2 Sam. 6:6-7
Farrell Till errancy@infidels.org
Mon, 31 May 1999 10:25:32 -0700 (00928189532, 2.2.32.19990531172532.008df6d0@midwest.net)
At 01:43 AM 5/31/99 -0700, you wrote:
>>Tim
>>We know nothing of the history of Uzzah prior to his execution.
>>The text provides no information. We don't know his age. We
>>don't know even if he lived with his father prior to the day
>>he helped guide the ark.
>>
>
> JEFF
>
> Mr. Taylor, you are arguing from silence. According to your line of
>thought, we also don't know whether or not Uzzah ever blinked his eyes,
>ate food, or spoke Hebrew because the text does not explicitly mention it.
>Please reconsider whether or not such a high degree of skepticism is
>warranted in this case.
>
>
>>>JEFF
>>> That no one else was punished despite the fact that all were
>>> accomplices indicates that God is compassionate;
>>
>>Tim
>>To prove this, you would have to prove that murder, with no warning,
>>is compassionate. I have already posted a definition of compassionate,
>>which consists of pity, mercy, and sympathy. Striking a man dead,
>>without warning, does not manifest any of these attributes.
>>
>> A compassionate God would have issued a warning SOMEWHERE
>>in the chain of events, instead of murdering in anger.
>
> JEFF
>
> Aside from the fact that your above assertions beg the question, please
>see Num. 4:14,19-20, and 1 Sam. 6:19-20 for indications that Uzzah had
>received previous warning regarding the dangers of improperly handling the
>Ark.
>
TILL
>1 Samuel 6:19 And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had
looked into the ark of Yahweh, even he smote of the people fifty thousand
and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because Yahweh had
smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.
>20 And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy
Yahweh? and to whom shall he go up from us?
>
Am I missing something? Even if we assume that 20 years later (1 Sam. 7:2)
Uzzah knew of this event, he would have known only that people who looked
into the ark were killed. He did not try to look into the ark; he merely
put out his hand to keep it from tilting off a cart. Furthermore, the ark
was not being transported in accordance with instructions previously given
(Num. 4:15), so why didn't the righteous Yahweh strike the whole lot of them
dead instead of just picking on Uzzah?
Farrell Till
Skepticism, Inc.
jftill@midwest.net