Biblical Reviews

Inspired by last Sunday's reading (in my church anyway) from Numbers 21:

But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!”

This struck me as an early example of a Tripadvisor review. I could imagine the response from the recipient going something like:

"Dear People
Thank you for your helpful feedback. We apologise that some aspects of your stay were not of our usual standard, and in order to compensate for this we have supplied you with the venomous snakes which we reserve for our most valued clients. We hope you enjoy the excitement of trying to escape the snakes, but if you do require medical attention, please bring this to the attention of our representative Moses, who will be able to administer first aid."

Over to you - pick a Bible story and give a review!

Comments

  • The family that was caught short in Bethlehem:

    We don't really mind kipping down in a stable - done it many times - but surely the manager could have moved the cattle out first?
  • stetsonstetson Shipmate
    edited September 19
    Money-changing kiosks at Temple were convenient, but better security needed to keep out disruptive riffraff.
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    Bethany is a wonderful village with friendly citizens. The only blight on our visit was the reported grave robbing.
  • As a founder-member of the Pig Appreciation Society, I was dismayed to hear of the carnage amongst a herd of these sagacious and friendly animals, allegedly driven off a cliff by some wandering Rabbi.
  • HugalHugal Shipmate
    Dear Mr Giraffe
    Thank you for getting in touch. Sorry to hear that you thought the ceiling in your room on the ark was not high enough. Next time God decides to flood the earth we will take this into account. Oh wait…
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    As a founder-member of the Pig Appreciation Society, I was dismayed to hear of the carnage amongst a herd of these sagacious and friendly animals, allegedly driven off a cliff by some wandering Rabbi.

    I've always thought the Gadarene Swine got a rough deal! :mrgreen:

    "The Garden of Eden is all very well if you're a vegetarian, but what about us carnivores?"
  • The Imperial Board Of Penology hereby reports that descriptions of the Patmos colony made by a recent inmate bear no relation to actual fact.

    On related matters, the Board also recommends the island be cleared of all unauthorized botanical presence.
  • EnochEnoch Shipmate
    From the Pig Breeders' Association of Gadara to the Clerk to the Gadara Town Council

    "On behalf of our members and as secretary of the Association, I have been instructed to write to you to demand compensation for the loss of our pigs.

    We recognise that Jews do not like pigs and do not eat them, but our members aren't Jews - well, most of them aren't - and whatever ones' views on their religion, people should be entitled to chose for themselves whether they are happy to eat bacon, pork chops or our excellent sausages, highly prized throughout all Syria. Our members are providing a public service. It really is a bit much that this rabbi should come over from the other side of the lake, and cure a demoniac by sending the poor fellow's demons into our pigs. As you will have heard by now, they all went mad, ran down the hill and drowned.

    We tried to claim off him but we know he has no money. Yes, we know that for years the Council has been trying to move the poor tramp on from the municipal cemetery, and it is very nice that the rabbi sorted this out for you. But you could have got him to send the demons somewhere else. If it has got to be animals, what's wrong with wild animals, rats or something which nobody eats.

    I attach a statement setting out the extent of our claim and how it is allocated between our members and will be grateful to receive your remittance."



  • Sorry to have to report that on our recent trip to Bethlehem, the attitude of the authorities seemed much less child-friendly than usual. Perhaps we came at an inopportune time?
  • stetson wrote: »
    Sorry to have to report that on our recent trip to Bethlehem, the attitude of the authorities seemed much less child-friendly than usual. Perhaps we came at an inopportune time?

    Reply: "We genuinely regret the inconvenience you experienced. Hospitality is very important to us, however Christmas is always an exceptionally busy period and on this occasion our staff were unable to provide our usual high standard of service".
  • Piglet wrote: »
    As a founder-member of the Pig Appreciation Society, I was dismayed to hear of the carnage amongst a herd of these sagacious and friendly animals, allegedly driven off a cliff by some wandering Rabbi.

    I've always thought the Gadarene Swine got a rough deal! :mrgreen:

    They seem to be commemorated at every Christian breakfast event in the world.
    🥓
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Purgatory Host, Circus Host
    edited September 20
    An appalling reception, which culminated in finding myself in jail despite being a Roman citizen.

