Yahweh, the compassionate and merciful, had a fiery temper, and was a deity of powerful emotion, so trembling with rage that he was seriously considering firebombing the idolatrous Israelis out of existence, until he relented, because Moses interceded for them.
Here is that account from The New American Bible: “But, Moses implored the Lord, his God, saying, ‘Why, O Lord, should your wrath blaze up against your own people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with such great power and with so strong a hand?”
My response: As far as I can tell, the Israelis and all human naturally were not God’s people, but primarily and most of the time naturally were and are Satan’s people, from birth and often by voluntary preference. People, I think do long to know God, and realize that without God’s love, presence, and guidance, they lack meaning and hope.
Alas, they desire to link up with Satan is a sickening addiction to which they seek to strengthen, and it is irresistible for them, as they are Sa’s people, until they choose to abandon Sa, and live otherwise, following the Divine Couple.
American Bible: “Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent, he brought them out, that he might kill them in the mountains and exterminate them from the face of the earth? Let your blazing wrath die down; relent in punishing your people. Remember your servants
Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and how you swore to them by your own self, saying, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky; and all this land that I promised, I will give your descendants as their perpetual heritage.”
My response: All peoples need land upon which to live and make a living; it is that way for all people.
American Bible: “So the Lord relented in the punishment he had threatened to inflict on his people.”
Here are these same lines from the Holy Bible (KJV): “And Moses besought the Lord his God and said to the Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a might hand?
Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief, did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people?
My response: It seems to me that they deserved punishment—not capital punishment of course—so that is not what Moses is arguing because that would be an empty argument. Rather, he appeals to God’s mercy and forgiveness of his backsliding chosen people.
That God would consume them with fire is what Moses descry as a considered evil act engaged in by God that God needs to repent of. Interesting choice of words, and obviously not attributable to Yahweh.
Holy Bible: “Remember Abraham, Isaac and Israel, thy servants to whom thou swarest by thy own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven,”
My response: Another divine blessing is that humans will flourish and multiply in number.
Holy Bible: “and all this land I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.
And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.”
My response: If God punished his people, who really were not his people, at least not deeply, truly, and consistently, then it would not be evil but would be implemented divine justice, so therefore God need not repent, so holding back his wrath was just a decision that Yahweh made.
I am an idealist, and we can never forget to dampen our expectations for people: we are all born wicked, sullen, selfish, lazy, cowardly, and mixed up, and we must never use force to coerce people to live along the lines which we demand that perform.
People can be better and do better, but it takes time, and much backsliding is predictable, even inevitable, but, once good values are offered people, most people progress over time, f that has been their election.
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