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Chapter 28: "Minor Prophets"
Hosea:1:2: The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD.
Hosea:1:3: So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son.
Hosea:1:4: And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel.
What did it mean to "avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu"? Do you recall the story back in 2 Kings?
2Kgs:10:10: Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the LORD, which the LORD spake concerning the house of Ahab: for the LORD hath done that which he spake by his servant Elijah.
2Kgs:10:11: So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab in Jezreel, and all his great men, and his kinsfolks, and his priests, until he left him none remaining.
2Kgs:10:30: And the LORD said unto Jehu, Because thou hast done well in executing that which is right in mine eyes, and hast done unto the house of Ahab according to all that was in mine heart, thy children of the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.
Jehu had slain all of Ahab's relatives in Jezreel. At the time, God supposedly approved of these murders (and had supposedly foretold them through the mouth of Elijah). Yet, here in Hosea, this same god promised to avenge this act! Had the god who "cannot change" (Mal. 3:6) changed his mind about what was right and what was wrong?
Hosea:3:1: Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.
Hosea:3:2: So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:
Although Hosea was already married to a prostitute, God ordered him to "love" an adulteress. Hosea complied and bought the woman for the price stated above. I wonder if anyone would fall for this excuse today. When some married man is caught in bed with a prostitute, or another man's wife, he should just claim that God ordered him to do it -- just as he ordered Hosea according to the "Holy" Bible.
Hosea:6:6: For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.
If it was true that this god did not desire sacrifice, then why did Ezekiel write so much about reinstating animal sacrifice after the Israelites returned from captivity in Babylon? (Ezek. 43:18-27)
Hosea:8:12: I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing.
The Mosaic Law was a strange thing. "Thou Shalt not boil a kid in it's mother's milk" -- you can't get much stranger than that! (Deut:14:21)
Hosea:13:16: Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
Hosea:14:9: Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.
If we agree that "the ways of the Lord are right", then we would have to agree that it is "right" to "dash infants in pieces" and "rip up" pregnant women.
Joel:1:15: Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
Joel:1:16: Is not the meat cut off before our eyes, yea, joy and gladness from the house of our God?
Joel:1:17: The seed is rotten under their clods, the garners are laid desolate, the barns are broken down; for the corn is withered.
Joel:1:18: How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.
Joel:1:19: O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.
Joel:1:20: The beasts of the field cry also unto thee: for the rivers of waters are dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.
According to Joel, "the LORD" punished Israel by burning their pastures and trees. Naturally, this would have also caused the non-human animals great suffering. Joel claims that the beasts of the field "cried unto the Lord". This would mean that these non-human animals were acquainted with Judaism.
I wonder what sin these animals had committed for "the LORD" to punish them so -- since a god of justice would never punish the innocent along with the guilty.
Joel:3:1: For, behold, in those days, and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,
Joel:3:2: I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.
When the Israelites returned from their Babylonian captivity (during the reign of Darius, according to Ezra chapter 6), were all of the nations really brought to the valley of Jehoshaphat as Joel prophesied?
Here we have another instance in the Bible where representatives from all nations on earth would've had to travel to the Middle-East. How were the Apache, Navajo, Dakota, and all the other nations of what we now call America notified? Who told the Australian Aborigines how to get to the valley of Jehoshaphat? Who supplied them with seaworthy ships to make the journey? Who taught them how to navigate? Why didn't the Europeans learn of such lands from the sudden appearance of these foreign visitors? Why didn't a single participant at this global conference record this unprecedented event for posterity?
Could it be that this is yet another Biblical prophecy that failed to come true?
Joel:3:8: And I will sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the children of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans, to a people far off: for the LORD hath spoken it.
Here, Joel's god promised to engage in the slave trade. He would sell the children of the Gentile nations to the Israelites who would resell them to the Sabeans. Here again, this god would be punishing children for their parent's sins in contradiction of Ezekiel 18:20.
In the 1800's Christian slave owners in America used Biblical verses such as this to justify slavery. In fact, the Bible is pro-slavery throughout.
Joel:3:9: Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up:
Joel:3:10: Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.