    The authorities did at least do their best to repair the error once it was finally admitted to.

    [ETA @Baptist Trainfan wins the Internet :mrgreen: ]
  • stetson wrote: »
    Sorry to have to report that on our recent trip to Bethlehem, the attitude of the authorities seemed much less child-friendly than usual. Perhaps we came at an inopportune time?

    Reply: "We genuinely regret the inconvenience you experienced. Hospitality is very important to us, however Christmas is always an exceptionally busy period and on this occasion our staff were unable to provide our usual high standard of service".

    That's not quite the event I was refering to. For mine, the reply might go...
    While we regret the inconvenience, Bethlehem at this time is recommended only for families with children three and over.
  • As a goat owner, I must object to the forced division of the sheep from the goats. Someone does not realize goats are smarter than sheep. My animals can learn to perform tricks. Put a sheep in the corner, and it cannot figure how to get out of a tough spot. Moreover, my animals provide many useful products for human consumption including milk, cheese, mohair and cashmere. What do sheep provide besides wool? Your storyteller needs to check his facts before spinning his yarn.
  • stetson wrote: »
    stetson wrote: »
    Sorry to have to report that on our recent trip to Bethlehem, the attitude of the authorities seemed much less child-friendly than usual. Perhaps we came at an inopportune time?

    Reply: "We genuinely regret the inconvenience you experienced. Hospitality is very important to us, however Christmas is always an exceptionally busy period and on this occasion our staff were unable to provide our usual high standard of service".

    That's not quite the event I was refering to. For mine, the reply might go...
    While we regret the inconvenience, Bethlehem at this time is recommended only for families with children three and over.

    Ah, I was a year or two too early!
  • "We apologise to those who have been forced to suspend construction of the Babylon Tower. This is due to an incident of linguistic encryption which has led to network unintelligibility. It appears that our systems have been corrupted by an outside agent, possibly divine. While we are working hard to restore normality, we fear that this may take an eternity to achieve and so advise our users to become familiar with any languages which they may now be required to use".
  • stetsonstetson Shipmate
    edited September 20
    We all had a pretty wild time up in Zoar. Let's just say, what happens in the caves, stays in the caves!
  • "Our accommodations were pleasant and quite clean. Our only complaint is that the group in the Upper Room were quite noisy. At one point their exclamations were such that one would think that they would wake the dead."
  • "Pretty disappointed with our visit to the festival. Can't you come up with other public events besides shouting over which scuzzball to release from the local hoosegow?"
  • I always enjoy these great community events and the way they bring us together in a common purpose even when we can’t all participate.

    So a shout-out to the weedy guy from Tarsus who looked after the coats, freeing up our throwing arms!
  • stetsonstetson Shipmate
    edited September 21
    Visiting the fortune tellers used to be such a fun part of our trips into Ephesus, but no more. Sad to see this woke nonsense spreading everywhere.
  • EnochEnoch Shipmate
    What was supposed to be a nice holiday for the children was really spoilt. As a result of some civil; incident further up the coast, the beach was littered with dead bodies, dead horses and bits of chariot. And to make it worse, all the foreigners among the hotel staff seemed to have taken the opportunity to clear off as well.


  • We'd been looking forward to our visit to the Temple market and hoped to pick up a few religious knicknacks. But we found it closed, with security guards standing at every entrance. Apparently some maniac had run through the place, upsetting all the stalls, and shouting something about "my father's house". The merchants were still clearing up.
  • stetsonstetson Shipmate
    edited September 21
    From the guest book at the royal palace...

