Kings of Israel

(Deuteronomy 17:14 - 17:20)

"After you have entered the land that Jehovah your god has given to you, have occupied and settled it, you may say, "Let's have a king to rule over us like all the neighboring countries do."  Be sure to accept as your a king only he who has been selected by Jehovah your god.  He must be a fellow countryman; do not pick a foreigner, one who is not of your people, to rule over you.  The king should not breed a large stable of horses for himself or bid his people to go to Egypt to acquire more for him, because Jehovah has told you, "Do not go back that way again!”  He must not take too many wives, for they are apt turn his mind from the way of Jehovah.  Nor should he amass for himself an excessive amount of silver and gold.

"When he assumes the throne as king, he must keep a record of these instructions for himself in a book, copied from that of the Levitical priests.  He is have it with him always and read it every day of his life so that he may learn to revere Jehovah his god, to keep all the words of his laws, and to execute these statutes.  He must not come to feel himself superior to his fellow Israelites or alter the law in any way, so that he and his descendants may reign long over his kingdom in Israel." 

Notes

1. Jehovah demands that Israelite kings do not seek to acquire too much personal wealth, horses, wives, gold and silver.  Good luck with that.  Ironically, King Solomon of Israel, who built the Jehovan Temple, was famed for his wealth and the size of his harem.  He seemed to get on OK, but later, King Herod was not totally accepted by the people of Israel because he was regarded as a foreigner.

2. The king is not supposed to have too many horses and must on no account go to Egypt to stock his stables.  At this time the Israelites had cattle and sheep, goats and donkeys, but there has been no reference to horses.  The breeds of horses existent at that time were not used as beasts of burden.  Donkeys pulled carts, oxen pulled plows, and everybody walked.  In the 16th Century BC the Hyksos introduced the horse-drawn war chariot to Egypt.  Outside of the steppes of Eurasian, horses were never used as mounts until about 800 BC -- and it would be hundreds of years before effective bridles were invented.  It seems unlikely that an Israelite king would want horses for himself, unless the reference here is to war horses.

3. The king is suppose to have a written copy of Jehovah's laws to refer to on a daily basis.  Great, only at this time, as has been oft noted, the Hebrews lived in a preliterate culture.  There were no alphabets, no writing, save Egyptian hieroglyphics and Babylonian cuneiform.  Even if Moses probably knew the latter, it is unlikely that the Israelites would have used either.  It had been centuries since the Israelites had been in contact with Mesopotamia, and considering the animosity Jehovah harbored against the Egyptians, it is improbable that he would have sanctioned the use of their writing.  It is assumed, of course, that the writing would be in Hebrew, but that was a language that would not be developed for hundreds of years.  This is another indication that the writers of the Bible were entirely clueless about conditions in former times and were woefully deluded about the true history of their own people.    

Justice in Israel

(Deuteronomy 16:18 - 17:13)

"In all the towns that Jehovah your god is giving you, you should appoint judges and officials for each of the tribes.  They must pass judgment fairly, and not pervert justice by showing partiality or by taking a bribe (for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and twist the words of the righteous).  Pursue justice and justice alone so that you may prosper when you take possession of the land Jehovah your god is giving you. 

"You must not plant any kind of tree to be worshiped as an Asherah or erect a stone image for worship beside the altar you have built for Jehovah your god, for such things are detested by him. 

"Do not sacrifice to Jehovah your god cattle or sheep that possess any flaw or defect, for that would be offensive to Jehovah.

"When you have settled in the towns Jehovah your god is giving you, it may happen that a man or woman does evil in the sight of Jehovah your god and violates his pact by serving and bowing down to other gods, or by worshiping the sun or the moon or other heavenly bodies -- which I have forbidden.  If there is such a report and you come to hear of it, you must investigate the matter thoroughly.  If it is established that such an abominable act has been committed in Israel, then the man or woman who has committed it must be taken to the town gates and stoned to death.  Evidence must always be presented by 2 or 3 witnesses. No one should be sentenced to death on the testimony of a single witness.  The first stones must be hurled by the hands of the witnesses, after which the rest of the populace join in.  The evil in your midst is thusly purged.

