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Morality in Bible stories that you don't understand

Jimmy Higgins said:
Great day of the lord is coming? It's near?

*looks at watch*

Did Harold Camping write that verse?
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I mean, the problem we have is that if Jesus never existed, then the whole thing is a lie and made up.

If Jesus did exist and was crucified, he ain't never coming back after what humans did to him.

I mean it isn't like Jesus told those at the table, I'm getting moidered in a week, crucifixion, but it is okay, because all that suffering, gonna free you blokes from original sin. So... that didn't happen, so he ain't coming back, so it looks like he never existed, making all look like a lie. Just like all the times people have said God(s) is coming home, and he isn't going to like what he sees.
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
I mean, the problem we have is that if Jesus never existed, then the whole thing is a lie and made up.

If Jesus did exist and was crucified, he ain't never coming back after what humans did to him.

I mean it isn't like Jesus told those at the table, I'm getting moidered in a week, crucifixion, but it is okay, because all that suffering, gonna free you blokes from original sin. So... that didn't happen, so he ain't coming back, so it looks like he never existed, making all look like a lie. Just like all the times people have said God(s) is coming home, and he isn't going to like what he sees.
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But we haven't talked much about Jesus because first we had to talk about the origin of the YHWH figure and his personality, etc. I still have a lot of questions about all that...I also have a lot of questions about "Jesus" and his mythological origin...His connection with YHWH...The other day I was thinking about the meaning of Jesus arriving on a donkey to celebrate Passover...Why a donkey specifically?...What is the symbolism? Because EVERYTHING has a symbolism!
 
DBT said:
Well, that's a relief. I was worried.
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Yeah but there is something about what you said too...:)

"This is because he knows he has come to the end of his ministry. He makes a grand entrance into the city on a donkey to fulfil the prophesy of Zechariah, “Tell the city of Zion, Look, your king is coming to you! He is humble and rides on a donkey and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

But I was looking for a YHWH reference...Let me see...hmmmm...

A horse is seen as a war animal...so it can not be a horse...hmmmm...

How about this?...

https://www.jpost.com/blogs/torah-commentaries/donkeys-in-scripture-469276

"In the Book of Judges, Samson asks a riddle of the guests at his wedding and makes a large wager they cannot solve it.

When the guests force Samson’s wife to reveal to them the answer, Samson then says:

“If you had not been plowing with my cow, you would not know the solution to my riddle”.

Therefore: “A cow” represents: “the intellectual strength needed to develop ideas”; while: “Plowing a field with a cow” would represent: “Knowledge developed by men studying in schools”.

A donkey, however, represents a different type of knowledge.

A donkey carries on its back: messiahs, kings, prophets and bread.

So permit me to give you two examples:

1) King David, King Solomon, Jesus, and all of the prophets are NEVER seen riding a horse, they are ALWAYS described as riding donkeys.

2) All the bread that is brought to King David comes on the backs of donkeys.

In other words: “donkeys” represent: "the base of support by which God’s word reaches the people" either thru his messengers or his written word.

So, before moving on, let's just return to the analogy we mentioned before: The "plowman", who we identified as: "a messiah", works in: "a field" which we said was a metaphor for: "a classroom". He spreads: "the seeds" which even today is a metaphor for: "ideas" and the field produces "wheat" which represents: "religious knowledge". This wheat is then converted into an organized message which we call "the bread of life" or: "the word of God". Therefore, when Jesus warns his disciples to: "beware of the yeast of the Pharisees" we can immediately begin to understand that "the yeast" represents: "additional teachings" which are added to the word or God. We have already noted that King David always received bread carried on the backs of donkeys, therefore it should be no surprise to see that when Joseph sent his father Jacob sacks of wheat, they were also placed on the backs of donkeys.
Now let us turn to the Book of Numbers; here we have the story of the prophet Balaam riding a donkey thru a vineyard. I am not going into detail here, but I can assure you that, if you recall some of the parables in the Gospels, you will begin to realize that it is no accident the story takes place in a vineyard.

Balaam is a prophet, yet it is ONLY the donkey which sees God’s angel. Furthermore, the donkey speaks and reminds Balaam that it is “he” who has carried Balaam on his back his whole life.

In addition, God’s angel tells Balaam that if it wasn’t for the donkey, he would have killed Balaam. Here we must understand that the Old Testament says that a false prophet should be put to death, thus what the angel is saying is that because Balaam has always allowed the donkey to provide the base foundation of his prophecies, he has not strayed from God's word and continues to live.

Therefore, what we can then see from this story is that “the donkey” represents: “the authority of God’s word”. Meaning, without “the authority” and “base of support” provided by God’s word: A prophet would have no power; a king could not rule and the Bible would just be another book.

So we must remember that Jesus said again and again that he ONLY spoke the words which God told him to speak. If one did not believe that God was his base of support, then Jesus would have no power.

Thus, the image of: "Jesus entering Jerusalem on the back of a donkey" means: "God supports this man to be the new leader of the people".

Another story which utilizes all these concepts deals with King Saul which can be found in the First Book of Samuel. In short, when we first meet Saul we are told that he is "looking for his father's donkeys". Later, Saul is told that "his father's donkeys have been found". He is then anointed with olive oil, thus becoming a messiah, and afterwards is crowned King of Israel. So, returning to the law concerning the donkey and the cow not being yoked together in the same field. What we are being told is that in our schools there is no problem studying in: "a school which only teaches the works of men", which is represented by: "plowing a field with a cow".
And there is no problem studying in: "a school which only teaches the word of God" represented by: "plowing a field with a donkey".

But!!!

What is absolutely forbidden is teaching the word of men together with the word of God in the same classroom, because when you do that you are equating the words of men with the words of God.

