Coming Untrue: That Wacky Old Testament

Taken in isolation or viewed from a distance of several thousand years and from a completely different cultural setting, almost any Bible instruction may initially seem a little alien. Out there on the internet, people are generally uninterested in doing historical research or establishing cultural context before they start forming opinions. It’s a whole lot of work … and, let’s face it, it’s fun to mock things — it makes us feel intelligent or morally superior. So taking a poke at certain of the Old Testament commands that God gave through Moses to the people of Israel as “weird” is becoming increasingly trendy.

As somebody who is convinced the entire Bible is the inspired word of God, it goes without saying that from my perspective absolutely nothing in the Law of Moses can possibly be unintentional, random, insignificant, or intended for comedic effect. Everything in it has a point. Thus, from time to time I have dredged up some of the more frequently derided Old Testament regulations and tried to set them in their historical context for you.

I think you’ll probably wind up agreeing with me that they make a great deal more sense when we do.