Did Moses Talk to God, Aliens, a Volcano, or just Himself?

What say YOU ATS? Many people say Moses spoke to God on Mt. Sinai. Some people say Moses spoke to aliens on Mt. Sinai. Others are now saying that it was really a volcano that Moses was communing with. And still others say he was talking to himself and faked hearing God in order to gain political power (something that has happened throughout human history).

'God' Speaks on Mt. Sinai
Scripture of that time period.

Information/speculaton that Moses 'God' was really a volcano -
Mt. Sinai was really a volcano says scientist

While other scholars have proposed that Sinai was in Arabia, Prof Humphreys argues that the holy mount must have been an active volcano, since it shook and emitted fire and smoke (Exodus 19:18). And he has carefully examined records ancient and modern to fix the site.

His candidate: present-day Mount Bedr in north-western Saudi Arabia, since there were no ancient volcanoes in what was later named the Sinai Peninsula.

"pillar of cloud by day and fire by night" - describes a volcano.
It could also describe a powerful space ship.
God could also use this to lead the people where He wants them.
Biblical Mount Sinai

The 'burning bush' could have been the volcanic gas escaping and on fire .. a fire that burns just the gas and not those things around it. OR it could have been the phosphorus dust present in the desert. OR it could have been St. Elmos Fire. OR it could have been that bush that naturally exudes flammable oil (forgot the name). OR it could have been a real miracle from God.

Moses 'glowing' when he came down off the mountain .... could have been radiation from a space ship or it could have been phosphorus dust/ash from a volcano. It could have been from a human being in the presence of the Divine.

Scripture states that Moses had to wash himself in a tent that was set far away from the people before he could go near them. Was it because of radiation contamination from an alien ship or perhaps he smelled like sulphur from a volcano? Was it because he had to insure the people weren't contaminated with space alien germs of some kind? I don't know why a person who just conversed with God would have to wash himself before being around other people. That doesn't make sense to me.

Likewise - God told Moses that the people should wash their clothes and be clean when they saw Him. Why would the people have to scrub up - and scrub their clothing - to see Moses after he had spoken with God? Unless his immune system was compromised from the radiation on the mountain from the alien ships?

Scripture speaks of a boundry or a 'gate' around the 'holy mountain'. Death was to come to anyone who crossed the border (except Moses). Was this to keep people (the unchosen riff-raff) off a holy place, or was it a gate to keep people away from the danger that could come from (space ship) radiation or poisonous volcanic fumes?

One day God said he's speak to the people, but that they were not supposed to 'come unto your wives' for three days before hand. WHY? What would people having not having sex have to do with anything? Unless, perhaps, unborn children are negatively effected by either space ship radiation OR volcanic gas emissions and that is why Moses didn't want newly concieved children to be exposed to those things.

What do YOU think and why do you think it? Moses spoke with ...

___ God
___ Aliens
___ A Volcano
___ Himself (hallucinations, mental illness, or political ploy)
___ The Story is made up/never happened
___ Combo of the above
___ Other

You bring up some excellent points but I am going to say he spoke to God. My reasoning is primarily faith but also since no other written alternative is available I think we should go with what is available.

or maybe if the story is true,he was tripping
mushrooms or '___' come to mind.

reply to post by FlyersFan


I've heard others offer the explanation of the
"pillar of cloud by day and fire by night"

as being a large torch carried by the front of a moving military unit, to allow other troops that were farther back to see where to go.

Next, I've always flirted with the idea of bicameralism being the means of talking to 'god', and that possibly there was a time in which the 'holy spirit' was the only voice in town.

This would then back up the idea of Moses talking to himself, in return, actually hearing the voice of god.
Instead of attempting to break this down once again... I will just copy and paste from a previous post I made...

Bicameralism "Bicameralism (the philosophy of "two-chamberedness") is a hypothesis in psychology that argues that the human brain once assumed a state in which cognitive functions were divided between one part of the brain which appears to be "speaking", and a second part which listens and obeys—a bicameral mind. The term was coined by psychologist Julian Jaynes, who presented the idea in his 1976 book The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind, wherein he made the case that a bicameral mentality was the normal and ubiquitous state of the human mind as recently as 3000 years ago."
"Jaynes' case for bicameralism
According to Jaynes ancient people in the bicameral state of mind would have experienced the world in a manner that has some similarities to that of a schizophrenic. Rather than making conscious evaluations in novel or unexpected situations, the person would hallucinate a voice or "god" giving admonitory advice or commands and obey without question: one would not be at all conscious of one's own thought processes per se" "Breakdown of bicameralism Jaynes theorized that a shift from bicameralism marked the beginning of introspection and consciousness as we know it today. According to Jaynes, this bicameral mentality began malfunctioning or "breaking down" during the second millennium BC.
He speculates that primitive ancient societies tended to collapse periodically, (as in Egypt's Intermediate Periods and the periodically vanishing cities of the Mayas) as changes in the environment strained the socio-cultural equilibria sustained by this bicameral mindset."
"The idea that language is a necessary component of subjective consciousness and more abstract forms of thinking has been gaining acceptance in recent years, with proponents such as Andy Clark, Daniel Dennett, William H. Calvin, Merlin Donald, John Limber, Howard Margolis, Peter Carruthers, and José Luis Bermúdez.[7] Philosopher Gary Williams has recently defended Julian Jaynes against Ned Block's criticisms in the journal Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences."

