Genesis – General
Genesis 9 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father's nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers." 26 He also said, "Blessed be the LORD , the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. 27 May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave.
The righteous Noah got drunk and naked. Ham saw his father naked and told his brothers. His brothers went and covered their father up, without looking at him. Apparently Noah caused a lot of shame for his family. In any case when the drunkard, Noah, woke up and realise that Ham had told on him, he cursed Canaan (Ham’s son) to be the lowest of low slaves onto his own family!
Not only was Noah a drunkard but he also, unjustly, sentenced his own grandchild and his entire line of family to become slaves. Canaan had nothing to do with this whole thing; Ham was the one who told on Noah. Why did God save Noah form the flood? If this is the standards to be righteous in God’s eye, He does not deserve your worship.
This is one of the many passages in the bible that is used to defend and promote slavery! Have a look in chapter 4 to see how contradictory the bible is on this subject.
Genesis 10 5From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language. The Hamites… 20 These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations. The Semites… 31 These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.
Genesis 11 1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.
Different languages actually did exist before the Tower of Babel was built (Gen 10)! Do you think that an omnipotent God would have made such a mistake by contradicting himself in the Bible?
Genesis 11 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." 5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." 8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel -because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
It is clear that God was worried about the technological advancements us humans were making. Since when is it wrong to work together instead of against each other. These people were living in ignorance, they thought they could reach heaven with a tower, and God wanted to keep it that way! He made sure that we can not learn from each other nor help each other to advance our culture. He just did not bargain on how well He made us humans, we can actually learn another language! Didn’t He know that? God himself acknowledge that we humans can do anything we dream if we can work together. He was scared! The more different people are the more conflict there is. God can step up and take a lot of responsibility of ethnical wars and killings that has happened. What? He is the one that of cased started the division among men.
A further indication that this story is false is that is happened around 2400 BCE. At this time in human history, there is historical evidence, that there were already hundreds of languages in existence for a long time.
Why did God have to come down to earth to see what is going on? Was His telescope broken on that day?
The rest of Genesis 11 is a boring list stipulating the genealogy from Noah onwards. Is there any value that this can offer humans in a time of need? Is there any value to be found in this at any time for any one? According to 1 Tim 1:4 & Tit 3:9, we should avoid foolish questions and genealogies. You would think that God would rather write something that can actually help humanity in His book, like the meaning of Life, on how agriculture works, on not making war and living in peace and harmony, etc, etc.
Genesis 12 12When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you."
Abram makes his wife lie for him, by telling the Egyptians that she is his sister. But at least it was half-true, since she was his half-sister. Such incestuous marriages are condemned elsewhere in the Bible, but god makes an exception for Abram and Sarai. (See Gen.17:15-16 where God blesses their marriage.) These and other scriptures are used by certain Christian groups and sects as bases that it is ok to lie, if you have (in your mind) a Godly cause.
Genesis 12 15And when Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels. 17 But the LORD inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. "What have you done to me?" he said. "Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!"
Abram and his wife lied to the pharaoh, because he was afraid they might kill him. Where was his faith in his God? Then Sarai was taken into the Pharaoh’s household where she was looked after and Abram was given many gifts, which made him instantly rich. She must have been something, because at this time she was about 70 years old. So, they lied and deceived the pharaoh, the pharaoh treated them well and spoiled Abram with gifts and riches. Then God punishes the pharaoh and his house with great plagues! And they leave with all the gifts which made Abram a wealthy man (Gen 13:2). I am sorry but who sinned here? Not the pharaoh! There is something seriously wrong with God’s sense of judgement!
Genesis 14 7 Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazazon Tamar.
The Amalekites were smitten before Amalek (from whom they descended) was born. Amalek was the grandson of Esau (Gen.36:12).
Genesis 15 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure." "In the fourth generation they [Abraham's descendants] shall come hither again." But, if we count Abraham, then their return occurred after seven generations: Abraham, Isaac (Gen.21:1-3), Jacob (Gen.25:19-26), Levi (Gen.35:22-23), Kohath (Ex.6:16), Amramn (Ex.6:18), and Moses (Ex.6:20).
Gen 16: 1-9 Sarai is the first of a long line of barren women who were desperate for children. (In the Bible, it is the women who are barren, never the men.) She sends Abram into her slave, Hagar, so that she can "obtain children by her." Abram gladly complies. Did God not have a problem with this? It seems God would rather accept polygamy that to help them have a child. When the child is born Sarai gets jealous and with Abram’s permission treats her slave badly. Hagar is treated so badly that she runs away. God sends an angel down to tell her that she must go back and submit to being a slave! This early on in the history God did not have a problem with his chosen people to have slaves.
