores those points of belief and insist that the God in question is a murderer. That’s like calling judge in a capitol murder case a murderer when that judge sentences a convicted murderer to receive the death penalty.
Now the thing is unlike an actual murderer who has nothing to do with a victims afterlife that is not the case when it comes to Yahweh.
The commentator never went on about what Yahweh did to those 42 children after they died. If Yahweh made those children suffer for eternity, then that would make the God in question to be rather immoral, but there was nothing given about Yahuweh being that way to those 42 children who were taken away from this life for how they treated one of his chosen servants but that incident did show to others of the covenant people how they should treat someone, who according to their traditions was their God’s chosen servant.
Also, how does making your enemy blind take away that enemy’s free will? Making that enemy blind doesn’t take away their ability to choose to harm someone. All that does is impede how well they could follow through with their initial plan since they it was probably expected that their initial plan to harm involve that enemy to be able to see their intent come to fruition.
Also, how is the account of Elijah’s ascension and Elisha’s obtaining more of the power or authority that Elijah has mythical?
How does being able to help others with that power just a power grab that didn’t involve Elisha becoming closer to God instead of becoming closer to God because he used that power to serve others?
It is books like these that make you wonder whether or not the Bible was written and compiled as one massive prank. Does this make God Loki or something similar? Maybe God was adopted.
wouldnt that be something? its a better explanation than that its real lol.
@@MindShift-Brandon Yeah I can picture it:
God: "Look at these morons. I'm omniscient, but I have no idea how this happened. I gotta start over with a whole new group of monkeys. [sigh] Jesus."
Jesus: "WHAT!?"
God: "Not you, you lazy hippie."
Been binge watching these and one thing i notice is u say isnt the point to yeach about God. But before the greeks the bible was simply known as the history of the israelites. So it seems more like these people were just passing down stories/lessons to their descendants but mainly the history of the accumulation of their culture
The scribes who stole ancient myths and repurposed them to promote their Hebrew god belief had no idea how to construct a coherent story that would inspire critical thinking readers.
So sad for children with parents who believe without question.
Exactly and agreed
Just a playful comment this time, but you should watch more anime. A lot of Americans do not know the inherent glory and fun of self development, and what can be more peak self development than acension to higher realms?
So much starvation that women have to eat their own children...if only there was a pre-established miracle to alleviate hunger on a mass scale...
Right. I want to know the exact day god said no more manna.
@@MindShift-Brandon Maybe he used too much space in the heavenly storerooms for hail and ran out...But who even needs manna? What if the people just woke up one day, and the hunger pains were just...gone, God simply suspended their need for food for however long the siege lasted? Wouldn't that be miraculous as well?
The story of the mothers eating the children, whether it really happened or not, is a great illustration of a principle we should always be mindful of, that "a million is a statistic". These stories don't touch people, because it's too easy to abstract "a plague/famine wiped out so many", but this one example really gets into your head because it *humanizes* the event. And, even tho the author didn't intend to, it also drives home to us today that God CHOSE to allow this to happen, when he could easily have stopped it.
prophets, miracle workers, and gods, never made any food for anyone...farmers do. and better farming methods increased food production manyfold, not by magic.
Preach!
Since you already mentioned the cannibalism part in 2 Kings let's add some more parts about cannibalism. Since it seemed to be a "proper" means of punishment in the bible.
So take a look at this:
Leviticus 26:27-29
"27‘Yet, if in spite of this you do not obey Me, but walk in hostility against Me, 28then I will walk in wrathful hostility against you, and I, even I, will discipline you seven times for your sins. 29Further, you will eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters you will eat."
Context punishment.
