Taken in isolation or viewed from a
distance of several thousand years and from a completely different cultural
background, almost any Bible instruction may initially seem a little alien.
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.