God gives Abraham and his descendants all of the land of Canaan forever. This
promise is still used to justify the unending battles over the land in the
Middle East. 13:14-15, 17:8
An uncircumcised boy is to be abandoned by his parents and community.
17:14
God kills everyone (men, women, children, infants, newborns) in Sodom and Gomorrah
by raining "fire and brimstone from the Lord out of heaven." Well, almost everyone -- he
spares the "just and righteous" Lot and his family.19:24
Lot's nameless wife looks back, and God turns her into a pillar of salt.
19:26
Abraham makes his servant swear that he won't let Isaac marry
a Canaanite. 24:3
Esau married two Hittite women, "which were a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah." (Because they were Hittites -- not because he
married two women.) 26:34-35
Rebekah told Isaac she was weary of living with the daughters of Heth (Hittite women).
Her life will be worthless if Jacob marries one of them. 27:46
Jacob's sons can't stand the idea of their sister marrying someone who is uncircumcised. 34:14
"And Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord slew him."
What did Er do to elicit God's wrath? The Bible doesn't say. Maybe he picked up some sticks
on Saturday. 38:7
After God killed Er, Judah tells Onan to "go in unto they brother's wife." But "Onan
knew that the seed should not be his; and ... when he went in unto his brother's wife ... he
spilled it on the ground.... And the thing which he did displeased the Lord; wherefore he slew
him also." This lovely Bible story is seldom read in Sunday School, but it is the basis of many
Christian doctrines, including the condemnation of both masturbation and birth control.
38:8-10
After Judah pays Tamar for her services, he is told that she "played the harlot" and "is
with child by whoredom." When Judah hears this, he says, "Bring her forth, and let her be
burnt." 38:24
