THE PEOPLE in Canaan engaged in what God called “abominable practices”: First, burning a child as an offering to Molech, followed by divination, reading omens, augury, sorcery, enchantment, consulting mediums, necromancy, and inquiring of the dead.Continue Reading
THE PUNISHMENT for an Israelite who led people to worship other gods was harsh: Death by stoning.Continue Reading
SPEAKING WITH SPIRITS was strictly forbidden by God. This might seem to be a quaint and antiquated notion, but the fact that we encounter the prohibition three times in our reading today indicates that this was a serious issue in ancient Canaan.
MANY OF US have been taught that it isn’t possible to see God with our natural eyes and live. How do we reconcile that with the account of God personally eating a meal with Moses, Aaron, and the seventy elders of Israel?
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS were the first instructions given to Moses upon Israel’s arrival at Sinai. And the first command was “you shall have no other gods before me.”
THE WILDERNESS OF SIN had nothing to do with naughtiness in the desert. It was, in fact, a reference to the moon-god Sîn, which is likely why Moses mentioned the day of the month Israel entered the desert (15th day of the second month, when the moon was full).