Behold Thy God: the most unpleasant character in all fiction
These attributes of God are not made up or derived from historical teachings, they come directly from the mouth of god and recorded in the word of god, that is, the Holy Bible.
“The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction; jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving, control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.”
—Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion
Interestingly, and outrageously, the god of the Bible will not come near to those with disabilities or any deformities. Leviticus 21:18-22
18 No man who has any defect may come near: no man who is blind or lame, disfigured or deformed; 19 no man with a crippled foot or hand, 20 or who is a hunchback or a dwarf, or who has any eye defect, or who has festering or running sores or damaged testicles. 21 No descendant of Aaron the priest who has any defect is to come near to present the food offerings to the Lord. He has a defect; he must not come near to offer the food of his God. 22 He may eat the most holy food of his God, as well as the holy food"
George Carlin: invisible man living in the sky. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8k6OqYtGsK/?igsh=MTh5NzBkNGtrd2NwNQ==
These are a "self-description" of the attributes of God directly from God himself through the inspired, inerrant, holy Word of God. None of these descriptions can be rationalized away, blamed, or excused. If this is your view of the bible, then this is your never changing god.
Keep in mind that this is supposedly direct revelation from God, although the only attributes of God that we know for sure is his silence and his invisibility. At no time has he ever graced us with his presence, at least not that we can reliably verify. Instead we are taught to imagine his presence, like an imaginary friend in the sky, but instead it is fake, an image of god in your head.
In the first sentence of chapter 2 of The God Delusion, biologist Richard Dawkins calls the biblical god “the most unpleasant character in all fiction.” That sentence has prompted more criticism than anything else he has written. To document his claim, Richard asked former minister Dan Barker to provide a list of biblical passages for each of the characteristics in that sentence. The result is the book GOD: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction. Part 1, “Dawkins Was Right,” contains a chapter for each of those 19 descriptors.
I started seriously studying the bible when I was in high school. Recently, my brother said to me that the one thing that impressed him about me is that anyone that would come home from working second shift and study the bible until 3 am while in high school must be alright. He was 5 years younger than me. I was his big brother. And that is the one thing that stood out for him. Back then and even 15 years ago, I would have been very proud of that statement. But now I wonder why I did not spend that time connecting with my little brother. We shared a bedroom and we got along fine. But I don’t remember really knowing him as a person. It saddens me. I studied the bible throughout high school on my own and by going to church and going to weekly bible studies for high schoolers taught by my 80 year old grandmother in her home, a highly respected Christian in our small town. She also taught piano lessons after having been a teacher in a one-room school house for many years. But again, outside of being a teacher of bible and piano, I felt like I never really knew her as a person. I was very fond of her and she was very loving and caring and kind to me. But who was she? Now I wonder if my intense studying of the bible was a way for me to avoid indepth relationships with people. This pattern continued as with my excuse for not socializing with my excuse not only theology and bible studies but growing to the point of me being the only underclassman to be allowed to take the Greek Language, New Testament Greek at that. There was definitely some ego-feeding and social avoidance going on there. Not really a Christian thing. Just a facade although I was sincere in my beliefs.
Back to the point I’m making about me and the bible, I went to a bible college and got a degree in religion (with as many classes in bible as possible) with a Greek and Bible minor. I taught home bible studies to college students, I was a church youth leader, a deacon, worship leader, and on and on. Now I see that all of the study I did of the bible went through a very strong filter, the bible is inerrant and so it cannot be wrong. Any discrepancy must be reconcilable and therefore I must find a way for it to be reconciled. And if it cannot be wrong, then questioning it is not only pointless but it is a sin, a lack of faith, it ran counter to my whole life. It was my fault, which was a perfect blinder for me to not see what the bible really said. It was me that didn't know enough to defend my faith and the inerrancy of my bible. So what I needed to do was to buy more books ABOUT the bible so that I could read more and more about that faith of others and their knowlege about the inerrancy of the bible. But NEVER did I find anything written in the bible about its own inerrancy. And even if I did, then I realized that this is circular reasoning. The bible is the inerrant and inspired word of god because the bible told me so??? I went to a bible college and took bible and greek for four years and never did get any real answers. But somehow I could not see how deceived I was.
