Wholly Buyable

Just as Moses thinks that the future settlement of Canaan is in the bag, he is hit by a massive curveball. Two of the tribes who he was planning to have in his all-conquering army decide not to cross the river into the promised land. Israel's leader is furious and as the Book of Numbers reaches its season finale, the nation's future has never seemed more precarious. Chapters covered: Num...

To the victor the  spoils!  As the Book of Numbers speeds towards its finale, listeners are given more fascinating insights into bronze age rites and rituals. Sheep goats and bulls are butchered in their thousands and Israel takes revenge on Midian for using its women to seduce Israel's men.  Chapters covered: Numbers 27-31 Conversuons: 3½lb (1.6kg) flour 2 pints (1 litre) of high-grade olive...

Faced with almost two million potential enemies at his gates, Moab's king needs a get out. His plan is an optimistic one. It is to bribe a pagan shaman to rain down curses on Israel, enfeebling them and neutralising their threat. He believes that this wizard is more powerful than Israel's God, and when there's money to be had, the shaman is not going to contradict him.  What happens...

Chapters covered: Numbers 20-23 The drama is properly back. Having survived a coup, lost  his sister and had his entry visa to the Promised Land revoked, Moses must face an even greater blow. National security too is under threat as Israel's enemies forma coalition and attempt to use the dark arts to bring Moses and his two million compatriots down. Written and produced by Chas Bayfield  Musi...

Chapters covered: Numbers 17-20 The rebellion has been crushed but the camp is still shaken. Moses and Aaron need the rest of Israel to know exactly who God wants to lead them. However, being the chosen ones comes at a price. The brothers' behaviour needs to be unimpeachable. One careless or impetuous move could sent the whole house of cards crashing down. Written and produced by Chas Bayfiel...

Chapters covered: Numbers 14-16 Stunned by the news that their lack of faith now means that they must spend the next 38 years in the Sinai Desert, rebellion sets in. A rogue priest gathers some co-conspirators to challenge the leadership of Moses and his brother Aaron. Drama ensues as God appears to make the final decision as to who he wants leading his people, and where he wants them to go. Credi...

Chapters covered:  Numbers 10-14 With the move finally underway, the Israelites now need reassurance that the land they are heading for is suitable for habitation - and that the current inhabitants can be defeated. Spies are sent into Canaan, but the intel they bring back divides the nation - with disastrous consequences. Written and produced by Chas Bayfield Music by Michael Auld and Jon Hawkins...

Episodes covered: Numbers 6-10 Now fully informed as to how God intends them to live alongside one another in a way that is pleasing to him, the mass of people in the shadow of Mt Sinai readies itself to break camp.  All they need to do is bring themselves and their portable temple tent on the relatively short journey north to Canaan.  With God in charge of the movement and Moses physically leadin...

Chapters covered: Numbers 1-5 Season 4 begins. Despite sounding like a maths book, the Book of Numbers is actually one of the most exciting action-packed books. in the Bible Spies, wizards, dancing girls, plagues  and couples javelined to death while having sex await travellers who dive into its pages.  But first, the tabernacle needs moving and the 8000+ men whose job it is to move it need to be...

This is a special edition of Wholly Buyable. From now on, at the end of each season, I'm hoping to interview people outside the church about their take on God, the Bible and religion.  I’m keen to hear what outsiders think of what has always been seen as property of the church. Shaun McIlrath  is Global Chief Creative Officer of thew advertising agency network, iris. We talk about growing up...

Chapters covered: Leviticus 25-27 Season 3 Finale. Let's face it. Leviticus is not a book that is often read for pleasure, it's more one that is seen as useful to keep on the shelf to be consulted where needed. Rules follow rules and if you get nothing else out of this episode, it’s good to know that - if you’re not a practicing Jew - you are among the very few people on earth to have a...

Leviticus 22-24 Drama in the desert. After what seems an eternity of lawgiving, the Bible bursts into the kind of action. we were spoiled with in the books of Genesis and Exodus. But let that not detract from the glory of what is a fabulously detailed book of legal code- one of the oldest surviving examples on the planet. How have these pages survived the millennia? Because for millions of people...

