Did the OT God Have Mental Issues?

OT = Old Testament (of the Christian Bible)


Sorry, guys, but after decades of reading the Christian Bible literally and finally starting to look at it critically, I´ve been kind-of on a free-for-all, searching for all the passages that made me squirm or roll my eyes over the years.

And here´s one story that´s sure to curl your eyebrows:

18 So Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, "Please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive." And Jethro said to Moses, "Go in peace." 19 And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, "Go, return to Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead." 20 Then Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand. 21 And the Lord said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the Lord: "Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I say to you, let My son go that he may serve Me. But if you refuse to let him go, indeed I will kill your son, your firstborn." ' " 24 And it came to pass on the way, at the encampment, that the Lord met him and sought to kill him. 25 Then Zipporah took a sharp stone and cut off the foreskin of her son and cast it at Moses' feet, and said, "Surely you are a husband of blood to me!" 26 So He let him go. Then she said, "You are a husband of blood!"--because of the circumcision. 27 And the Lord said to Aaron, "Go into the wilderness to meet Moses." So he went and met him on the mountain of God, and kissed him. 28 So Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel. 30 And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs in the sight of the people. 31 So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped.

(Exodus 4:18-31 NKJV)

So let´s get this straight: first the OT God is plotting with his new partner Moses to fight the King of Egypt, threatening to kill the Pharoah´s firstborn son. The next moment, on the way back to Egypt from Midian, God tries to kill Moses. All because Moses and his Ethiopian wife Zipporah had neglected to circumcise one of his sons. So Zipporah uses a sharp rock to chop it off, in order to stop the Lord from killing his own servant. Then God arranges a nice meeting between Moses and his brother Aaron before they all take on the Egyptian Pharaoh.

Is it just me, or are you wondering too, if a god like this must be a prime candidate for some serious mental problem: Is he bipolar? Schizophrenic? OCD? Borderline? Or does he simply have some deep issue with violent anger? Even when I was an Evangelical Christian, this verse bugged the shit out of me. But, simpleton that I was, I would comfort myself by saying, ¨Well, at least God calmed down by the New Testament!¨

Does it comfort you to think that God could be nice to you one minute, then try to kill you the next, over some simple oversight or fault on your part?

Or do you feel that with Jesus as your Mediator and Protector, God the Father will keep his hands off you? After all, Jesus took all the punishment on the cross, so how could the Father God allow his anger to burst out against you.

I don´t know about you, but I sure don´t want to serve some Hotheaded Deity like this. There are examples again and again in the Bible of this kind of nonsense. But have no fear, the Evangelicals have apologists who are paid by their Christian university or publishing house to defend the faith, and provide answers that will at least calm the consciences of believers (but no one else). And because the Evangelicals, much like their Jehovah´s Witnesses counterparts, don´t read much literature written by those not belonging to their own ¨faith tribe¨.

In this case, with Evangelicals only willing to listen to their own kind and no others, is their any chance that they can look at their own belief system critically? Most dare not. They fear losing their ticket to Heaven. They dread the stares of disapproval from their family and friends. They are afraid that outside Evangelicalism there is no other philosophy or faith that can give them the warm fuzzy feelings that their own beliefs give them. They value their traditions and social networks more than truth. And that´s why many will never question their faith, and God forbid leave it. It´s like the passage in John chapter 6:

66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?" 68 But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 70 Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?" 71 He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

(John 6:60-71 NKJV)

Christians would answer to their detractors: ¨Where else shall we go? Only Jesus has the words of eternal life.¨

Case closed. For them at least. Nevertheless, I am hoping there are a few open-minded people out there.

Feel free to drop me a line if you are one of these people of courage who value truth more than comfort, tradition and tribe.

Cheers,

Bjarte Harvisen

E-mail me at

harvisen AT gmail.com