You'll be amazed what the Bible says on various subjects. Here are a few excerpts taken from the King James Version. Read the verses and tell me what you are thinking. Below each verse, I will give you my take on it.
Exodus 21:2-6: "If thou buy an Hebrew servant, six years he shall serve: and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. [3] If he came in by himself, he shall go out by himself: if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. [4] If his master have given him a wife, and she have born him sons or daughters; the wife and her children shall be her master's, and he shall go out by himself. [5] And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free: [6] Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post; and his master shall bore his ear through with an aul; and he shall serve him for ever."
In this verse, the Bible talks about slavery. Notice the man can buy a Hebrew servant. At first, I thought this verse was speaking of enslaving people that owed you money but where I got that fanciful idea is beyond me. Let's talk about this one - you can buy a slave. Now no one here, in America, is going to let you buy them with the exception of street corner entertainment centers and ladies/gentlemen of the day/night. But we also know that slavery is illegal here. I suppose the one good thing is that if he comes in with a wife then she will leave with him but if the master gives him a wife and she bears him children - the wife and children stay with the master. If the slave loves his family enough to stay in servitude forever then he may say this to his master who will then take him into town and place a mark in his ear which will signify that he forever in servitude to this master.
Exodus 21:7-9: "And if a man sell his daughter to be a maidservant, she shall not go out as the menservants do. [8] If she please not her master, who hath betrothed her to himself, then shall he let her be redeemed: to sell her unto a strange nation he shall have no power, seeing he hath dealt deceitfully with her. [9] And if he have betrothed her unto his son, he shall deal with her after the manner of daughters."
A man can sell his daughter into slavery. If she doesn't please this master (and I assume here that betrothed means married), then she can be redeemed by selling her to a strange nation (again, I assume this means to another nation or tribe not of his own). If he gives her to his son, then she may be dealt with as though she were his daughter.
Exodus 21:10-11: "If he take him another wife; her food, her raiment, and her duty of marriage, shall he not diminish. [11] And if he do not these three unto her, then shall she go out free without money."
This one here is a real charmer. A man may have multiple wives. If he should take on another wife then the first wife cannot be slighted in any manner. He must treat each wife as well as the others. However, if this should not happen then the unhappy wife may leave but he owes her nothing. Can you imagine the women of today allowing that to happen? Sure, there are some that wouldn't mind. But think about it....not many women are willing to leave with nothing. Could you imagine your husband getting a second or third wife (you have no say in this) and then treating you as though you are less than the others? You could leave but he owes you nothing. It makes one wonder what would be the point, if the man loses nothing?
Exodus 21:12-13: "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. [13] And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee."
It's okay to murder someone provided that God delivered him to you. Premeditation isn't allowed (you can't plan out your murder). How you determine whether he was delivered to you or not - I'm not sure. Any thoughts on that one?
Ezekiel 16:49: "Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom: pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy."
This one is a truly a diamond in the rough. These people were proud, fat, lazy and they didn't attempt to help those in need. I don't know what the needy actually needed but I would assume clothes, food, money and just general assistance to help them get on their feet. I would suggest that the government help them on their feet but after that they must be productive members of society or forever be poor. Maybe the US Government should follow that line of logic. Of course, my line of logic has flaws in it but what plan doesn't?
Now to wrap this all up. All of these verse deal with something modern to us or well within the last 150 or so years. We've talked about slavery, selling your children into slavery or marriage, murder and marriage. Of these, three of them are illegal. The fourth one is illegal if you don't have the proper plumbing or live in certain states.
Then finally, we have Sodom and why she was destroyed. There's nothing in there about homosexuality. The verse even talks about daughters (while the story mentions men), so that would suggest there were men and women there. Does that mean they had no homosexuals? No. The verse simply tells you that homosexuality wasn't the cause.
These are laws in the Old Testament. Why don't people own up to these? Why don't they petition their lawmakers to enact these laws? Why do people so conveniently ignore rules that could possibly apply to them but then when it comes to homosexuals....those laws should be in effect? Why are people so scared that homosexuals will ruin marriage or anything else for that matter? These days, when you get married, it's a 50% chance you will fail in your marriage. It would appear that marriage is already losing ground under those that can get married but we should also consider that people stayed married out of need not necessarily out of love.
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