In this week’s Bible readings…

…I stumbled across Exodus 5, where the Israelites were required, as slaves to the Egyptians, to make bricks without straw. This was at a time when the Israelites, led by Moses and Aaron, had had it with Pharaoh’s heart, which seemed to harden at the slightest of provocation. (I mean, seriously: If someone turned water …

In last week’s reading of the Hebrew scriptures…

…I came across one of my favorite passages, the throw-down between Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of the goddess Asherah — or, more accurately, the throw-down between God, and Baal and Asherah. Baal is a continual annoyance and worse for the early kingdoms, and the Israelites are continually warned away …

In last week’s reading of the Hebrew scriptures…

(As a reminder, I, the fundamentalist with Mad Bible Skills, have started re-reading the Bible, from Gen. 1, using a guide I loaded onto my phone. Obviously, people read the Bible and find different things. Here’s what I found last week:) Moses was continually being told by God to rein in the Israelites, who couldn’t seem to …