"If a case arises in your towns that proves difficult to decide, whether it be a determination of what sort of homicide or assault may have been committed or some matter involving conflicting legal rights, then take it to a place of worship chosen by Jehovah your god and present it to the Levite priests or to whatever judge is currently in office.  Consult with them and they will render a verdict for you.  You must carry out the decisions they give you at a place of worship chosen by Jehovah your god.  Carefully take note of all the instructions they tell you.  Abide by their interpretation of the law and follow their directions in regard to carrying out the verdict.  Do not alter their judgment in any way, by making it either harsher or more lenient.  Anyone who shows contempt for the judge or the priest that represents Jehovah your god and rejects their decision must be put to death to purge the evil from Israel.  All the people will hear of it, be afraid, and never again act with such contempt.”

Notes

1. There is a continued emphasis upon the exclusive worship of Jehovah, for that seems to be the common element, the glue that holds together the tribes of the nation of Israel.  To pursue, worship, and serve other gods is more than sacrilege and a betrayal of Jehovah, it is a repudiation of national identity, justifying heresy and apostasy as capital offenses.  In reality, though, the Hebrews were, through most of their history, not at all monotheistic nor was the worship of gods other than Jehovah an anomaly, even if it might have been an abomination to the Levite priests of Jehovah. 

2. Asherah were living trees or wooden poles set up near Canaanite shrines to honor Asherah, a fertility goddess.   

3. The reliance upon corroborated testimony and evidence resulting from an honest investigation, as well as insistence upon unbiased and incorruptible judges provide a sound basis for a justice system.  That they were espoused by the Israelites, a group of primitive nomads, is admirable.  But one wonders, though, whether these concepts were actually honored during the time of Moses or whether they were developed later when Hebrew civilization, no longer nomadic, had became more sophisticated.  The lapse in time from when the events in the Books of Moses took place to when they were first recorded and to when the records might have been compiled, edited, added to, and censured is many hundreds of years.  Therefore, we can never know what aspects of Hebrew law and custom are contemporary with the "historical" account and what are anachronistic.

4. The provision that the witnesses against a law breaker must be the primary executioners would seem a bit barbaric to us, but does make some rough sense.  And the idea that severity of punishment is necessary to prevent future crime is certainly something we understand.  However much as deterrent sentences have been and still are imposed, they do not constitute justice, which demands that the punishment be in proportion to the seriousness of the crime and that law breakers are punished only for their own crimes and not for future possible crimes committed by others.  There seems to be an assurance here that putting to death those who are guilty of heresy or of ignoring or altering the judgment of a priest will generate such fear that it will scotch any potential law breaker.  Experience and long history have shown, though, that draconian punishments, such as making minor crimes capital offenses, have rarely had the deterrent effect expected; more often than not they are counterproductive.       

Three Festivals

(Deuteronomy 16:1 - 16:17)

"To honor Jehovah your god celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread in the month of Abib [Nisan], for it was in the month of Abib that Jehovah your god brought you out of Egypt in the dead of night.  You should offer to Jehovah your god a sacrifice from the flock or the herd at a place of worship where Jehovah has chosen that his name should be honored.  You should eat with it no bread that is leavened.  For 7 days you should eat unleavened bread as you did when you departed Egypt in haste, for this is the bread of affliction, to remind you all the days of your life the time of your exodus from Egypt.  Throughout the land let there be no yeast in your possession for 7 days.  Let no meat you have sacrificed on the 1st day remain uneaten by the following morning.  You may not make the Passover sacrifice in the towns that Jehovah your god is giving to you: it must be offered only at a place of worship where Jehovah has chosen that his name should be honored.  Sacrifice it there at dusk when the sun is setting, the time when you began your exodus from Egypt.  You must cook it and eat it at the place that Jehovah your god will choose.  In the morning you may return home to your tents.  For the next 6 days you must not eat any leavened bread.  Then, on the 7th day, hold a sacred assembly and do no work on that day.

"Count off 7 weeks from the time you begin to harvest the standing grain.  Then you will celebrate the Harvest Festival to honor Jehovah your god.  You must bring to his altar voluntary offerings proportionate to the blessings you have received from him.  Celebrate before the altar at the place of worship where Jehovah has chosen that his name should be honored; celebrate with your children, your servants, the Levites who live in your towns, as well as the aliens, the widows, and orphans who live among you.  Remember that you were once slaves in Egypt and carefully observe these decrees. 

