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Mousetrails - The First Holy War - Page 27

All Bible quotes are from the Douay-Catholic Bible

I admire the Jews for the country they have carved from nothing. I have admired their past leaders for their tough, no nonsense stand against their neighbors. But most of all, I have admired Israel's military. The Six Day War and the Raid on Entebe are excellent examples of their capability. But I do feel sorry for two things. First, the beliefs God forced on the Jews have caused their persecution
around the world through the ages. My greatest sorrow though, is that a nation of people was threatened, brow beat, and slaughtered in a 1,575 year long blood-bath, so that to this day they are afraid not to worship a God that has been dead 4,000 years. This, by the way, is the same God they rejected time after time when He was with them!


I was nearing the end of my writing about the God of the Old Testament when I was asked what I was trying to prove in this book. Since I didn't originally set out to "prove" anything, I decided to review what I had written. In my research ...

"¢ I found when God "created" man there were many humans already on the earth. The sons of Adam and Eve married eight women and Cain founded a city. They found plenty of women to help add numbers to the species. There were enough women in fact, for the sons of God to take wives. Where did all these
women come from?

"¢ I found that time after time, God promised the leaders of the Jews He would GIVE them Chanaan. The word GIVE used so many times in "The Promise" meant Israel would do all the fighting and killing, and after God got all the precious metals, the land He promised was theirs. The real reason God increased Israel's numbers and led them across the desert was gold, silver, bronze, and iron. The land of Chanaan was loaded with precious metal for the treasury of the Lord!

"¢ I found that after creating and dealing with many generations of Israelite people, and after acquiring the last of King David's gold, the fifteenth or twentieth generation of Israelite "gods" gave up their attempt to control the nation their forefather had created, and abandoned Israel. All the blood, the sacrifice, the
suffering, and all the battles they fought for their God gained them nothing, not even the land they were promised so many times. He abandoned the Israelites, never to be seen again.

"¢ I found that God hoarded fine things. He put a ban on gold, silver, and precious things. He wanted all of it, and He got it. He ordered a tax or a gift of precious metals often. King David gave it to him, and Asa brought him whatever had been missed. He also wanted the first and the best of everything else they had. Not counting the men too old to fight, 603,550 men gave of their harvest, their animals, and their wine press, and the priests gave a portion of what was given to them by the people.

War Holy The Mousetrails

All Bible quotes are from the Douay-Catholic Bible

"¢ I found that the God of the Jews was obsessed with killing, and had a blood fetish. He wanted a river of blood at the altar. No, I don't believe river is an exaggeration. Remember the number of males old enough for battle was 603,550 men. God ordered each of them to sacrifice ox, and sheep, and goats! I believe "river" is the proper word. He also ordered human sacrifice. Remember
Abraham and Isaac, and God sending an angel to stop what He Himself had ordered? He told Abraham to sacrifice (immolate) his only son to Him. It was just a test of loyalty for Him to grieve Abraham's heart beyond all human understanding and terrorize Isaac beyond reason.


"¢ I found the God of the Jews to be insanely jealous of other gods. He doomed His chosen people who decided to worship other gods. He ordered them to never even mention the name of another god. He believed His chosen people made molten gods only to provoke him to anger. He warned the Jews time and again, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me!" Yet they continually and regularly turned their back on Him. This all powerful God created the earth, as well as all living creatures, but when He made man, He left a small flaw in his creation. He couldn't get man to stick to the idea of just one god. This same God hung the stars in the sky, but could not, or would not, eliminate or make powerless the other gods that caused him and Israel so much grief generation after generation.


"¢ I found God to be fanatic about what He was fed, how it was prepared, how He was fed and who could bring Him his food. Have you ever wondered where all this food went? It was obviously ordered to please the particular tastes of one entity,
but the volume that was delivered would have fed a small army. Let's do a little guessing. We know God had sons, and they had wives, and they had children. We know there were multitudes of angels, and oh yes, all the army of heaven. So angels, sons, relatives, and the army, could easily have put away, ...one bullock, one ram, and seven unblemished yearling lambs, with their cereal offerings of fine flour mixed with oil.

Edited: mousetrails on 23rd Jul, 2008 - 6:41am

Mousetrails - The First Holy War Revealed Bible The

All Bible quotes are from the Douay-Catholic Bible

"¢ I found not one sickness in the Old Testament, not one incident, where the God of the Jews healed, or prescribed a medicine to heal a sick person. His answer to everything was, "Unclean!" Then He would tell them to get out of camp, or go to your tent until the condition passed, then apologize, sacrifice, and purify yourself in lustral water. He was either indifferent, or knew nothing about the human body He "created."