So when I read the bible directly now with my eyes open, without dogma, filters, and preconceived ideas, it is a whole new book from which I had been brainwashed to believe all my life. This change began about 15 years ago. Much of this blog is about that. I’ve been deconstructing my deconversion and then reconstructing my worldview. I can no longer unsee the things that I can now see.
Here is the first thing that stood out to me when I first started to listen to the author above and look at the bible from this fresh perspective. And at the same time, I first started listening to the author(s) of the bible and taking them at face value without filtering them through my reality-blocking lens of inerrancy and inspiration. What were these men (or gods) really saying???
God is not pro life! He is aborticidal (pro-abortion).
Hosea 9:11–16
God is not pro-life: Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird—no birth, no pregnancy, no conception. Even if they rear children, I will bereave them of every one. . . . But Ephraim will bring out their children to the slayer. Give them, Lord—what will you give them? Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that are dry. . . . I will no longer love them . . . Even if they bear children, I will slay their cherished offspring.
Psalm 137:9
Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and adashes them against the rock!
Numbers 5:21–22
May the Lord cause you to become a curse among your people when he makes your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell. May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.
A Primary Excuse that Stops Straight Talk about the Bible
I can hear my old, blinded, brainwashed self reacting defensively to each of the points in the bible with the argument that the whole purpose of Jesus coming is to set us free from the law of the Old Testament, the old covenant between God and man, to the new covenant. So we can’t base our ideas of God on the Old Testament. It must be based on Jesus’ teachings in the new testament. We proudly bragged that we believe in dispensational theology as opposed to covenant theology. Nice words. No real meaning for me. Basically, as I see it, these are frameworks used to interpret the bible to mitigate and mediate the discrepancies in the bible about doctrines like the character and attributes of God. Covenant theology says that we can only understand the Old Testament through the revelations of the New Testament and Jesus teaching. Whereas dispensational theology has different interpretations and ways of understanding each era of Christian / Jewish history. Even though I was raised under dispensationalism and majored in it in college, I never really understood it. Both of these systems seem to me to be justifications for contradictions throughout the bible.
Now that I have cast off all man-made systems of belief, I can actually question things and truly seek an answer, instead of the defensiveness of justification through the bias of theology. No more trying to fit things into what I have been taught all my life. Here are my thoughts now:
Jesus never said that the Old Testament is null and void. Therefore he still is basing his teachings on the Old Testament. He actually said that “I have not come to abolish the (OT) law but to fulfill it.” Here is the context in the Sermon on the Mount:
Matthew 5:16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. 17 Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 18 For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.…
Apparently, Jesus sees all of the Old Testament as valid and believable.
Instead of apologizing for his father in heaven, he kept embracing God as his father: John 1:1-3: In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. John 8:28: So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. John 10:30: I and the Father are one. John 10:38: The father is in me and I am in the Father. John 14:9-10: Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.
For another teaching in the bible is that God never changes (see Endnote).
God is Vindictive and Vengeful, full of Revenge and Vengeance, Anger and Rage
As humans living in a civil and civilized society, we seek justice, knowing that vigilante justice is against the law. What is this rage and anger? He is God and we are simply humans. How and why do we trigger him so? Sounds like a puny, small-minded bully. I was raised much different than this. I was taught to handle my anger and rage in healthy ways. This was pre-school and elementary school teachings; at least that when I learned it. Acting it out is not decent or socially acceptable. This brings to mind a heaven full of gods roaring at each other because of their creation that he supposedly created and said, “it is good.” To me, this sounds also like a spoiled child that didn’t get his way. If he created us with free will and meant for us to use it, then why does he take it personally when their will is different from his will. When my child chooses things that I disagree with, it would be against the law to beat him to death. And I'd be a bad father to control and force my child to be like me.
Zephaniah 3:8
The whole world will be consumed by the fire of my jealous anger.
