Pocket gophers are fossorial rodents named for their fur-lined cheek pouches. Their cheek pouches, or pockets, are used for transporting bits of plant food that they gather while foraging underground.
So, I have to wonder. Does he figure G*d isn’t really omnipotent or that He’s just toying with his favorite country and will snatch it from the jaws of socialism in the final reel?
Have you seen how it goes for the Israelites throughout the OT?
He keeps letting his “Chosen” get whupped hard and often so they’ll beg him for help and then Oh Behold The Lord’s Great Might Praise Praise Praise when he finally steps in. So it fits in with how someone like him sees the universe.
The thing is, the reason given that this tends to happen is that the leaders or the Israelites are being evil in the eyes of the Lord. It’s God chastising them and their leaders for sin.
I’ve actually used that logic when talking about Trump and the pandemic. I pointed out a common verse, where God says: “If my people, who are called by my Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sins, and heal their broken land.” Everyone was quoting that verse when praying about the pandemic, but I alleged that way too many were missing the “turn from their wicked ways” part.
Then, when Trump lost the election, and then, soon afterward, we got a vaccine, I argued that perhaps the nation turning back to God by electing a Christian president was why God was providing an end to this plague.
I mean, these are the same people who try to argue that natural disasters are God’s judgement, so I turned it on its head. A plague of disease is one of the punishments described from God.
(Do I personally think that the president must be a Christian? No. But I do think a certain level of morality is paramount. Trump was someone who couldn’t bring himself to pretend to care about others, so it is any wonder he so royally fucked up his pandemic response? Or that he was too selfish and full of bravado to just wear a mask to encourage others?)
31 So Moses went back to the Lord and said, “Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. 32 But now, please forgive their sin—but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.”
33 The Lord replied to Moses, “Whoever has sinned against me I will blot out of my book. 34 Now go, lead the people to the place I spoke of, and my angel will go before you. However, when the time comes for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin.”
35 And the Lord struck the people with a plague because of what they did with the calf Aaron had made.