Frank Newton
Monday, July 27, 2020
Not All Policemen Are Good Guys
Frank Newton
Sunday, July 12, 2020
The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Israelites
THE PARABLE OF THE WISE AND FOOLISH ISRAELITES
Sun. 7-12-2020
In the days of Moses, a plague struck the pigs1
of the Israelites, and their pigs started dying. Some of the Israelites ate the meat of the
pigs who had died of the plague, because they had no other meat. But some of the Israelites who ate the meat
of the plagued pigs died. So Moses (who
was the chief health officer of his people) decreed that the Israelites should
stop eating pigs.
The next thing that happened was the Israelites split into
two groups. One group was of the opinion
that the decree of Moses concerning the pigs was wise, and they obeyed it. The other group (who followed a false prophet
named the Jackal) was of the opinion that Moses was an idiot, and they kept on
eating pigs.
Some of the ones who continued eating pigs died, but others
of them lived to a ripe old age. Statistically
speaking, though, the Israelites who thought that Moses was wise, and obeyed
him, had better health outcomes.
One Israelite had just bought one hundred pigs from a
passing Midianite, before Moses announced his decree. This Israelite was very unhappy about Moses'
decree, because he had invested a chunk of his substance in the pigs.
[At this point, the two manuscripts of the Parable
diverge. Here, we will translate each
manuscript separately.]
Manuscript
Alpha says:
He went to Moses and protested, but
Moses told him to kill all his pigs.
Manuscript
Omega says:
He went to Moses and protested, so
Moses advised him to sell the pigs to the Egyptians. Everybody was happy except the Egyptians.
[From this point on, "Alpha" and "Omega"
have the same wording.]
In the fullness of time, after a lot of people and a lot of
pigs had died, the plague died down. And
when Moses was well stricken in years, he died.
Also, one by one all the people who had strong opinions about whether Moses
was a wise man or an idiot died. After
that, some Israelites were ready to forget the whole thing, but the people who
took an interest in dead people decided that Moses was a wise man, and they confirmed
his decree. So even unto this day, the Israelites
will not eat pigs.
1 An earlier translation calls them "the
hogs." Some experts believe that, in the days of King James, this word was
pronounced "hawgs."