The Bible truly is a book for all occasions. When a Christian nation goes to war, pastors can find many Biblical justifications for war (such as the above verse). When peace is politically expedient, pastors may quote the antithesis of the above verse:
Isa:2:4: And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Joel:3:15: The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
See the comments on Isaiah 13:10, where this same absurd prophecy is given.
Amos:3:3: Can two walk together, except they be agreed?
Amos:3:4: Will a lion roar in the forest, when he hath no prey? will a young lion cry out of his den, if he have taken nothing?
Amos:3:5: Can a bird fall in a snare upon the earth, where no gin is for him? shall one take up a snare from the earth, and have taken nothing at all?
Amos:3:6: Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid? shall there be evil in a city, and the LORD hath not done it?
I can easily think of instances in which the answer to every question above would be Yes. However, it is clear that the writer's intention was to give a list of questions which demanded a No answer.
This would mean that if there is any evil in a city, then "the LORD" has committed that evil. A god who commits all of the evil in a city could hardly be called benevolent, righteous or good.
Amos:4:7: And also I have withholden the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest: and I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city: one piece was rained upon, and the piece whereupon it rained not withered.
Amos:4:8: So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Amos:4:9: I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Amos:4:10: I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Amos:4:11: I have overthrown some of you, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD.
Well, no wonder the Israelites didn’t "return unto him"! Would you "return" to a god who acted like this? I would get as far away from such a god as possible!
Amos:5:21: I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies.
The last part of the above verse would make a good slogan for deodorant commercial.
Amos:5:22: Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.
Amos:5:23: Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.
Amos:5:24: But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Here again, we have evidence that the Mosaic Law was replaced by the "law of love" hundreds of years before Jesus' "sacrificial" death.
Amos:7:1: Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings.
Amos:7:2: And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
Amos:7:3: The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD.
Amos:7:4: Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part.
Amos:7:5: Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small.
Amos:7:6: The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD.
God sent grasshoppers to destroy the grass. Then God repented having sent grasshoppers.
God sent fire to destroy the land. Then God repented having sent fire.
Num:23:19: God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
What are we to make of this? A god who "cannot repent" repented twice in a row!
Amos:8:9: And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day:
If the sun were to "go down" at noon, it would mean that the earth would greatly increase the speed of its rotation around its axis. But this would not "darken the earth" it would just bring night sooner than usual to one part of the earth and daylight sooner than usual to another part of the earth. The god of Amos must've thought that the earth was flat and that the sun orbited it. If this god were the creator of the sun and the earth, you'd think he would've known better.
Obad:1:16: For as ye have drunk upon my holy mountain, so shall all the heathen drink continually, yea, they shall drink, and they shall swallow down, and they shall be as though they had not been.
If the "heathen" shall be "as though they had not been" then it could not be that they are immortal souls that live on for eternity in hell.
Jonah:1:17: Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.
This contradicts what Jesus supposedly said about Jonah:
Mt:12:40: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
A whale is not a fish any more than you are a fish. A whale is an air-breathing mammal that just happens to live in the water.
There is no known species of fish which could swallow a man whole and not digest him within three days.
There is no man who could survive for three days in the belly of a great fish: he would suffocate within minutes.
Jonah:3:7: And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water:
Failing to feed and water children and domestic animals is neglect. Why would anyone think that engaging in child abuse and animal abuse was a way to atone for one's sins?
Jonah:3:8: But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
How were the beasts made to wear sackcloth? How was the message "turn from your evil way" communicated to the beasts? What "evil way" had the beasts pursued?
Jonah:3:9: Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
This is an ignorant question; anyone who believes the Bible can tell if God will turn and repent, because according to the Bible, God cannot repent:
Num:23:19: God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?
Jonah:3:10: And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.
How could a god who "cannot repent" repent?
Micah:1:3: For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth.
How can God "cometh forth from his place" and "come down" if God is everywhere (omnipresent)?
Micah:1:4: And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.
Once again, the Bible describes "the LORD" as a volcano god.
Micah:1:8: Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls.
Here, the Ultimate Being and Creator of the Universe is reputed to have said that he would wail like a "dragon" and would strip naked.
This implies that there are such things as dragons.
