FB,
That last line is correct. However, God also doesn't give wanton commands. You should notice that there are subtleties to the Old Testament Law. I don't expect you to think that they are meaningful, but I do, and I've seen amazing and wonderful things in the subtleties. God made man in His image, so mutilating a man was illegal(They whipped a man's back, or they beat his back, but never more than 40 times. A contrast was the injustice of beating a man with a cat o nine tails, in the times of Jesus. That was illegal according to Jewish Law.). Burning people to death was illegal(Molech). The Jews did not prescribe cutting off limbs or digits as the other people of the day. There is a broad consensus in the Scripture that even penal actions were not to destroy the image of God in a man. If a man was put to death, it could have been by hanging(as there are other Scriptures which mention this). Murder, if I am to understand some implications, was punished by whatever means was most expedient(The Jews didn't always have the roman influence, crucifixion was meant as a supreme torture). So if God stones someone it wouldn't fit for it to be long, drawn out, torturous. It may be bad, very bad, something that everyone would want to avoid. But it wouldn't be degrading or torturous.
SoM mentioned stoning a while back and it caught my attention because it doesn't fit. Then recently I've been reading a lot more OT and it still doesn't fit. The Law of Moses does not say much about stoning except that it is done by a lot of people, approved only by the High Priest, and done right outside the camp(or outside the city). I cannot see this lasting long, or being particularly painful compared to other means of killing someone. And I can't see a way that is communal otherwise. I know that these are gruesome discussions, but I want to know what the Scriptures are saying.