"¢ I found most of the women in the Old Testament never knew the power Jezabel held, if only for a moment. They were nothing more than tools, pawns, or sex objects. Tools to do the work, pawns to offer as virgins if you were afraid of the men of the town, but most important to man and his God, they produced children. Occasionally a woman would break the mold and get the upper hand, but very few. Sara browbeat Abraham, Thamar fooled her intended husband's father, and the daughters of Lot got their father drunk. They were beaten, raped, sold, ignored,
mistreated, run out of camp, and left out of the temple leadership, as well as day to day decisions. A very few overcame all this, but they all had to go over, or around some man in their lives to do it.

"¢ I found the thing that impressed Israel the most was the fact that their God could fly above the earth. Fiery chariots? Horses in a whirlwind? Flying machines would be hard to describe if you've never seen one before. Flying is so commonplace now, we do it almost without thought. We buy a ticket and fly to far off places,
37,000 feet above the earth, at 550 miles per hour. As we fly at the edge of space, the temperature outside is 51 degrees below freezing. In warmed, pressurized, comfort, we watch motion pictures, listen to any of several channels of music, read, eat, and sleep. We see exotic lands, visit relatives, or do our business,
leaving and arriving half way round the world the same day. Many people own small private planes and travel the distance in a day that would have taken the Israelites months. Is it any wonder that four thousand years ago, any human that could fly was believed to be a god?

Page 27 War Holy The Mousetrails

All Bible quotes are from the Douay-Catholic Bible

"¢ I found for all His power and quick temper, God could be reasoned with. And for some reason the thing that got his attention the quickest was reminding Him what the Egyptians would think of the punishment He was threatening. If the insolence had come from anyone else, they would probably have died instantly, but Moses had had enough and spoke his mind. DO ME THE FAVOR OF KILLING ME is a pretty strong statement to make to this God. First Moses, then Gedeon, argued and bartered with God. These two were successful and got what they wanted. He
could be reasoned with, but it was the exception, not the rule.

"¢ I found sorcery in the Bible. In a book that has a great deal of influence on how millions of people live their lives today, the Bible deals with magicians, sorcerers, mediums, fortune tellers, divining spirits, talking animals, and the dead returning to life, as common every-day occurrences. Intelligent people today all know these things to be so much mumbo-jumbo, yet these same intelligent people believe other parts of the Bible to be truth beyond question. Sorry, it's one book. Believe it all, or not at all! It's one book.

"¢ I found God was not above torturing humans to prove a point. Three of Job's friends came to see him. But when they saw him, they didn't recognize him and began to weep. They tore their cloaks and threw dust upon their heads, then sat with him seven days and nights without saying a word, ...for they saw how great was his suffering. All the death, and all the suffering, TO PROVE A POINT TO SATAN? What does all this say about the God of the Jews? This all knowing, all seeing, loving, caring, most powerful God, felt the need to prove something to Satan?

"¢ I found that Chanaan was a peaceful place until the Jews were ordered to invade the country and leave no one alive. God sent five spies to a place called Lias. They saw that the people dwelling there lived securely after the manner of the Sidonians,
quiet and trusting, with no lack of any natural resources. The quiet, trusting, security was obliterated for all time the day the first Jew set foot on Chanaan's soil! Is it any wonder the Jews are disliked by their neighbors to this day?

War Holy The Mousetrails

All Bible quotes are from the Douay-Catholic Bible

"¢ I found THE GOD OF THE JEWS WAS A WAR GOD! He forced Israel to fight as mercenaries, and 4,400,193 human beings lost their lives because of God's army. When all the prophets foretold victory if Achab carried the battle to the Syrians
to destroy them, the prophet Michaes told the king,

You have just seen through a prophets eyes, the WAR GOD of the JEWS, with His private army on His right and left. Remember always, (Numbers 21:14)

"¢ I found that when God had all the gold and silver, He had no use for Israel. When they wanted Him to get them out of trouble one more time, He told them He had saved them time and again, only to have them worship other gods, then said,

Let's have the truth here! God didn't save anybody. He appointed reluctant leaders to lead Israel into battle. Be that as it may, after 1575 years, HE GAVE THEM THE BOOT!

"¢ I found that the sons of God had children with the daughters of men. And nothing has ever produced offspring with the daughters of men, except men. A simple conclusion then, would be that God's grandchildren are walking the earth today. I also found that you can't tell the humans from the heavenly beings. God appeared as a man, punished like a vindictive father, and enjoyed wrestling like a child. But for all His powers, He was still just a man.