More importantly, it implies that God is not usually naked. In that case, I wonder what God wears? Are his clothes fashionable? Who is his tailor? Does he wear designer labels? Was he always clothed, or were his clothes one of his first creations? How many changes of clothes does he own? Who does his laundry? When he strips naked does he lay around heaven or does he "streak"?
People began to wear clothes for warmth. In some warm parts of the world, people still wear little or no clothing, and feel no shame. In colder climates, where clothing has become customary, shame has become attached to nakedness.
It is hard to imagine God having adopted a sense of shame from human cultures. How could a Perfect Being ever be ashamed of his naked body?
That would leave "warmth" as the reason for God's wearing of clothes. But if God is cold without his clothes it implies that God is not self-sufficient: he relies on his clothes to reflect back his body heat. So, God must've been shivering before he got around to creating his clothes, and God must not be perfect.
Micah:6:6: Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the high God? shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old?
Micah:6:7: Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Micah:6:8: He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Here is yet another place in the "Old Testament" which indicates that the Mosaic Law was already null and void. According to Micah, all God wanted was justice, mercy, and humility: he did not want sacrificial burnt offerings. If this is true, then we should throw out most of the other books of the "Old Testament" (and some of the "New Testament" to boot) -- since they describe God as having required such burnt offerings.
Nahum:1:5: The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein.
Nahum:1:6: Who can stand before his indignation? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger? his fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by him.
Once more, Jehovah is described as a volcano god.
Nahum:2:12: The lion did tear in pieces enough for his whelps, and strangled for his lionesses, and filled his holes with prey, and his dens with ravin.
Nature contradicts the above verse; male lions do not hunt. The female lions do all of the hunting.
Nahum:3:5: Behold, I am against thee, saith the LORD of hosts; and I will discover thy skirts upon thy face, and I will shew the nations thy nakedness, and the kingdoms thy shame.
Nahum:3:6: And I will cast abominable filth upon thee, and make thee vile, and will set thee as a gazingstock.
Once again, this god was up to his old pranks: raising women's skirts to expose their genitals, and throwing feces at them!
Hab:1:2: O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save!
This experience of Habakkuk's belies what Jesus purportedly said:
Mt:21:22: And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.
According to that, whatever a believer asks in prayer will be granted. Being one of the "minor prophets," Habakkuk would certainly qualify as a "believer," yet by his own account his prayer was not granted. How could this be?
Hab:1:13: Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity: wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously, and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he?
Habakkuk's question is a valid and important one. It is the same question that I, as an atheist ask: how can an "all-good" Almighty God look upon evil and not act? How can he "hold his tongue while the wicked devour the righteous"? The simple answer is: he can't; it's a contradiction. The verse above points out the contradiction: "God canst not look on iniquity" yet he "lookest upon them that deal treacherously". He can't -- but he does. This verse is a self-contradiction. It would be similar to saying: "I cannot walk: I go for a walk every morning." Both are obviously false statements.
Hab:2:3: For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.
This is another self-contradictory verse. "Though it tarry, wait for it; because… it will not tarry." This would be similar to my telling you: "If I'm late, wait for me, because I won't be late." That is as nonsensical as the Biblical verse.
Hab:2:12: Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity!
Woe to King David, then; he built "the city of David" with blood. He had his men go in and slaughter all of the handicapped people living in the gutters:
2Sam:5:7: Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.
2Sam:5:8: And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The blind and the lame shall not come into the house.
2Sam:5:9: So David dwelt in the fort, and called it the city of David. And David built round about from Millo and inward.
2Sam:5:10: And David went on, and grew great, and the LORD God of hosts was with him.
If that's not "iniquity" what is?
Zeph:1:2: I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD.
Zeph:1:3: I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumblingblocks with the wicked; and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD.
Compare the LORD's promise above with his previous promise, and see if you notice any contradiction:
Gen:9:8: And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
Gen:9:9: And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
Gen:9:10: And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth.
Gen:9:11: And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
Gen:9:12: And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
Gen:9:13: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
Gen:9:14: And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:
Gen:9:15: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
Gen:9:16: And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
Gen:9:17: And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.
