darth_ender said:

I know the context of the verse. The Sabbath was a blessing, and still is in my mind. Goodness, I'm working in a framework that is a little difficult for me, because I see things somewhat differently than the rest of Christianity. But look at it this way: God created laws that indeed conformed with mankind's expectations. He worked with the tools he had in the day. He even gave commandments that seem harsh by today's standards, but were the expectation of the day. He was giving his law to a rebellious people (emphasis on people, as in human), through a person (i.e. fallible human). He gave them what they could understand.

I can't buy that. In Jesus' time, those were still the expectations of the day, yet the message changes to a message of peace, and it took to a good degree, despite it being counter cultural and against the norms of the time. It is remarkable, in that Christianity did have a profound affect on the world around it, even carrying on into today.

I think it is far easier to conclude that the writers constructed a God that fit their standards and the message they wanted to convey or the rules that they wanted followed, rather than to claim God sunk down to the standards of those he was commanding. I don't see how telling a recently enslaved and mistreated people that it is now their turn to kill, conquer, enslave, and mistreat served any kind of greater purpose when he could have easily taught and commanded them to be above that.

He had no problems commanding them to toss out other standard practices of the time, such as that of idolatry, and to order death upon those who failed to leave these practices behind.