Mousetrails - The First Holy War

All Bible quotes are from the Douay-Catholic Bible

THREE GODS---ONE ISRAEL
The first God created the world, led the Jews out of Egypt, and stayed with them until the golden calf incident. He loved his people and was Moses best friend. He didn't even kill Cain for murdering Abel.

The second God of the Jews was a war God who liked gold, silver, virgins, barbeque, and salt on his cereal. He didn't keep the first God's promise to GIVE Channan to Israel. He ordered their sons to commit genocide and take the land. The hatred He caused has spread around the world and is still with us to this day. He was jealous, and ignorant of the human body He "created." He treated the Israelite women like animals to be sold into slavery, owned as property, offered as a holocaust, and used as concubines. He could fly, had weapons of mass destruction, and was responsible for the violent deaths of over six and one half million humans. As I said earlier, if I thought He was going to return, I would hide in some far corner of the earth and pray not to be found.

For all we know the third God didn't have an army. He didn't use the Jews as mercenaries. He didn't order genocide. Instead He gave the world his son to teach healing of the human body, understanding your fellow man, and love beyond our human comprehension.

I feel sorry for the Jews because their Torah ends with Moses death leaving them for all time in fear of the second God. He tells Moses he can't cross over into the land He promised so many times to give Israel, but He will let him look at it from a mountain top before he dies. Thousands of years later the Jews are still afraid NOT to worship the second God. And true to his word He's still punishing them. Remember ( Numbers 33:50) He told the Jews 4000 years ago,

Did God have suicide bombers in mind when He made that threat?

So why do Christians insist on worshiping the second God in fear? A WAR GOD that was responsible for the deaths of over six and one half million people in His time? Yes, I said WAR GOD! Remember the

(Numbers 21:14) Why would we want to worship the God that started humans killing humans in the name of religion? The war the second God started is still raging in the middle east today, 4000 years later. There is no way to research the world numbers, but how
many died in the crusades? No exact numbers are available, but about six million Jews loved this God and died in the German prison camps in Hitler's Germany. Today most of the middle east would love nothing better than to see Israel disappear in a puff of smoke, so the Palestinians commit suicide in pitiful acts of hatred in an attempt to get rid of them.

America will not win this war with guns alone. To take the present war to its source we have embroiled ourselves in a conflict that has continued because parents have been teaching their children to hate for 4000 years. We have to find a way to change hearts and minds. It will take generations of children learning a better way to live, then passing it on to the next generation, to totally wipe out the hatred and violence in the Holy Land.

MESSAGE of HOPE
My message to Christians today is that there is no reason to fear the third God. He gave His only Son to teach you love and compassion for your fellow man. Jesus wanted us to love him, to love his father, and to love each other. Your God is a God of love far beyond your pitiful human ability to appreciate. You have no reason
to fear him! Love your God and love each other as He loved you!

Now let me leave you with a thought. Since the last God of the Jews vanished 4,000 years ago, every time you say, "God help me" and succeed, you succeeded because you thought you could, not because some invisible hand helped you along. Although you are not a god, you have a power within you to succeed because you THINK you can. I heard it said once, "If you think you can, or if you think you can't, you"re probably right!" And now, at last, from (Ecclesiastes 1:9,) one of my favorite passages from the Old Testament.

(Ecclesiastes 1:9

Mousetrails The Holy War - Page 27

When I first started this thread it was to discuss my favorite subject and answer, to the best of my ability, what I believed I had found in the Old Testament. There were interesting questions that made me think and I appreciated that. But one day they stopped, so to keep Mousetrails at the top of the thread where it would be seen and read and I would hopefully get more questions, I started posting a page of the book everyday. I started at page 15, I think because I was answering a question, and just kept going. So now, for those of you who might care, I'm going back to the front of the book and post the first 15 pages.

Mousetrails
THE FIRST HOLY WAR
by
Keith Stephens

I have written a manuscript using facts researched from the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. My research started with the question, "How many humans died in the Old Testament?" Twelve thousand died in this battle, thirty thousand in that slaughter, page after page of death and total destruction. As I read, and calculated,
other interesting information began to come to light. Do you know how many gallons of wine God ordered for his New Year's celebration, or how many people died in the Old Testament? Did you know that the God of the Jews knew nothing
about the human body He "created" or that He was well-known as a war god? Other facts I found are the sounds God made when he flew, and how sorcery was used in the Bible. Did you know He had a second army? Do you remember talking animals and not one, but three Gods in the Old Testament! Each review is reproduced here exactly as I received it.