Genesis 17 God decides to make a covenant with Abram. There is no reason given as to why with Abram and why now. But let’s look at Abram. He lies and deceives, he has no faith in God to protect him, he sleeps with slaves and he owns slaves. He fits perfectly into the standard set by God to be righteous. God tells Abram that he should “walk before Him and be perfect”. Does God not know that man is “sinful”? He destroyed the world because man was evil and then decided never to do it again because man is in any case evil. How can Abram be perfect? God loves his sacrifices. He expects every male child to be circumcised as a sign that there is a covenant between Him and His people. He does not care for the woman, as right through the Old Testament they are treated as the property of men and not adequate to have an equal status to men. They were not allowed to participate in any religious ceremonies.
Gen 17: 12 God approves of slavery. Even people bought into slavery must be circumcised. This happened against their free will.
Gen 17: 14 If a child was not circumcised they must be abandoned! God had no pity for any child that was not circumcised even if he did not know what was going on nor had a choice in the matter! This God does not deserve to be called “Father”!
Gen 17: 15-16 Now suddenly God steps in and helps a 90 year old woman to have a child. Could he not do this before Abram had to sleep with a slave?
Genesis 18 It is not the first time that God appears to Abraham. But other places in the Bible it states that no one has seen God. It is also not the first time God had to go somewhere, in person, to go see what is happening somewhere. Now after dining with Abraham, He decided to go and have a look on what is going on in Sodom and Gomorrah.
Gen 18: 22 – 33 Abraham stand in front of God and started to bargain with him. He knew that God wanted to destroy the two cities but he tries to save the innocent people. In the end God agreed that if He found 10 people that were not “evil” He will not destroy the cities. We all know what happens to the 2 cities in the end. Now, you tell me that in 2 cities there were not more than 10 innocent babies and children? Even given that if every single adult was ultimately evil (as if it can be worst that any city today) there must have been hundreds even thousands of babies and children that was innocently butchered by Gad.
Genesis 19:30-38 - What a nice wholesome family Lot has. They have escaped the destruction of Sodom and he is hiding in caves with his daughters. The two daughters husbands is nowhere to be found (Gen 19:14). In any case, they think that they are never going to find husbands so they decide to make their father drunk and have sex with him. They both fall pregnant and have his sons. Now if this was not an abomination in God’s eyes, what is? Poor Lot’s wife got turned into a salt pillar just because she looks back towards Sodom while fleeing. But these two sluts get to become the mother’s of nations.
Genesis 20:1-12 - Honest Abe does the same "she's my sister" routine again, for the same cowardly reason. He has no faith in God, whom he has met in person a few times. And once again, the king just couldn't resist Sarah, even though by now she is over 90 years old. God gets angry with king Abimelech, though the king hasn't even touched Sarah. And even though Abraham was the one doing the lying. He says to the king, "Behold, thou art but a dead man," and threatens to kill him and all of his people. To compensate for the crime he never committed, Abimelech gives Abraham sheep, oxen, slaves, silver, and land. Finally, after Abraham "prayed unto God," God lifts his punishment to Abimelech, "for the Lord had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah." Abraham has got a brilliant extortion business going here where he is accumulating a lot of money!
Genesis 21:1-2 - "The Lord visited Sarah" and he "did unto Sarah as he had spoken". Again God had to personally come to earth. This time He had to impregnate Sarah. Why is this child not also called the “Son of God”? And "Sarah conceived and bare Abraham a son." (God-assisted conceptions never result in daughters.) It is strange that the 100 year old Abraham required God's help in fathering Isaac (See Rom.4:19 and Heb.11:12), yet later (Gen.25:1-2) he marries again and has six more children without any help from God.
Genesis 21:10-14 - Sarah, after giving birth to Isaac, gets angry again at Hagar (see Gen.16:5-6) and tells Abraham to “cast out this bondwoman and her son." God commands Abraham to "hearken unto her voice." So Abraham abandons Hagar and Ishmael, casting them out into the wilderness to die.
Genesis 21:14-18 - These verses suggest that Ishmael was an infant when his father abandoned him, yet according to Gen 17:25 and Gen 21:5-8 he must have been about 16 years old. It must have been tough for poor Hagar to carry Ishmael on her shoulder and to then "cast him under one of the shrubs."
Genesis 21:23-24 - Abraham swears to God, apparently with God's approval. Yet such oaths are condemned in Mt.5:34-37 and Jas.5:12.
Genesis 21:31 - says that Beersheba was named by Abraham, though Gen.26:33 say that Beersheba was named after Abraham's death by his son Isaac.
Genesis 21:32 - "And they returned to the land of the Philistines." But the Philistines didn't arrive in the region of Canaan until around 1200 BCE, 800 years after Abraham's supposed migration from Ur.
Genesis 22:1 - "God did tempt Abraham." But Jas.1:13 says that God has never tempted anyone.
Genesis 22:2, 12 - God refers to Isaac as Abraham's "only son," yet Abraham had two sons at the time (Gen.16:15).
