The Casual Catholic's view on Kings books 1 and 2.

I am getting very tired of reading about politics. I mean corrupt politicians are everywhere and there is so much obvious abuse of power it just makes me sick. At least it has gotten better over the past 200 years. I was not making comment on today's politics, I was talking about politics way back in ancient Israel.

There are two major comments I want to make regarding these two books. My first and more serious one is that God finally just throws up his hands and gives up on the Israelites. By the end of Kings, he gets fed up with them. Here we see a God that does not even bother smiting them since it is not even worth his time. He just lets them get consumed by their own ill actions. It is good to see God tone down the almighty rage, but at the same time it is disappointing that God exercises less of his powers over time.

The second thing that stuck out to me is much more silly, the ancient biblical penis joke.  Kings 1 Chapter 12 Line 10, "my little finger is thicker than my father's loins."  It's good to see that humanity's asinine sense of humor existed long before the invent of the internet. I could be talking about all the various idiocies that humanity acted out in kings; but with Chronicles already looking more family tree heavy than Genesis, I am going to take any little bit of humor that I can get.

A change in schedule and intensity.

I know not many people read my blog, but this post is more a written reminder to myself that I still want to continue this project, but I cannot do it at the pace I've been doing so going into the school year. I am a university student, and I will be taking 15 credit hours in the coming semester. Realistically, I'll have to find time during the week to read the bible, and so I will be slowing down my pace to 1 book a week. I still ardently desire to finish the book, but mandating myself to 1 book a Day is very taxing, especially with the looming school year upon me. I thank everyone who has supported me in my efforts.  I will not be stopping my read, but I will slow it significantly to deal with life.

The Casual Catholic's view on Samuel Books 1 and 2.

I did not skip a day of reading the bible. As you can see by the title of this post, Samuel was divided into 2 books. I decided then that I should read both and then put my thoughts on it since it seemed like they were two parts of the same book. In a sense they were and in a sense they were not.

The titular character, Samuel, was only alive for the first, but the second continued the story that he had started. I shall give my thoughts on each book individually and then give my thoughts on the book as a whole.

Samuel 1: The people of Israel are just a bunch of morons. One could say this about Humanity in general, and they would be correct; however, I focus specifically on the Israelites for one reason: they act like God does not have any control over them until they need his help. The crazy has continued on from Judges. They even make the excuse that they need a king to rule over them, but when God gives them a King, namely Saul, they trample all over God's authority and bend Saul to their will. This is the second time God has regretted doing something.

I know I have angered people with the idea that God is learning since he supposedly knows everything that has, is, and will be all at once. I would love them to explain to me, that if God knew that Saul was going to be a disappointment, why would he feel regret? I mean he knew it was going to happen, just like the flood. So how does an all knowing being even make a mistake, let alone feel regret over it? 

My answer is in two parts First, he is all knowing in the sense that he can look into what different path's bring, Such as he knows how once choice will be different from another, but to claim that there is a set path that everyone would follow would deny the idea of free will. Free will has been evident in the bible because people have had the choice to be morons, and God every so often has to test people. If the outcome was already known, why even bother with the test?

The second part to my answer is what I've asserted before, God is learning about humanity and how best to deal with them. There are no cataclysmic events in this book. God acted with subtle specific control of people in this book, like sending and evil spirit to only deal with Saul, and actually in a way he made Saul kill himself so that the new king, David would not have the blood of an anointed King of God on his hands.

Samuel 2: Samuel 2 was a good read. It was about David, and David was a fascinating person. He was truly a holy man, but he was a man. I mean he's the most human human in the bible thus far, but this could because he was flushed out properly in the 2 books.

Most people only really know about David through Goliath, that's how I knew him. I did not know the true amount of well, goodness that was in this man. David was just, David was kind, He would straight up end you if you were an enemy of God, but the most part he would not end you unjustly. I did say for the most part.

David was very much a man who enjoyed sex. He had plenty of it counting all the concubines and wives he had. It's actually one of his more human traits. One of his few sins was that he slept with a man's wife, and then sent her husband to die. God did not like that one bit, and god took their son that came from that affair.

I know I have not justified my previous compliments of him with that story so I shall make up for it now. Saul tried to kill David. Several times. Saul was very jealous of David, especially since Saul knew that god was on David's side. Saul did horrible things to try and kill David. David would not lay a single hand on him. David tried everything he could to make peace with Saul. David till the end respected that Saul was God's anointed and even mourned for his death. David was a man undying in his faith and for that I have to give him my respect.

So both books were just fun. It was nice reaching a well known biblical landmark. It's also good that we have God being less fire and brimstone, and more person specific punishments. I will not post tomorrow for the same thing has occurred with Kings. it is again split into two books and I'll be reading both before I post my thoughts.

The Casual Catholic's view on Ruth.

Thus far, this is the shortest book of the Bible that I have come across. There are only four chapters. There is not much to say; however, there are two things of worth in this book.

The first thing is that it is a pleasant break from Judges. It is about good people coming out of their tragedy and finding redemption. Ruth is a wonderful young lady who is a prime example of someone who has an incredible amount of faith. I have avoided giving summaries up to this point, so I will not start now. In place of a summary, I give the suggestion to go read it. It was three pages in the bible so it is very manageable.

