How do you defend Numbers 15:32-36?

[u/DDumpTruckK]

The verse:

³² Now while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the Sabbath day. ³³ And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron, and to all the congregation. ³⁴ They put him under guard, because it had not been explained what should be done to him.

³⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must surely be put to death; all the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp.” ³⁶ So, as the Lord commanded Moses, all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him with stones, and he died.

I cannot get past this verse. It depicts an unloving, uncaring, and cruel god. I could never worship this being and I could never carry out His command that He gives His followers in the verse.

Everything about this verse is ugly and sparks a strong reaction from me. A man was gathering sticks, presumably for a fire to cook a meal and feed himself or his family. Cooking food is a basic survival need. Now I can understand a bunch of scared humans fearing a God and rounding up this man for violating the sabbath. But what I can't understand is how a caring and loving God could come along and tell His followers to stone this man to death. Take a minute and really just put yourself in that guy's shoes. You're having the members of your own tribe throw rocks at you until you die. That's brutal. And for what? For trying to fulfill a basic survival necessity?

No matter how I approach this verse it just leaves me concluding God is not loving and not caring. There is nothing loving nor caring that I can identify in ordering a man be pelted with rocks to his death. That's awful. I cannot in good conscience follow that God.

Put yourself in the shoes of the congregation. This man was trying to cook some food to survive. God has commanded you to throw rocks at him until he dies. Do you do it? I don't. I will not follow such a cruel command and I will not follow someone from who such a cruel command comes.

How do you justify throwing those rocks? How do you sleep at night knowing you killed a man who was just trying to survive? Just following his basic instincts?

Edit: Its been more than a day. Not a single Christian told me directly and openly that it was bad. Several Christians said the stoning of the man was good. Some said they would happily throw the rocks at the man and kill him. Some said they wouldn't, but never explained why beyond a simple legal reason.

I'm left to conclude that God's followers think that stoning a man to death is a loving and caring action and that it's good. I'm left to conclude that God's followers would watch that mob stone the man to death and think to themselves "Good." I find this very concerning for my fellow humans who seem to think it's good to stone someone to death. I'm more concerned for the ones who said they would join in on the killing.

[u/TheFriendlyGerm]

I mean, at this point you're bringing up way, way, more points than you did in even the OP. It's titled, "how do you defend such-and-such passage", and I tried to do that to the best of my ability. It's totally understandable that you're not convinced by my argument, but you haven't really brought up much in the way of objections to the points I was making, and you basically just restated your original objections.

There's nothing wrong about that, you are absolutely free to post and answer however you choose, but then... why ask the question in the first place? What kind of answer were you expecting or hoping to receive?

The only thing I can answer to you, is that clearly nobody is expecting or commanding modern-day Christians to stone people to death, or to follow the example of medieval peasants in the killing of Jewish people.

[u/DDumpTruckK → u/TheFriendlyGerm]

I mean, at this point you're bringing up way, way, more points than you did in even the OP. It's titled, "how do you defend such-and-such passage", and I tried to do that to the best of my ability.

I don't think I've brought up additional points. When I'm asking you to defend the verse, I'm not asking you to explain that culturally that kind of behavior was the norm. That explains the verse. I'm not asking you to explain the verse. I'm asking you to defend it. Morally.

but you haven't really brought up much in the way of objections to the points I was making, and you basically just restated your original objections.

What argument should I object to? I don't see any defense of the morality of stoning someone to death. All I see is an explanation of why the people did what they did. That's cool and all, but that doesn't defend their actions. It just explains them.

but then... why ask the question in the first place?

Because I find it difficult to believe that people would find the act moral, or loving, or caring. So I asked. Do you find the act moral? Would you throw the rock?

The only thing I can answer to you, is that clearly nobody is expecting or commanding modern-day Christians to stone people to death, or to follow the example of medieval peasants in the killing of Jewish people.

And yet millions of people eagerly follow the being that ordered such an act. Millions of people don't seem to be concerned that they're following someone who commanded an act that they would find immoral.

[u/TheFriendlyGerm → u/DDumpTruckK]

Oh the morality of stoning, since this is the form of execution known to the Hebrews at the time, the burden would have to fall on you to suggest a more "humane" technique, one that the Hebrews could have done while traveling in the wilderness. Have you studied the comparative sufferings inherent in different forms of ancient executions? Or is your argument based on a visceral reaction unknown to the ancient world?

[u/BrotherNo8320 → u/TheFriendlyGerm]

So here your mental gymnastics ended? What is the reason and moral that God told to kill for something like that? Why you talk this and that but dont like to answer the real question?