Numbers 11-15

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

Numbers 11 - No mention of any women.

Numbers 12 - While at Hazeroth, Aaron and Miriam spoke out against Moses because he married a Cushite woman. They asked, "Has the Lord spoken only through Moses/ Has he not spoken through us also?" And the Lord heard this. He sent for Aaron, Moses and Miriam to come to the tent of meeting. He came down in a pillar of cloud and told Aaron and Miriam to come forward. He told them that with prophets He speaks to them in visions and dreams, but with Moses, who is entrusted with His whole house, He speaks to him face to face, clearly and not in riddles. Why then were Aaron and Miriam not afraid to speak out against Moses? God's anger was kindled and he departed. When the cloud left Miriam became leprous, white as snow. Aaron saw this and cried to Moses, "Oh my lord do not punish us for a sin that we so foolishly committed. Do not let her be like one stillborn, whose flesh is half consumed when it comes out of the mother's womb." Moses cried for God to forgive her, but God said, "If her father had but spit in her face, would she not bear her shame for seven days? Let her be shut out of the camp for seven days and after that she may be brought in again." So Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days and the people did not set out until she had been brought back in again.

Numbers 13 - No mention of any women.

14:3 - "Why did the Lord bring us into this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become booty; would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?"

Numbers 15 - No mention of any women.

My Comments

Really? God's people want meat and God gets angry that his people dare want something other than the manna he gives them (which seems to be a seedy bread type food). God kills the outlying people in the camp outright in his rage, then promises the people shall get meat but they shall have so much that they shall hate it, and then God sends the meat and not long after the people start to eat it he gets pissed that they're eating the meat he gave them and strikes them down with a plague? What the hell?

God, seriously, people cannot live on just manna, whatever it is. See, people need things called nutrients that we receive from a variety of sources, us being omnivores and all. And one of those things that we need is meat (or at least the protein and vitamin B12 from meat, it is unclear if God's people drink milk or eat cheese or anything to get any B12 or protein, so I am going to assume that they are not). So you're people probably want meat because they are malnourished from getting ONLY manna and need something else. And honestly, never mind the nutrition part of it, eating just one thing for YEARS on end would get so boring that, if it were me there, I would probably kill myself just to end the eternal monotony of it. So why the hell are you getting so pissed about this, God? You made people therefore you should understand what they need. And what people NEED is proper nutrition and variety in their diet. Seriously, it's like you put your special people on a college diet of ramen. And then killing them and giving them a plague for daring to be people with needs? Kinda cruel. Just saying.

Plus, they probably don't have any meat because they're using it all as offerings to the Lord. So God is cruel and selfish.

And why the hell is Miriam the only one punished for questioning Moses? Aaron questioned just as much as Miriam did, and yet Miriam is the one who becomes leprous and has to stay outside the camp for seven days to pay for her sin. Seriously, what the hell is up with that? There is no logical reason for that other than the fact that she is a woman. So, what, women should know their place better than a man so she must bear the whole of the punishment? Completely ridiculous.

To paraphrase God in Numbers 14: "Quit your whining or I will kill every one of you and leave your children to wander the desert alone and in pain until they die as well!" God sure does get into that abusive parent role pretty well, doesn't he? And again we have Moses trying to talk God out of slaughtering all of his people and yet God does not seem to care. Moses presents some fairly good arguments against God not killing all of His people, too. And yet, God is still mightily pissed. He does seem to be swayed by Moses' slick tongue yet again, though, since he does not seem to strike everyone dead. What an amazing all powerful God?

If I didn't already not believe in the Christian God I'm starting to think that reading the Bible would have definitely fixed that problem. It's actually hard for me to believe that someone reading the Bible would actually bring them into the faith, nevermind keep them in the faith. But apparently this happens. Miracles do happen, I guess.

Tomorrow: Numbers 16-20