lowlithium

hi every one, I was born again about a year, and i have learn a lot this few month about bible histories.
I really enjoy reading the bible, now I'm reading the old testament, but I find some verses in the old testament almost shocking, when is describing the punishments of the mosaic law, for example in Deuteronomy17:15, stone to death people who worship false gods, or in Deuteronomy 21:18-21, when rebellious sons are stoned to death, or Deuteronomy 22:21, stone to death a woman who marry without being a virgin, and there are lots of other examples.

I dont understand why exists these punishments in the old testament, in the new testament Jesus saves
Mary Magdalene from being stoned to death, because of adultery ...
If He defend her, why is written in the bible laws to stone people? does stone to death means other thing?

Banarenth

The "simple" answer is the old covenant between God and "His chosen people" and the new covenant to save all men. There are others here who will be happy to provide you with a much more detailed answer fully supported by scripture. But for me, the difference is a series of laws intended to keep the Jewish line in full accordance with the preparation for the birth of Christ. Jesus Himself asked the same questions you did, and the brightest minds of His time were unable to answer Him.

__________________

smellycat

jesus says who will throw the first stone,who is worthy enough to judge,none is the answer,besides God,jesus and the holy ghost.this is a good example to all not to judge people.

Boanerges

Amen SC

Jasher

One reason that God gave the Law of Moses is because of the long interval that was needed to bring about his redemptive work. The law kept the Israelites from becoming totally corrupt like the nations around them. Remember that he is working with freewill people and it takes time to accomplish what he set out to do.

He also wanted us to know about his total Holiness and how impossible it is to measure up to his character by keeping the Law. Paul said the law was the slave that brought us to Christ. His law is the strength of sin - that is - the authority for the enemy to accuse us. Without the Law there is no standard of morality - except our weak and easily deceived conscience. Also, he wanted to keep the family of Abraham from becoming so corrupt that they would no longer keep the covenants he made with them, which were directed toward his end of providing a way of escape for all men - the age of Grace which was brought about by the final and seventh Covenant that he made with man. This "Man" was the Lord Jesus in whose blood the final covenant was made. It was this Covenant which brought in the era of grace and forgiveness. Dispite the strict law, they still broke the covennts and had to be punished. The Law was not successful as strict as it was to prevent them from becoming corrupt.

The major key in understanding God's Word is to always, always, always understand that he is pure love and everything he does is based on love - not revenge, nor does he have the slightest twinge of Schadenfreude. If you don't look for the love angle in everything he does - you will have an inaccurate view of him.

If you are not familiar with the Mishna - it is a compendium of the oral law, which was recorded starting about 200ad. This is basically the interpretation of the Law of Moses all through history. After the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD Jewish leaders were afraid that because of wars and persecution that the oral law would be lost to history. So they started writing it down along with the various interpretations by the various Sages. So what this means is that this is a tremendous resource to the New Testament. Those who wrote the New Testament never dreamed that time would continue past the expected fall of Jerusalem. It was assumed that the readers understood the background information, which has been lost to us today - almost 2,000 years later.

Here is a brief summary of capital punishment from a small section of the Sanhedrin volume...

There were four methods of execution for capital crimes that the Sanhedrin meted out depending on the severity of the crime.
The most severe was death by stoning - next, death by burning, then death by beheading and finally death by strangulation.

DEATH BY STONING
Two witnesses were required to convict a person of a capital crime - in this case mostly idolatry or blasphemy as in the case of Jesus. Capital punishments could not be completed in a single day - a judgment of guilty could only be issued on the second day. This rule was thrown out in the cases of Jesus and Stephen. On the second day if a decree of guilty was issued, the execution proceeded immediately. The Sanhedrin stayed in session until the execution was completed. A procession with the convicted criminal left the chamber of Hewn Stones (Grand Sanhedrin) in the Temple and proceeded to the place of stoning.
There were three different courts in the Temple area - the Grand Sanhedrin with 71 members and also a lesser court of 23 members located near the courtyard and a third Sanhedrin of 23 located at the entrance of the court of women. A forth court was located outside the camp at Bethpage - the house of unripe figs. The place of execution was on the Mount of Olives. As was the crucifixion.

As the procession went from the Temple to the Mount of Olives criers went ahead shouting who was being executed and why and if anyone had information on the case to come forward because they would reopen the case in court. The condemned also could ask for an appeal if he thought of anything that may help his case that he had forgot. Any new evidence coming into the court could also reopen the case. This was done by a signal man with flags at the Temple, who would signal a mounted guard across the Kiddron valley and he would swiftly ride to the execution party and stop the proceedings and return the convicted to the Temple court.

As the procession approached the place of stoning it stopped momentary and the condemned was asked to confess - which most of the guilty did seeing their predicament. They were told if they confessed their death would atone for their sins and they would have a part in the "world to come." Those who were not guilty would only confess their other sins, but would not confess to the crime for which they were being punished. Sometimes they were guilty, but wanted to try to clear their names so they lied. The procession again moved toward the place of stoning but stopped short . The convicted was stripped naked and given a small covering for the front. Women were given a covering for their full front and back. Then they moved a few yards to the place of stoning.

The condemned mounted a small tower about 12 feet high and I assume was bound. One of the two witnesses was obliged to push the condemned off of the tower headfirst by pushing his hips forward. The condemned landed on his head on the stones below. If this did not kill him he was rolled on his side and the second witness was obligated by the law to crush his chest with a heavy stone. If he was still alive then the remainder of the party stoned him to death. He was then hanged on a pole for awhile perhaps as long as overnight then he was taken down. A Capital trial was never started on the day before the Sabbath or the day before a festival because of the two day rule for conviction of the accused. The body and the pole were then burned to ashes.

DEATH BY BURNING.
The condemned was bound and buried up to his knees in manure to keep him in place. A fine scarf (To keep from injuring the condemned) was put inside of a coarse scarf and it was wrapped around the throat of the condemned and the two witnesses one on each side would pull on the scarf to force the victim to open his mouth. Also it was stated that sometimes a set of tongs were used to hold the mouth open. Then a ladle of molten lead was poured down the throat of the condemned, which burned out his intestines. The object was not to choke the person to death, but to cause death by burning. In most cultures burning means just that - to be consumed in the flames. So when you read in the O.T. about death by burning this is what it means.

DEATH BY BEHEADING
This was done from the front and with a sword, which was deemed to be more humane. However this is the same method as the Romans used so it was controversial with the Jews, so as a second choice they used the block and axe also.

DEATH BY STRANGULATION
Same as burning - except they used the scarf only without the molten lead.

Another method of execution was for chronic thieves. They would be jailed and starved for a couple days and then force fed barley which would expand and burst their stomachs. I guess they would die probably from peritonitus.

BTW - this is not a cut and paste.

Boanerges

Living the law was man trying to please God in his own strenght and efforts lowlithium- the old testament saints who pleased God did so by faith. Man's efforts apart from God always result in death.

lowlithium

I want to thank you all for your answers, you were all very helpful.
I really appreciate the detail information about the old testament punishment, from Jasher.