mirrored file at http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== Felonies and Misdemeanors in the Old Testament There are several major themes running through the Old Testament. One is catastrophism, and the history of the great cosmic catastrophes and the events surrounding them. Another major theme in the OT is crime. It turns out that, even as there is a massive anomaly in the fact that the chieftain gods of the antique religions were Jupiter and Saturn (people seeking to establish an astral religion today would infallably choose the sun and the moon as chieftain gods), there is an equally gigantic anomaly involved in the message regarding crime. The message is simply that there are two kinds of criminals in the world, i.e. that you have your petty criminals, rapists, murderers, arsonists, train-robbers, cat-burglars, muggers, hit-men, con-men, mother-rapers, father-stabbers and, if you can believe this, even mass LITTERERS like Arlo Guthrie would still only qualify as petty criminals in this reckoning; and then you have your really bad, serious kinds of criminals: guys who make up little dolls, puppets, and statues and what not. Quite aside from any way in which catastrophism might bear on questions involving antique religion, there's definitely something more to the story here, i.e. there has to be something really different between our world, and a world in which idolatry would arouse the kind of horror and the pure instinct for retribution which it does in the OT. I mean, we have various forms of idolatry (evolution for instance) in our own world and nobody thinks of them as maximal crimes. A quick search through the OT using any kind of search software (in this case the awesome III engine) for idols, images, or any such, produces an almost endless stream of admonitions such as: GEN 31:19 And Laban went to shear his sheep: and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father's. GEN 31:20 And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban the Syrian, in that he told him not that he fled. EXO 23:24 Thou shalt not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do after their works: but thou shalt utterly overthrow them, and quite break down their images. EXO 23:25 And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee. EXO 34:12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee: EXO 34:13 But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: EXO 34:14 For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: LEV 26:29 And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. LEV 26:30 And I will destroy your high places, and cut down your images, and cast your carcases upon the carcases of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you. NUM 33:52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: NUM 33:53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it. NUM 33:52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places: NUM 33:53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it. DEU 7:24 And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them. DEU 7:25 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therin: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God. DEU 7:24 And he shall deliver their kings into thine hand, and thou shalt destroy their name from under heaven: there shall no man be able to stand before thee, until thou have destroyed them. DEU 7:25 The graven images of their gods shall ye burn with fire: thou shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therin: for it is an abomination to the LORD thy God. 2SA 5:21 And there they left their images, and David and his men burned them. 1KI 14:9 But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back: 1KI 14:22 And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done. 1KI 14:23 For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree. 2KI 10:26 And they brought forth the images out of the house of Baal, and burned them. 2KI 10:27 And they brake down the image of Baal, and brake down the house of Baal, and made it a draught house unto this day. 2KI 11:18 And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD. 2KI 17:10 And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: 2KI 17:11 And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the LORD carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the LORD to anger: 2KI 17:12 For they served idols, whereof the LORD had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing. 2KI 17:16 And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, even two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal. 2KI 17:17 And they caused their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire, and used divination and enchantments, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke him to anger. 2KI 18:3 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father did. 2KI 18:4 He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan. 2KI 23:14 And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men. 2KI 23:15 Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove. 2KI 23:24 Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. 2CH 14:2 And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God: 2CH 14:3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places, and brake down the images, and cut down the groves: 2CH 23:16 And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, that they should be the LORD's people. 2CH 23:17 Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. 2CH 28:1 Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father: 2CH 28:2 For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. 2CH 28:3 Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel. 2CH 28:4 He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. 2CH 28:5 Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him... 2CH 31:1 Now when all this was finished, all Israel that were present went out to the cities of Judah, and brake the images in pieces, and cut down the groves, and threw down the high places and the altars out of all Judah and Benjamin, in Ephraim also and Manasseh, until they had utterly destroyed them all. Then all the children of Israel returned, every man to his possession, into their own cities. 