The second and more important thing of worth is that this is the start of Jesus's genealogy. I have to interject a bit of outside knowledge here. One of most important little facts about Jesus was that he was descended from the house of David. David you might recall was the slayer of Goliath. David also one day became the king of the Jews. So it is a very big deal that Jesus descended from the house of David. Ruth was the grandmother of David. It is interesting that the line of Hebrew royalty began with a WOMAN  who was strong in her faith. 

I have to say something to all who might be wondering how I knew some of the above information before I even reached the New Testament: Please allow me to remind you that I am a practicing Catholic who does listen in church.

On that line I am reminded how Catholic my entire family is. The next book is the First Book of Samuel, and of course I have a relative who shares that name.

The Casual Catholic's view on Judges.

Judges for me is the first time I've come up with a case of writer's block for a book of the Bible. It's not that it's a bad book, It's just that it is very hard to write about it without coming across as a condescending prick. I know as a man of my faith I should not be afraid of going out and speaking on it, but I still want to be respectful to people who do not share my views. I do not want to become another example of a religious extremist that is so blinded by his faith that I ignore the goodness of people who may differ in beliefs. Jesus was crucified on the cross to save everyone, and I extend that to all people who are well in truly good at heart. That is the belief that I have been raised to follow.

Judges is really about the stupidity of humanity. There is no beating around the bush on that statement. Even one of the Bible's legendary heroes, Samson, was just an idiot in this book. I'll go into greater detail, but the long and short of it is that without some sort of leader to lead them, the people of Israel just straight up ignored all the rules and agreements they made to God. I mean it is not like this is the being that could straight up wreck people if he wanted, oh wait yes he is.

After the death of Joshua, God began appointing Judges to act as his steward in dealing with the people of Israel, thus the name of the book. The more logical of you might think this to be normal, after all there has to be line of succession in leadership, otherwise things will fall into chaos. Aristocracies has family lines, and democracy has it's elections. This is not the case in Judges. Judges were not appointed to take over the lead of Joshua as you would normally expect, instead they were appointed each time Israel began falling out of line.

It is very apparent that God had intended to let Israel be after Joshua. He already given all of his rules through Moses, and he had secured a foothold for them in the promised land with Joshua. I mean what else did God have to do? It's not like the Israelites would be foolish enough to start breaking the covenant with the being that delivered them from slavery and performed great miracles for them. Did I mention that this book was about Humanity's stupidity?

So we have the cycle of Isrealites forget God, God reigns hot vengeance on them, they pray and remember God, God feels sorry and sends them a Judge to lead them, Judge dies for some reason (normally old age but there is an exception), Israelites forget God. I do concede that the people that forget God are probably younger generations that did not first hand witness the glories of God, to which I have to say: YOU DARN BRATS. (I try to leave cussing out of these posts due to the nature of the content it is covering.)

I have to say though, even the Judges were not exempt from the plague of stupid that has occurred in the book. The most famous of the Judges, Samson, was by no doubt a man whose brain bowed to his loins. I mean what other reason did he let Delilah live after she tried to kill him twice? It's not very common knowledge, but Delilah was a skilled prostitute. So obviously, she had worth to the man she tried to murder twice, and for some reason she finally got his secret. The worst part of it all, was that God specifically created Samson. Yup, Samson was directly made by God.  It is so good to see he turned out to be a wise ruler of his people.

I apologize for all the Sarcasm I have here, but as I said, this is a hard book to write about without sounding condescending. The big point of all this though is to point out all the problems God had in dealing with a singular group of people. I mean we have the great, wise ruler of all the cosmos trying his hardest to do everything right for his chosen people, and all they do is the normal human crap of ignoring him till they need him. That's what Judges is all about, sharing the frustrations God had dealing with the Israelites.

In all the books up to now, we have seen God experiencing an ever growing  range of emotions, joy over his creation, lots of anger over various things, regret over the flood, and now frustration. I've wondered before, why doesn't God just wipe us all out? Why does he make such efforts for beings that just end up betraying him. It's not over any sense of duty due to the Israelites and all the other people constantly breaking covenants. Now as I read further, I can think of only one thing that could possibly be the answer, Love. God well and truly loves the world and his creation.

Obviously he hasn't been the best at expressing it yet. But if we take all of his actions in the context of a new love, it all begins to make sense.  The garden of Eden would be akin to starting a new relationship. Everything is paradise up until you start truly learning about one another. Then the fights begin, some of them may turn violent as we learn to deal with these new emotions. and sometimes you ignore each other until you realize you need them again. It sure explains why god does not just wipe our minds into robots that just follow his every whim.

I believe that is what God has been learning through the books I have been reading. God is learning how to best love humanity. I know my words sound preachy and stereotypical of any religious person in these modern times, but upon thoroughly reading the bible, that is what makes sense to me. I am 1/5th of the way through the bible. I am looking forward to reading the rest. The next book is special to me. My Grandma name is Ruth, and that is my next book to read.

