Thursday, September 23, 2010

Question: Why Gold, Silver and Brass?

As I continue to wend my way through the Book of Exodus, I'm struck by God's preoccupation with gold and silver (and to a lesser extent, brass). There are several chapters and verses that detail the fact that God desires these precious metals as offerings.
Take ye from among you an offering unto the LORD: whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of the LORD; gold, and silver, and brass, (Exodus 35:5)
This reminds me of another familiar offering: milk and cookies. In many western households with young children, milk and cookies are left out on December 24 for Santa Claus. The idea is that the jolly old elf will be tired and hungry from his rounds. So, many families leave a little "pick me up" to help him to get back in the saddle (ok, sleigh).

Of course, Santa Claus doesn't really exist, so who downs the milk and cookies? Mom and/or dad!!

In this same vein, either God doesn't exist either or, if he does, he has no use for gold and silver. So, who gets to claim these precious metals? The priestly class!! If we look throughout history, the priestly class tends to be the most wealthy and powerful class.

Consequently, to someone with a critical eye, this continued call for the people of Israel to turn over caches of gold and silver as "offerings" would seem to be nothing than a clever ploy by the priests to despoil their own people! It would seem to be a calculated stratagem for the upper class to steal wealth from the majority.

Who could argue with them? It was ordained (wink, wink) by God himself!!

Anyone wish to offer a different [rational] explanation to account for "God's" preoccupation with precious metals?

To see what other questions I've asked about the Christian Bible, go here.

1 comment:

  1. i think you explanation is probable. however, it's not unheard of in any culture for their gods to value what the humans in the culture value. for example, in Yoruba tradition, the spirits love to receive cold water as an offering. cold water? it doesn't seem to make sense except, in Africa, water is hard to come by, and it's hardly ever cold! so cold water would be a precious commodity.
    most gods or spirits from ancient cultures want things like grain and animal sacrifices for offerings because that's what was precious to the people living in that culture. the bible makes perfect sense if you read it through a cultural perspective! first god wants grain and animal sacrifices, then as the culture changes he wants gold and silver and bronze, then in the new testament he wants money.

    also it's interesting to note how god's personality changes throughout the bible, and reflects the culture of the time. first, he is portrayed as having human flaws like jealousy, and sometimes even acknowledges the existence of other gods! (but of course they are less powerful) it becomes apparent that he only really cares about his own followers, telling "his people" to smite others, show no mercy, kill the unbelievers and sinners, etc... and he wasn't at all concerned with an afterlife. later on he abandons the idea of other gods, and states that he is the only one in existence.
    then in the new testament he all of a sudden starts caring about everyone, not just the Jews, and starts displaying qualities that "borrow" from Roman thought, like heaven and hell, and "modern" Jewish thought, like salvation.

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