2CH 33:19 His prayer also, and how God was intreated of him, and all his sins, and his trespass, and the places wherein he built high places, and set up groves and graven images, before he was humbled: behold, they are written among the sayings of the seers. 2CH 33:20 So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead. 2CH 33:21 Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and reigned two years in Jerusalem. 2CH 33:22 But he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, as did Manasseh his father: for Amon sacrificed unto all the carved images which Manasseh his father had made, and served them; 2CH 33:23 And humbled not himself before the LORD, as Manasseh his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more. 2CH 33:24 And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house. 2CH 34:3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images. 2CH 34:4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto PSA 78:58 For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. PSA 97:7 Confounded be all they that serve graven images, that boast themselves of idols: worship him, all ye gods. HOS 10:2 Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty: he shall break down their altars, he shall spoil their images. HOS 10:3 For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us? HOS 11:2 As they called them, so they went from them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images. HOS 13:2 And now they sin more and more, and have made them molten images of their silver, and idols according to their own understanding, all of it the work of the craftsmen: they say of them, Let the men that sacrifice kiss the calves. HOS 13:3 Therefore they shall be as the morning cloud and as the early dew that passeth away, as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind out of the floor, and as the smoke out of the chimney. ISA 10:10 As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idols, and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; ISA 10:11 Shall I not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols? ISA 17:8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images. ISA 21:9 And, behold, here cometh a chariot of men, with a couple of horsemen. And he answered and said, Babylon is fallen, is fallen; and all the graven images of her gods he hath broken unto the ground. ISA 27:9 By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin; when he maketh all the stones of the altar as chalkstones that are beaten in sunder, the groves and images shall not stand up. ISA 30:22 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. ISA 41:29 Behold, they are all vanity; their works are nothing: their molten images are wind and confusion. ISA 42:17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye are our gods. JER 8:19 Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is not the LORD in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and with strange vanities? JER 43:13 He shall break also the images of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt; and the houses of the gods of the Egyptians shall he burn with fire. JER 50:2 Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a standard; publish, and conceal not: say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. JER 50:38 A drought is upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it is the land of graven images, and they are mad upon their idols. JER 50:39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert with the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell there, and the owls shall dwell therein: and it shall be no more inhabited for ever; JER 51:47 Therefore, behold, the days come, that I will do judgment upon the graven images of Babylon: and her whole land shall be confounded, and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. JER 51:52 Wherefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will do judgment upon her graven images: and through all her land the wounded shall groan. EZE 6:4 And your altars shall be desolate, and your images shall be broken: and I will cast down your slain men before your idols. EZE 6:6 In all your dwellingplaces the cities shall be laid waste, and the high places shall be desolate; that your altars may be laid waste and made desolate, and your idols may be broken and cease, and your images may down, and your works may be abolished. EZE 7:20 As for the beauty of his ornament, he set it in majesty: but they made the images of their abominations and of their detestable things therein: therefore have I set it far from them. EZE 7:21 And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it. EZE 16:17 Thou hast also taken thy fair jewels of my gold and of my silver, which I had given thee, and madest to thyself images of men, and didst commit whoredom with them, EZE 21:20 Appoint a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in Jerusalem the defenced. EZE 21:21 For the king of Babylon stood at the parting of the way, at the head of the two ways, to use divination: he made his arrows bright, he consulted with images, he looked in the liver. EZE 23:13 Then I saw that she was defiled, that they took both one way, EZE 23:14 And that she increased her whoredoms: for when she saw men pourtrayed upon the wall, the images of the Chaldeans pourtrayed with vermilion, EZE 30:13 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also destroy the idols, and I will cause their images to cease out of Noph; and there shall be no more a prince of the land of Egypt: and I will put a fear in the land of Egypt. AMO 5:26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. AMO 5:27 Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts. MIC 1:6 Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof. MIC 1:7 And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot. MIC 5:12 And I will cut off witchcrafts out of thine hand; and thou shalt have no more soothsayers: MIC 5:13 Thy graven images also will I cut off, and thy standing images out of the midst of thee; and thou shalt no more worship the work of thine hands. MIC 5:14 And I will pluck up thy groves out of the midst of thee: so will I destroy thy cities.