    The after-dinner show was great, but perhaps next time the dancer's payment could be delivered AFTER the guests have left? That whole business kind of put a damper on the evening.
  • Gramps49Gramps49 Shipmate
    edited September 21
    The voyage was--shall I say-- strange. Started out good, but suddenly a storm came up. Talk about seasick, to say nothing about being scared to death. Got so bad. the crew threw this nobody overboard! Then the sea went calm. Rumor has it a fish ate the guy. Don't count on me doing this trip ever again.
  • I don't care who put it there or what great message they thought they were sending, but I didn't come all this way to Belshazzar's palace just to see mindless graffiti. Someone really needs to show more respect for public buildings.
  • The idea of grinding up gold and making us drink it? Is our great leader out of his mind? I was stopped up for a week!
  • I know that bulk supplies can be hard to obtain in the desert, but they've had 40 years to come up with something apart from manna and quails. (Oh, just to mention that the service was appalling, we actually had to collect the food for ourselves at very specific times).
  • EnochEnoch Shipmate
    Words cannot describe how grateful I am how far my son's tour guide went over and above what was required. Not only did he keep him safe and help him bring back the money my husband had deposited. On top of that, he also found my boy a lovely Jewish girl to be his wife, and with his amazing fish potion cured not just all her problems but also my husband's blindness. He even kept my son's dog safe. Both my son and my husband are saying he was an angel, and I really think he might have been.

  • "I had been looking forward to seeing the flower show all week, but when I got there the gate was guarded by some dude with a flaming sword---and could he twirl it! I gather the garden was closed because of some sort of infraction by some lowlife snake-in-the-grass. It just takes one bad apple to spoil things for everybody!"
  • Gramps49Gramps49 Shipmate
    edited September 27
    To the president of the Corinthian congregation:

    Please accept my resignation from your fellowship effective immediately.
    When I first joined, I must say I really enjoyed the agape feasts you were having. I would have to admit I got a little tipsy sometimes. So what if some of the riffraff were not allowed at the table? If they can't provide food or wine, they should not be welcomed.
    And then Paul comes along.
    Now, the meal is no more than a crumb of bread and a sip of wine that appears to have been even watered down!
    That's it! I am out of here!
    Going back to the fellowship of Dionysus
    Those people know how to tie one on.
  • stetsonstetson Shipmate
    edited September 27
    I'm not a prude or anything, and I know when I go to see Prophet Zeke on standup night it might get a bit risque, but come on. That routine about the two sisters in Egypt was way out of bounds. Can't he just stick to jokes about getting run over by chariots?
  • I know I'd let the management know that I felt the cold, but turning up the furnace seven notches was really over the top. I was sweating, I can tell you! And the musicians that they had playing were really naff! I think I'll just go back to using Premier Lodge in the future.
  • I know I'd let the management know that I felt the cold, but turning up the furnace seven notches was really over the top. I was sweating, I can tell you! And the musicians that they had playing were really naff! I think I'll just go back to using Premier Lodge in the future.

    Okay--you got me on this one. Biblical reference, please. Thank you.
  • Burning fiery furnace in Daniel.
  • Gramps49Gramps49 Shipmate
    edited September 28
    Burning fiery furnace in Daniel.

    I thought it was, but the reference to the musicians threw me off. Reading the passage, I do see reference to a band.
  • Rather repetitively, in fact!
  • This place has the laziest workforce anywhere. I had two guys working in my field, and then, bang, one of them's just up and gone. Same with the two women I had operating the mill. I'm offshoring all these damn jobs as soon as possible, lemme tell ya.
  • You're clearly not enraptured by their behaviour, then?
  • No, that's why I want to dispense with them.
  • Enoch wrote: »
    Words cannot describe how grateful I am how far my son's tour guide went over and above what was required. Not only did he keep him safe and help him bring back the money my husband had deposited. On top of that, he also found my boy a lovely Jewish girl to be his wife, and with his amazing fish potion cured not just all her problems but also my husband's blindness. He even kept my son's dog safe. Both my son and my husband are saying he was an angel, and I really think he might have been.

    I can't identify this -please help!
  • Nor did I - it's from the Apocrypha, Tobit 5 and 6.
  • You say Apocrypha, I say Deuterocanonical, but, yes, Tobit. :) It's a fun read, regardless.
  • EnochEnoch Shipmate
    Yes, Tobit. Whatever one thinks of its canonicity, it's a cracking read.

  • HarryCHHarryCH Shipmate
    Tobit actually ends in happiness, unlike many other stories.
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