DOES 'THE CHURCH' TURN A BLIND EYE TO U.S. POLITICS?

THE GODDESS CARIDWEN AND TALIESIN

POLITICIANS STILL WORSHIP THE GOD MOLOCH

THIS IS WHY THE UNITED STATES IS GOING INTO PERDITION


SEE:  REVELATION 17:11

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"The beast which was and is not,
is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven,
and he goes to destruction.

King James Bible
And the beast that was, and is not,
even he is the eighth, and is of the seven,
and goeth into perdition

compiled by Dee Finney

 

12-19-06 - DREAM - I was riding in a car past a church that had a big glass window on the street side so you could look in.

Inside, way against the far wall sat a woman preacher on a bench.  It was well lit inside the church and there were no people in the church but her.

So we decided to stop and see why this woman preacher was sitting there like that - alone.

When we went inside, the preacher woman got up and came forward to greet us.

As the woman walked towards us, she was accompanied by a cloud of white about 2 1/2 feet across.  It felt very uncomfortable so I took a towel and tried to hit the cloud and cloud dodged the towel. That surprised me, but now I really wanted to get rid of this cloud, and the cloud dodged my waving towel again.  (Ectoplasm)

This photo was taken in a cemetery by the New Hampshire Paranormal Research Society in 2006
/See the head and face in the center?

More pictures at http://www.neprs.org

This woman's head was later identified as a guardian named  RUUD.

But now I could see the head of an old woman in the center of the cloud and I could believe it was real, so I got very aggressive and hit the old woman's head with the towel and I felt a thud which meant the head was a solid object.  Now the head split into hundreds of black wings which all few in the same direction in a thunder of wings flapping and hit the wall of the church near the window.  A voice near me said, "When touched, an object becomes what it really is," and I saw all these wings congregate together into a black crow which started walking along the wall like it was surprised to have been hit.

Along the side wall was a door like a confessional and I saw a tiny red horse flying upward against the door.

We left the church then and went back to a place where we know other people as friends.

My friend Donna was there and I wanted to tell her what we had seen, but she was the coach of a baseball team and she was busy talking to a guy who was the tennis sponsor or something and she had her own thing going on and we saw her do a handstand against the wall.  She looked like a gazelle against the wall with her toes stretching at least 7 feet or more high from the floor.

I wanted to tell the story of what we had just seen at the church while it was still fresh in my mind and as I did, I could see it vividly in my mind's eye, but now it was even more colorful and I could see more than I saw the first time.

Now I could see what was appearing in a vision above the seated preacher woman's head.  There was a large man's hands in the corner and lots of scenes of colorful riders on horses and men in battle.

I was surprised I had missed that when I was in the church, but now it was clear.

Now , while I told the story, a man on a beautiful black stallion came into the room, flying. The horse seemed to alternate between red and black as it flew around and around the room over the people's heads.

The man and horse finally vanished behind what looked like what tents of injured soldiers in an encampment.

My friend Donna said it was time to go to lunch, but we had to wait for the guardian to escort us.

I asked why and she explained that there was a strict protocol to follow and a huge cloud appeared with an old woman's head in it and Donna said, "her name is RUUD!"

I woke up at the sound of the name.

THE RED HORSE IS WAR AND DEATH -  THE BLACK HORSE IS FAMINE

THE SONG OF CARIDWEN
I am the seed that you sow.
I am a bird on the wing. 
I am the hen in the meadow.
I am the Divine song that you sing.
I am the Goddess of light and of dark.
I am the Goddess whose bird is the black crow.
It was I who put the song in Taliesin's heart.
I am the Goddess of the white sow.
I am the guardian of the cauldron.
I am the crone and I am the mother.
I am the guardian of great wisdom.
I am the earth and I am the ruler.
I am the Goddess, I am Caridwen.
"The song of Caridwen" first published in Jones G. 
(Ed.) (1994) Bridging the gap. Anchor Books of 
Peterborough under the name Daniel Bran Griffith.
This page came up with the name RUUD in the search 
engine, however, the poem is by a different author.
Though, in the beginning I didn't know the significance
of this goddess - it becomes apparent as you follow the
sequence below.
Ceridwin

Probably originally a Celtic corn goddess, Ceridwen had a magic cauldron in which she was creating a broth to make her terribly ugly son terribly wise. Gwion was charged with stirring it, but consumed some of the magical elixir. Ceridwin pursued Gwion in a chase filled with metamorphoses. After she overcame him as a hen with Gwion changed into an ear of corn, Ceridwin ate him and then gave birth Taliesin, whom she sent away in a coracle
 

Etymology

There are several possible interpretations of the name 'Ceridwen'. The earliest recorded form, found in the Black Book of Carmarthen, is Cyrridven. This was interpreted by Sir Ifor Williams as "crooked woman" (cyrrid < cwrr "crooked or bent"? + ben "woman, female"), although the precise meaning of cyrrid is uncertain. Another possible meaning for the second element, based on the much more common form 'Ceridwen', is "fair, beloved" or "blessed, sacred" (gwen, mutated here to -wen, is a common element in female saints' names, e.g. Dwynwen).

Legend

According to the late medieval Tale of Taliesin, included in some modern editions of the Mabinogion, Morfran (also called Afagddu) was hideously ugly, so Ceridwen sought to make him wise. She had a magical cauldron that could make a potion granting the gift of wisdom and poetic inspiration. The mixture had to be boiled for a year and a day. Morda, a blind man, tended the fire beneath the cauldron, while Gwion Bach, a young boy, stirred the concoction. The first three drops of liquid from this cauldron gave wisdom; the rest was a fatal poison. Three hot drops spilled onto Gwion's thumb as he stirred, burning him. He instinctively put his thumb in his mouth, and instantly gained great wisdom and knowledge.

Ceridwen chased Gwion. He turned himself into a hare. She became a greyhound. He became a fish and jumped into a river. She turned into an otter. He turned into a bird; she became a hawk. Finally, he turned into a single grain of corn. She then became a hen and ate him. When Ceridwen became pregnant, she knew it was Gwion and resolved to kill the child when he was born. However, when he was born, he was so beautiful that she couldn't do it. She threw him in the ocean instead, sewing him inside a leather-skin bag. The child did not die, but was rescued on a Welsh shore - near Aberdyfi according to most versions of the tale - by a prince named Elffin ap Gwyddno; the reborn infant grew to became the legendary bard Taliesin.

Later interpretations

Ronald Hutton suggests that Ceridwen was created solely for the Tale of Taliesin, the earliest surviving text of which dates to the mid-16th century. However, references to Ceridwen and her cauldron, and indeed to Taliesin as the bard of Elffin, are found in the work of the Poets of the Princes, e.g. Cynddelw Brydydd Mawr, and thus can be dated to the 12th century. References to Ceridwen's cauldron (pair Ceridwen) are also to be found in some of the mythological poems attributed to the legendary Taliesin in the Book of Taliesin,

The Victorian poet Thomas Love Peacock also wrote a poem entitled the Cauldren of Ceridwen. Later writers identified her as having originally been a pagan Goddess, speculating on her role in a supposed Celtic pantheon. John Rhys in 1878 referred to the Solar Myth theory of Max Muller according to which "Gwenhwyfar and Ceridwen are dawn goddesses." Charles Isaac Elton in 1882 referred to her as a "white fairy". Robert Graves later fitted her into his concept of the Threefold Goddess, in which she was interpreted as a form of the destructive side of the goddess.

Graves' theory was appropriated by Wicca, in which Ceridwen plays a role as a goddess, her cauldron symbolizing the feminine principle.
 

ECTOPLASM

Ectoplasm (paranormal)

From Wikipedia

Paranormal / Parapsychology
Terminology
An image purporting to be of a man with his late wife, partially materialised
Details
 
Terminology: Ectoplasm
Definition: An unidentified substance said to be excreted by mediums during trances/A slime like substance associated with hauntings
Signature: White/Gray/transparent, viscous. Resembles mucus. Said to ooze from solid objects or from medium's bodies involving mucous membranes (nose, eyes, mouth). Usually takes form as a misty substance.
Misc
Coined by: Charles Richet (1923)
 
See also: Mediumship,
Spiritualism,
Ghost hunting,
Parapsychology

Ectoplasm (from the Greek ektos, "outside", + plasma, "something formed or molded") is a term coined by Charles Richet to denote a substance or spiritual energy "exteriorized" by physical mediums.[1] Ectoplasm is said to be associated with the formation of ghosts, and hypothesized to be an enabling factor in psychokinesis.

 Phenomenon

Ectoplasm is said to be produced by physical mediums when in a trance state. This material is excreted as a gauze-like substance from orifices on the medium's body and spiritual entities are said to drape this substance over their nonphysical body, enabling them to interact in our physical universe.