Keith Stephens


From a single working mother
Stacy P.
I loved the book. I couldn't put it down, which means I fell asleep several times at 3 am with the book still in my lap. I was shocked over the death count, but I wasn't too shocked over the treatment of women. I was raised in a family that believed women were "less" than men. I"ve studied the Bible for many years. I was raised in a Baptist church and attended a Baptist school for 8 years. At no time in church or school did I hear of the many wrongs done by God. The cold blooded murders and the abuse of women all took place at the hand of a "loving" God. I used my Bible everytime you mentioned a verse. I was shocked by the stories in the very book I was taught to believe and trust in. It amazes me that anyone would pray to a god that cruel. "Blind Faith" has a new meaning to me after reading Mouse Trails and following the verses within the book.
Stacy


From a Seattle Realtor
Jerry J.
I read Mouse Trails in three days. I think about your book a most daily and how it has changed my out look on the bible and its message.
Jerry
(Note, This man's friends wore out their first manuscript and asked for another copy. They wanted to start a "new" religion, using my manuscript as a basis)


From a friend
Russ D.
"This book is the result of a remarkable amount of research. The author has captured a sense of the old testament that could elude the casual reader or even the most devout. The method of estimating the number of deaths in the larger
groups seems logical and well based. The resulting numbers should astound believers and non-believers alike. The author has enhanced the reader's understanding by separating his writing into chapters focusing on the reasons for
ordering the deaths. This is a book for followers of the bible and non-followers as
well. It should be required reading for any biblical scholar."
Russ D.


From an archeologist
Robert C. S.
Dear Keith, I definitely want to let you know my general opinions on your work. You are not a Biblical scholar, but have done what is to me an amazing piece of research in documenting the evolution (nasty word to some people!) of the concept of God throughout the Old Testament, as well as showing quite clearly the existence of polytheism in ancient Israel. I have not read the Old Testament in any
detail and was really struck by your organizing of the evidence. The offerings, sacrifices, the slaughters, etc. all are quite astonishing. Yes: they can never be accepted by the clergy, especially the fundamentalists, but the evidence is there in the texts that the same fundamentalists regard as inerrant and infallible. The same clergy will tell you that you cannot understand the New Testament if you do not buy the Old Testament; lock ,stock, and barrel. But there is a very marked difference between the images of God as presented in the Old Testament (and going through several changes there), and the New Testament. I have talked about the god of battles and the whole polytheism issue with theologians and find that they are in tune with you. What strikes me rather forcibly is the way you went about this: you stuck to the words the text and simply pulled together the statements that were made. This is a very impressive piece: please accept my congratulations! I found it extremely interesting and quite persuasive, in most aeas it confirmed vague suspicions which I had held for sometime. A hearty WELL DONE as we used to say in the USN .
Ka"ooha ``nui , Bob
( Please take note that Robert is the author of several books. I hold a copy of one printed in 1960, Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 60-14723.)


From a member of the Writers of Kern
Donnalee H. H.
My Review:
I found in reading "Mouse Trails" that Keith did a fabulous job in presenting his views of the bible. He did a through job of research and stuck to the biblical passages faithfully. The Agnostics view of the Bible is the same as Keith's. They have asked these questions for years. For the first time, that I know of, these questions have been presented in a book. Scholars have been asking these questions for decades. This book will create great controversy in the Biblical
Community.
Donnalee H. H.


And from a U.S. Post Office Manager
Mike W.
I can appreciate the research of the Bible and the direct approach of "Reverse Argument." However! I don't believe, and you must as well, that any Christian will ever give this book a chance. I like the way you have used the facts as written in the Bible. Your views are backed by the facts. This would upset all of Christianity forever, if they would only be open minded enough to read it. You have simply
proved to me what I knew as a child, sitting in a Pentecostal church and picking the preacher's sermon apart in my mind. The details are so important here. You"ve done a very fine job.
Mike W.


From a housewife and mother
Jenny W.
Dear Keith, 6/01
Thank you very much for giving me a copy of your lovely book. I had a wonderful time reading it. I liked this book a lot. It pointed out things to me that I never
would have thought about. I always thought God was kind and giving. This book really opened my eyes that we humans were really, "created in his own image." Now when I read the bible I really think about what was written, knowing not everything is pretty purple flowers. I learned a lot. I have already told my husband about your book and he is now reading it. Thank you. I hope one day your fine book will be published.
Sincerely,
Jenny W.