Deuteronomy 32:22
For a fire is kindled by my anger, and burns to the depths of Sheol.
Isaiah 63:3
I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments.
Isaiah 47:3
I will take vengeance, and I will spare no man.
Deuteronomy 32:35
The Lord says, . . . "I will take revenge; I will pay them back. In due time their feet will slip. Their day of disaster will arrive, and their destiny will overtake them."
Deuteronomy 32:41–42
See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me. . . . [I]f I whet my glittering sword, and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries, and will requite those who hate me.
Psalm 137:8–9
O daughter of Babylon, who art to be destroyed; happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee as thou hast served us. Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
Deuteronomy 32:43
Rejoice, you nations, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants; he will take vengeance on his enemies and make atonement.
Jeremiah 50:15
For this is the vengeance of the Lord: take vengeance on her, do to her as she has done.
Ezekiel 25:14–17
And I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel; and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath; and they shall know my vengeance, says the Lord God. . . . I will execute great vengeance upon them with wrathful chastisements. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I lay my vengeance upon them.
God Promises to Punish Innocent Children
Not only does God punish us but he also promises to punish our children, grand children, great grand children, and great great grand children.
I don’t know about you but that makes me furious that anyone would threaten my children!!! What an example of morality to his creation! This literally makes me sick to my stomach.
Deuteronomy 5:
8 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 9 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 10 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
God is not only jealous, but he is proud of it as if that is a good character attribute. THEN he promises to punish children that have not sinned and brags about that also. I would think that if someone, anyone, had these sorts of thoughts and threatens to carry them out, it probably should not be advertised. Most humans know better. But not God! He publishes them as part of the 10 commandments with his words etched in stone and passed down through the ages in the holy, inspired, inerrant Word of God to let all of history know this about him.
So I guess this is one way to provide informed choice so that people know what kind of highly abusive relationship they are really getting into. But wouldn't you think that people that choose to follow such a character would be the ones that deserve to go to hell. God's justice is extremely backward.
God is Infanticidal
I will punish the world for its evil. . . . Whoever is found will be thrust through, and whoever is caught will fall by the sword. Their infants will be dashed in pieces before their eyes.
Psalm 137:8–9
O daughter Babylon, you devastator! Happy shall they be who pay you back what you have done to us! Happy shall they be who take your little ones and dash them against the rock!
Exodus 12:29
And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the firstborn of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle.
Jeremiah 19:3–9
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring evil upon this place . . . And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters.
Deuteronomy 28:53
And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God hath given thee.
Leviticus 26:21–22
And if ye walk contrary unto me . . . I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children.
God is Jealous and Proud of it.
Jealousy generally indicates a lack of self esteem and a vast neediness that cannot be filled. It is never about the object of the jealousy. It is always about the jealous person, or in this case, an immature god.
Psalm 78:58
For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
Deuteronomy 29:20
The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.
Zechariah 8:2
Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.
For us humans, jealousy is not something we brag about but rather something that we outgrow as we mature. Or we get therapy, admitting how unhealthy it is for us and for those around us.
God is an Ethnic Cleanser
1 Samuel 15:3
Go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.
Deuteronomy 13:12–16
You shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, destroying it utterly, all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square, and burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God; it shall be a heap for ever, it shall not be built again.
Numbers 21:2–3
And Israel vowed a vow to the Lord, and said, "If thou wilt indeed give this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities." And the Lord hearkened to the voice of Israel, and gave over the Canaanites; and they utterly destroyed them and their cities.
God is a vengeful rapist
Because you have forgotten me, this is what I owe to you: sexual assault. Even if people justify God’s words as metaphorical, what an awful thing to say. Even one of our worst politicians would not get away with it. Also, Jesus said that we can sin with our thoughts, so if a person commits adultery in his mind, he is guilty of the actual physical act. God not only visualized rape in his mind, he also spoke it against his creation and included it as part of the bible. This sexual assault is rape.
Jeremiah 13
25
This is your lot,
the portion I have measured out to you, says the Lord,
because you have forgotten me
and trusted in lies.