Although the term is widespread in popular culture, the physical existence of ectoplasm is not accepted by mainstream science. Some tested samples purported to be ectoplasm have been found to be various nonparanormal substances, including chiffon and flakes of human skin.[2][3] Other researchers have duplicated, with non-supernatural materials, the photographic effects sometimes said to prove the existence of ectoplasm.[4]

 In popular culture

Ectoplasm has become a staple in fictional supernatural lore. Notable examples include Noel Coward's 1941 play Blithe Spirit, and the 1984 film Ghostbusters, in which "ectoplasmic residue" is secreted by ghosts and portrayed as a viscous, cloudy, greenish-white substance similar to nasal mucus. In the film, Bill Murray says the famous line, "He slimed me!", after an angry ghost charges him in a hotel corridor. The sequel, Ghostbusters 2 revolves mainly around the discovery of a new form of ectoplasm, "mood slime", which is shown as being pinkish and amplifies humans' emotions causing them to become either extremely outgoing and pleasant or aggressive and murderous, based on positive or negative emotions the substance is exposed to. It is also capable of bringing inanimate objects to life and used to animate the Statue of Liberty.

See also

References

  1. ^ Ectoplasm—Glossary of Key Words Frequently Used in Parapsychology, Parapsychological Association (2006-01-24).
  2. ^ Keene, M. Lamar (1997). The Psychic Mafia. New York; Amherst, N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press; Prometheus Books. ISBN 1573921610 (reprint). 
  3. ^ Baker, Robert A.; Joe Nickell (1992). Missing Pieces: How to Investigate Ghosts, UFOs, Psychics and Other Mysteries. Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. ISBN 0879757299. 
  4. ^ Dawn M. Peterson, "Mysterious Beings or Mere Accidents?", Skeptical Briefs newsletter, June 2004.

External links

 

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT A SORCERESS

Exodus 22:18 in 19 English translations of the Bible:

Various Biblical translations render this verse as:

  1. American Standard Version "Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live."
  2. The Answer: Put to death any woman who does evil magic.
  3. Amplified Bible: You shall not allow a woman to live who practices sorcery.
  4. Good News Version: Put to death any woman who practices magic.
  5. James Moffatt Translation: You shall not allow any sorceress to live.
  6. Jerusalem Bible: You shall not allow a sorceress to live.
  7. King James Version: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.
  8. Living Bible: A sorceress shall be put to death.
  9. Modern Language Bible: Allow no sorceress to live.
  10. New American Bible: You shall not let a sorceress live.
  11. New American Standard Bible: You shall not let a sorceress live.
  12. New Century Version: Put to death any woman who does evil magic.
  13. New International Version: Do not allow a sorceress to live.
  14. New Living Translation: A sorceress must not be allowed to live.
  15. New Revised Standard Version: You shall not permit a female sorcerer to live.
  16. New World Translation: You must not preserve a sorceress alive.
  17. The Promise: Contemporary English Version: Death is the punishment for witchcraft.
  18. Revised Standard Version: You shall not permit a sorceress to live.
  19. Revised English Bible: You must not allow a witch to live.

In the original Hebrew manuscript, the author used the word m'khashepah to describe the person who should be killed. The word means a woman who uses spoken spells to harm others - e.g. causing their death or loss of property. Clearly "evil sorceress" or "woman who does evil magic" would be the most accurate phrases in today's English usage for this verse.

The Good News Bible uses the term "magic." This is also a poor selection because that term has been used to refer to:

  • stage magic, sleight of hand, magic tricks.
  • ceremonial magic used to harm other persons.
  • ceremonial magic used to heal other persons.

The King James Version and Revised English Bible use the term "witch." In North America, the term normally refers to Wiccans -- the followers of the Wiccan religion. According to the Scofield Reference Bible this verse from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) was written in the year 1491 BCE. This is some 650 years before the origin of the Celtic people circa 850 BCE from whom some elements of Wicca were taken. So Exodus 22:18 can hardly be referring to Wiccans.

FROM: http://www.religioustolerance.org/wic_bibl2.htm

 

<< Isaiah 57:3 >>
 
 
New International Version (©1984)
"But you--come here, you sons of a sorceress, you offspring of adulterers and prostitutes!

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"But come here, you sons of a sorceress, Offspring of an adulterer and a prostitute.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
But you-come here, you children of witches, you descendants of adulterers and prostitutes!

King James Bible
But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.

American King James Version
But draw near here, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.

American Standard Version
But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot.

Bible in Basic English
But come near, you sons of her who is wise in secret arts, the seed of her who is false to her husband, and of the loose woman.

Douay-Rheims Bible
But draw near hither, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer, and of the harlot.

Darby Bible Translation
But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot.

English Revised Version
But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.

Webster's Bible Translation
But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the lewd.

World English Bible
"But draw near here, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the prostitute.

Young's Literal Translation
And ye, come near hither, O sons of a sorceress, seed of an adulterer, Even thou dost commit whoredom.

Geneva Study Bible

But draw near here, ye {c} sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot.

(c) He threatens the wicked hypocrites, who under the pretence of the name of God's people, derided God's word and his promises: boasting openly that they were the children of Abraham, but because they were not faithful and obedient as Abraham was, he calls them bastards and the children of sorcerers, who forsook God, and fled to wicked means for comfort.

Wesley's Notes

57:3 Hither - To God's tribunal, to receive your sentence. Sons - Not by propagation, but by imitation. And the whore - Not the genuine children of Abraham, their dispositions were far more suitable to a bastardly brood, than to Abraham's seed.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

3. But . ye-In contrast to "the righteous" and their end, he announces to the unbelieving Jews their doom.

sons of the sorceress-that is, ye that are addicted to sorcery: this was connected with the worship of false gods (2Ki 21:6). No insult is greater to an Oriental than any slur cast on his mother (1Sa 20:30; Job 30:8).

seed of the adulterer-Spiritual adultery is meant: idolatry and apostasy (Mt 16:4).

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

57:3-12 The Lord here calls apostates and hypocrites to appear before him. When reproved for their sins, and threatened with judgments, they ridiculed the word of God. The Jews were guilty of idolatry before the captivity; but not after that affliction. Their zeal in the worship of false gods, may shame our indifference in the worship of the true God. The service of sin is disgraceful slavery; those who thus debase themselves to hell, will justly have their portion there. Men incline to a religion that inflames their unholy passions. They are led to do any evil, however great or vile, if they think it will atone for crimes, or purchase indulgence for some favourite lust. This explains idolatry, whether pagan, Jewish, or antichristian. But those who set up anything instead of God, for their hope and confidence, never will come to a right end. Those who forsake the only right way, wander in a thousand by-paths. The pleasures of sin soon tire, but never satisfy. Those who care not for the word of God and his providences, show they have no fear of God. Sin profits not; it ruins and destroys.

 

 
Isaiah 1:4 Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him.

Isaiah 1:21 How the faithful city has become a harlot, She who was full of justice! Righteousness once lodged in her, But now murderers.

Isaiah 57:7 "Upon a high and lofty mountain You have made your bed. You also went up there to offer sacrifice.

Malachi 3:5 "Then I will draw near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely, and against those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and those who turn aside the alien and do not fear Me," says the LORD of hosts.

Matthew 16:4 "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah." And He left them and went away. (NASB ©1995)


But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the whore.

draw Isa 45:20 Joe 3:9-11

sons Ge 3:15 Ho 1:2 Mt 3:7 12:34 16:4 23:33 Lu 3:7 Joh 8:40-44 Jas 4:4 1Jo 3:10 Re 17:1-5

Bible Gateway: Isaiah Chapter 57 Verse 3 NIV ESV NKJV NLT KJV Message Amplified

Alphabetical: a adulterer adulterers an and But come here of offspring prostitute prostitutes sons sorceress you

OT Prophets: Isaiah 57:3 But draw near here you sons (Isa Isi Is) Christian Bible Study Resources, Dictionary, Concordance and Search Tools

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THE SORCERESS AND MOLECH

Killer Laws

The greater part of human actions have their origin not in logical reasoning but in sentiment.
-Vilfredo Pareto

Bible apologists have a habit of crediting God for anything they see as good, and ignoring the obviously bad. This report exposes the deadly side of what they call God's moral laws.

There is no argument that there is universal agreement against killing, stealing and lying. Apologists argue that they are moral laws which come from a divine source, that is from outside of ourselves. By labeling them laws, the logic follows that they come from a lawgiver and enforcer: God. And because they come from an absolute authority, it is held that they are absolute moral truths.

This line of reasoning is based on a fallacy known as begging the question: It assumes at the outset what it has established as the conclusion. I.e., the label law implies the existence of a lawmaker: God. Thus, the fact that there is moral order is proof of God's existence. The argument goes in circles.

I'm going to argue that moral behavior is inherent in our social instincts. When we make moral judgments, in effect, we make value judgments. That there are many areas of disagreement is what defines them as value judgments.

