Fundamentalists and the Bible 02

This "bow in the clouds" has been interpreted as being a rainbow. If so, it is a natural occurring phenomenon of the sun's light being diffracted by moisture molecules and thus showing the visible spectrum of light. This is physics, not any God. *****

Noah and His Sons

18 The sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was peopled. 20 Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard. 21 He drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he lay uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backwards and covered the nakedness of their father; their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said, 'Cursed be Canaan; lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers.' 26 He also said, 'Blessed by the Lord my God be Shem; and let Canaan be his slave.

First, verse 18 leads us to believe that the three sons left each other's company, and went to their respective lands. Though that may not have been immediately, it still leaves open the question of how they could possibly have survived just as that question was laid at the feet of Adam and Eve. The only things they had in the ark, other than each other, were animals and food which surely could not have lasted for a year or so as dictated by the size of the ark (see the first essay on Noah, animals, food, and the ark). No tools are mentioned, no weapons.

Next, Noah is drunk and naked, and Ham sees him but does not cover him; for this he was cursed, and his descendants were to be slaves to his brothers' descendants? This is a rather pitiful and petty thing to do for a small transgression, tainting all because of the one. Then again, they had to make up something to claim the main land they claimed.

And so the Israelites were to take the land of Canaan?

27 May God make space for Japheth, and let him live in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his slave.' 28 After the flood Noah lived for three hundred and fifty years. 29 All the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.

There were one thousand, five hundred, and fifty-seven years to the flood. They were in the ark for a year, perhaps a few days over that. If Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood, then it has been one thousand, nine hundred and eight (1,908) years from Adam's birth/creation according to the bible.

There are five (5) major errors in chapter 9 of Genesis, as well as much that is questionable.

Genesis 10

Nations Descended from Noah

1 These are the descendants of Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth; children were born to them after the flood. 2 The descendants of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The descendants of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The descendants of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Rodanim. 5 From these the coastland peoples spread. These are the descendants of Japheth in their lands, with their own language, by their families, in their nations. 6 The descendants of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. 7 The descendants of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush became the father of Nimrod; he was the first on earth to become a mighty warrior.

This last verse is a direct contradiction to earlier verses before the flood wherein we were told that there were mighty warriors, men of renown in the land. This is an error of major proportions. *****

9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, 'Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.' 10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, and Accad, all of them in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, and 12 Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. 13 Egypt became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim, from which the Philistines come.

This last verse is also in error if Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible, or it was dictated to him. The Philistines were unknown until the days of Rameses III, and were a part of several "sea peoples" who invaded Egypt, and lost the battle according to Rameses III. No one but his people recorded it as far as can be determined, but no Philistine argued against it. This is a major error that will be repeated time and again later on. For now, it is an error. *****

15 Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, 16 and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterwards the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. 19 And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon, in the direction of Gerar, as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 These are the descendants of Ham, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations. 21 To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. 22 The descendants of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The descendants of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.24 Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber. 25 To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Joktan. 26 Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the descendants of Joktan. 30 The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar, the hill country of the east. 31 These are the descendants of Shem, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations. 32 These are the families of Noah's sons, according to their genealogies, in their nations; and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

If these are the lands, nations, of Ham, Japeth, and Shem, then Shem and Ham were father to two of the same lands, nations. Compare verses 7, and 28-29 for Sheba and Havilah. We do know that Sheba was considered a land, and Havilah also. This is a probable error. There may be others, but these stand out. **

There are two (2) major errors and one (1) probable error in chapter 10 of Genesis.

Genesis 11

The Tower of Babel

1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, 'Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.' 5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. 6 And the Lord said, 'Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another's speech.'

The Lord comes down to see what is going on. Doesn't he know what is going on as a real God would?

Then the Lord, in verse 6, speaks to someone else who apparently is with him, telling them 'Look...'

Who is with God? This is another error as will be seen as below in the next verse.

