/lit/ - Literature

Other books like this?

I've been reading the Bible for the first time for the past couple months, I've read Genesis and most of Exodus and I've got a couple questions about it.

If God gave humans free-will because he wants people to choose to love him, why does he just pick certain people to be 'his people' and then constantly take their free-will away by ordering them about what to do and is always threatening them with death and destruction if they even think about disobeying? How can living in blind belief and obedience equal to living freely?

Why does Abraham lie about his wife only being his sister twice and therefore have two basically innocent men punished by God because of his lie. Why doesn't he trust/believe that God will protect him and his wife?

Why does Jacob get chosen to be the father of Israel when he is a opportunist and liar? Esau seems a much more honest and simply good person yet he gets shafted.

Why does he again and again 'harden the heart' of the Pharaoh against letting the Israelites leave Egypt? Does he just want to decimate the land and is giving himself an excuse to? Why not just fuckin soften the Pharaoh's heart and have Moses lead his people first time of asking, what is the point of destroying Egypt and killing thousands of innocent people?

I'm sorry if these are stupid questions, I've got next to no religious knowledge and I'm half retarded at the best of times.