There is a practical way to demonstrate the inherent nature of moral behavior: Without them our species would not have gotten to where it is now. On the whole we need each other for what we can't achieve alone; we're social animals. If antisocial behavior was basic to our instincts we would have become extinct long before biblical days. We see social behavior in animals, from ants to monkeys; and they don't function under law. Nay, the majority of the world's population, since the beginning of history, doesn't even believe in a Judeo-Christian God. The theist argument just doesn't hold.

This is a big deal among apologists. For they argue that without God there is no objective standard of right and wrong. Take away this standard, and what you get is a relativistic or morally subjective society. Our godless society is falling apart, they say. It is becoming more and more violent, dishonest, crude, selfish and superficial. Then they recite a litany of things that violate God's law.

What's new? There will always be war and crime at the margins. But on the whole, people go about their affairs peacefully, trying to make the best of every day.

I sense missionary propaganda in their logic. They would have you believe that humans are born tabula rasa and need to be taught right from wrong according to God's laws at an early age. It also follows that childhood is the best time to instill the fear of God so they behave morally into adulthood. But if we act out of fear, then it means that our behavior is guided by slavish obedience, not from natural goodness.

Frankly, we don't reason by objective standards very well. Our thoughts and actions are guided by sentiment. And this is what religious indoctrination plays on: the fear factor. Without fear of some kind of divine punishment, God's laws are meaningless.

Since the Ten Commandments are held as the highest standard of God's laws, it is only fair to examine them to see how they are applied. The list below presents a collection of verses which call for the death penalty. Some even call for child sacrifice.

To put it mildly, they are inferior to subjective standards of right and wrong. By demanding an extreme level of conformity, they can only be enforced with extreme punishment: death.

16"The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor shall the children be put to death for the fathers; every man shall be put to death for his own sin. (Deut. 24:16)

To put it bluntly, there is nothing objective about them; they are extremely vicious. Apologists are not fit to argue that human society would be better off with God's moral laws.

Ten Commandments

1. You shall have no other gods before me.

1. Whoever sacrifices to any god but Yahweh shall be utterly destroyed.

20"Whoever sacrifices to any god, save to the LORD only, shall be utterly destroyed. (Ex. 22:20)

2. Sacrifices to Molech - death by stoning.

2"Say to the people of Israel, Any man of the people of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, who gives any of his children to Molech shall be put to death; the people of the land shall stone him with stones. (Lev. 20:2)

3. Whoever has gone and served other gods shall be stoned to death.

2"If there is found among you, within any of your towns which the LORD your God gives you, a man or woman who does what is evil in the sight of the LORD your God, in transgressing his covenant,
3and has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, or the sun or the moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have forbidden,
4and it is told you and you hear of it; then you shall inquire diligently, and if it is true and certain that such an abominable thing has been done in Israel,
5then you shall bring forth to your gates that man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you shall stone that man or woman to death with stones. (Deut. 17:2-5)

4. If someone tries to entice you to serve other gods, you shall stone him to death.

6"If your brother, the son of your mother, or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your bosom, or your friend who is as your own soul, entices you secretly, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which neither you nor your fathers have known,
7some of the gods of the peoples that are round about you, whether near you or far off from you, from the one end of the earth to the other,
8you shall not yield to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you conceal him;
9but you shall kill him; your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
10You shall stone him to death with stones, because he sought to draw you away from the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (Deut. 13:6-10)

5. If you hear that someone has drawn others out of the city to serve other gods, you shall investigate. If it is true you shall put them to the sword.

12"If you hear in one of your cities, which the LORD your God gives you to dwell there,
13that certain base fellows have gone out among you and have drawn away the inhabitants of the city, saying, 'Let us go and serve other gods,' which you have not known,
14then you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently; and behold, if it be true and certain that such an abominable thing has been done among you,
15you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, destroying it utterly, all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. (Deut. 13:12-15)

6. He who does not believe will be condemned.

16He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:16)

7. You will die for your sins unless you believe that I am he.

24I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he." (John 8:24)

2. You shall not make any graven images or any likeness of anything in heaven.

1. Mediums and wizards shall be stoned to death.

27"A man or a woman who is a medium or a wizard shall be put to death; they shall be stoned with stones, their blood shall be upon them." (Lev. 20:27)

2. You shall not permit a sorceress to live.

18"You shall not permit a sorceress to live. (Ex. 22:18)

3. You shall not take the name of God in vain.

1. Blasphemers shall be stoned to death.

16He who blasphemes the name of the LORD shall be put to death; >all the congregation shall stone him; the sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death. (Lev. 24:16)

2. Blasphemers will not be forgiven in the age to come.

31Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.
32And whoever says a word against the Son of man will be forgiven; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matt. 12:31-32)

4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.

Working on the Sabbath is punishable by death.

15Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. (Ex. 31:15)

2Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy sabbath of solemn rest to the LORD; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death; (Ex. 35:2)

5. Honor your father and mother.

1. Whoever strikes his father or mother shall be put to death.

15"Whoever strikes his father or his mother shall be put to death. (Ex. 21:15)

2. Whoever curses his father or mother shall be put to death.

17"Whoever curses his father or his mother shall be put to death. (Ex. 21:17)

9For every one who curses his father or his mother shall be put to death; he has cursed his father or his mother, his blood is upon him. (Lev. 20:9)

3. A stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his parents may be stoned to death.

18"If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they chastise him, will not give heed to them,
19then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives,
20and they shall say to the elders of his city, 'This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.'
21Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall purge the evil from your midst; and all Israel shall hear, and fear. (Deut. 21:18-21)

6. You shall not kill.

1. Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.

12"Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. (Ex. 21:12)

2. If a man attacks and kills another treacherously, take him from my altar so he may die.

14But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him treacherously, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die. (Ex. 21:14)

3. If an ox with a violent history kills a man or a woman, its owner shall be put to death.

29But if the ox has been accustomed to gore in the past, and its owner has been warned but has not kept it in, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned, and its owner also shall be put to death. (Ex. 21:29)

4. Killing a man gets the death penalty.

17He who kills a man shall be put to death. (Lev. 24:17)

5. Killing a beast gets the death penalty.

18He who kills a beast shall make it good, life for life. (Lev. 24:18)

6. A murderer may be put to death by an avenger.

16"But if he struck him down with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.
17And if he struck him down with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.
18Or if he struck him down with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.
19The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.
20And if he stabbed him from hatred, or hurled at him, lying in wait, so that he died,
21or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death; he is a murderer; the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him. (Num. 35:16-21)

7. Anger and insults to your brother get the same penalty as killing - burning in hell.

21"You have heard that it was said to the men of old, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills shall be liable to judgment.'
22But I say to you that every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, 'You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire. (Matt. 5:21-22)

7. You shall not commit adultery.

1. Adultery with a neighbor's wife - both die.

10"If a man commits adultery with the wife of his neighbor, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall be put to death. (Lev. 20:10)

2. Whoever lies with a beast shall be put to death.

19"Whoever lies with a beast shall be put to death. (Ex. 22:19)

3. Sex with your father's wife - both die.

11The man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness; both of them shall be put to death, their blood is upon them. (Lev. 20:11)

4. Sex with your daughter-in-law - both die.

12If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall be put to death; they have committed incest, their blood is upon them. (Lev. 20:12)

5. Male homosexuality - both die.

13If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them. (Lev. 20:13)

6. Sex with your mother-in-law; both shall be burned to death.

14If a man takes a wife and her mother also, it is wickedness; they shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you. (Lev. 20:14)

7. Male sex with an animal - both die.

15If a man lies with a beast, he shall be put to death; and you shall kill the beast. (Lev. 20:15)

8. Female sex with an animal; both die.

16If a woman approaches any beast and lies with it, you shall kill the woman and the beast; they shall be put to death, their blood is upon them. (Lev. 20:16)

9. Sex between a man and his aunt - it is not clear if they are to die or if any children produced die.

20If a man lies with his uncle's wife, he has uncovered his uncle's nakedness; they shall bear their sin, they shall die childless. (Lev. 20:20)

10. Sex between a man and his sister-in-law - any children produced shall die.

21If a man takes his brother's wife, it is impurity; he has uncovered his brother's nakedness, they shall be childless. (Lev. 20:21)

11. If a man charges his wife with non-chastity and if it proves true, she shall be stoned to death.

13"If any man takes a wife, and goes in to her, and then spurns her,
14and charges her with shameful conduct, and brings an evil name upon her, saying, 'I took this woman, and when I came near her, I did not find in her the tokens of virginity,'
20But if the thing is true, that the tokens of virginity were not found in the young woman,
21then they shall bring out the young woman to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her to death with stones, because she has wrought folly in Israel by playing the harlot in her father's house; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you. (Deut. 22:13-21)

12. If a man has sex with the wife of another man, both shall die.

22"If a man is found lying with the wife of another man, both of them shall die, the man who lay with the woman, and the woman; so you shall purge the evil from Israel. (Deut. 22:22)

13. If a man has sex with a virgin in the city, they will be stoned to death because she did not cry for help.

23"If there is a betrothed virgin, and a man meets her in the city and lies with her,
24then you shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you shall stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry for help though she was in the city, and the man because he violated his neighbor's wife; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you.