Genesis 22:2-13 - God orders Abraham to kill Isaac as a burnt offering. Abraham shows his love for God by his willingness to murder his son. I guess he thought that he has made so much money of God that this is the least he could do. But finally, just before Isaac's throat is slit, God provides a goat to kill instead. Would you kill your child, an innocent, if it is asked from you by your God?
Please do not give me that crap answer that he was being tested. He did not know he was being tested and he did not know that God is going to spare his sons life. In his mind and heart he has already killed his child. If God knows the mind and heart of all humans, then why did he have to test Abraham to find out what was in his heart? When you read the scripture carefully you will see that he did it out of fear for God (Gen 22:12)!
In Mt.18:14, Jesus said that God doesn't want any child to die. Could this be the same God who orders Abraham to kill his own son, which destroyed at least four cities, with fire and brimstone with innocent babies, children and people in it?
Genesis 24:2, 9 - Abraham makes his servant put his hand under his thigh while swearing to God. Weird! Of course "putting his hand under his thigh" is just a polite euphemism for "holding his testicles in his hand." Come to think of it, maybe it isn't so weird at all, coming as it does from a God that is completely obsessed with male genitalia. See Ex.4:25, Lev.15:16-18, 32, and Dt.23:1 for just a few examples. I guess it's sort of like swearing on the bible. But all forms of swearing are forbidden in Mt.5:34-37 and Jas.5:12.
Genesis 24:35 - God blessed Abraham by giving him lots of slaves. Yes, SLAVES, people with no free will.
Genesis 25:1 "Then again Abraham took a wife [1 Chr.1:32 say’s she was his concubine], and her name was Keturah." Of course, Abraham already had a wife (Sarah), and an abandoned concubine (Hagar).
Genesis 25:2 - Abraham needed God's help to father Isaac when he was 100 years old (Gen.21:1-2, Rom.4:19, Heb.11:12). But here, when he is even older, he manages to have six more children without any help from God.
Genesis 25:6 - Abraham had several concubines. And God did not have a problem with it!
Genesis 25:28 - Isaac loved Esau because Esau was a hunter and Isaac loved venison. Rebekah and God (Rom.9:13) loved Jacob, but hated Esau. No reason is given for why one son is loved while the other is hated. But since God chose to act this way, it must have been as an example for parents to follow. Have you decided which of your children to hate yet?
Genesis 26:1, 8, 14, 15, 18 - In these verses the Philistines are said to have lived in Canaan at the time of Abraham, yet the Philistines did not live in the region until the period of the Judges, well after the time of Abraham.
Genesis 26:2, 24 - God appears to Isaac contrary to those verses that say that God is invisible and cannot be seen.
Genesis 26:4 - God promises to make Isaac's descendents as numerous as "the stars of heaven", which, of course, never happened. It does seem as if the Jews are everywhere, but they are not in number as large an ethical group as others.
Genesis 26:7 - Isaac uses the same "she's my sister" lie that his father used so effectively (see Gen.12:13, 20:2).
Genesis 26:8 - Unfortunately the king "looked out a window, and saw, behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife." But Isaac grew rich from the lie anyway, just as his father had. The money making business was handed over to the son!
Genesis 26:12-14 - God blessed Isaac (like his father Abraham before him) with many slaves. Slavery is still ok in God’s eyes.
Genesis 26:34 - Esau "takes" two wives. One was Bashemath, the daughter of Elon the Hittite. But Gen 36:2 says her name was Adah, the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Gen 36:3 says Bashemath was the daughter of Ishmael. And yes, God did not have a problem with it.
Genesis 27:19 - Jacob, with coaching from his mother, obtains Isaac's blessing by lying. God seems to have been fooled as well!
Genesis 28:9 - Esau, who already had two wives (Gen 26:34), "takes" another.
Genesis 28:13-14 - God repeats the same (land/progeny) promise that he previously made to Abraham (Gen 13:15, 15:18, 17:8). Once again, the promise wasn't kept. The descendents of Jacob (the Jews) are not particularly numerous, have seldom possessed much of the land in question, and the nations on earth haven't been blessed by them.
Genesis 30:3 - But luckily she has an idea. She says to Jacob, "Behold my maid Bilhah, go in unto her." She solved the problem the same way as did Sarah (Gen 16:2).
Genesis 30:4 - "And Jacob went in unto her. And Bilhah conceived, and bare Jacob a son." These arrangements never seem to produce daughters.
Genesis 30:9 - Leah, not to be outdone, gives Jacob her maid (Zilpah) "to wife." And Zilpah "bare Jacob a son."
Genesis 30:37-39 - Jacob displays his (and God's) knowledge of biology by having goats copulate while looking at streaked rods. The result is streaked baby goats!