The Casual Catholic's view on Joshua.

I totally called it. This book in the way it is presented is very different from the books of Moses. I will say that the spiritual tales of God's wonders has not diminished, but the repetitive chapters have.

I made comment in Exodus about God's design of the Tabernacle. I failed to mention that Moses wrote out them following the instructions. I'm not going to bother writing all of it here, but it went something like this. "God said that there should be curtains, We made the curtains. God said the table should be made from this kind of wood and should be this tall, this long, and this wide. We made the table from this kind of wood, and we made it be this tall, this long and this wide." Every instruction was repeated as it was carried out in Moses's books.  There is much less of that in Joshua, and honestly it makes the Bible a bit easier on the eyes and mind.

I do want to make note that God seems to be getting a better grasp of his "powers." In the books of Moses, whenever God first exercised his powers, something grand and Earth shattering/creating occurred. I mean, flooding the entire earth, the complete destruction of a city, large plagues and pestilences on Egypt. The first two real quiet acts of God that I can remember are the burning bush, and the turning of rod into a Snake. In Joshua, God became more subtle with his techniques.

The biggest thing he did here was making the wall of Jericho fall, but the rest of the destruction of the city came from the Israelites.  Another thing he did was when he removed his "battle blessing" because someone had taken some silver and gold idols of Jericho. There was also the rain of stones from the Heavens, but it was more focused on a retreating army than it was on an entire area.

I know what some naysayers will say about how , Oh god only targeted the Egyptians with plagues,
The Israelites were easily spared, so God could control his powers already. My counter to that is that the land of Egypt was a large place, so it was still a massive scale endeavor. I also point to the last plague. The plague of the first borns. The angel of death indiscriminately killed the first born of each house, unless the house was marked with blood. So it stands to reason that any Israelite that had missed the warning also had their first born killed. Here the Israelites had to protect themselves against the wrath of god, whose wrath was not even targeted at them.

The events in Joshua are more precise, and less massive in scale, but no less wonders of our Lord God. I shall let everyone who reads my works, be the Judge of it. I however need to to on to Judges.

The Casual Catholic's view on Deuteronomy.

So at last I finished reading the Moses Books. I know the bible has plenty more books for me to read, but this does mark a special occasion. It feels like the books are going to be different from now on. Comic book fans know the feeling. You have a wonderful series; but as soon as the author changes, small little things start to change.  That's the feeling I get for the coming books, but I will have to wait and see what more the Bible has in store for me.

Deuteronomy starts of with a romanticized summary of all the events that occurred from Egypt. I mean hopefully some of the original people who came from Egypt survived the 40 years of wandering, the wars, the various plagues brought by sin, and some other questionable deaths. I mean not even Aaron survived till Deuteronomy. So there is a good chance that old man Moses was summarizing to the kids and grand kids of the original Israelites.   

Deuteronomy also gives the last set of Moses's rules from God. I won't list them all, but I will list a few of my favorites. 1. Cross dressing is an abomination, and people that do it must be put to death. 2. A man who has his testicles crushed/cut off may no longer join the assembly and worship god. 3. If a woman is raped in the city, she and the rapist will be put to death, but if she was raped in the open country, she will not be killed. 4. A man get's a year off from war or work after he is married to his wife.

I like number 1 simply because of something I mentioned back in Leviticus, lesbians are still not mentioned. Cross dressers must die; gay men must die, people who have sex with animals must die; Lesbians are fine and dandy in the eyes of God. I looked over all 5 books of Moses, no mention of lesbians, at all.

Number 2 amuses me because it just seems so bizarre that God would punish a man for an injury he sustained. Now I know if it was self inflicted, that's a different story. However,  if a man jumps on his donkey the wrong way, he's no longer favorable in the eyes of God.

Number 3 just baffles me. I mean it bases innocence based on location not circumstance. The basis is on the woman cries for help, in the city she can, in the country there is no one to hear her. There is some truth to the matter, unless of course the rapist does the smart thing and gags the woman before he rapes her. Mind you in both scenarios the male still dies, but depending on where she was at the time she was raped, the woman may be killed as well. I think God is still slightly miffed at Eve. Just saying.

Number 4 just appeals to the guy in me. I mean US citizens draft dodge with college, imagine draft dodging with getting married.

Now I want to make comment with growth of God here. It's very clear that God has made some very obvious psychological choices for his people. He has been opperant conditioning to get them to do what he wants, and has a rewards if they do and punishments if they don't. The punishments themselves are no longer just death or exile, but pry on the fears that men have. My favorite of the bunch is in Chapter 23 line 30. In modern translation means, If you do not follow my commandments, Your finance will have sex with another man.

This is also the book the God finally no longer takes direct control, as he did through Moses. He finally has faith in his children to take care of themselves. He appoints Joshua to take the lead, but in the last chapter, it admits that no man with direct contact with God has been seen since Moses. It feels like a parent sending their children off into the world. They are not completely ready, but ready enough to make decisions for themselves. I am now curious as to what the children of Israel will do with their new found freedom. Maybe Joshua can fill me in on what they did .