The astute Bible student will immediately notice that there is no literal contradiction here. In Genesis, God said that he would never again destroy all life on earth by means of a flood. This "covenant" did not prevent him from destroying all life on earth by some other means. So, really, what good was this "covenant"? Is it a cause to rejoice and "praise the lord" to learn that he won't kill us by means of a flood, but that he will kill us by some other means (such as fire)?
A burglar breaks into your home and accosts you. "Don't be scared," he says, "I promise I'm not going to drown you." Then, while you're telling him what a wonderful person he is for having made this promise, he sets you on fire. Wasn't your praise misplaced?
Zeph:1:12: And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
Why would an all-seeing, omnipresent God need to use candles to search for men?
Zeph:2:11: The LORD will be terrible unto them: for he will famish all the gods of the earth; and men shall worship him, every one from his place, even all the isles of the heathen.
According to other parts of the Bible, there are no gods: the god of the Bible is the sole god in existence:
2Kgs:5:15: And he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and came, and stood before him: and he said, Behold, now I know that there is no God in all earth, but in Israel: now therefore, I pray thee, take a blessing of thy servant.
Isa:43:10: Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
How, then, can "the LORD" "famish all the gods"? Famish means: "to cause to starve to death". This implies that these gods must eat. How can non-existent beings eat? How can they be starved to death?
Zeph:3:14: Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
Zeph:3:15: The LORD hath taken away thy judgments, he hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the LORD, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil any more.
Zeph:3:19: Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame.
Zeph:3:20: At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD.
According to Zephaniah, God promised that the Jews would "not see evil any more" after they returned from their captivity. History proves that this promise failed miserably. During the Holocaust, and countless pogroms, millions of Jews experienced evil in its most extreme form.
Hag:1:9: Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
Hag:1:10: Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from her fruit.
Hag:1:11: And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the labour of the hands.
According to Haggai, God brought about a drought in order to punish cattle for his house being a "waste". Was this fair? What did the cattle have to do with it?
Of course, men and cattle would not be the only ones to suffer from this god's drought. Children and infants would also suffer. Once again, according to the Bible, God was punishing the innocent.
Hag:1:14: And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God,
If God was going to interfere with free will like this, why didn't he do so before visiting a drought upon innocent people?
Zech:1:14: So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
Zech:1:15: And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.
According to Zechariah, an angel related that God said that he was "but a little displeased" with his chosen people when he arranged for the "heathen" to take them captive out of Jerusalem. But, if you've been reading along up until now, you'll understand why I call this a lie.
Other books of the Bible relate in no uncertain terms that God was absolutely furious at his chosen people. That was the only reason why he was willing to tarnish his reputation by allowing them to fall into their enemy's hands:
Jer:4:7: The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant.
Jer:4:8: For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us.
Jer:7:20: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.
Jer:15:14: And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies into a land which thou knowest not: for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you.
Jer:17:4: And thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee; and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which thou knowest not: for ye have kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever.
Jer:21:5: And I myself will fight against you with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, and in fury, and in great wrath.
Jer:21:6: And I will smite the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast: they shall die of a great pestilence.
Jer:21:7: And afterward, saith the LORD, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and the people, and such as are left in this city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their life: and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword; he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy.
Does any of the above make you think that God was just "a little displeased" with them?
Zech:10:2: For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd.
How could idols speak? Elsewhere in the Bible, we are told that they cannot:
Ps:115:4: Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands.
Ps:115:5: They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not:
Zech:10:3: Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle.
How could he be angry with the shepherds when the previous verse just told us that there were no shepherds? How can you be angry with someone who does not exist?
Zech:11:10: And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it assunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.
Zech:11:11: And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD.
So now we see what this god's word is worth. He easily breaks his own covenants.
Zech:13:7: Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the LORD of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.
Here, Zechariah's god promised to kill the (non-existent) shepherds and to scatter the sheep. Then he would "turn his hand upon the little ones." I'm not sure if this god is here promising to kill lambs or children, but either way I am more than a little indignant at such a god.
Zech:14:2: For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
Zech:14:3: Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
Here, Zechariah's god was plotting the raping of women. He didn't plan to intervene until after the rapes were committed.