Genesis 31:17 - "Then Jacob ... set his ... wives upon camels." Jacob had four wives (or two wives and two concubines, this distinction is not clear in the Bible): Rachel, Leah, Billah, and Zilpah. There is no indication that God disapproves of this arrangement. (See also Gen.32:22)
Genesis 31:53 - Jacob swears. God doesn't seem to mind. But swearing is forbidden in Mt.5:34-37 and Jas.5:12.
Genesis 32:24-30 - Jacob wrestles with god and wins. God changes Jacob's name to Israel to signify that he wrestled with God and "prevailed." Do you think God let him win or is He just not good at wrestling?
Genesis 32:28 - God renames Jacob for the first time (See Gen 35:10 for the other first renaming). God says that Jacob will henceforth be called Israel, but the Bible continues to call him Jacob anyway. And even God himself calls him Jacob in Gen 46:2.
Genesis 32:30 - Jacob saw God face to face and survived. Yet according to several Bible passages no one can see God and live.
Genesis 34:1-31 - Dinah, the daughter of Jacob, is "defiled" (raped) by Shechem, a man who seems to love her dearly. Her brothers trick all of the men of the town to get circumcised. Dinah’ brothers attacked the city when the men were sore from the circumcision and killed them all. They also took their wives and children captive. God’s chosen people practices treachery, slaughtered innocent people and took slaves for them selves. These were God’s chosen people; they fit right in to the standards God set to be righteous.
Genesis 34:31 - Dinah's brothers, to justify the massacre of a town for the rape of their sister, say: "Should he deal with our sister as with a harlot?" To the author of Genesis, rape is clearly a crime against the honour of men rather than against a woman.
Genesis 35:1, 7, 9 - Even though he's not supposed to, God meets with Jacob so often that he's becoming something of a pest.
Genesis 35:22 - "Reuben went and lay with his father's concubine." I wonder why God wants to tell us about it. Maybe he figures that "inquiring minds want to know."
Genesis 36:1-32 - Another long, boring genealogy that we are told to avoid in 1 Tim.1:4 and Tit.3:9 ("Avoid foolish questions and genealogies.")
Genesis 37:28 - The verse says the Ishmaelites sold Joseph into Egypt, but Gen 37:36 says that the Midianites sold him.
Genesis 38:7 - "And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him." What did Er do to elicit God's wrath? The Bible doesn't say. Maybe he picked up some sticks on a Saturday.
Genesis 38:8-10 - After God killed Er, Judah tells Onan to "go in unto they brother's wife." But "Onan knew that the seed should not be his; and ... when he went in unto his brother's wife ... he spilled it on the ground.... And the thing which he did displeased the Lord; wherefore he slew him also." This lovely Bible story is seldom read in Sunday schools, but it is the basis of many Christian doctrines, including the condemnation of both masturbation and birth control.
Genesis 38:13-18 - Tamar (the widow of Er and Onan, who were killed by God) dresses up as a prostitute and Judah (her father-in-law) propositions her, saying: "Let me come in unto thee .... And he ... came in unto her, and she conceived by him." From this incestuous union, twins (Gen 38:27-28) were born (both were boys of course). One of these was Pharez, an ancestor of Jesus (Lk.3:33)!
Genesis 38:24 - After Judah pays Tamar for her services, he is told that she "played the harlot" and "is with child by whoredom." When Judah hears this, he says, "Bring her forth, and let her be burnt."
Genesis 42:27, 29 - Joseph's brothers find their money at an inn on their way home (see also Gen 43:21). But according to Gen 42:29, 35 they found their money after they got home.
Genesis 44:20, 22 - In these verses, Benjamin is an infant a "little one," a "lad, a "child." Yet just a little while later (Gen 46:8, 21) when Jacob's clan migrates to Egypt, Benjamin is a grown man with ten sons.
Genesis 46:2 - God calls Jacob "Jacob", though he said in Gen.32:28 and 35:10 that he would no longer be called Jacob but Israel.
Genesis 46:3-4 - God promises to bring Jacob safely back from Egypt, but Jacob dies in Egypt (Gen.47:28-29)
Genesis 46:21 - There are four lists of Benjamin's sons in the Bible, and none of them agree. This one lists ten sons; Num.26:38-40, 1 Chr.7:6 lists three and 1 Chr.8:1-2 lists five. Only one son (Bela) is found in all four lists. And were Naaman and Ard the sons or the grandsons of Benjamin?
Genesis 47:29-31 - Joseph swears (by putting his hand under Jacob's thigh, a euphemism for holding his testicles in his hand), apparently with god's approval. But, later, in the New Testament swearing is forbidden (Mt.5:34-37, Jas.5:12). Jacob then dies in Egypt, contrary to God's promise in Gen 46:3-4.
Genesis 48:3 - In what must be getting a bit old hat, God appears again to Jacob.
