I Can Not Understand the Severity and Callousness of Moses' Laws. Please Help!

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Recently, I began reading William Thomas Walsh’s “Characters of the Inquisition”. I’ve wanted to learn more about the Inquisition and what really happened for some time now, and this seems like an excellent book to read.

However, I have just finished the first chapter dealing with Moses, the “first inquisitor”, and I find myself with more questions than before I opened the book, and I haven’t even gotten to the actual medieval Inquisition yet! Reading the numbers of people that were killed from Moses’ commands astounds me. 23,000 in one day after Moses commanded, “let every man kill his brother, and friend, and neighbor,” in response to seeing his people worshiping the golden calf.

Then in response to the Madianites who “had become so dehumanized”, God commanded Moses to see to their “complete extinction”. So Moses sent 12,000 men to annihilate them, and when some returned with women and children as captives, Moses asked why they had saved them and told them to "kill all that are of the male sex, even of the children: and put to death the women that have carnally known men.

Why such severity? Why was there no mercy? I completely trust in God, Jesus, and His Holy Church, but I desperately want to understand why this was allowed when Jesus asked us to love thy neighbor, and Moses says “kill thy neighbor”. Actually, even Moses said “Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself”. And this as I read in the very same book! But why is there such a huge contradiction, seeing as Moses won’t even spare women and children and give them a chance to atone for what they had done.

I know that Jesus came to fulfill the law, and give us new commandments, but I really want to understand why God told Moses to command these things we see as heinous crimes (i.e., murder) to the Israelites. How do I reconcile these horrible things with what Jesus taught? Some help with this would be very much appreciated. Thank you
 
Thank you for the links. They are insightful and put me at a little more ease. But one thing that wasn’t really addressed, is the culpability that rests on the murderers heads. To those that DID slaughter all these people, did they sin against the fifth commandment?
 
I totally agree that sin is horrible and ugly. But that is exactly the point. All ‘hard’ OT passages are a direct result of sin. If the Golden Calf had resulted in a tidal wave of flowers and happy feelings, then Isreal’s sin would have been paradoxically a good thing.

The same is true in Joshua. God wanted to scatter the tribes of Cana but Isreal refused to enter the land on God’s terms.
 
Hello billy15 – 12 Feb 20120
There are some things that are hard for us to understand. Yet, God does not expect us to accept blindly every question that comes our way. No. We were made in the image and likeness of God … we who have been baptized are real sons and daughters of God. And we meant to use our intellects to work at understanding ever better the ways of God. And we do have the Holy Spirit to help us … and God’s Church.

I have before me a passage about two pages long from an outstanding theological work by two Biblical scholars of yesterday, Paul Heinisch and William G Heidt, Theology of the Old Testament, Liturgical Press, 1955. I cannot copy all this, which includes very many footnotes referring to quotations from the Old Testament, pages 299-302. I will copy a few phrases, sentences, at random … and I encourage you to obtain or borrow the book. (An excellent new and used book source is www.alibris.com They have never failed me.

Here are some selected items >>> “Judgment [punishment] was heralded principally against nations hostile to Israel. They will be punished because they inflicted evil upon God’s people. ‘In wrath you pace through the earth, in fury you crush the nations; you have set out to deliver your people.’ Hab 3:13; Mich 4:11f; Ez 38; Zach 12:14. Nevertheless the nations are punished not solely because they have oppressed Israel, their own guilt is a weightier reason, ‘Gentile land will be devastated because of its inhabitants, because of the fruit of their deeds, Mich 7:13 … Yahweh has a complaint against the nations, he holds judgment against all flesh, the godless he delivers to the sword, Jer 25:31 … According to deeds he repays, fury upon opponents, retribution upon enemies’ Is 59:18. …….

“First among the sins of the nations was lust for war and plunder … Very frequently nations are censured for their pride …….

“There was a moral guilt too upon the nations. … There is a natural moral law to which all peoples are bound,” refers to Article 2, Section 2, in this theological work.
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I would add the following thoughts, given at various places in this work >
God does love all the nations and he loves especially the Israelite nation and intends to establish them firmly in the promised land. God certainly does punish his own people, the Israelites, as well as the Gentile world. We must remember that these ancient times were brutal and often savage … and they had to be taught, they had to learn, both about God’s love and God’s justice. There were things God permitted, and there were things God directly willed. We should reflect that we also, today, 2012, continue to wage war, often in the most brutal and even savage ways. It makes one wonder sometimes how far we have really learned, really matured. We slaughter thousands of unborn babies every year. (Is there a judgment near? I pray not.)

This work of Heinisch-Heidt is very valuable. It’s well worth getting and reading well.
I hope I have been of help, billy15. John (JohnJFarren)
 
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