14. If a man rapes a married woman in the open country, only the man shall die because there was no one to rescue the woman.

25"But if in the open country a man meets a young woman who is betrothed, and the man seizes her and lies with her, then only the man who lay with her shall die.
26But to the young woman you shall do nothing; in the young woman there is no offense punishable by death, for this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor;
27because he came upon her in the open country, and though the betrothed young woman cried for help there was no one to rescue her. (Deut. 22:25-27)

15. It is better to cut off one of your offending members then to for your whole body to be thrown in hell.

27"You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.'
28But I say to you that every one who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
29If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. (Matt. 5:27-30)

8. You shall not steal.

1. Whoever steals a man (kidnapping) shall be put do death.

16"Whoever steals a man, whether he sells him or is found in possession of him, shall be put to death. (Ex. 21:16)

2. Kidnapping and enslaving is punishable by death.

7"If a man is found stealing one of his brethren, the people of Israel, and if he treats him as a slave or sells him, then that thief shall die; so you shall purge the evil from the midst of you. (Deut. 24:5)

9. You shall not bear false witness.

10. You shall not covet.

Child sacrifice

You shall give to me the first born of your sons.

29"You shall not delay to offer from the fulness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses. "The first-born of your sons you shall give to me. (Ex. 22:29)

You shall redeem the first-born of your sons.

19All that opens the womb is mine, all your male cattle, the firstlings of cow and sheep.
20The firstling of an ass you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck. All the first-born of your sons you shall redeem. And none shall appear before me empty. (Ex. 34:19-20)

Any male who is to be devoted to God shall be destroyed. 

28"But no devoted thing that a man devotes to the LORD, of anything that he has, whether of a man or beast, or of his inherited field, shall be sold or redeemed; every devoted thing is most holy to the LORD.
29No one devoted, who is to be utterly destroyed from among men, shall be ransomed; he shall be put to death. (Lev. 27:28)

Further reading

Ten Commandments and Jesus Even Jesus didn't live up to the Ten Commandments.

Hellfire Jesus Jesus was not a good person in any sense of the word.

Moses' Articles of War Good laws cannot come from an evil God.

FROM: http://www.usbible.com/law/killer_laws.htm

 

WHO WAS MOLECH?
 
Moloch, Molech, Molekh, Molek, or Moloc, representing semitic מלך m-l-k, (a root which occurs in various Hebrew and Arabic words related to kings) is either the name of a god or the name of a particular kind of sacrifice associated with fire. Moloch was historically affiliated with cultures throughout the Middle East, including but not limited to the Hebrew, Egyptian, Canaanite, Phoenician and related cultures in North Africa and the Levant.

In modern English usage, "Moloch" can refer derivatively to any person or thing which demands or requires costly sacrifices

Etymology

Moloch went by many names including, but not limited to, Ba'al, Moloch, Apis Bull, Golden Calf, Chemosh, and many others. The god was widely worshiped in the Middle East and wherever Punic culture extended (including, but not limited to, the Ammonites, the Edomites, and the Moabites). Baal Moloch was conceived under the form of a calf or an ox or depicted as a man with the head of a bull.[citation needed]

Hadad, Baal, or simply the King identified the god within his cult. The name Moloch is the name he was known by among his worshipers, but this is a Hebrew translation. (MLK has been found on stele at the infant necropolis in Carthage.) Some say that the written form Μολώχ Moloch (in the Septuagint Greek translation of the Torah), or Molech (Hebrew), is the word Melech or king, transformed by interposing the vowels of bosheth or 'shameful thing'.[1]

Moloch is sometimes also called Milcom in the Old Testament (1 Kings 11:5, 1 Kings 11:33, 2 Kings 23:13 and Zephaniah 1:5).[citation needed]

 Forms and grammar

The Hebrew letters מלך (mlk) usually stands for melek 'king' (Proto-Northwest Semitic malku) but when vocalized as mōlek in Masoretic Hebrew text, they have been traditionally understood as a proper name Μολοχ (molokh) (Proto-Northwest Semitic Mulku) in the corresponding Greek renderings in the Septuagint translation, in Aquila, and in the Middle Eastern Targum. The form usually appears in the compound lmlk. The Hebrew preposition l- means "to", but it can often mean "for" or "as a(n)". Accordingly one can translate lmlk as "to Moloch" or "for Moloch" or "as a Moloch", or "to the Moloch" or "for the Moloch" or "as the Moloch", whatever a "Moloch" or "the Moloch" might be. We also once find hmlk 'the Moloch' standing by itself.

Because there is no difference between mlk 'king' and mlk 'moloch' in unpointed text, interpreters sometimes suggest molek should be understood in certain places where the Masoretic text is vocalized as melek, and vice versa.

Moloch has been traditionally interpreted as the name of a god, possibly a god titled the king, but purposely mispronounced as Molek instead of Melek using the vowels of Hebrew bosheth "shame".[2]

Moloch appears in the Hebrew of 1 Kings 11:7 (on Solomon's religious failings):

Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and lmlk, the abomination of the Sons of Ammon.

In other passages, however, the god of the Ammonites is named Milcom, not Moloch (see 1 Kings 11.33; Zephaniah 1.5). The Septuagint reads Milcom in 1 Kings 11.7 instead of Moloch which suggests a scribal error in the Hebrew. Many English translations accordingly follow the non-Hebrew versions at this point and render Milcom. The form mlkm can also mean "their king" as well as Milcom, and therefore one cannot always be sure in some other passages whether the King of Ammon is intended or the god Milcom.

It has also been suggested that the Ba‘al of Tyre, Melqart "king of the city" (who was probably the Ba‘al whose worship was furthered by Ahab and his house) was this supposed god Moloch and that Melqart/Moloch was also Milcom the god of the Ammonites and identical to other gods whose names contain mlk.

Amos 5:26 reads in close translation:

But you shall carry Sikkut your king,
and Kiyyun, your images, the star-symbol of your god
which you made for yourself.

The Septuagint renders "your king" as Moloch, perhaps from a scribal error, whence the verse appears in Acts 7.43:

You have lifted up the shrine of Molech
and the star of your god Rephan,
the idols you made to worship.

Other references to Moloch use mlk only in the context of "passing children through fire lmlk", whatever is meant by lmlk, whether it means "to Moloch" or means something else. It has traditionally been understood to mean burning children alive to the god Moloch. But some have suggested a rite of purification by fire instead, though perhaps a dangerous one. References to passing through fire without mentioning mlk appear in Deuteronomy 12:31, 18:10-13; 2 Kings 21.6; Ezekiel 20.26,31; 23.37. So the existence of this practice is well documented. For a comparable practice of rendering infants immortal by passing them through the fire, indirectly attested in early Greek myth, see the entries for Thetis and also the myth of Demeter as the nurse of Demophon.

 Biblical texts

An 18th century illustration of Moloch.

The word here translated literally as 'seed' very often means offspring. The forms containing mlk have been left untranslated. The reader may substitute either "to Moloch" or "as a molk".

The laws given to Moses by God expressly forbade the Jews to do what was done in Egypt or in Canaan. “You shall not give any of your children to devote them by fire to Moloch, and so profane the name of your God” (Lev. 18:21). [3].

Leviticus 18:21:

And you shall not let any of your seed pass through l'Molech, neither shall you profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.

Leviticus 20:2-5:

Again, you shall say to the Sons of Israel: Whoever he be of the Sons of Israel or of the strangers that sojourn in Israel, that gives any of his seed l'Molech; he shall surely be put to death: the people of the land shall stone him with stones. And I will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people; because he has given of his seed l'Molech, to defile my sanctuary, and to profane my holy name. And if the people of the land do at all hide their eyes from that man, when he gives of his seed l'Molech, and do not kill him, then I will set my face against that man, and against his family, and will cut him off, and all that go astray after him, whoring l'Molech from among the people.

2 Kings 23:10 (on King Josiah's reform):

And he defiled the Tophet, which is in the valley of Ben-hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire l'Molech.

Jeremiah 32:35:

And they built the high places of the Ba‘al, which are in the valley of Ben-hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire l'Molech; which I did not command them, nor did it come into my mind that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.

 Jewish rabbinic commentary

The 12th century rabbi Rashi, commenting on Jeremiah 7:31 stated:

Tophet is Moloch, which was made of brass; and they heated him from his lower parts; and his hands being stretched out, and made hot, they put the child between his hands, and it was burnt; when it vehemently cried out; but the priests beat a drum, that the father might not hear the voice of his son, and his heart might not be moved.

A rabbinical tradition attributed to the Yalkout of Rabbi Simeon,[4] says that the idol was hollow and was divided into seven compartments, in one of which they put flour, in the second turtle-doves, in the third a ewe, in the fourth a ram, in the fifth a calf, in the sixth an ox, and in the seventh a child, which were all burned together by heating the statue inside.