God, apparently, says, in verse 7, 'Come, let us...' Who is the "us" here? Another major error repeated from earlier chapters. *****

8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused* the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Descendants of Shem

10 These are the descendants of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old, he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood; 11 and Shem lived after the birth of Arpachshad for five hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. 12 When Arpachshad had lived for thirty-five years, he became the father of Shelah; 13 and Arpachshad lived after the birth of Shelah for four hundred and three years, and had other sons and daughters.

Arpachshad had to have married either a younger sister, or a niece, which, according to the Bible, was not unusual (see verse 29 following for Nahor's wife being Milcah, the daughter of Nahor's brother, Haran, or so the Bible says.

14 When Shelah had lived for thirty years, he became the father of Eber; 15 and Shelah lived after the birth of Eber for four hundred and three years, and had other sons and daughters. 16 When Eber had lived for thirty-four years, he became the father of Peleg; 17 and Eber lived after the birth of Peleg for four hundred and thirty years, and had other sons and daughters. 18 When Peleg had lived for thirty years, he became the father of Reu; 19 and Peleg lived after the birth of Reu for two hundred and nine years, and had other sons and daughters. 20 When Reu had lived for thirty-two years, he became the father of Serug;21 and Reu lived after the birth of Serug for two hundred and seven years, and had other sons and daughters. 22 When Serug had lived for thirty years, he became the father of Nahor; 23 and Serug lived after the birth of Nahor for two hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. 24 When Nahor had lived for twenty-nine years, he became the father of Terah; 25 and Nahor lived after the birth of Terah for one hundred and nineteen years, and had other sons and daughters. 26 When Terah had lived for seventy years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Though it doesn't say how many additional sons and daughters any of them had, nor when, we can't help but have the impression that they're claiming, without actually claiming, that in all the years each person cited in verses 10 through 26, that they kept on having sons and daughters for all of their years.

This, of course, would not be correct due to the female having less than forty-two (42) years worth of eggs in her body. With that, we can safely say that there are probable errors to be ascribed to these nine men insofar as fathering sons and daughters throughout their years, so two asterisks. ** times nine (9)

Of possible greater importance, as we will see later on, from the time Noah stepped out of the ark was one thousand five hundred fifty-eight years from the birth/creation of Adam.

With four total families now alive on the earth after the flood, it would be two hundred and ninety-two years to the birth of Abram (later renamed by God, Abraham). This will be extremely important shortly.

Descendants of Terah

27 Now these are the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. 28 Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 Abram and Nahor took wives; the name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30 Now Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

There is one (1) major error and nine (9) probable errors in chapter 11 of Genesis.

Genesis 12

The Call of Abram

1 Now the Lord said to Abram, 'Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.' 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

From one thousand eight hundred and fifty (1,850) years from Adam to Abram's birth, and Abram now at seventy-five, it is now one thousand nine hundred and twenty-five (1,925) years from Adam to Abram leaving Haran, and three hundred and sixty-seven (367) years from the time the ark was left.

5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his brother's son Lot, and all the possessions that they had gathered, and the persons whom they had acquired in Haran; and they set forth to go to the land of Canaan. When they had come to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram, and said, 'To your offspring* I will give this land.' So he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he moved on to the hill country on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and invoked the name of the Lord. 9 And Abram journeyed on by stages towards the Negeb.

Bethel, as pointed out previously that the writer and religious researcher, Karen Armstrong says, means House of El, El being the mighty god of the Canaanites. As a couple of points of curiosity, does this mean that since verse 7 above says that this is where the Lord appeared to Abram, that the Lord is the Canaanite god, El? Second, if this is the Canaanite god El, is it El that promised to give what belongs to Canaanites, the people who worship him as El, land to foreigners without saying why he is displeased with those Canaanites who worship him?

Nowhere are we told what "name" to call the Lord though we are left thinking it had to be El, the God of the Canaanites.

For Fundamentalists, there are two (2) probable errors. ** X 2.