26
I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,
and your shame will be seen.
27
I have seen your abominations,
your adulteries and neighings, your lewd harlotries,
on the hills in the field.
Woe to you, O Jerusalem!
How long will it be
before you are made clean?”
God is a Racist
Deuteronomy 7:6
The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
Deuteronomy 7:1–6
When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are about to enter and occupy . . . Do not intermarry with them.
Nehemiah 13:23–30
Ye shall not give your daughters unto their sons, nor take their daughters unto your sons, or for yourselves. . . . Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying strange wives? . . . Thus cleansed I them from all strangers.
Leviticus 25:44–46
As for your male and female slaves whom you may have: you may buy male and female slaves from among the nations that are round about you. You may also buy from among the aliens who sojourn with you and their families that are with you, who have been born in your land; and they may be your property. You may bequeath them to your sons after you, to inherit as a possession for ever; you may make slaves of them, but over your brethren the people of Israel you shall not rule, one over another, with harshness.
God is a Slavemonger
Human beings are so immersed in their culture that following practices like slavery is almost a forgone conclusion until there is a cultural awakening. But god is supposed to be the law creator, moral perfection for all to see and follow but did he not understand that which is known to all modern mankind? That slavery must be abolished.
What does this say about
his omniscience, his omnipotence, his omnibenevolence???
Leviticus 25:44–46
Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves . . . and they will become your property. You can . . . make them slaves for life.
Exodus 21:20–21
Anyone who beats their slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies . . . but not if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.
Judges 1:28,30,35
When Israel became strong, they pressed the Canaanites into forced labor but never drove them out completely. . . . Zebulun did subject them to forced labor. . . . When the power of the tribes of Joseph increased, they too were pressed into forced labor.
Exodus 20:9–10
The seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns.
Exodus 21:26–27
An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.
Exodus 21:2–11
When you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, and in the seventh he shall go out free, for nothing. If he comes in single, he shall go out single; if he comes in married, then his wife shall go out with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her master’s and he shall go out alone. But if the slave plainly says, "I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free," then his master shall bring him to God, and he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost; and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him for life. When a man sells his daughter as a slave, she shall not go out as the male slaves do. If she does not please her master, who has designated her for himself, then he shall let her be redeemed; he shall have no right to sell her to a foreign people, since he has dealt faithlessly with her. If he designates her for his son, he shall deal with her as with a daughter. If he takes another wife to himself, he shall not diminish her food, her clothing, or her marital rights. And if he does not do these three things for her, she shall go out for nothing, without payment of money.
God is Capriciously Malevolent
After God destroyed Job’s family and took away all of his possessions. And after God admits He had no reason to do this, then he blames Satan for inciting him against his faithful servant Job.
Job 2:3
The Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil. He still persists in his integrity, although you (Satan) incited me against him, to destroy him for no reason."
Isaiah 45:7
I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.
Job 9:17–18
For he [God] crushes me with a tempest, and multiplies my wounds without cause; he will not let me get my breath, but fills me with bitterness.
Job 6:4
Terrorist: For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
Job 23:16
Terrorist: God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me.
God is very unhappy and constantly angry.
Here are examples of how God’s destructive rage is consuming him.
The only human being that I can think of that can get away with this level of constant rage is Donald Trump. The rest are all in prison because it is not healthy to let them loose on society.
Isaiah
63:3
I trampled them in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments.
Deuteronomy 29:18–20
The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man.
Deuteronomy 6:14–15
Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
1 Kings 14:9–10
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.
As a child we learn to mature past the point that we can be provoked to anything. “Provoke” is a way of blaming others for behaviors that are your responsibility. It is a cop out. Emotionally impaired kids that I worked with for 20 years were so full of rage that they were constantly provoking others to anger. Those that did not learn how to control their anger ended up in more and more restrictive settings and eventually prison.
Why is this so-called God so easily provoked??? Is god a victim that is dominated and oppressed? How can an omnipotent god be provoked???
I wonder if Zeus was so easily provoked.