 Classical Greek and Roman accounts

Later commentators have compared these accounts with similar ones from Greek and Latin sources speaking of the offering of children by fire as sacrifices in the Punic city of Carthage, which was a Phoenician colony. Cleitarchus, Diodorus Siculus and Plutarch all mention burning of children as an offering to Cronus or Saturn, that is to Ba‘al Hammon, the chief god of Carthage. Issues and practices relating to Moloch and child sacrifice may also have been overemphasized for effect. After the Romans defeated Carthage and totally destroyed the city, they engaged in post-war propaganda to make their archenemies seem cruel and less civilized.[5]

Paul G. Mosca, in his thesis described below, translates Cleitarchus' paraphrase of a scholia to Plato's Republic as:

There stands in their midst a bronze statue of Kronos, its hands extended over a bronze brazier, the flames of which engulf the child. When the flames fall upon the body, the limbs contract and the open mouth seems almost to be laughing until the contracted body slips quietly into the brazier. Thus it is that the 'grin' is known as 'sardonic laughter,' since they die laughing.

Diodorus Siculus (20.14) wrote:

There was in their city a bronze image of Cronus extending its hands, palms up and sloping toward the ground, so that each of the children when placed thereon rolled down and fell into a sort of gaping pit filled with fire.

Diodorus also relates relatives were forbidden to weep and that when Agathocles defeated Carthage, the Carthaginian nobles believed they had displeased the gods by substituting low-born children for their own children. They attempted to make amends by sacrificing 200 children of the best families at once, and in their enthusiasm actually sacrificed 300 children.

Plutarch wrote in De Superstitiones 171:

... the whole area before the statue was filled with a loud noise of flutes and drums so that the cries of wailing should not reach the ears of the people.

 in medieval texts

William Blake (1809, The Flight of Moloch, watercolour, 25.7 x 19.7 cm. One of Blake's illustrations of On the Morning of Christ's Nativity, the poem by John Milton

Like some other gods and demons found in the Bible, Moloch appears as part of medieval demonology, as a Prince of Hell. This Moloch finds particular pleasure in making mothers weep; he specializes in stealing their children. According to some 16th century demonologists, Moloch's power is stronger in December.

 in early modern and modern texts

in Milton's Paradise Lost

In John Milton's Paradise Lost, Moloch is one of the greatest warriors of the rebel angels,

"First MOLOCH, horrid King besmear'd with blood
Of human sacrifice, and parents tears,
Though for the noyse of Drums and Timbrels loud
Their childrens cries unheard, that past through fire
To his grim Idol. Him the AMMONITE
Worshipt in RABBA and her watry Plain,
In ARGOB and in BASAN, to the stream
Of utmost ARNON. Nor content with such
Audacious neighbourhood, the wisest heart
Of SOLOMON he led by fraud to build
His Temple right against the Temple of God
On that opprobrious Hill, and made his Grove
The pleasant Vally of HINNOM, TOPHET thence
And black GEHENNA call'd, the Type of Hell."

He is listed among the chief of Satan's angels in Book I, and is given a speech at the parliament of Hell in Book 2:43 - 105, where he argues for immediate warfare against God. He later becomes revered as a pagan god on Earth.

 in Russell's A Free Man's Worship

In Bertrand Russell's A Free Man's Worship, Moloch is used to describe a particularly savage brand of religion:

The savage, like ourselves, feels the oppression of his impotence before the powers of Nature; but having in himself nothing that he respects more than Power, he is willing to prostrate himself before his gods, without inquiring whether they are worthy of his worship. Pathetic and very terrible is the long history of cruelty and torture, of degradation and human sacrifice, endured in the hope of placating the jealous gods: surely, the trembling believer thinks, when what is most precious has been freely given, their lust for blood must be appeased, and more will not be required. The religion of Moloch — as such creeds may be generically called — is in essence the cringing submission of the slave, who dare not, even in his heart, allow the thought that his master deserves no adulation. Since the independence of ideals is not yet acknowledged, Power may be freely worshipped, and receive an unlimited respect, despite its wanton infliction of pain.

 in Ginsberg's Howl

In Allen Ginsberg's Howl, Moloch is used as a metaphor for the American city, thus aligning McCarthy-era America with the god. The word is repeated many times throughout Part II of the poem, and begins (as an exclamation of "Moloch!") in all but the first and last five stanzas of the section.

in Fritz Lang's Metropolis

In Fritz Lang's Metropolis, Freder uses the term to describe the horror as he watches his fellow men devoured by their work in the workers' city.

in Jeff Lindsay's Dexter in the Dark

In Jeff Lindsay's Dexter in the Dark, Moloch is cast as the original and almighty entity behind all human evil.

 Modern research, theories and concepts

Nineteenth and early twentieth century theories

Nineteenth century and early twentieth century archaeology found almost no evidence of a god called Moloch or Molech. (See below: 7.3 Eissfeldt's theory: a type of sacrifice http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch#Eissfeldt.27s_theory:_a_type_of_sacrifice ) They also characterized Rabbinical traditions about other gods mentioned in the Tanach as simply legends, and regarded them as raising doubt about what was said about Moloch. They suggested that such descriptions of Moloch might be simply taken from accounts of the sacrifice to Cronus and from the tale of the Minotaur; They found no evidence of a bull-headed Phoenician god. This did not hold back some from identifying Moloch with Milcom, with the Tyrian god Melqart, with Ba‘al Hammon to whom children were purportedly sacrificed, and with any other god called "Lord" (Ba‘al) or (Bel). These various suggested equations combined with the popular solar theory hypotheses of the day generated a single theoretical sun god: Baal.

 Flaubert's conception

Gustave Flaubert's Salammbô, a semi-historical novel about Carthage published in 1862, included a version of the Carthaginian religion, including the god Moloch, whom he characterized as a god to whom the Carthaginians offered children. Flaubert described this Moloch mostly according to the Rabbinic descriptions, but with a few of his own additions. From chapter 7:

Then further back, higher than the candelabrum, and much higher than the altar, rose the Moloch, all of iron, and with gaping apertures in his human breast. His outspread wings were stretched upon the wall, his tapering hands reached down to the ground; three black stones bordered by yellow circles represented three eyeballs on his brow, and his bull's head was raised with a terrible effort as if in order to bellow.

Chapter 13 describes how, in desperate attempt to call down rain, the image of Moloch was brought to the center of Carthage, how the arms of the image were moved by the pulling of chains by the priests (apparently Flaubert's own invention), and then describes the sacrifices made to Moloch. First grain and animals of various kinds were placed in compartments within the statue (as in the Rabbinic account). Then the children were offered, at first a few, and then more and more.

The brazen arms were working more quickly. They paused no longer. Every time that a child was placed in them the priests of Moloch spread out their hands upon him to burden him with the crimes of the people, vociferating: "They are not men but oxen!" and the multitude round about repeated: "Oxen! oxen!" The devout exclaimed: "Lord! eat!" and the priests of Proserpine, complying through terror with the needs of Carthage, muttered the Eleusinian formula: "Pour out rain! bring forth!" The victims, when scarcely at the edge of the opening, disappeared like a drop of water on a red-hot plate, and white smoke rose amid the great scarlet colour. Nevertheless, the appetite of the god was not appeased. He ever wished for more. In order to furnish him with a larger supply, the victims were piled up on his hands with a big chain above them which kept them in their place. Some devout persons had at the beginning wished to count them, to see whether their number corresponded with the days of the solar year; but others were brought, and it was impossible to distinguish them in the giddy motion of the horrible arms. This lasted for a long, indefinite time until the evening. Then the partitions inside assumed a darker glow, and burning flesh could be seen. Some even believed that they could descry hair, limbs, and whole bodies. Night fell; clouds accumulated above the Baal. The funeral-pile, which was flameless now, formed a pyramid of coals up to his knees; completely red like a giant covered with blood, he looked, with his head thrown back, as though he were staggering beneath the weight of his intoxication.

A human sacrifice in this poster of Cabiria.

Director Giovanni Pastrone's silent film Cabiria (1914) was largely based on Salammbo and included an enormous image of Moloch modeled on Flaubert's description. Elizabeth Dilling's husband, Jeremiah Stokes wrote an anti-Semitic book The Plot Against Christianity, re-released under the title The Jewish Religion: Its Influence Today (with Talmudic writings annotated by Dilling), which quoted Flaubert's description as if it were historically accurate. Information from the novel and film still finds its way into serious writing about Moloch, Melqart, Carthage, and Ba‘al Hammon.

 Eissfeldt's theory: a type of sacrifice

In 1921 Otto Eissfeldt, excavating in Carthage, discovered inscriptions with the word MLK, which in the context meant neither "king" nor the name of any god. He concluded that it was instead a term for a particular kind of sacrifice, one which at least in some cases involved human sacrifice. A relief was found showing a priest holding a child. Also uncovered was a sanctuary to the goddess Tanit comprising a cemetery with thousands of burned bodies of animals and of human infants, dating from the 8th century BC down to the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC. Eissfeldt identified the site as a tophet, using a Hebrew word of previously unknown meaning connected to the burning in some Biblical passages. Most of the children's bodies appeared to be those of newborns, but some were older, up to about six years of age.