"When the grain has been threshed and the grapes have been pressed, you should celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles for 7 days.  Celebrate with your children, your servants, the Levites who live in your towns, as well as the aliens, the widows, and orphans who live among you.  For 7 days you will observe this festival to honor Jehovah your god at the designated place of worship, for it is Jehovah who blesses you with bountiful harvests and grants you success in all you undertake, so that you know great rejoicing. 

“Three times a year, at the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Harvest Festival, and the Festival of Tabernacles, each man must appear before the altar of Jehovah your god at a designated place of worship.  He must not come empty handed, but must bring gifts for Jehovah proportionate to the blessings he has received from him."

Notes

1. A more detailed description of Jehovan holidays is presented in Leviticus -- another suggestion that Deuteronomy was written first and the previous books ascribed to Moses were later elaborations.

2. Abib, later called Nissan, occurring in early spring, is the first month of the Jewish religious calendar.  (The secular calendar begins in the early autumn month of Tishri, Rosh Hashanah being New Year's day.)  The Feast of Unleavened Bread is, of course, better known as Passover.  Here no mention is made of the Jehovah's mass murder of the Egyptian first born and his Angel of Death "passing over" the homes of the Israelites.  Reference is made only to the hasty departure of the Israelite slaves in embarking upon their exodus into the desert.  Previous notes have commented upon the unlikelihood that any large number of Israelites were Egyptian slaves, that the Ten Plagues of Egypt probably occurred long before the age of Moses, and that any large exodus out of Egypt is not only unsubstantiated by history and archaeology, but is, in practical and logistical terms, impossible.

3. The Harvest Festival, literally the Festival of Weeks, was, by the time of Jesus, known as the Festival of Pentecost, and is now celebrated as Shavuot or Shabuoth.  The Festival of Tabernacles, or Festival of Booths, was referred to in Exodus as the Festival of Ingathering, but is now celebrated as Sukkot or Succoth.  It is ironic that Moses is lecturing his people on harvest festivals when up to this time they have only been nomads, wandering around Sinai with their flocks and herds.  Having previously been slaves for generations, what would they even know of crops and harvests?

Sabbatical Year

(Deuteronomy 15:1 - 15:23)
"At the end of every seventh year, you are required to forgive all debts.   The manner in which this is to be done is this: every creditor must cancel any loan they have made to a fellow Israelite.  They must not demand payment from their neighbors and relations, because a cancellation of debts has been proclaimed by Jehovah.  You may demand payment from a foreigner, but you must excuse whatever is owed to you by your fellow Israelites.  Indeed, there need be no poor among you, for in the land Jehovah your god is giving you as an inheritance, he will bless you, provided you obey Jehovah your god and follow the commandments I am giving you today.  Jehovah will bless you as he has promised.  You will lend to many nations, but you will borrow from none.  You will rule over other nations, but you will not be ruled over by them.

"If there are any of your fellow Israelites who live in the towns of the land Jehovah your god is giving you and are poor, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward them.  Treat your poor brother with an open hand, lending him whatever he might need, regardless of what it might be.  Take care not to entertain the selfish thought, "The 7th year, the year of debt relief is near," and regard your poor brother stingily, denying him a loan, so that he complains to Jehovah about you.  If so, you will be guilty of a sin.  Give to him generously and do so without a grudging heart, for which Jehovah your god will reward you by blessing all your work and all you may undertake.  Since there will always be poor in the land, I therefore command you to be openhanded to your brother who lives in the land and is poor and needy.

"If any of your people, a Hebrew man (or woman), is indentured to you, he will serve you for six years, but in the seventh year you must grant him his freedom.  And when you release him, you must not send him away empty-handed, but generously supply him from your flock, your threshing floor, and your winepress, giving to him as Jehovah your god has given to you.  And you should keep in mind that your were once slaves in Egypt and Jehovah freed you.  That is the reason I give you this command today.  However, your servant may tell you he doesn't want to leave, because he loves you and your household and is satisfied in your service.  In such a case, you should push an awl through his earlobe into the door, marking him as your slave for life.  The same should be done for a female slave as for a male.  Do not consider it a hardship to free a slave, for his six-year service to you is worth twice the labor of a hired hand -- and, if you do so, Jehovah will bless you in all you undertake.

