"Why did God want to kill Moses?"

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"Why did God want to kill Moses?"
Exodus 4:24-26 At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” So he let him alone.

Up to this point in Exodus God has chosen Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, enabled him to perform miracles, and has given him clear instructions as to how he will use Moses to free his people. Why would God suddenly want Moses dead? The only insight we have is that Moses' son was uncircumcised. Are we to believe that this is an offense punishable by death? If God killed Moses for this offense, what would have happened to the Israelites? Would they have continued to toil under the yoke of Egyptian oppression simply because Moses' son was uncircumcised?

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"Why did God take the form of a burning bush to speak with Moses?"

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"Why did God take the form of a burning bush to speak with Moses?"
Exodus 3:1-5 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

In this well-known passage God communicates directly with Moses, and chooses to do so by taking the form of a burning bush. The question is why? Why a burning bush? Would a burning rock have worked just as well? Why did the bush need to be burning? Is there a natural explanation for this phenomenon? There's also some confusion in the passage as to who is actually speaking to Moses. Initially we are told "an angel of God" is speaking, but then soon after we are told it is God himself. Which is it?

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"Why did God kill all of Egypt's firstborn?"

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"Why did God kill all of Egypt's firstborn?"
Exodus 12:29-30 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians. And there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where someone was not dead.

This is a particularly difficult passage to stomach. The bible tells us that the ultimate punishment Egypt will face for their enslavement of the Israelites is the death of every first-born child in Egypt. The only way for Pharaoh to prevent this is to release the Israelites from bondage. However, God has made it clear that he already knows what Pharaoh will choose to do, as God himself has "hardened Pharaoh's heart". It would appear that there was never any choice to be made. The pain and suffering inflicted upon Egypt would seem to serve no purpose, as Pharaoh couldn't have made another choice even if he wanted to. Is this fair? Untold numbers of children were killed by God, for a crime they did not commit, and the only person that could have prevented their deaths (Pharaoh) was stopped from doing so by God himself. Is this a just punishment?

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"Did God forget about his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?"

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"Did God forget about his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?"
Exodus 2:23-24 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

The wording of this passage leads one to believe that God was somehow unaware of the suffering of Israel, and that he had to be reminded through prayer.  Is God only aware of things when we pray about them? Why did he have to be reminded?  If God had been paying closer attention, could he have saved the Israelites from years of slavery?

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"Why did Moses kill the Egyptian?"

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"Why did Moses kill the Egyptian?"
Exodus 2:11-12 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

This passage is our first look at Moses as an adult. His first action (from our perspective) is to murder an Egyptian. Our only context for this act is that the Egyptian was beating an Israelite. While this is clearly wrong, was murder a justified response? The israelites were enslaved by the Egyptians, wouldn't this have been a common sight for Moses? Why is this incident different than the innumerable others he probably witnessed growing up? Why, after this act, does God proceed to bless Moses above all others, and choose him as the leader of the Israelites? Does this not contradict the "Thou shall not kill" commandment Moses receives from God? Why doesn't God punish moses for murdering the egyptian, or even mention it?

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"Was Jesus really born of a virgin?"

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"Was Jesus really born of a virgin?"

Matthew 1:18-20 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit."

This is one of the most miraculous claim made in the Bible. Was Jesus really born of a virgin? Was this a common story in other religious traditions? Why do only half of the gospels discuss the virgin birth?

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"Should prayer be public?"

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"Should prayer be public?"

Matthew 6:5-6 And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Prayer is such a prominent aspect of Christianity. Why do these verses seem to condemn the practice in public? Are all people who pray publicly hypocrites? What "reward" have the hypocrites already received? Why are there so many instances of public prayer elsewhere in the Bible? If public prayer is acceptable then what is the purpose of this passage? Does prayer even work?

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"Why does God allow people to be disabled?"

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"Why does God allow people to be disabled?"

Exodus 4:11 Then the Lord said to him, “Who has made man's mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?"

In Chapter 4 of Exodus God takes responsibility for making people deaf, dumb, or blind. If God intended them to be disabled, why do we attempt to heal them with our modern treatments. Does this subvert his purpose? Why would God want to make someone disabled in the first place? If disabilities are a result of Original Sin, why are some people disproportionately affected, even from birth, with terrible disabilities? If God is good and can control who is sticken with disabilities, why doesn't he ever heal them? Some claim that God does heal the sick and disabled, not just in the past, but still to this day through the power of prayer. If that is the case, why are there some types of disability that have seemingly never been miraculously healed? For instance, why doesn't God heal amputees?

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"Why did God bless the house of a slave owner?"

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"Why did God bless the house of a slave owner?"

Genesis 39:5 From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field.

In this verse Joseph has been purchased and enslaved by an Egyptian and is so beloved by God that, for the sake of Joseph, he blesses the house of Joseph's owner. Why wouldn't God use this opportunity to do something about the practice of slavery? Joseph's owner only seems to benefit from his purchase and ownership of Joseph. Does God support slavery? Why, when choosing to intervene, does he decide that blessing the house of a slave-owner is the best way to demonstrate his love for Joseph? Is it ever made clear why it was necessary for God to let Joseph remain enslaved?

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"Why does God demand and give specific instructions regarding animal sacrifice?"

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"Why does God demand and give specific instructions regarding animal sacrifice?"

Leviticus 1:1-9 The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock. “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord. He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. Then he shall kill the bull before the Lord, and Aaron's sons the priests shall bring the blood and throw the blood against the sides of the altar that is at the entrance of the tent of meeting. Then he shall flay the burnt offering and cut it into pieces, and the sons of Aaron the priest shall put fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire. And Aaron's sons the priests shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat, on the wood that is on the fire on the altar; but its entrails and its legs he shall wash with water. And the priest shall burn all of it on the altar, as a burnt offering, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

In this verse we have a very detailed description of how God wants animals to be handled and sacrificed. Why is animal sacrifice necessary and why is God so explicit in his instructions? Why is each of these steps important? For instance, if the blood was not thrown on the sides of the altar, would the Lord still bless the individual offering the sacrifice? When other cultures or religions practice animal sacrifice it is seen as barbaric and cruel. Why are the same animal sacrifices not only endorsed, but demanded by the God of the Old Testament? If animal sacrifice was an important theological lesson for Christians and Jews, then why did the practice originate long before even Judaism arose? Why is the tradition no longer practiced in Christianity? Does God change his mind about the practice of animal sacrifice?

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