razeontherock
Well-Known Member
To address point number 1; I'm not imposing anything on the text. The Israelites, in the "Books of Moses" appear to take magic and miracles for granted. these people lived with miracles and magic. How else am I supposed to read these things?
That's quite a bit different from your previous statement! Here you have qualified yourself to talking exclusively about a 40-year period, perhaps a little longer. Out of a 4,000 year history BC, please notice this "golden age" represents 10%, the tithe, that "belongs to the Lord." Also please notice all these numbers were recorded (or concocted, if you prefer) before Christ was born, by people that still do not believe Jesus is Messiah. I know I know, coincidence, right?
So out of the entire history of the Jews, there was this brief moment where Israel as a whole came to take not only miracles, but G-d's Presence for granted. Very astute observation! What we should be taking away from this
is, among other things, the answer to some very demanding questions posed by atheists here lately: why G-d does not furnish any such proofs with such regularity that we can take them for granted.
Now to address magic:
there is VERY little occurrence of it anywhere in the Bible. Did you know "Pharaoh's magicians" was the same guy that was a Prophet from outside Israel, who had a donkey talk to him? Him and his sons. He was sought out by Kings at age 16; a very unusual character. I know of 2 other instances of any sort of magic, one in the OT and one in the new. Again, not at all a frequent occurrence as you suggested.
As for point number 2, yes, I remember watching a documentary on the science behind the miracles in Exodus. I can't remember how they explained the turning of sticks into snakes, but I remember that the frogs and locusts were explained quite easily.
Clearly they did NOT explain sticks into snakes Even if this were later embellishment, and even if the Exodus never even happened, the rich collection of points in the text are still applicable in the daily life of the believer, today. This is why we have it!
Plagues of such creatures were common in those days. However, Exodus explains these miracles as acts of God, not mishaps of nature.
No, we have no indication from the text any such event was common in those days. The implication is the opposite!
Miracles of God vs mishaps of nature = false dichotomy.
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