Episode 31: Leviticus 20-21 Is this the most divisive topic in Christianity? You'd think Christians would be concerned with injustice, the global poor, self improvement, kindness, generosity. Loving one another. But no.  Many Christians remain obsessed with what consensual adults get up to in a bedroom, especially of those adults are of the same sex. Regardless of all the sins listed in the B...

Episode 30 Leviticus 16-19 After deep diving into the world of rashes, boils, nocturnal emissions and other seepages, the Bible now outlines the holiest day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur. It also covers off who a man may or may not take as a sexual partner before rattling through some apparently random rules. However, the big picture here is that God seems to want his people to be the polar oppos...

Chapters covered:  Leviticus 13-15 Ooh! Skin diseases. Boils. Blemishes. Burns. Mould. Nocturnal emissions. Menstruation. Bodily discharges. It's all in this medically explicit section of the Book of Leviticus and you'll find that Bronze Age medicine is surprisingly ahead of its time as priests double up as doctors and isolation and quarantine are central part in disease control. Convers...

Episode 28 Chapters covered: Leviticus 8-12 Drama! 10 chapters into the Book of Leviticus, something happens. It's all the more shocking because of the almost complete absence of activity that precedes it. Also this week, the tabernacle is consecrated, the Jews are told what they may or may not eat and Moses shares some post natal rulings with Israel's women. Enjoy some of the least read...

Chapters covered: Leviticus 1-7 Season 3 begins! If religion is what you're after, Leviticus spreads it on thick. This is pretty much as religious as the Bible gets. Moments of action are rare, but when they jump out from the endless legalese, they are shockingly brutal. For the main part though, Leviticus is a man standing by a tent while channeling what he believes are the words of God. God...

Episode 26 Chapters covered: Exodus 34-40 Join us for the season finale of Exodus. It's hard to imagine a marquee as fabulous as the one described here, and even harder to appreciate the effort involved in project managing such a grand design. All materials are those which the Israelites were able to carry or drag out of Egypt, and under the watchful eye of the creative directors, they are as...

Donkeys? Camels? Stables? Innkeepers? Snow? Angels singing? Goodwill to all men?3 kings? What Nativity have you been reading? Some see the entire shebang as myth, but over the years the embellishments to the biblical account of Jesus' birth appear to have gone unchecked. This special bonus episode takes listeners through the events immediately before and after Jesus' birth. Plot spoiler:...

Chapters covered: Exodus 32-34 Finally, Moses returns from his 40 day sojourn up the mountain with God.  Little does he know that the rabble down at base camp have given up all hope of ever seeing him again. having written off God as a lost cause, they default to the next best thing and cobble together a god that reminds them of the religion back in Egypt. It's a terrible move, and there are...

Chapters covered: Exodus 29-31 It’s hard to know what Moses must be thinking. God may have an extensive shopping list but he appears to not be taking into account the reality of the Israelites’ current situation. The Israelites are in a desert in a landlocked nation having fled Egypt, but somehow need to provide dyes made from sea snails and hides from seacows as well as sourcing some of the rares...

Episode 23 Chapters covered: Exodus 25-29 God details the buildings, furnishings and accoutrements which his people need to make in order to worship him appropriately. And they are fabulous. Only the finest materials and the most skilled craftsmen suffice. The blueprints impress on the people that God has high standards.  He is God.  Only the best will do. There are no short cuts And there’s no on...

The laws flow relentlessly, one by one, a bit like a tele printer, each one filed away and cherished, and each one adding to the big picture that the Israelites are beginning to see of God. God it appears, has chosen them to be special and set apart from other tribes and nations. While many of the rules appeal to basic decency and common kindness, some seem arbitrary, legality just for the sake of...

The Hebrew slaves are slowly being converted from mass labourers in the brickyards of Egypt to a refined, humane, respectable and modern nation. They achieve this by listening attentively to their leader, Moses who they believe is channelling the actual words of God. These words inform them of a new way to live that has morality and compassion at its centre. In this episode, slaves are given right...

They may have made it safely out of Africa. They may have food. but now the Israelites are thirsty. Here in the Book of Exodus, the people set out from the Desert of Sin, following wherever God leads them.  With nothing to drink, they vent their frustration at Moses.  Moses too is unhappy: he wishes that they would simply trust God and not test him by these outbursts of anger. Seriously worried th...