Nate, in verse 2, in my opinion, it does not mean a ** is going to hell, it means he, as it says, unto his 10th generation can not be part of the congregation of the Lord which would be the assembly of persons met for the worship of God.
I have to respectfully disagree with Elathi's comments. If anyone is a simpler people living in a simpler time it's us in today's age. One thing we often forget is that when this was written they didn't have a complete Word of God. They didn't have a Savior in Jesus. They only had the hope of both. If you read the Old Testament there were more wars, and no official law. These books acted as a law for Israel, and one has to consider that much of what is written was not God's will, but what was needed at the time. Take divorcement, which is spoken of in Deuteronomy, but Jesus himself said that it was written only because of the hardness of their own hearts, and was never God's will. It's not to say that God's Word isn't true, just that he gives some things to show us that our way is not the best. It was not God's will for Israel to have a King, nor was Saul his chosen man, yet he allowed Israel to have what they wanted to prove a point, that God's way is always best. We should always look to Jesus' teachings to be the final say.
Now while some punishments may seem harsh to us today, we should look at how "simple" and selfish we can be as people. In our society murderers get off free because of technicalties, rapists and child molesters are given minimal jail time and treated like victims themselves because they say they had rough childhoods, people sit at home and collect welfare and disability often for no reason. We have every luxury in life that Israel never had. We have a complete Word of God at our fingertips, we have the knowledge of and payment of Jesus', yet you read the lengths Israel went to to please and worship God. They detail of the tabernacle, the sacrifices they had to make, and yet we're the ones with all the convenience and I know very few people who give to or obey God as much as even some of the simplest servants in these times.
I'm tempted to think it'd cause more harm than good to try forcing the Word upon people by posting it on schoolboards.
The penalties for things seem harsh because they are harsh. They're artificial (as far as I can tell) rules for a simpler people in a much simpler time.
The Bible is indeed full of common sense, but try to properly sort through it. Sometimes it contradicts itself.
Please forgive me, though. I only came to look up a specific verse, but I saw this comment and there were insinuations my admittedly naive understanding disagreed with.
The Bible is full of common sense and Deuteronomy 23 covers just about everything including personal cleanliness, camp hygiene and not being greedy with what does not belong to you.Somethings may seem a bit harsh to the modern reader but society seems to have lost its' way and chapter 23 should be posted on all school notice boards.
Now while some punishments may seem harsh to us today, we should look at how "simple" and selfish we can be as people. In our society murderers get off free because of technicalties, rapists and child molesters are given minimal jail time and treated like victims themselves because they say they had rough childhoods, people sit at home and collect welfare and disability often for no reason. We have every luxury in life that Israel never had. We have a complete Word of God at our fingertips, we have the knowledge of and payment of Jesus', yet you read the lengths Israel went to to please and worship God. They detail of the tabernacle, the sacrifices they had to make, and yet we're the ones with all the convenience and I know very few people who give to or obey God as much as even some of the simplest servants in these times.
The penalties for things seem harsh because they are harsh. They're artificial (as far as I can tell) rules for a simpler people in a much simpler time.
The Bible is indeed full of common sense, but try to properly sort through it. Sometimes it contradicts itself.
Please forgive me, though. I only came to look up a specific verse, but I saw this comment and there were insinuations my admittedly naive understanding disagreed with.