"Set aside the firstborn of your flocks and herds for Jehovah your god.  Do not use the firstborn of your herds to work in the fields; do not shear the firstborn of your flocks.  Each year you and your household are to eat the meat of the firstborn before altar of Jehovah your god in the place of worship he has chosen.  Although, if an animal has a blemish, if it is lame or blind, or has some other serious defect, you must not sacrifice it to Jehovah your god.  You should then eat it within your towns instead.  Those who are ritually pure and impure may partake of it, as if it were a gazelle or deer.  But you must not consume its blood, which you should pour out on the ground like water."

Notes
1. Introduced here is the concept of the Sabbatical Year, the 7th year when debts are forgiven and slaves are freed.  In regard to debts, one wonders whether this was anything more than an utopian idea, like many presented in the Books of Moses.  Could this have worked in practice?  Would a Hebrew, or anyone else for that matter, really offer a loan to someone in the 6th year just to be a good guy, knowing that in the 7th year he would be unable to collect it?  Are loans regularly tendered when there is a near certainty of a loss?  Basing an economy on ignoring self-serving financial incentives and relying upon altruism, charity and compassion, still a characteristic of the political philosophy of many on the social justice left, has, in the long run, never worked and doubtless never will, unless human nature, which is instinctually selfish, is somehow altered.  It is interesting that in the case of money lending, the Israelite is treated differently from the foreigner, who is not offered any debt relief.

2. It is first asserted that in Jehovah's utopian paradise there would be no necessity for anyone to be poor, but then, more realistically, it is acknowledged that poor will always be with us.  Generous loans and gifts are offered as the only solution to Israelite poverty.

3. Israel is urged to be a creditor but never a debtor -- nice, if things work out perfectly, as, of course, they will with Jehovah's favor.

4. Slavery in ancient times was quite different than slavery in the Old South, where there was instituted a permanent slave class based on race.  Some ancient slaves were captives of war or abducted and pressed into service (a practice condemned by Jehovah.)  However, most slaves were what we would call indentured servants.  The slave himself or his family sold him into service for a limited period of time, after which he would be freed, usually with some payment made to him, as is described here. This practice was not uncommon in 17th and 18th Century America.

5. Israelites are to eat their firstborn livestock before the altar of Jehovah.  Wouldn't all the firstborn livestock furnish a great deal more meat than one's household could consume?  How could a small family eat even one steer at a sitting?  That every family would bring all their firstborn livestock to the altar to be slaughtered, cooked, and consumed would surely present insuperable practical and logistical problems.  Indeed, it would present a ludicrous spectacle.  Does one picnic at the slaughterhouse?  Wouldn't it make more sense to save the firstborn for breeding purposes, to improve the stock.

 

Tithes

(Deuteronomy 14:22 - 14:29)
“Each year you must set aside as a tithe a tenth of the crops you harvest.  So that you may learn to always revere Jehovah your god, bring your tithes, the grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the first born of your flocks and herds, to the place designated by Jehovah your god as the habitation where his name is honored and eat there before the altar of Jehovah your god.  When you are blessed with a good harvest, but the designated place of worship is too far away for you to bring your tithe, then you may exchange your crops and livestock for silver, and carry the silver with you to place of worship that has been chosen by Jehovah your god.  There you may exchange the silver for whatever food and drink you may desire, beef or mutton, wine or liquor.  You and your household should eat and drink before the altar of Jehovah your god and rejoice.  (And don't neglect the Levites that live in your towns, for they have no allotment of land among you.)

"Every third year bring all of your produce constituting your tithe for that year to the nearest town where it can be stored, so that the Levites (who have no land or inheritance of their own), resident aliens, orphans and widows who live in the towns may eat their fill  -- for which Jehovah your god will bless you in all you may undertake."

Notes
1. The tithe, the one-tenth of produce, is not a tax to support the "church" as is the modern tithe. The tithe, though, is Jehovah's share, but his worshipers are the ones who consume it.  The impression here is that of people bringing food to the place of Jehovan worship and having a picnic.  It would seem, though, that one tenth of one's produce would furnish far more than a good family meal.  What happens to the rest of the tithe?  Every third year the tithe goes to the local Levites and to the poor, widows and orphans -- who every three years can have a good meal!

2. If one lives too far away from the nearest place of worship to transport the produce meant for the tithe, it can be exchanged for silver and the silver brought to the place of worship to buy food there.  One gets the impression the authors are speaking about silver coins used as currency.  This is highly anachronistic.  Coins would not be invented for more than a half a millennium after Moses and were only commonly used by the 6th Century BC, about the time when most of the Bible was actually written. Moses/Jehovah is way ahead of his time.