From a Senior Product Manager / Engineer
BRIAN D.
Review of Mouse Trails:
"Keith Stephens has done a phenomenal job compiling and quantifying relevant data to support his case. As enigmatic as biblical passages can often be, Keith has applied the results of his enormous research effort to bring clarity and context to many of the less studied areas of the bible. By collecting copius facts into a
discussion topic format, Mouse Trails provides a well organized and easily referenced text.
Regards
Brian D.


From another member of Writers of Kern
Judy K
Dear Keith:
Thank you for the opportunity to read your manuscript, Mousetrails. It starts with a title to pique one's interest and goes from there. Mouse Trails presents an interesting and unique point of view of the bible. Obviously there was an incredible amount of research that went into the making of this manuscript as is evidenced by the many references to specific passages. One only has to look at the detail provided to know that an intense amount of effort went into the creative process of this thorough look at the Bible they never read in church. Thank you again for the opportunity to share in this journey with you. I wish you the most success with your book.
Yours truly,
Judy K.



For the people of the Assembly of God Church in Corcoran, California and for my mother Jewell Stephens who was afraid not to believe a long line of screaming, shouting, holy roller preachers.

Mousetrails The Holy War The Bible Revealed - Page 27

All Bible quotes are from the Douay-Catholic Bible

For my Anne who went to bed alone for years while I researched and wrote this manuscript till the wee hours of the morning. And I will forever be indebted to Mary Lou Romagno for giving me the confidence to put my research into writing and Caroline Corser for encouraging me when the road seemed endless. Without
both these ladies this book would never have come to be. I would also like to thank my editor Joyce Kennedy who helped me make a book out of a manuscript and Joan Schaublin of AuthorHouse who erased any doubt I ever had about this book. I would also like to thank the employees of Floyd's General Store for putting up with an old man while I worked to make my dream a reality.
*******************************************************************
I will insert a note here that is not in the book. I had the extreme pleasure of handing both Mary Lou and Caroline a hard cover, signed, copy of my book. Just a few months later Mary Lou had a severe brain hemorage and died suddenly. It was really a shock to me, because she was much younger than me and the picture of health. I will always miss her.
*******************************************************************

TABLE OF CONTENTS
NEVER HEARD IN CHURCH......................... 1
IN THE BEGINNING .................................... 11
SEEING GOD ........................................... 13
THE CREATION OF MAN .................................. 19
THE PROMISE .......................................... 23
THE LEADERS .......................................... 31
GOD"S GOLD ........................................... 37
TITHES ............................................... 43
SACRIFICE ........................................... 45
OTHER GODS .......................................... 51
OBLATIONS ........................................... 57
MEDICAL ............................................. 67
WOMEN ............................................... 73
FLIGHT ................................................ 97
REASONING WITH GOD ................................ 101
SORCERY ............................................ 107
PASSAGES OF GENERAL INTEREST ...................... 111
BODY COUNT ......................................... 119
GOD"S ARMY .......................................... 127
GOD"S ANGER ........................................ 157
THREE GODS---ONE ISRAEL ............................ 199
MESSAGE of HOPE .................................... 201

NEVER HEARD IN CHURCH
"Spare the rod and spoil the child," and "If you"re working you won't have time to get in trouble," were two mottos my mother believed in and lived by. I never had time to get into trouble with anyone but her, and she didn't, 'spare the rod," so I grew up angry, hurt and defensive. I remember wishing many times that I had been adopted so I could think, "My real mother wouldn't treat me like this!" She never missed any of her six church meetings each week and made sure my brother and I sat quietly through every one of them.

I hated her church and everything it stood for because it was a holy-roller, screamin" and shoutin" religion where they preached the, 'spare the rod " concept. Being too young to understand when the shoutin" started, it was some time before I felt a feeling of shame for the people around me: shouting and screaming and stomping the floor in a place I thought should be reverent. Even as a child,
I wondered if they would act like that in the presence of the God they were worshiping. A day never passed when there wasn't a look forward to a time when my religion would be of my own choosing. I left home at eighteen, married at nineteen, and spent the next 25 years raising three children. Feeling proud of myself, I spanked my children most of the time with my hand. In what was considered extreme cases, I would use a belt, but never a switch or board or
doubled ironing cord like my mother had. This was justified by telling them, "I wouldn't spank you if I didn't love you." Needless to say, my children also had issues to deal with. Not long ago, I saw a bumper sticker that read, "It shouldn't hurt to be a child," and I remember thinking, "If only my mother had known that." Through my twenties and thirties, I worked two and sometimes three jobs trying to get ahead to show the world and my mother, that I was good for something. In my early forties, it all caught up with me.