Eissfeldt further concluded that the Hebrew writings were not talking about the god Moloch at all, but about the molk or mulk sacrifice, that the abomination was not in worshiping the god Molech who demanded children be sacrificed to him, but in the practice of sacrificing human children as a molk. Hebrews were strongly opposed to sacrificing first-born children as a molk to Yahweh himself. The relevant Scriptural passages depict Yahweh condemning Hebrews sacrificing their first-borns; those who did were stoned to death, and those who witnessed but did not prevent the sacrifice were excommunicated.[6]

Similar "tophets" have since been found at Carthage and other places in North Africa, and in Sardinia, Malta, Sicily . In late 1990 a possible tophet consisting of cinerary urns containing bones and ashes and votive objects was retrieved from ransacking on the mainland just outside of Tyre in the Phoenician homeland. [7]

Further discussion of Eissfeldt's theories unfolded.

 Discussion of Eissfeldt's theory

From the beginning there were some who doubted Eissfeldt's theory but opposition was only sporadic until 1970. Prominent archaeologist Sabatino Moscati (who had accepted Eissfeldt's idea, like most others) changed his opinion and spoke against it. Others followed.[citation needed]

The arguments were that classical accounts of the sacrifices of children at Carthage were not numerous and were only particularly described as occurring in times of peril, not necessarily a regular occurrence.

Texts referring to the molk sacrifice mentioned animals more than they mentioned humans. Of course, those may have been animals offered instead of humans to redeem a human life. And the Biblical decrying of the sacrificing of one's children as a molk sacrifice doesn't indicate one way or the other that all molk sacrifices must involve human child sacrifice or even that a molk usually involved human sacrifice.

It was pointed out the phrase "whoring after" was elsewhere only used about seeking other gods, not about particular religious practices.

Eissfeldt's use of the Biblical word tophet was criticized as arbitrary; Even those who believed in Eissfeldt's general theory mostly took tophet to mean something like 'hearth' in the Biblical context, not a cemetery of some kind.

John Day, in his book Molech: A God of Human Sacrifice in the Old Testament (Cambridge, 1989; ISBN 0-521-36474-4), again put forth the argument that there was indeed a particular god named Molech, citing a god mlk from two Ugaritic serpent charms, and an obscure god Malik from some god lists who in two texts was equated with Nergal, the Mesopotamian god of the underworld.

Archaeology

A temple at Amman (1400-1250 B.C.) excavated and reported upon by J.B. Hennessy, shows possibility of animal and human sacrifice by fire.

Notes

  1. ^ "The name "Molech," later corrupted into "Moloch," is an intentional mispointing of "Melek," after the analogy of "bosheth" (comp. Hoffmann in Stade's "Zeitschrift," iii. 124)." Jewish Encyclopedia, s.v. "Moloch (Molech)" (on-line text).
  2. ^ "Molech". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2008. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9053271/Moloch. Retrieved on 2008-03-22. 
  3. ^ "Moloch". Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2008. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9053271/Moloch. Retrieved on 2008-03-22. 
  4. ^ Attributed, for example, by Moses Margoliouth, A pilgrimage to the land of my fathers 1850:125.
  5. ^ Of Roman-Carthaginian diplomacy leading up to the final confrontation, A. E. Astin, F. W. Walbank, M. W. Frederiksen, (Rome and the Mediterranean to 133 B.C., Cambridge Ancient History VIII, "Rome and Carthage" 1989:149) note that the sources, "principally Appian and the Epitome of Livy are contaminated by more or less obvious falsehoods, especially the Epitome. The reason for this was of course the desire of contemporary and, even more, of later Romans to justify Rome's conduct".
  6. ^ http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Leviticus+20
  7. ^ http://almashriq.hiof.no/ddc/projects/archaeology/berytus-back/berytus39/seeden-tophet/

 References

  • Grena, G.M. (2004). LMLK--A Mystery Belonging to the King vol. 1. Redondo Beach, California: 4000 Years of Writing History. ISBN 0-9748786-0-X. 
  • J.B. Hennessey, Palestine Exploration Quarterly (1966)

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch"

 

MOLECH / MOLOCH - THE OWL GOD -  IS STILL WORSHIPPED IN THE UNITED STATES


Many U.S. Presidents have gone to the grove, but most do not appear on the membership roster, though we know that Reagan, Nixon (both pictured below at the Grove), George W. Bush, Herbert Hoover and many other presidents have also attended but are not listed, as is the case for presidential advisor Karl Rove.

Claremont-McKenna, (Jack L. Stark),Pepperdine University (Charles B. Runnels, Kenneth W. Starr), CA Institute of Technology (David Baltimore, Charles Elachi), U.S.C. (Shelton Berg, Michael L. Garrett, Brian E. Henderson, M.D. [School of Medicine], Stephen J. Ryan, Steven B. Sample), Scripps College, Claremont, CA (John H. Chandler [member since 1983), U.C. Irvine (Robert C. Combs), U.C. Davis (Arthur H. Smith, Lloyd H. Smith, Jim L. Sochor [Emeritus], Joe P. Tupin, Larry N. Vanderhoef, Julian R. Youmans), University of the Pacific (Donald V. De Rosa), California Academy of Science (Robert C. Drewes), U.C. Hastings School of Law (Geoffrey C. Hazard, William T. Hutton, Frederick W. Lambert, Stephen A. Lind), U.C. Santa Barbara (Robert A. Huttenback), University of California (Hugh D. McNiven, Rudi Schmid), Scripps Institute, UCSD (Charles F. Kennel), CA Academy of Sciences (John P. Kociolek), UCLA (James Q. Wilson [also Harvard emeritus]), U.C. San Francisco (Jay A. Levy, Robert G. Miller, Ronald D. Miller, William R. Murray, Stanley B. Prusiner, Arthur N. Thomas), University of San Francisco (John LoSchiavo, John P. Schlegel), SF State University (John E. McCosker, Arthur Mejia), S.F. Conservatory of Music (Colin Murdoch), Cal State University (Ward M. McAfee), Harvey Mudd College (Joseph Platt), U.C. San Diego (Kirk L. Peterson), Santa Clara University (Peter O'Malley Pierson)

UNIVERSITIES OTHER THAN IN CALIFORNIA: Princeton University (Orley Clark Ashenfeler), Universit of WA (Thomas L. Bosworth, Edward D. Verrier), Yale Uninversity (Gerad N. Burrow), University of Calgary (Barry Cooper), Vermont Law School (Douglas M. Costle), Bates College, ME (Edward S. Harwood), Universite Paris (Bertrand Jacquillat), University VA Law School (Charles W. Johnson), Sante Fe Institute (Edward A. Knapp), University of Texas (Bobby Ray Inman, Darwin R. Labarthe, Jeffrey C. Smith), University of Maryland (John Lenczowski), University of Nevada-Reno (Warren L. Lerude), Morehouse College (Walter E. Massey), Howard University (Kurt L. Schmoke), Rockefeller University (Frederick Seitz [labeled as "old guard"; obtained membership in 1966], Wake Forest University (James F. Toole), Duke University Law School (Francis E. McGovern), University of North Carolina (David F. Merten), Amherst College (Joseph G. Moore), Syracuse University (Sean O'Keefe), Columbia University (Ralph M. Richart), Middlebury College (John Spencer), Oberlin College (S. Frederick Starr), George Mason University, VA (Walter E. Williams)

The list of notables also includes a number of foreign dignitaries and heads of institutes throughout the U.S. and abroad. Notable Bohemian Grove member Helmut Schmidt, who wrote about his love for the club in his autobiography, Men and Powers, is not listed in 2006 volume.

Institute of International Education (founded in 1919, in the same time-frame of the League of Nations and the C.F.R.) (Richard M. Krasno)

One of the world's foremost oceanographers, Robert D. Ballard-- who made his name investigating the wreckage of the Titanic, the Bismarck and other famous ships, is listed as representing the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, a member since September 12, 1991. Robert Berj Gagosian also represents Wood Hole.

Bobby Ray Inman, former head of the NSA and defamed candidate for Secretary of Defense under Clinton, now at the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs in Austin, TX.

Christopher C. DeMuth of the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C.

Edwin J. Feulner, Jr. and Edwin Meese III of The Heritage Foundation.

James A. Kelly of the Pacific Forum CSIS in Honolulu.

Consul General of Japan, Makoto Yamanaka

Dennis M. Power, Director of the Oakland Museum

Fmr. Surgeon General of the U.S., Richard Carmona (term: 2002-July 2006)

Consular Mexico - Alfonso de Maria y Campos

The Consul General of Luxembourg, Robert Biwer.