Ritually Pure and Impure Food

(Deuteronomy 14:1 - 14:21)
"As you are the people of Jehovah your god, do not cut yourself or shave your heads in mourning the dead.  You are a people sacred to Jehovah your god and Jehovah has chosen you to be his cherished possession from out of all the nations of the world.

"You must not eat any detestable animals that are ritually impure.  The animals that you may eat are: cattle, sheep, and goats, the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and mountain sheep.  You may eat animals that have completely cloven hooves and chew the cud, but if an animal does not have both, it must not be eaten.  Thus you may not eat the camel, the rabbit, or the hyrax, because, although they chew the cud, they do not have cloven hooves and, therefore, are ritually impure.  And you may not eat the pig, because, although it has cloven hooves, it does not chew the cud and as such is ritually impure.  You must not eat the meat of these animals or even have contact with their carcasses.

"Of all the marine creatures, you may eat anything that has both fins and scales.  However, those that do not have both you may not eat, for they are ritually impure.

"You may eat any bird that is ritually pure.  These are the kinds of birds you may not eat: eagles, hawks, vultures, buzzards, kites, ravens, seagulls, ostriches, owls, cormorants, storks, herons, hoopoes, and bats.  And you may not eat swarming, winged insects; they are ritually impure to you.  But you may eat any winged creature that is ritually pure.

"You must not eat any animal that has died naturally.  You may, however, give it to an alien that lives among you; he may eat it.  Or you may sell it to a foreigner.  You are a people sacred to Jehovah your god: do not boil a goat kid in its mother's milk."

Notes
1. Not relating it to the contents that follow, Moses touches briefly upon proper mourning customs.  To cut one's self or to shave the head (literally, “make baldness between the eyes”), are foreign customs, one assumes, and deemed unseemly for the children of Jehovah.  All the rules and regulations set down here are specifically targeted for the Israelites, the chosen people of Jehovah, and are not binding upon or even suggested for the rest of the world's people.  Jehovah gives laws to his chosen people, but gives nothing (save, on occasion, destruction) to the rest of the people he supposedly created.

2. The original reasons for prohibiting the consumption of certain types of meat was doubtless hygienic.  Since ancient peoples (and apparently Jehovah) had no knowledge of micro-organisms or of pathology, a cause had to be found why certain foods were healthy and others would make one sick.  The cloven hoof-chewing the cud maxim would have been an acceptable and understandable explanation for the ignorant.  That such provisions and prohibitions are still meticulously followed as a requisite of religiosity is a stunning example of the survival of primitivism.

3. The list of prohibited birds refers to specific species, but there is no agreement on translation, with each version of the Bible giving a different list.  There being no reason to favor one list as being more accurate than another, I have simplified it and merely listed the type of birds probably referred to.   --- Interesting the bat was thought of as a bird; one would think the most primitive naturalist would see that the fact that it does not lay eggs, has fur, and feeds on milk makes it an animal, a mammal, not a feathered, egg-laying bird.  But we have already seen that scientific knowledge is not the Israelites' strong point.

4. The birds whose meat is prohibited as food were mainly raptors and scavengers, meat eaters.  This suggests that the reason for the prohibition was perhaps this: if you eat the meat of a buzzard you are also eating the meat of some ritually impure animal the buzzard may have fed upon. ---  Also, these birds are not particularly good eating anyway.  When was the last time you had fried vulture, hawk wings, roast owl, eagle stew, or even seagull soup?

5. Not boiling a kid in his mother's milk is a wonderful proverb, repeated elsewhere, but its relevancy here escapes one.

Punishment for Apostasy

(Deuteronomy 13:1 - 13:18)
"A prophet or a diviner of dreams may appear among you and foretell wonders and miraculous events.  These wonders or miraculous events may come to pass.  But, if he will then urge you, 'Come, let us seek out other gods' (gods you have not known) 'and worship them,’ you must not heed the words of that prophet or diviner of dreams.  This is Jehovah your god testing you, to see if you really love him with all your heart and soul.  It is Jehovah your god that you must follow and him you must revere, keeping his commandments and obeying his words, worshiping him and remaining faithful to him.  Because he has incited rebellion against Jehovah your god, who brought you out of Egypt and released you bondage, and because he is seducing you away from the paths Jehovah has taught you to walk, that prophet or diviner of dreams should be put to death.  You must purge your community of such evil.