Jeremiah 44:3
Because of their wickedness which they have committed to provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and to serve other gods, whom they knew not.
Jeremiah 44:7–8
In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell?
2 Chronicles 34:25
Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.
2 Kings 22:17
Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
2 Chronicles 28:25
And in every several cities of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the Lord God of his fathers.
Psalm 78:58–59
For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. When God heard this, he was wroth, and greatly abhorred Israel.
Ezekiel 38:19
For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel.
Get the point? I’m tired. But feel free to check out over 200 more references to how easily provokable the God of the universe is by clicking here: https://unpleasantgod.ffrf.org/#/categories/22
Truly an Easily Provokable God with Blazing Wrath and Jealousy … and proud of it?
Endnote
1. God Never Changes
Hebrews 13:8 ESV
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Malachi 3:6 ESV
“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.
Isaiah 40:8 ESV
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
Numbers 23:19 ESV
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
James 1:17 ESV
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.
Psalm 119:89 ESV
Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.
Psalm 102:27 ESV
But you are the same, and your years have no end.
Psalm 33:11 ESV
The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.
1 Samuel 15:29 ESV
And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.”
Revelation 1:8 ESV
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Exodus 3:14 ESV
God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I am has sent me to you.’”
These last two verses refer to the names of God that refer to his unchangeable, everlasting nature.
The Alpha and the Omega refers to the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet meaning the Beginning and the End of all things.
YHWH or Yahweh, which refers to God's being.
I am that I am, or
I will (always) be what I will be, or
I have always been what I am, or
I cause to be what I cause to be, or
"'I Am' is who I am", or
"I am because I am"
In other words, his name reminds us that he is, he was, and he always will be; forever without change or variation.
How scary is that??? if it were true...
Again, as I have been saying throughout this blog, this sounds a lot like a god that mankind wants and has created in his own image filling in the gaps where we as humans fall short. The problem is that the bible apparently had no facilitator to make sure that the message is consistent throughout the 4000 years it took to write it.
2. Drunk with Blood
How many has God killed? Complete list and estimated total (Including Apocryphal killings)
I kill ... I wound ... I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and mine sword shall devour flesh. -- Deuteronomy 32:39-42The table shows two numbers: the number given by the Bible, if any, and an estimate, when no biblical number is available.
Total number killed by God in the Bible
- Using biblical numbers only: 2,821,364
- With estimates: 25 million
(The table has been updated to include God's killings in the Apocrypha/Deuterocanonical books. I'll be adding the missing Apocryphal stories in the next few days.)
https://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2010/04/drunk-with-blood-gods-killings-in-bible.html
Drunk With Blood: It's one of God's favorite expressions
I titled my list of God's killings "Drunk with Blood" for a reason. I think the phrase describes the God of the Bible perfectly.
It's also one of God's favorite expressions. The phrase "drunk with blood" (or variants of it) is used five times in the Bible.
- God first uses it to describe himself: his arrows are drunk with blood.
I will make mine arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh. Deuteronomy 32.42
Now I know that God doesn’t mean this literally. God’s arrows don’t have mouths; they don’t drink blood and they’ve never been drunk on anything. His sword doesn’t eat flesh either. God is being metaphorical here.
Still, God is trying to make a point. He’s saying that he kills people. Lots and lots of people. 2,476,633 if you don't try to estimate the number, 24,644,205 if you do.
- The next use of "drunk with blood" is similar. God’s sword is drunk with blood, too, just like his arrows.
This is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood. Jeremiah 46.10
But God’s sword is not just drunk with blood, it's also filled and bathed with blood in heaven. (Who knew God would have a bloody sword in heaven?)
My sword shall be bathed in heaven. Isaiah 34.5
The sword of the LORD is filled with blood. Isaiah 34.6
And he's dying to use it on pretty much everyone on earth.