I highly doubt there was any alien involvement... I'm still toying with the idea of the role of a volcano...

If you read the Book of Jasher, you get a better picture of Moses character, and who he was as a person. After reading Jasher's account, I think the biblical account takes on a different persona altogether. Moses was a very intelligent man, and was very capable of pulling off a bid for power.

However, depending on how much of the stories from the bible, or from Jasher one is willing to believe, if he did pull it off himself, he obviously had help doing it.

You can find the book of Jasher here
The story of Moses starts from chapter 68.

ETA: Note that the book of Jasher is referenced twice in the bible as a reliable "extra-biblical" source.

reply to post by FlyersFan

imo, Moses spoke with god.

He spoke with Satan:


Plague of blood;
Plague of frogs;
Plague of lice;
Plague of flies (hence, "Lord of the Flies");
Plague of pestilence;
Plague of boils;
Plague of hail;
Plague of locusts;
Plague of darkness;
Plague of the death of all first-born;
Extortion of all Egyptian gold, silver

See also: Moses' serpent staff; inducing leprosy; the "Lord" threatens to kill Moses; God of Moses
kills own chosen people; forces tribe into contract hinged on blood-sacrifice and backed up by death threats; etc...

reply to post by 1nOne

what if god is almighty and is deciding good and bad stuff ?

reply to post by icepack


Try this one on for size: human sacrifice by god of Moses: Jeff's Deal with the Devil

Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a harlot.
Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the LORD’S, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and only child; besides her he had no son or daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot take it back.” (Judges)

I'm going with

Himself (hallucinations, mental illness, or political ploy)

reply to post by 1nOne

you reckon, Jephthah's god was a demon ? who says god is only loving and caring ?

Ask yourself this question, why did Moses go up 3 times and come down 3 times with three different sets of commandments? Was he testing out which commandments to use the first 2 times and them decided on the final set when he came down the 3rd time? It doesn't make any sense from the story. This was clearly the beginning of politics and propoganda.

reply to post by TWISTEDWORDS

why did Moses go up 3 times and come down 3 times with three different sets of commandments?

have you got a source ? never heard this before.

reply to post by icepack


God of Moses Slaughters Own People:

The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them."

Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control—for Aaron had let them get out of control to be a derision among their enemies— then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, “Whoever is for the LORD, come to me!” And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him. He said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor.’” So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day. Then Moses said, “Dedicate yourselves today to the LORD.
(Exodus)

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them instantly.” Then they fell on their faces. Moses said to Aaron, “Take your censer and put in it fire from the altar, and lay incense on it; then bring it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them, for wrath has gone forth from the LORD, the plague has begun!” Then Aaron took it as Moses had spoken, and ran into the midst of the assembly, for behold, the plague had begun among the people. So he put on the incense and made atonement for the people. He took his stand between the dead and the living, so that the plague was checked. But those who died by the plague were 14,700.
(Numbers)

Did you ever consider that maybe Moses didn't exist and that the bible was actually a mechanism of control? Free Your Mind.

reply to post by 1nOne

ok, you say the god of moses is satan. where is the "real" god then ?

reply to post by FlyersFan



I always thought it was possibly a volcano, or thunder and lightening very very frightening,Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go, Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me

Yahweh aka god of thunder and lightening, Yahweh the storm god.

Melchizedek priest were wandering rainmakers, according to The Yazidi, Zadok wandering rainmakers.

It's complicated, I do believe the prophets saw things they didn't understand, possibly spoke to the gods.

But gods can mean many things.

I think there was a great scribe, priesthood.

Obviously I don't know for sure .. none of us do.
But my guess is that it wasn't God that he was talking to.
I can see alien involvement.
I can also see him being an opportunist and using a volcano to further his political agenda.

Originally posted by HEYJOSE
Did you ever consider that maybe Moses didn't exist ...

That was one of the choices I gave ... that the entire story was made up.

Originally posted by 1nOne
Try this one on for size: human sacrifice by god of Moses: Jeff's Deal with the Devil

Originally posted by 1nOne
God of Moses Slaughters Own People: The LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, they are an obstinate people. Now then let Me alone, that My anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them."

... and then there was Abraham being told by God to slaughter his own son on the altar because Abraham didn't have an animal sacrifice. (honestly .. I think that was a case of Abraham being mentally ill ... but I suppose it could have been a bloodthirsty demon demanding human sacrifice ... )

Originally posted by 1nOne
reply to post by icepack

 

Try this one on for size: human sacrifice by god of Moses: Jeff's Deal with the Devil

Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a harlot.
Jephthah made a vow to the LORD and said, “If You will indeed give the sons of Ammon into my hand, then it shall be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the sons of Ammon, it shall be the LORD’S, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering.”
When Jephthah came to his house at Mizpah, behold, his daughter was coming out to meet him with tambourines and with dancing. Now she was his one and only child; besides her he had no son or daughter. When he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you are among those who trouble me; for I have given my word to the LORD, and I cannot take it back.” (Judges)

Yes, I'm sure that's why, when she was going to be 'sacrificed', that the only thing she cried about what was not having children.....If your expectations are that God is a monster, the Bible will give it to you.

OP
Jesus said "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.” John 5:46.

God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I AM!"

Moses went up the mountain as a shepherd and came down the mountain a 'leader'.