Deuteronomy 28:53-57
"53Then you shall eat the offspring of your own body, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters whom Yahweh your God has given you, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you. 54The man who is refined and very delicate among you shall be hostile toward his brother and toward the wife he cherishes and toward the rest of his children who remain, 55so that he will not give even one of them any of the flesh of his children which he will eat, since he has nothing else remaining, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in all your gates. 56The refined and delicate woman among you, who would not venture to set the sole of her foot on the ground for delicateness and refinement, shall be hostile toward the husband she cherishes and toward her son and daughter, 57and toward her afterbirth which issues from between her legs and toward her children whom she bears; for she will eat them secretly for lack of anything else, during the siege and the distress by which your enemy will oppress you in your gates."
Context punishment.
Isaiah 49:26
"26“I will feed those who mistreat you with their own flesh,
And they will become drunk with their own blood as with sweet wine;"
Context enemy nations.
Ezekiel 5:9-10
"9And I will do among you what I have not done and the like of which I will never do again because of all your abominations. 10Therefore, fathers will eat their sons among you, and sons will eat their fathers; for I will execute judgments on you and scatter all your remnant to every wind."
Context punishment.
Jeremiah 19:7-9
"7I will empty out the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem to the point of destruction in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies and by the hand of those who seek their life; and I will give over their carcasses as food for the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. 8I will also make this city an object of horror and of hissing; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and hiss because of all its slaughtering. 9I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they will eat one another’s flesh in the siege and in the distress with which their enemies and those who seek their life will distress them.”"
Another round of punishment.
Isaiah 19:19-20
"19By the fury of Yahweh of hosts the land is burned up,
And the people are like fuel for the fire;
No man spares his brother.
20 They slice off what is on the right hand but still are hungry,
And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied;
Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm."
Context anger against Israel.
Lamentations 4:10
"0The hands of compassionate women
Boiled their own children;
They became food for them
Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people."
Another round of wrath here.
2 Kings 6:28-29
"28And the king said to her, “What is the matter with you?” And she said, “This woman said to me, ‘Give your son that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.’ 29So we boiled my son and ate him; and I said to her on the next day, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him’; but she has hidden her son.”"
Context siege. (You already mentioned that one in the video)
Saving this comment snd now planning to do a video on the topic. Thanks!
@@MindShift-Brandon No problem.
Conclusion: Do not mess with God because He is definitely not messing around!
What can you do?
We’re all alone in times new Roman
No allegiance
Chasing a wish over a cliff
If you insist on daydreaming
Wake up, we need you
No more daydreaming
Don’t fall asleep now
I am sorry, but as someone who majored in social norms studies. Its almost comical how you keep having revolations after revolations about how American society works just by reading the bible from a secular perspective. Here in Scandinavia we usually start secular education after we leave our parents and kindergarten, so any cult programming does not survive long gladly.
Why do you spend time discussing the God you claim not to believe in?
Ha! I just finished filming a video for this Saturday that answers exactly that.
For the same reasons Christians listen to sermons at church for decades over a God they already believe in and has his words written in a book. Despite it being in a book, people that can read still rely on the pastor.
In Brandon's case:
To help persons who are in the deconverting process to understand the bible really for what it is.
@@MindShift-Brandon Some form of idealism?
If God didn't exist, man is a deluded ape. "The betterment of mankind" would be a modern mythos.
Without God, no hope.
Cant speak for mindshift but for me to help those who felt the way I did years ago.The fear of religion and its teachings and thinking I was the only one who thought the way I did.Those who are about to deconvert,are deconverting or just want real answers!.
Secondly theology is my hobby for me no different than talking about LoTR,being a star wars fan,or studying a different culture.And do theists have a monopoly on gawd things?And why would a theist care what atheists do in their spare time?(not saying you are or arent a theist)After all theists would have to think atheists were "evil" since we turned our backs on gawd.(even thought most dont think theres is a gawd.I am agnostic atheist)
Not as good with words as Brandon but I hope that helps if that was even a serious question.
For me, being disconnected from my family (because I’m no longer a believer) has been such an intense, sad experience, and I’d like for future generations to not share in this unnecessary harm. It damages so many lives and relationships. I’m thankful for Brandon’s work to educate the next generation
😳😳😳
Me after reading 2 Kings chapter 6..
Ha yup!