Bible Discussion Thread

I have to respectfully disagree with Elathi's comments. If anyone is a simpler people living in a simpler time it's us in today's age. One thing we often forget is that when this was written they didn't have a complete Word of God. They didn't have a Savior in Jesus. They only had the hope of both. If you read the Old Testament there were more wars, and no official law. These books acted as a law for Israel, and one has to consider that much of what is written was not God's will, but what was needed at the time. Take divorcement, which is spoken of in Deuteronomy, but Jesus himself said that it was written only because of the hardness of their own hearts, and was never God's will. It's not to say that God's Word isn't true, just that he gives some things to show us that our way is not the best. It was not God's will for Israel to have a King, nor was Saul his chosen man, yet he allowed Israel to have what they wanted to prove a point, that God's way is always best. We should always look to Jesus' teachings to be the final say.

Now while some punishments may seem harsh to us today, we should look at how "simple" and selfish we can be as people. In our society murderers get off free because of technicalties, rapists and child molesters are given minimal jail time and treated like victims themselves because they say they had rough childhoods, people sit at home and collect welfare and disability often for no reason. We have every luxury in life that Israel never had. We have a complete Word of God at our fingertips, we have the knowledge of and payment of Jesus', yet you read the lengths Israel went to to please and worship God. They detail of the tabernacle, the sacrifices they had to make, and yet we're the ones with all the convenience and I know very few people who give to or obey God as much as even some of the simplest servants in these times.