Also, the Indian Ambassador to the U.S., K Shankar Bajpai (Jan 25, 1968), also a CFR member.

I've also included the so-called 'LIST OF FIFTY' a list honoring regular attendees, though few of the names stand out on first pass. 'Honorary Associates' and 'Honorary Regulars' are also distinguished in the 104-page directory with thousands of names.

Notably, in addition to the anonymous shipping of this directory, Alex Jones received a call at his home from the BOHEMIAN GROVE, which was listed on caller-id, but no one identified themselves. It is not clear if this member roster was sent by an employee of the Grove, a member or came to this office through other means.

 

25 Years of Protest at Bohemian Grove

BOHEMIAN GROVE - 1947

DO YOU RECOGNIZE THE FACES ABOVE?

Former Presidents Reagan and Nixon at Bohemian Grove

BOHEMIAN GROVE - VIDEO - 1981  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCDs9Vs2iYM
  This video, made by the media, leaves out some choice activities which is known to others to be included in the 'entertainment' of the men who attend this 'camp'.

NIXON TAPE DISCUSSES HOMOSEXUALS AT BOHEMIAN GROVE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPb-PN9F2Pc&NR=1

BOHEMIAN GROVE EXPOSED by Alex Jones http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2E_HP97Rzc&NR=1

DARK SECRETS INSIDE BOHEMIAN GROVE - SERIES OF 11 VIDEOS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGokr-SO7sk&feature=related

BOHEMIAN GROVE DATABASE ON THIS SITE
 

 

First Seal

White Horse
Antichrist has Bow, Crown, Conquering.
REV 6:2

Second Seal

Red Horse
Takes peace, receives sword.
REV 6:4

Third Seal

Black Horse
Pair of balances
Days work / pay
hurt not the oil / wine.
REV 6:5-6

Fourth Seal

Pale Horse
Death / Hell followed
1/4 Earth population killed by sword,
hunger / death / beasts.
REV 6:8

SEE:  THE THIRD FIRE:  http://www.greatdreams.com/sacred/third-fire.htm

 

RED HORSE FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION

The red horse (the color of fire and blood) and its rider clearly represent warfare.

In the myth, the Chimera was killed by Bellerophon, riding on a winged horse named Pegasus.

Revelation 6:3-4

The second horseman is perhaps the most easily identifiable of the famed Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, since both of its symbols, the fiery red color and the great sword, are well known to represent war. However, underlying this facile identification of the symbols are a few interesting details that add depth to them.

The Greek word John uses for "red" is purros or pyrros, meaning "the color of fire" (compare our words "pyre," "pyromania," "pyrosis"). This is not the normal Greek word for red (eruthros), but a more specialized term that suggests fieriness or flickering reds, oranges, and yellows like a flame. It is the same word that John uses to describe the redness of the Dragon (Satan) in Revelation 12:3 (the third and only other occurrence is in a proper name, Sopatros Purrou, which is strangely not fully translated in Acts 20:4). This particular color intimates heat and ferocity like an out-of-control wildfire.

The Hebrew language does not have a similar, biblical term. However, the color red or scarlet in the Old Testament frequently symbolizes blood, whether the blood of sacrifice (Leviticus 14:4, 6, 49-52; see Hebrews 9:19) or the blood of violence (II Kings 3:22-23; Isaiah 63:2-3; Nahum 2:3; etc.). Scarlet has two other interesting meanings: that of wealth and luxury (II Samuel 1:24; Proverbs 31:21; Lamentations 4:5; etc.; see Matthew 27:28; Revelation 17:4; 18:12, 16) and of sin (Isaiah 1:18; see Revelation 17:3). One could make a case that all these meanings could apply to the second seal.

The horseman's "great sword" is a translation of máchaira megálee. Again, this is not the ordinary sword of war (romfaia) but a short sword or long knife like a dagger. Frequently, máchaira is the knife used to prepare a sacrifice or to slaughter an animal for food. It is also the sword worn by magistrates and executioners. That the red horseman's sword is "great" (megálee) means either that it is larger or longer than usual or that it is highly effective in doing its job. Surprisingly, romfaia appears in Revelation 6:8: "And power was given to [the four horsemen] to kill with sword, with hunger, with death. . . ." A "great sword," then, is the equivalent of a thoroughly effective instrument of death.

The sword is often a symbol of God's judgment. David writes in Psalm 7:12, "If [the wicked] does not turn back, He [God] will sharpen His sword." In Isaiah 34:6, 8, in the context of the Day of the Lord, God combines the sword of judgment with the idea of sacrifice and slaughter:

The sword of the LORD is filled with blood, it is made overflowing with fatness, and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys of rams. For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. . . . For it is the day of the LORD'S vengeance, the year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

Even to His own people, if they do not obey Him, God promises, "I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of My covenant" (Leviticus 26:25). Like this horseman, "the sword of the LORD shall devour from one end of the land to the other end of the land; no flesh shall have peace" (Jeremiah 12:12). Clearly, the purpose of the great sword given to the rider of the red horse is to inflict violent death on masses of people in divine judgment.

As if there never was any intent to obscure the meaning of this figure, John's description of the red horse says matter-of-factly, "And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another" (Revelation 6:4). This second seal plainly represents conflict, war, destruction, and bloody death.

Of course, this parallels the second point in Jesus' Olivet Prophecy in Matthew 24:6-7: "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom." The wording implies an expected increase in conflicts due to the stresses of the time leading up to the end. In other words, amplified contention is a precursor of the end time.

It is interesting to note that the second seal is introduced by "the second living creature saying, 'Come and see'" (Revelation 6:3). Revelation 4:7 gives us the order of the living creatures as lion, calf, man, and eagle, so the living creature that introduces the seal of war is probably the calf. Just as the first seal's introduction by the lion presages the white horseman's prime characteristic of ferocious pursuit of prey, so does the calf foretell the red horseman's main trait.

The calf, young bull, or ox, as translations variously render it, is known for its staying power and strength (Numbers 23:22; Psalm 144:14; Proverbs 14:4; Hosea 4:16). An ox can pull a plow or wagon or turn a mill all day for days on end without complaint. Some have been known to work and work until they die from exhaustion. Rarely will one make its frustration or weariness known. A calf or ox will just keep going—a relentless, untiring worker.

We are to consider the red horse and his rider along the same lines. In this vein, they compose a picture of inevitable, unceasing, untiring, insatiable warfare. Perhaps we are to think of them in terms of a wild ox, as God describes it in the book of Job (Job 39:9-12).

A wild ox cannot be trusted to do its domesticated cousin's chores; he is just as likely to charge and gore anyone who tries to yoke him! Likewise, David cries out, "Deliver Me from the sword, . . . from the horns of the wild oxen!" (Psalm 22:20-21). Isaiah 34:7 uses the same imagery: "The wild oxen shall come down with them, and the young bulls with the mighty bulls; their land shall be soaked with blood, and their dust saturated with fatness." Though the ox can be a placid, indefatigable worker, a wild ox can be a gory terror!

The red horseman, with its fiery red horse, great sword, and relentless aggression, is a fearsome symbol of unremitting, intensifying, uncontrolled, horrific conflict. God intends this figure to instill terror in mankind in the hope that he will repent of his enmity and be saved from its destruction and death (II Peter 3:9-13).

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Four Horsemen (Part Three): The Red Horse

Revelation 6:2-8

These four horses and horsemen represent the four major world conditions Jesus said would exist at the end of this age (Matthew 24)—all increasing in severity and overlapping in their effects on the entire world! The white horse represents the increasing number of false ministers preaching a false Christ and false ways to "salvation." The red horse pictures the increasing tempo of the ravages of wars. The black horse—increasing famine. And the pale horse—rampaging diseases.

It is clear that the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse—the first four seals—parallel Jesus' prophecy in Matthew 24:4-8, which ends with the words, "All these are the beginning of sorrows." Our Savior is letting us know that deception, violence, scarcity, and disease are only preludes to the catastrophic events of the last days. We could paraphrase His remark as, "These calamities are par for the course under man's civilization—far worse is yet to come."

The progression of disasters—of false ideas leading to war, war to famine, famine to pestilence, pestilence to wild beasts—is vital to understanding the spiritual teaching underlying the Four Horsemen. Through a kind of parable, Jesus is instructing us in the principle of cause and effect. If people believe the message of the father of murder (John 8:44) rather than the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), they will eventually turn to murder and war to resolve their differences. Like the law of gravity, war causes shortages of food, producing malnutrition and opening the door to disease.

God is showing us that these sorrows trace their roots back to disobedience and rejection of Him. Mankind has built his civilization on a foundation of sand (Matthew 7:24-27), and it is no wonder that disasters ensue upon mankind with terrifying regularity. Because God is just, it cannot be otherwise. He has said, "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23), and "The soul who sins shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4). In addition, He has given us two sets of blessings and cursings (Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28) to provide us frightening and vivid depictions of what happens when we disobey Him. The Four Horsemen are similar warnings or reminders that He is still on His throne, judging mankind for his sins.

