Farrell Till shows that the Israelites would not have had access to enough wood (among other major problems) during their alleged 40 years of wandering in the Sinai
desert. From the Errancy Discussion list, April 27, 1997:
Till
As noted in an earlier posting, the fire on the altar at
the door of the tabernacle was a permanent fire that
never went out: "And the fire upon the altar shall be
kept burning thereon; it shall not go out, and the
priestshall burn wood on it every morning; and he
shall lay the burnt-offering in order upon it, and shall
burn thereon the fat of the peace-offerings. Fire
shall be kept burning upon the altar continually;
it shall not go out" (Lev. 6:12-13). Even if this
statement were not in the sacred word, we
would have to conclude that the fire on the altar
had to burn continuously, because the daily
sacrificial rituals, officiated by only three priests
(four after Aaron's grandson Phinehas was
ordained), would have had to burn continuously.
Even then, with three or four priests working
nonstop, they could hardly have attended to
all of the sacrifices necessitated by 2.5 to 3
million people trying to heed Yahweh's holy
Lcommandment to incinerate animals and birds
to him for their sins and other needs. Even if
we assume that each person in the band of 3
million refugees trekking to the promised
land offered only one sacrifice per year (which
certainly would not have satisfied Yahweh's
holy ordinances concerning sacrifices), the three
(or four) priests would have had to officiate at over
8,200 sacrifices per day. If we divide these
evenly among the four priests, each one would
have had to officiate at 2,050 sacrifices per day,
but a division of labor like this would not have
been possible, since all sacrifices had to be made
on the altar at the door of the tabernacle. Perhaps
we can imagine a scenario where one priest made
an offering, while a second one prepared another,
which he would slap onto the altar as soon as the
first one had been duly incinerated, after which a
third priest would have thrown on a third, etc.
Even at this, each priest would have had to do 85
sacrifices per hour, if theyhad all worked nonstop
without eating or sleeping. That would amount to
1.4 sacrifices, per priest, per minute, a scenario that
would hardly have been possible, since the fire on
the altar could not have consumed an animal that
rapidly. We must also remember that the offal of
the animals and the ashes left over from the sacrifice
had to be carried by the priest "out of the camp"
and duly disposed of in accordance with Yahweh's
other holy ordinances. Since the tabernacle was
always located in the center of the,camp, the
disposal of offal and ashes would have required
at least a 2.5 trek, even if we visualize the chosen
ones sleeping like sardines to keep the size of
the camp to just 5 square miles. Of course, if the encampments were made to provide each person
a little elbow room, the treks out of the camp
would have been longer for the priests (who were
all loaded down with offal and ashes). And
inerrantists try to tell us that the Bible is a work
of perfect harmony!
At any rate, we are told that the fire on the altar
burned continuously. Ifthat is so, we have to wonder
where all of the wood was obtained in the Sinai
wilderness to keep it burning. Every morning a priest
had to put wood on the fire, but one would think that
the years and years that this fire burned would have
depleted what wood may have grown naturally in
the area. This would be especially true, since we
have to believe they the chosen ones wandered
about in circles. One would think that once a circle
had been completed, the need for wood would have
been a specially acute problem for the priest who
had to keep the fire burning on the altar. We have
to wondertoo where the people obtained wood for
their personal fires, which they would have needed
to cook and stay warm at night. With up to three
million people in the encampments, there was
desert. From the Errancy Discussion list, April 27, 1997:
Till
As noted in an earlier posting, the fire on the altar at
the door of the tabernacle was a permanent fire that
never went out: "And the fire upon the altar shall be
kept burning thereon; it shall not go out, and the
priestshall burn wood on it every morning; and he
shall lay the burnt-offering in order upon it, and shall
burn thereon the fat of the peace-offerings. Fire
shall be kept burning upon the altar continually;
it shall not go out" (Lev. 6:12-13). Even if this
statement were not in the sacred word, we
would have to conclude that the fire on the altar
had to burn continuously, because the daily
sacrificial rituals, officiated by only three priests
(four after Aaron's grandson Phinehas was
ordained), would have had to burn continuously.
Even then, with three or four priests working
nonstop, they could hardly have attended to
all of the sacrifices necessitated by 2.5 to 3
million people trying to heed Yahweh's holy
Lcommandment to incinerate animals and birds
to him for their sins and other needs. Even if
we assume that each person in the band of 3
million refugees trekking to the promised
land offered only one sacrifice per year (which
certainly would not have satisfied Yahweh's
holy ordinances concerning sacrifices), the three
(or four) priests would have had to officiate at over
8,200 sacrifices per day. If we divide these
evenly among the four priests, each one would
have had to officiate at 2,050 sacrifices per day,
but a division of labor like this would not have
been possible, since all sacrifices had to be made
on the altar at the door of the tabernacle. Perhaps
we can imagine a scenario where one priest made
an offering, while a second one prepared another,
which he would slap onto the altar as soon as the
first one had been duly incinerated, after which a
third priest would have thrown on a third, etc.
Even at this, each priest would have had to do 85
sacrifices per hour, if theyhad all worked nonstop
without eating or sleeping. That would amount to
1.4 sacrifices, per priest, per minute, a scenario that
would hardly have been possible, since the fire on
the altar could not have consumed an animal that
rapidly. We must also remember that the offal of
the animals and the ashes left over from the sacrifice
had to be carried by the priest "out of the camp"
and duly disposed of in accordance with Yahweh's
other holy ordinances. Since the tabernacle was
always located in the center of the,camp, the
disposal of offal and ashes would have required
at least a 2.5 trek, even if we visualize the chosen
ones sleeping like sardines to keep the size of
the camp to just 5 square miles. Of course, if the encampments were made to provide each person
a little elbow room, the treks out of the camp
would have been longer for the priests (who were
all loaded down with offal and ashes). And
inerrantists try to tell us that the Bible is a work
of perfect harmony!
At any rate, we are told that the fire on the altar
burned continuously. Ifthat is so, we have to wonder
where all of the wood was obtained in the Sinai
wilderness to keep it burning. Every morning a priest
had to put wood on the fire, but one would think that
the years and years that this fire burned would have
depleted what wood may have grown naturally in
the area. This would be especially true, since we
have to believe they the chosen ones wandered
about in circles. One would think that once a circle
had been completed, the need for wood would have
been a specially acute problem for the priest who
had to keep the fire burning on the altar. We have
to wondertoo where the people obtained wood for
their personal fires, which they would have needed
to cook and stay warm at night. With up to three
million people in the encampments, there was
surely keen competition for wood. Despite this,
we are asked to believe that an altar fire was kept
burning continuously and that somehow wood
was always available for the altar in a region that
would surely have been stripped of wood in the
forty years of wandering about in circles.
we are asked to believe that an altar fire was kept
burning continuously and that somehow wood
was always available for the altar in a region that
would surely have been stripped of wood in the
forty years of wandering about in circles.
I'm sure that there must be a simple explanation
for this problem but that I have just overlooked it.
Perhaps Woodcock, Magill, McDonald, Dave (court),
or (Aubrey) Matthews could tell us what the
explanation is. Maybe Aubrey knows of some
archaeological discovery that proves that the
Israelites had a permanent source of firewood
while they were wandering about.
for this problem but that I have just overlooked it.
Perhaps Woodcock, Magill, McDonald, Dave (court),
or (Aubrey) Matthews could tell us what the
explanation is. Maybe Aubrey knows of some
archaeological discovery that proves that the
Israelites had a permanent source of firewood
while they were wandering about.
Farrell Till
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