Thus we also see the 10th commandment stating:

“……Don’t covet another man’s donkey…..”

Naturally, at first glance, we would assume that the important word is: “covet” and that we should not covet “anything” which belongs to another person. But this is not the case, the donkey is used in this example, specifically, to warn the people against worshiping the gods of other peoples and this is why the donkey is mentioned instead of a cow or a horse.

After all, we are talking about religious matters in “The Bible”, not agricultural issues in “The Farmers Almanac”

Thus, this battle between these two sources of information: “The knowledge of men versus the knowledge of God” is the true theme of the Gospels.

The “donkey” represents: “the authority of our Father in Heaven” (i.e. God)

While "the cow" represents: “the authority of our father on earth” (i.e. a religious scholar).

Furthermore: If Jesus is: “the word of God” and Jesus is also: “the son of God”, then it should not be difficult to grasp that the term: “son” in the Bible is a metaphor for: “word”, hence, Jews who are known around the world as: “The People of the Book” are also referred to in the Book of Exodus as: “The Son of God”.

Accordingly, in the Gospels when Pontus Pilate offers to free one man for the Jewish Holy Day of Passover, what we are really seeing is a struggle between two sources of God's word, except this is not clear to most readers because the text has been deliberately mistranslated.

The man who eventually was set free was NOT named: “Barabbas”!!!

His real name consists of two words and was: “Bar Abba” which represents: “son of our father on Earth” (i.e. “the word of religious scholars”). Thus in Israel there is a famous school called: "Bar Ilan University"; it is not called: "Barillans University".

Jesus, my contrast, represents: “The Son of our Father in Heaven” (i.e. The word of God).

This is why Jesus warned his disciples to NEVER allow themselves to be addressed as: “father”.

Thus the crowd of Jews standing in front of Pontus Pilate were really being asked:

Who do you want to follow?

The word of God? Or: The word of men?

The Jews decided to follow the word of men and until this very day it is the rabbi who has the final authority in the Jewish community, not the Old Testament. Nevertheless, the exact same thing has befallen the Christian community. As we discussed in the opening of this talk, despite the clear indications showing that Jesus was a plowman, three billion Christians follow the teachings of their priests and ministers and believe Jesus was a carpenter. And despite the fact that Jesus clearly told his disciples not to allow themselves to be called: "father", almost one billion Roman Catholics refer to their priests in this fashion.
In conclusion: in this very short talk I hope I have been able to demonstrate to you that both the Old and New Testaments are indeed based on metaphors and that, in particular, “the donkey” symbolizes: “the authority of God’s word”.

:shrug:
 
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There is a donkey-related verse you missed:
Ezekiel 23:20 NIRV
There she had longed for her lovers. Their private parts seemed as big as those of donkeys. And their flow of semen appeared to be as much as that of horses.
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https://www.christianity.com/wiki/people/who-were-balaam-and-his-talking-donkey-in-the-bible.html#:~:text=Balaam, a wicked prophet, encounters,speak with the Moabite officials.&text=One of the weirdest passages,chapters of Number 22-24.


One of the weirdest passages in the Old Testament takes place between the chapters of Number 22-24.
Balaam, a wicked prophet, encounters a strange phenomenon on his way to speak with the Moabite officials. In this article we’ll discuss who Balaam was, what strange thing happened on the road to Moab with his donkey, and why it matters for us today.
 
I think there's something to this. Perhaps it's easier or better to use similar creatures. God's word v man's word.

Donkey versus Ass

By the gods of pagania... should there be talking coming out from the ass, I'll eat some straw.
 
Isaac rode a donkey to Mount Moriah on the day he was to be sacrificed by Abraham...
So Jesus saw himself as a new Isaac...He saw himself as the sacrificial lamb...Aha!
 
Yes, that's the sort of 'parallel' that St. Matthew decided must actually be 'prophecy.'

And apologists have been harping on the 'he fulfilled prophecy!' argument ever since.
 
I thought it was a donkey because religions saying being rich is a problem is typically aiming at the poor, as the rich don't take well to the argument. IE Jesus was one of you! David was one of you!

If Jesus were around today, he would be said to have taken the bus... not driving a Model 3 Tesla.
 
James Brown said:
Yes, that's the sort of 'parallel' that St. Matthew decided must actually be 'prophecy.'

And apologists have been harping on the 'he fulfilled prophecy!' argument ever since.
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No, I was not thinking about a "prophecy"...Does Matthew say anything about Isaac?
I was just thinking that "Jesus saw himself" as the sacrificial lamb, to be sacrificed by YHWH the Father!
Just like Isaac must have realized that since there was no sacrificial lamb on his trip with Abraham, his father, maybe he was the sacrificial offering? :shrug: So I thought that Jesus saw a parallel between Isaac and himself...
Ah, and maybe Jesus was hoping for an angel to save him at the last minute...and maybe that's why, when that did not happen, he felt "forsaken"...
And also, according to many scholars, Golgotha and the ancient site of Mount Moriah may be the same area. In other words, scholars believe that Jesus may have been crucified near Moriah or at its summit...
 
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DBT said:
If anything of the sort happened, perhaps just cooked up as the theology developed and was being written
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Well, if Jesus was a real person, and we go with what the NT says, that would be a theory.
If he was not a real person, then all bets are off, and the game is over...:shrug:
 
Jimmy Higgins said:
I thought it was a donkey because religions saying being rich is a problem is typically aiming at the poor, as the rich don't take well to the argument. IE Jesus was one of you! David was one of you!

If Jesus were around today, he would be said to have taken the bus... not driving a Model 3 Tesla.
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jesus____on_a_quad_bike_by_toonation_d2n49mp-fullview.jpg
 
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