"If a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and ... if he continue a day or two, he
shall not be punished: for he is his money." -- Exodus 21:20
Exodus for Skeptics
Exodus shows the quirkiness of God.
Who else would
show off by turning staffs into snakes and sending blood, frogs, lice,
flies, and boils to punish people?
kill all the firstborn children (and animals) in a kingdom for something that
only the pharaoh did? [And he only did it (whatever the hell it was) after God hardened his heart 10 times.]
give you instructions for buying a slave, selling your daughter, or taking a second wife?
command you to kill
witches, heretics, disobedient children, and Sabbath breakers?
punish children for the sins of their parents (unto the third and
fourth generations)?
tell you to kill your brother, friend, companion, and neighbor?
Only the God of the Bible does such things. And if you can still believe in him after
reading Exodus, then your heart has been sufficiently hardened by him.
Here are some highlights:
The Israelite population went from 70 (or 75) to several million (12:37) in a few hundred years
(1:5, 7).