Abram and Sarai in Egypt

10 Now there was a famine in the land. So Abram went down to Egypt to reside there as an alien, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 When he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, 'I know well that you are a woman beautiful in appearance; 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, "This is his wife"; then they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that it may go well with me because of you, and that my life may be spared on your account.' 14 When Abram entered Egypt the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 When the officials of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 16 And for her sake he dealt well with Abram; and he had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female slaves, female donkeys, and camels. 17 But the Lord afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. 18 So Pharaoh called Abram, and said, 'What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, "She is my sister", so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife; take her, and be gone.' 20 And Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning him; and they set him on the way, with his wife and all that he had.

There is so much wrong with sequence of verses. Any who are well versed in the Bible, such as preachers are supposed to be, would know this. I'll do a little jumping (but not much at all) to prove a point about these verses concerning Egypt and Pharaoh.

First, we do know that Lot was said to be with Abram, but he isn't mentioned in the sequence, just Abram and his wife, Sarai (to later be renamed Sarah), yet he is said to be with Abram in the next chapter so it has to be assumed that Lot was with them in Egypt.

Second, according to chapter 17, verse 17, Abram is one hundred (100) years old, and Sarai ninety (90) years old, a ten year difference.

Third, in chapter 12, verse 4, Abram is seventy-five when they left their homeland in Haran (near the southeastern border of modern day Turkey), traveled south to Canaan as the Lord commanded him to, then pitched his tent west of Bethel where he took time to build an altar, and subsequently traveled "by stages" to the Negeb. Walking as they most likely did, it must have taken a lot of time, then stopping, and later "by stages", going to the Negeb. This is important as will be shown shortly.

Fourth, it can safely be assumed that the going was very slow with the herds Lot is said to have in the next chapter, so Sarah is at least sixty-six when they go into Egypt, and possibly a year or two older.

Fifth, though life is difficult as they lived, and traveling hard, we're told that Sarai, though sixty-six, (66) and probably older, is so beautiful that Pharaoh, who has his pick of women, will desire her? This is unbelievable for the elements had to be rough on her quite un-pampered life.

Sixth, Abram is so hungry he goes to where his supposedly beautiful wife will be desired enough for her beauty to cause Abram to be killed?

Seventh, it is obvious that Pharaoh has sex with Saria for he has given Abram many animals and slaves. This is all ludicrous, a fantasy a man dreamed up to make the history of the people what they thought would be not only needed, but believed. For the storyteller here, and for the ridiculousness of it all, this is an error. *****

The ages are way too far-gone to even come close to being believable.

Lastly, and just about as bad as any error yet found, is that they go to Egypt which is said to have a Pharaoh (a king). This land, we're told, has plenty of everything including, apparently, food, flocks of all sorts, gold, and silver. The impression is that Egypt is already a great nation not only with a ruler, but also have "officials" as if there is a hierarchy as well as a bureaucracy.

Abram is given much in trade for his "sister", Sarai, whom the Bible says Pharaoh took to his wife, which implies very strongly, he had sex with her, following which God is displeased and afflicts Egypt with plagues. This is the second instance of Patriarchy, the first being Eve as the one who brought humanity down, but in this case, Sarai is property to be given away at the behest of her lord and master, her husband.

What is ludicrous about all of this is that Egypt alone is implied to be a great nation, and the time since the end of the flood is only three hundred and sixty-seven years (367). Think about it. Two people, having to make a life, to survive, and again, no tools that we know of, and the animals were set free to go where they were supposed to go. They populate many lands with nothing to survive with, or very little.

More, how is it that the animals procreate so fast as to have great riches of flocks in one place, and those animals include those that are to be hunters now that animals and grass are given as food? Even more, how is it that those who had to spend so much time simply surviving had time to learn how to mine for precious metals such as gold and silver. First you have to find the metals, then you have to dig them up, and quite crudely, then the precious metals have to be separated from the earth and whatever else the metals desired are mixed in with.