Whereu,
I grew up with no religious guidance. My father is an atheist and my mother brought out rosary beads I had never seen before when I first talked to them about what I was learning from the Bible. The question you asked about whether stoning someone for violating the Sabbath was the sort of things I was finding satisfactory answers to from the Scriptures. It seemed harsh to me until I looked at the bigger picture.
Noah and his family were given a clean fresh start after the Flood... but they did not stay that way.
(Genesis 9:20-26) Now Noah started off as a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. 21 When he drank of the wine, he became intoxicated, and he uncovered himself inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Caʹnaan, saw his father’s nakedness, and he told his two brothers outside. 23 So Shem and Jaʹpheth took a garment and put it upon both their shoulders and walked in backward. Thus they covered their father’s nakedness while their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah woke up from his wine and learned what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said: “Cursed be Caʹnaan. Let him become the lowest slave to his brothers.” 26 And he added: “Praised be Jehovah, the God of Shem, And let Caʹnaan become a slave to him.
Jehovah saw where this incident was leading right from the moment it happened. He had it recorded in the Scriptures for our instruction. - Romans 15:4 An incident was all it was, but it gave evidence of a lack of respect on the part of Ham that would grow in his offspring. Abraham who was 9 generations along from Shem was given further details of how things were developing. He was told:
(Genesis 15:15, 16) As for you, you will go to your forefathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. 16 But they will return here in the fourth generation, because the error of the Amʹor·ites has not yet reached its full measure.”
"They", that is Abram's were his offspring . They were to inherit the land of the descendants of Canaan who were to be exterminated because of their debauched behavior. The Canaanites, as a group, were incorrigibly wicked however, individual Canaanites who changed their ways were spared.
Were the descendants of Shem any better? Only when they stuck to God's Law as given through Moses. Here was the clear instruction given.
(Exodus 35:1-3) Moses later gathered the entire assembly of the Israelites together and said to them: “These are the things that Jehovah has commanded to be done: 2 Work may be done for six days, but the seventh day will become something holy to you, a sabbath of complete rest to Jehovah. Anybody doing work on it will be put to death. 3 You must not light a fire in any of your dwelling places on the Sabbath day.”
Moses enforced that law on the first occasion it was violated. Later generations did not. As a result the nation gradually degenerated to the same level of debauchery as the Caananites. It all has its beginning in a lack of respect for God's elevated standards.
Whereu, you haven't yet answered my questions about the preschool toddler. Should he be allowed to run the show? Should those that refuse to accept God's right to set the law run society?
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