Again you mention the laws which allow a slave owner to beat his slaves so severely that they could die and also excuse this death if the slave managed to live for 2 days before dying. That doesn't seem like a brutality deterrent to me. In the OT the cruelty of God and the Hebrew tribe is quite evident, and should not be dismissed but strongly condemned, as shown at the following links:
I will look at the links you provided.
I think it's important to examine alternate viewpoints whenever possible before condemning God or painting him as a cruel taskmaster. Children often see their parents ways as harsh and unreasonable but when they mature and have a broader understanding , realize the wisdom in their parents actions when they would have sworn they never would. We are talking big picture Universal issues here and everyone human I know is guilty of jumping to the wrong conclusion even in the most simple day to day matters. Maybe it will be different in this case, however so often in the past when it comes to the Bible, I have found that the arguments presented against the authenticity of the scriptures have usually had a completely reasonable alternate way to see it. Also these arguments appear to be presented by those who have some sort of axe to grind. Whether because they have seen the hypocracy or were mistreated or condemned for a particular course of life they wanted to pursue, by a judgmental religious organization Perhaps they simply don't want anyone telling them what to do...even a God. (the latter being what got Adam and Eve into to trouble and why mankind is in such a mess according to the Bible)
In the case of the Master who beats the slave scenario. My understanding of that is as follows.
If you were to come into possession of a slave it would have been because you bought him/her, paid off their debts and were being compensated for said payment by the future services of the slave and the slave would have agreeed to this. Or you may have procured the slave from the captives of the latest uprising.(Usually brought on by some serious wrong commited by another nation towards Gods people) That was the arrangement apparently. In any event the slave would probably have wanted to be somewhere else and not working for this new owner. What was this owner to do if the slave just sat around , was rebellious or did as little as possible or was still thieving or was violent ? Should he send him packing and loose all he had paid out in advance? Every slave in town would pull this stunt in order to be free. Apparently Gods law allowed the owner to discipline such a slave, but with limitations. The beating could not have administered with a lethal instrument ((compare Numbers 35:16-18) If so and the slave were to die, his death were to be avenged. If he were to linger a day or two before dying-this might indicate that the master had not intended to kill the slave but rather to discipline him. The fact that he did not die immediately could cause reasonable question (lack of medical technology) as to whether the slave actually died from the chastisement or something else. This would all be determined by the nations Judges.
To me the whole premise of the Bible if it true is this. God created man/women who were not pre programmed robots. They had choices as to their future. In order to maintain order there needed to be laws with conseqences.(we’ve all seen what happens if there aren’t any)
Adam and Eve decided they wanted to live by their own standards. The consequence of this was to be put out of the Garden and grow old and die. God had to obey his own laws. I suppose he could have let them off like an indulgent parent might with a child only to have the child try it again. So in order to prove once for all eternity that mankind was unable to live a without his laws God let them carry on for a specific amount of time known only to him. As we can see from thousands of years of history ( a short time to God) that the earth is still a magnificant place except for where man has taken imperfect, short sighted or just plain wicked actions that have caused furthur devistation to himself.
God promised to buy back the lives Adam and Eve lost for us and restore the earth to its former condition. (Enter Jesus) All the accounts in the bible ( and the history I’ve witnessed especially very recently) to me seem furthur proof that man can’t rule himself at all ! There has to be a neutral party overseeing us and a set of unmoveable laws in which we must obey in order for there to be justic and peace for everyone. But what if we are being like spoiled children who want everything on our own terms and are too short sided to see what is and has been going on all this time. Are we trying to confuse the issues at hand by bickering over the details hoping to find a loophole to prove mom and dad are in the wrong. Is it easier to paint God as a tyrant sighting this as a reason to feel justified in carrying on doing whatever we want regardless of the long term consequences. What if everyone cast him aside...and the Bible was proven to be fake? Would our troubles will be over. Mankind would be free from God's tyranny and all would be well with the universe...Right ?
What would happen to the kind of guys that invent things Napalm? Would they just go away on their own or would we be like that tyranical God if we tried to do away with him?
I hope there is a God and everything mankind has experienced thus far is leading us to a restoration of his original plan. If not what's the point of anything ? What if Adam and Eve hadn't sinned and mankind hadn't lost eternal life as indicated by the Bible ? I see all the empty planets in space and wonder what will they be used for in the future. Maybe once things are straightened out here we will move forward to literally out of this world experiences we couldn't even imagine now with our limited vision .