"Your brother, the son of your mother, your son or daughter, the wife you love, or your dearest friend may secretly entice you, 'Let us worship other gods,' (gods known neither to you nor to your ancestors, perhaps gods of neighboring peoples or those of far-flung folk who dwell on one end of the earth or the other.)  You must not heed them or be persuaded by them.  Nor should you show them any sympathy.  Do not spare them or shield them.  They must be put to death!  And you must throw the first stone.  Then, all the rest of the people should join in, stoning to death those who are guilty of trying to lure you away from the worship of Jehovah your god, who rescued you from the Egypt, the land where you were slaves.  All of Israel will then come to hear of it and be so fearful that no one among you will again perpetrate such wickedness.

"When you have begun to settle in the towns Jehovah your god is giving you to live in, you may hear of certain men among you, followers of evil, that have led the people of a town astray, declaring, "Let's go and worship other gods,' (gods that were unknown to you).  In such a case, you should inquire into the matter and conduct a thorough investigation.  If it is determined to be true that such an abomination has occurred among you, then you must put the town to the sword.  The town itself should be destroyed utterly as a divine sacrifice along with all its inhabitants, even the livestock. You should collect all the goods of the town in the main square, then burn the town and its goods as an offering to Jehovah your god.  It should remain forever a ruin and never be rebuilt.  Save for your own use none of the town's goods marked for destruction, so that Jehovah will quell the fierceness of his anger and show you mercy and compassion.  And he will make you multiply, as he promised your forefathers, if you obey Jehovah your god, keep his commandments, which I am giving you here today, and do what is right in the eyes of Jehovah your god."

Notes
1. Condemnation of the false prophet does not depend upon the accuracy of his prophecies, but upon his divine allegiance.  A prophet who favors some god other than Jehovah can, it is implied, make accurate, even miraculous prophecies, but he is apparently not a legitimate prophet unless he has the sanction of Jehovah.  It is implied that Jehovah allows the false prophet to test his own adherents.  The Jehovan must not be swayed to worship other gods simply because their prophets and diviners have a good track record.  This is similar to the Christian belief that God allows Satan to tempt believers to sin, just so the strength of their belief can be tested.

2. Jehovah's insistence upon religious orthodoxy and uniformity and the draconian punishments for non-conformance and apostasy put to shame the harshest theocracies, which always find it necessary to impress a uniformity of belief and enforce an adherence to "right" thought.   Here, we are told a man must turn in his family member or friend if suspected of urging the worship of gods other than Jehovah.  A modern parallel would be Nazi Germany or Stalinist Russia where one was obliged to inform on the family member or friend if any action or remark of his suggested a lack of dedication to the regime.  Among the Israelites -- to make matters worse -- the accuser must be the lead executioner in stoning to death his family member or friend.  (Don’t think even the Nazis thought of that one!)  Dedication to Jehovah must, of course, supersede devotion to family or loyalty to friends, but that it should be taken to such hideous extremes is appalling.  And one wonders what abuses this provision might have permitted and encouraged.  For example, if a man wanted to get rid of an enemy, an unwanted wife, or troublesome brother, all he had to do was to go to the priest and accuse the person of persuading him to worship some god other than Jehovah.  He could then head the stoning party and kill the person himself. --- Modern dictatorships cannot tolerate dissidents because they threaten the civil order and the stability of a government whose legitimacy is not derived from the consent of the government, but from power and often a personality cult that borders on religious worship.  It has been so throughout history: man, a rebellious and headstrong creature who is continually tempted to think for himself, can only be kept in line, herded into common allegiance and common thought, through the imposition of force and the threat of terror.  Those who rule by force know this.  And so does Jehovah, who is no different than the modern totalitarian dictator: " believe in me," he says, "obey me, and you will be rewarded; show one sign of disloyalty to me, one act of defiance, and you will punished with death and utter destruction."

3. The complete destruction the town that strays from the worship of Jehovah, like the punishment of individuals who proselytize for other gods, does not constitute an act of justice, but terrorism, to force obedience and conformity through fear.  Indeed Moses/Jehovah admits as much.