By his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many. Isaiah 66.16
The sword of the LORD shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other end of the land: no flesh shall have peace. Jeremiah 12.12
I … will draw forth my sword out of his sheath, and will cut off from thee the righteous and the wicked. Ezekiel 21.3
My sword go forth out of his sheath against all flesh. Ezekiel 21.4
I will bring a sword upon thee, and cut off man and beast out of thee. Ezekiel 29.8
I shall brandish my sword before them; and they shall tremble at every moment, every man for his own life. Ezekiel 32.10
Your young men have I slain with the sword … and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils. Amos 4.10
I [Jesus] will … fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Revelation 2.16
Another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword. Revelation 6.4
God is as strong as a unicorn. (Heck, I bet he's even stronger than a unicorn.) He’ll break your bones and pierce your body with arrows.
God ... hath ... the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. Numbers 24.8
I will spend mine arrows upon them. Deuteronomy 32.23
God is angry with people every day. His sword is wet and his bow is bent. He has prepared all the instruments of death.
God is angry with the wicked every day … he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death. Psalm 7.11-13
Even his clothes are sprinkled with the blood of his victims. (I don’t know whether his clothes are really dripping with blood in heaven. I don’t even know if he wears clothes. I’m just telling you what the Bible says.)
I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. Isaiah 63.3
- But God’s sword and arrows won’t be the only things drunk with blood. God also plans to force people (before he kills them) to eat their own flesh and get drunk on their own blood.
I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine. Isaiah 49.26
I’m not sure how much of this is metaphor. God often talks about forcing people to eat other people. That part, at least, is literal. Here are a few examples.
Forcing people to eat themselves.
And he shall snatch on the right hand, and be hungry; and he shall eat on the left hand, and they shall not be satisfied: they shall eat every man the flesh of his own arm. Isaiah 9.20
Forcing parents to eat their children and friends to eat each other.
Ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye eat. Leviticus 26.29
Thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters. Deuteronomy 28.53
The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them. Deuteronomy 28.56-57
I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend. Jeremiah 19.9
The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat. Lamentations 4.10
The fathers shall eat the sons in the midst of thee, and the sons shall eat their fathers. Ezekiel 5.10
Let the rest eat every one the flesh of another. Zechariah 11.9
So while it is true that part of God’s plan for humanity is forcing people to eat each other, he was probably just getting carried away with his own metaphor when he said they’d get drunk on their own blood.
Oh, one more thing that believers should know. God wants them to keep their swords bloody, too. He’ll curse (and probably kill) anyone whose sword isn’t dripping with blood.
Cursed be he that doeth the work of the LORD deceitfully, and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood. Jeremiah 48.10
Every man's sword shall be against his brother. Ezekiel 38.21
- After God kills people, he will feed their bodies to the birds and beasts until they, too, become drunk with blood.
Thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, even a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth … And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. Ezekiel 39.17-19
God talks a lot about feeding dead people to birds and animals. Here are some examples.
Thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away. Deuteronomy 28.26
The carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away. Jeremiah 7.33
Come ye, assemble all the beasts of the field, come to devour. Jeremiah 12.9
Their carcases shall be meat for the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. Jeremiah 16.4
Their carcases will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. Jeremiah 19.7
Their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth. Jeremiah 34.20
I have given thee for meat to the beasts of the field and to the fowls of the heaven. Ezekiel 29.5
I will cast thee forth upon the open field, and will cause all the fowls of the heaven to remain upon thee, and I will fill the beasts of the whole earth with thee. Ezekiel 32.4
I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field to be devoured. Ezekiel 39.4
Thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy. Revelation 16.6
Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God. … And all the fowls were filled with their flesh. Revelation 19.17-21
Someday believers will get into the act, too. Heck, they’re even going to get to drink the blood of God’s victims after they wash their feet in it.
The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. Psalm 58.10
God shall wound the head of his enemies … that thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and the tongue of thy dogs in the same. Psalm 68.21-23
The people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain. Numbers 23.24
And believers must drink the blood of Jesus if they want to get to heaven.
Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:53-54
- And finally, the great whore of Babylon will be drunk with the blood of the saints and martyrs.
I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. Revelation 17.6
https://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/2010/05/drunk-with-blood-its-one-of-gods.html
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