Visions, dreams, and riddles
According to tradition, Moses wrote Numbers 12:6-8, and here Moses claims he is the only person with whom God speaks face to face, clearly, NOT in visions, dreams and riddles as he does all others, including Jonathan Marks.
Marks obviously concocted his vision of God out of dreams and riddles!
A parent might punish a disobedient child by sending it to bed without supper, but God disciplines his children by starving them to the point of cannibalizing their children, "I will make them eat the flesh of their sons and daughters." Jeremiah 19:9, Ezekiel 5:10, Deuteronomy 28:53-57, e.g.
In 2 Samuel 24:13, God gave David three options from which to choose as punishment for HIS sin, not the sin of the Israelites. Mr. Marks claims there was no individual option for punishing David. However, the second option states clearly, "Or three months of fleeing from your enemies while they pursue you?"
So, in verse 15, God killed 70,000 Israelites who had NOTHING to do with David's sin! In verse 17, David admits he was the sinner, not the people, and asks, "These are but sheep. What have they done?" There is no answer in the Bible but, of course, Marks makes up an irrational answer from one of his dreams.
In numerous passages God is quoted as being "a jealous God," even saying his name is "Jealous." God reflects jealousy and speaks of Israel as his wife, "I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries." Jeremiah 3:8, this relates to Hosea 13:16, "Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up." Elisha gave the same prophecy in 2 Kings 8:12.
Read 2 Kings Chapter 17. God sent King Shalmaneser to carry out his prophecies, and take all Israelites in Samaria into captivity, then repopulate Samaria with pagan tribes. These people became known as Samaritans in the New Testament. Those Israelite tribes disappeared and are called "The Lost Tribes of Israel."
Do not believe me and do not believe Jonathan Marks. Read these passages in your Bible and think for yourselves!
"Reason is the enemy of faith." Martin Luther. Conversely, 'Faith is the enemy of reason, logic and reality.'
Oren Piper
Siloam Springs