WAR DATABASE ON THIS SITE
 

BLACK HORSE FROM THE BOOK OF REVELATION

The black horse and rider depict famine (note the comment about the outrageously high cost of food).

Revelation 6:5-6  

A primary means of repression throughout history has been economic in nature. If a person or a group can be kept at the subsistence level—that is, financially able to afford only the bare necessities of life—he or it can be controlled. For instance, a man who must work from sunup to sundown to make enough to feed himself and his family does not have time to further his education, start a business, travel to see how others live, or collude with neighbors to rebel against his rulers. Essentially, such a person is a slave, a serf, a pauper, and those in authority have little trouble holding his nose to the grindstone day after day after day. Either he plods on, or he and his dependents starve.

Westerners usually think of famine in terms of mass starvation in remote, Third World countries. In our mind's eye, we see stick-thin, little children with distended bellies and bones clearly visible under their skin, flies buzzing around their gaunt, staring faces. We imagine interminable lines of such people, bowl or cup in hand, waiting to receive their daily ration of grain or milk. Others we envision lying in the dirt without the strength even to walk.

But there is another kind of famine, not as severe but ultimately just as calamitous. It is the famine of protracted undernourishment, one that weakens the body, making it sickly and short-lived, and crushes the spirit, causing hopelessness and apathy. Jeremiah writes in Lamentations 4:9, "Those slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger; for these pine away, stricken for lack of the fruits of the field."

It is such a long-term hunger that appears in Revelation 6:5-6. No matter if it is the result of war, oppression, drought, or flooding, famine is a terrible scourge, and sadly, has claimed millions of lives over the centuries. This is the work of the third horseman, the rider of the black horse.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Four Horsemen (Part Four): The Black Horse

6:5-6  

The apostle John's description of this third horse and horseman is once again spare, as he provides us only two pertinent details: the black color of the horse and the rider's pair of scales. Both of these details, though, point to an overall interpretation of famine, which verse 8 verifies by saying this rider has power to kill "with hunger." In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus also names this seal as "famine" (Matthew 24:7).

We moderns tend to consider black to be the opposite of white, so to us, black is the color of evil, personified in the almost totally black costume of Darth Vader in Star Wars. The ancients made no such symbolic contrast (but see Matthew 5:36), although they did see symbolic opposites in darkness and light. Biblically, black is not the color of sin but simply an object's true color. Black, blackness, and blacker are found 23 times in the Bible, describing the sky, hair, cloth, marble, skin, night, ravens, cumin, and horses. In each occurrence, blackness appears to be a synonym for "darkness."

This does not mean, however, that the color black holds no symbolic meaning. It certainly has overtones of foreboding. Specifically, the Israelites used black to signify the mournful and unhealthy mien of those enduring scarcity, want, and famine, particularly as a judgment from God. Notice:

» Jeremiah 14:2: Judah mourns, and her gates languish; they mourn [literally, are black] for the land, and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.

» Lamentations 5:10: Our skin is hot [literally, black] as an oven, because of the fever of famine.

» Joel 2:6: Before them the people writhe in pain; all faces are drained of color [literally, gather blackness].

» Nahum 2:10: She is empty, desolate, and waste! The heart melts, and the knees shake; much pain is in every side, and all their faces are drained of color [literally, gather blackness].

To a Hebrew, the black horse of the third seal would picture the illness and dearth of a famine, specifically the dirt and squalor of those who had nothing.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Four Horsemen (Part Four): The Black Horse

Revelation 6:5-6  

Clearly, this third seal pictures famine stalking the land (see Matthew 24:7; Luke 21:11). Biblically, the color black—unlike our modern conception of it as the color of evil, as opposed to white—signifies mourning and ill health as a result of scarcity (see Jeremiah 14:2; Lamentations 5:10; Nahum 2:10; all of which, in Hebrew, describe people's expressions, skins, or faces as "black" due to want). This is in keeping with another use of black or darkness in Scripture: as a sign of God's judgment for sin (Zephaniah 1:15; Joel 2:2).

The pair of scales, of course, suggests similar things, adding an economic element, as grains or other foods would often be weighed for sale. Scales could also be used, as is likely intended in the third seal, to ration food during a time of scarcity. In the vision, a denarius represents a laborer's daily wage, and a quart of grain equals a person's daily nutritional requirement. The third horseman, then, portrays a scenario of hunger and suffering, when the powers that be tightly control the meting out of staple foods at highly inflated prices.

Finally, there is the curious phrase, "do not harm the oil and the wine." Commentators have been debating the meaning of this command for centuries. It is clearly spoken by God, sitting among the four living creatures, and just as He sets the famine prices of grain, He also decrees that oil and wine be spared any harm. How are we to understand this?

Olive oil and wine are not luxury items, as many take them to be; in the Mediterranean world, they are important supporting elements of the common diet (see Deuteronomy 7:13; Hosea 2:8; Haggai 1:11; etc.). However, while they provide supplementary nutrition, people cannot subsist on them alone. Thus, they are secondary food items, and in the prophecy, they remain plentiful. This leads to two possible conclusions:

1. God is limiting the severity of famines, as "the end is not yet" (Matthew 24:6) and "these are the beginning of sorrows" (verse 8); or more likely,

2. He is indicating a measure of disparity and irregularity in these famines. Some foods will be scarce, while others are abundant. Some people will be sorely affected, while others will hardly suffer. Some areas will be hit hard, while others feel little impact.

This second conclusion suggests human involvement, a wild card in every circumstance, which would fit well with the first two seals. Unlike simple natural disasters, religious deceptions and wars require the decisions and actions of people to bring them about. God hints at a human element in all these disasters, including famine, that occur down through the centuries to remind us of our culpability in them. When man governs without the guidance of God, catastrophe and destruction are not far behind.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Scarcity Amid Plenty
 

Revelation 6:6  

After describing the black horse and its rider, John hears "a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, 'A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine'" (Revelation 6:6). Among the Four Horseman, this is an unusual departure; nothing else is said to or about them save in this verse. Being so set apart, the words are doubly significant.

Who speaks these words? John simply says "a voice." Literally, the Greek is "like a voice," which can be stated as "what seemed to be a voice." The only clue we have is that it comes from "in the midst of the four living creatures." Revelation 4:6 provides the answer: "And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures. . . ." (see Ezekiel 1:4-28). The language suggests that the creatures were situated around the throne, one creature in the middle of each of the four sides. The voice coming from the midst of these creatures must have come from the one sitting on the throne! God Himself utters these words!

What He says is a common marketplace call of a merchant shouting out the price of his wares. He is setting relative values for both wheat and barley, with wheat being three times as valuable as barley. However, His price is highly inflated! The "quart" here is choinix in Greek, which is roughly equivalent to our quart, the amount of grain that a normal man needs each day to survive. In ancient times, though, a denarius would buy eight to ten quarts of wheat, not one! Obviously, these are disaster prices.

The "denarius" was equal to an ordinary worker's daily wage, as Jesus illustrates in His Parable of the Laborers (Matthew 20:1-16). These prices, then, give a person an unenviable choice. If he is single, he can buy the more expensive, more nutritious wheat, yet have nothing left over, or he can buy the cheaper, less nutritious barley and save the remainder for the next day or so. However, if he is married and has children, he can choose only the barley because he needs more than one quart of grain for his family's subsistence. None of these choices really allows the person either to get ahead or to stay healthy, especially if he has dependents.

God also commands, "Do not harm the oil and the wine," which is a puzzler to scholars. To whom is God speaking—to the horseman or to people in general? It seems to be directed at the horseman, as he is the direct cause of the scarcity. Thus, the staff of life will be in such short supply as to need to be rationed or sold at extortionate prices, but oil and wine will be relatively untouched. Why?

Many commentators consider oil and wine to be luxury items, but this is false. In ancient times, olive oil and wine were staples of the Mediterranean diet along with grain, as Deuteronomy 7:13 and 11:14 indicate (see also II Chronicles 31:5; 32:28; Nehemiah 5:11; Hosea 2:8, 22; Joel 1:10; Haggai 1:11). A person, though, cannot live on oil and wine as he can on grain, yet, as science is just now discovering, they do provide additional and necessary nutrition. These items are available during the third horseman's rampage, but the average man will not have the means to purchase them, since all his money is being spent on flour for bread!

What is God picturing then? The key is to remember that this "famine" is ongoing just as the wars and rumors of wars of the second horseman and the deceptions of the first horseman are. There are occasional lulls of plenty, but the experience of history is that most of the time, the ordinary individual is just getting by. Just as God predicted in Genesis 3:17-19, he labors and toils to eke out a miserable living only to die, worn out and broken in a few, short years. The third horseman's job is to follow his red brother's devastating wars with oppression, corruption, and scarcity so that men stay weak and poor and many die.

Richard T. Ritenbaugh
The Four Horsemen (Part Four): The Black Horse

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