PREFACE: We are here because…choose your own reason. I believe there is a power, presence, province – a god – that has created the universe and that we, humans on planet earth, are merely an infinitesimally small part thereof and we are here for only an equally tiny span of time.
The opinions and observations tendered in this treatise are based on my reading of the Bible’s Old Testament, The Torah, and as a 6th generation American Jew.
Chuck Klein, 2026
CONFLICTING ISSUES Raised By The Ten Commandments:
1) For Christians and Jews, the 10-Commandents are the basis for all conduct – there were no enforcement provisions – it was assumed that violators would be punished by G_d. However, when people realized He didn’t punish everyone for transgressions (in-the-flesh world) they violated these edicts. Then, man began codifying laws to punish violators who were not being punished by G-d in the in-the-flesh world. In other words, man defined sin and dispenses punishment as man sees fit.
2) In the very beginning, G_d made Adam and Eve and they had three sons. Two of these three men proceeded to produce many children. Where did their wives come from? The Bible doesn’t say G_d DID or DIDN’T make other people or that Eve produced other children – female(s), of which at least one (a sister?) married Cain and Seth. Or, were the other people, such as Canaanites and/or other races and/or those on other continents created by another god? Did our G_d make other people? Or did a different god/gods make people in their god’s image, i.e., Africans, Orientals, Indians…?
3) One of the Commandments says: “Thou shall have no other G_d . . . .” Is this an acknowledgement by our G_d there are other gods? Christians and Jews believe: There is only one G_d and he is all-knowing and all-powerful. Other peoples, Buddhist, for example, have their own god, they call Buddha. Are they worshiping the wrong god? Or, are we?
4) The 6th Commandment has a major difference of agreement between the Jew’s Torah and the King James (and other) versions of the Old Testament. In the Torah, the Commandment is not to commit murder, while in some non-Jewish bibles it is written “Thou shalt not kill.” Is this significant difference due to interpretation and/or the result of copying the bible from one language to another? If due to semantics, what else was translated differently…
- a) The “words” of the Ten Commandments could have been only hieroglyphics – a hard-to-understand series of pictures?
- b) The Bible is a historical accounting of the human race as we know it. Its history was passed – verbally – human to human for thousands of years before the first printing press recorded these stories. The people living and passing these events along did not have a dictionary and thus the meaning of words could have changed over time. The question is: What meanings and events have been changed due to semantics, re-telling inaccuracies or to adjust for the political correctness of the times?
- c) Kill/Murder seems to be committed by or ordered by G_d himself in many instances. What does this say about living the Ten Commandments today? Are they commandments or mere suggestions?
5) We – all Christians and Jews – are descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham, the first Jew (Hebrew) lived in Canaan (modern day Israel). Muslims don’t deny the miraculous birth of Jesus and that he was a prophet, but they reject the belief that he was G-d in a human body. Muslims worship the same G-d as Hebrews/Christians and trace their linage to Abraham…but through Hagar, his wife’s servant. Mohammad, the founder of Islam, is their descendent.
6) When Moses leads his people to the Promised Land, he is under G_d’s orders to take this land from those who are living there, the Canaanites, and to kill them all. What does this say about a G_d who hands down a set of commandments forbidding murder/killing and then ordering the extermination of a entire people? Today, the Palestinians claim this land. Are they the descendants of the Canaanites? Were the Canaanites made by a different G_d? If G_d was the G_d of all people – including Canaanites – why would He order His own people annihilated? What about these Canaanites, do they have the right to this land?
2013 TV BIBLE SERIES
There have been and will be writings, documentaries and other means of dissemination concerning the Bible. Some are propaganda agendas. A recent (2023) television special, The Bible, purported to be a accurate rendition was found lacking in many ways. The following are my observations of this major production.
1) In the early scenes, G_d promises Abraham his own land for his people. There is no mention of a covenant. In later scenes, “The Covenant” is mentioned, though it lacks comment or dialogue specifying what the quid pro quo is (circumcision). This is one of the most significant factors in Jewish history – of who is a Jew.
2) There is a scene where two angels and G_d himself appears before Abraham – how did the TV producers know what He looks like?
3) The scenes where the angels come to Sodom (Gomorra is never mentioned) and engage in physical battle with the Sodomites is not believable nor in any version of the Bible I’ve read.
4) There is a scene where Sarah embraces Isaac after learning he was not sacrificed – according to the Bible; Sarah was deceased by this time.
5) There is no mention of Joseph, son of Jacob/Israel being sold by his brothers to Egypt and of his powers (from G_d) to interpret dreams which he does for the Pharaoh and thus saves Egypt and his fellow Jews.
6) The coming of Jesus is portrayed as the bringer of peace. This TV production, The Bible, shows scene after scene of man killing men, women and children prior to the arrival of Jesus. Since his birth/crucifixion, nothing has changed – only the methods of killings.
Chuck Klein, Columnist: American Free News Network
Next week Part VI, Biblical Observations and Questions
If you enjoyed this article, then please REPOST or SHARE with others; encourage them to follow AFNN. If you’d like to become a citizen contributor for AFNN, contact us at managingeditor@afnn.us Help keep us ad-free by donating here.
Substack: American Free News Network Substack
Truth Social: @AFNN_USA
Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/afnnusa
Telegram: https://t.me/joinchat/2_-GAzcXmIRjODNh
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AfnnUsa
GETTR: https://gettr.com/user/AFNN_USA
CloutHub: @AFNN_USA