Since the Bible tells us that God sees everything, not only did he intend for women to get raped, not only did he foresee women being raped, he actually watched women being raped without lifting an almighty finger to help them. What would you think of someone who stood by and watched such a thing when they had it in their power to stop it? Is it the sort of person whom you would feel inclined to fall down on your knees and praise for eternity?
Zech:14:16: And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
Zech:14:17: And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
Zech:14:18: And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
Zech:14:19: This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
Does every nation send a delegate to Jerusalem each year to keep the feast of tabernacles? I don't think so. Do these non-participating nations experience drought the following year? I don't think so. Have they all experienced a plague in the following year? I don't think so. Could this be yet another failed Biblical prophecy? I think so.
Zech:14:21: Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the LORD of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the LORD of hosts.
According to this, sacrifice was to continue. Yet, elsewhere the Bible has told us that God never wanted sacrifice and that he wanted it to cease:
Ps:40:6: Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.
Ps:51:16: For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
Ps:51:17: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Isa:1:11: To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the LORD: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats.
Isa:1:12: When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts?
Isa:1:13: Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
Mal:1:1: The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi.
Mal:1:2: I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,
Mal:1:3: And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
Once again, the Bible refers to dragons: mythical beasts.
It is interesting to note that Malachi's god admitted to hating Esau. This is quite a contrast to those who hold that God "loves everyone." For what reason did this "god of love" hate Esau? One would think that Esau must've committed some horrible sin to merit the hatred of God. But, the Bible assures us that Esau hadn't done a thing:
Rom:9:10: And not only this; but when Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac;
Rom:9:11: (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth;)
Rom:9:12: It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom:9:13: As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Rom:9:14: What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid.
Rom:9:15: For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom:9:16: So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
According to that, God loves whom he pleases, and hates whom he pleases. He can decide to hate someone before they're even born! This astonishing revelation caused the writer of Romans to ask: "Is there unrighteousness with God?" A very good question! If we look to the Bible for the answer, I think the answer is an obvious Yes!
Mal:1:4: Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the LORD hath indignation for ever.
Why was this god so angry with the Edomites that he would sabotage their construction work and make them known as "the people against whom the Lord hath indignation forever" (despite the fact that "god will not be angry forever" -- Isa. 57:16)? The next verses go on to explain the reasons:
Mal:1:7: Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.
Mal:1:8: And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
Why would god be upset at them for offering sacrificial animals which were blind, lame, or sick? As we've seen, this god had previously stated that he did not want sacrifices to begin with!
Mal:3:1: Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
Mal:3:2: But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
Mal:3:3: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifer of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
Mal:3:4: Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
Most Christians assume that this is a prophecy about Jesus. According to Paul, Jesus caused the old Law to pass away. Yet, the above "prophecy" clearly states that after the arrival of God's "messenger" offerings would be acceptable to the Lord "as in the days of old." So, if this is taken to be a prophecy concerning Jesus, then it contradicts what Paul said Jesus was supposed to accomplish.
Mal:3:10: Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
Mal:3:11: And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
Here God was obviously guilty of running a "protection racket." "Give me your money and then I'll protect your crops from damage!"
What would the Almighty Supreme Being need with money or meat?
Mal:4:4: Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
Mal:4:5: Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:
Mal:4:6: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
In the "New Testament," the middle verse above was used as a prophecy about Jesus. Most Christians interpret this to mean that John the Baptist was somehow the "Elijah" foretold to come before Jesus. But there are at least two reasons why this cannot be so:
1. According to the "New Testament," John the Baptist was asked point-blank whether he was Elijah, and he said No:
Jn:1:19: And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
Jn:1:20: And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
Jn:1:21: And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
2. Neither John the Baptist nor Jesus fulfilled this prophecy by "turning the heart of fathers to their children and children to their fathers." John the Baptist just preached repentance and baptism for remission of sins, while Jesus stated that he had come to do the exact opposite of the prophecy:
Mt:10:35: For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mt:10:36: And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
Finally, the verses in Malachi admonish one to "remember the law of Moses… with the statutes and judgments." Whereas, according to Paul, one of Jesus' main purposes in coming to the earth was to put an end to the Mosaic Law forever.
So, how could we honestly say that John and Jesus somehow fulfilled these verses?