a christian had they lived in the OTestament days shouldn't have been compelled to stone sinners

OpeningAs an opening statement, I want to stress that, as a Christian, I understand how serious and difficult of a situation this is to reconcile. I hope to present rational and morally understanble arguments to justify the seemingly barbaric culture that is ancient Judaism.My opponent seems to allow an agreement between us that God does exist, so we will be debating on whether or not the Bible is the infallible word of God. Having said this, all of my arguments will be based on the assumption that God does indeed exist.Explaining ConceptsGod is In ControlGod is the creator of all life. (From Job chapter 1:) Yahweh gives and Yahweh takes away. As He has created life, He also has the authority to take that life away, by whatever means He so chooses.God destroyed the entire world by a flood (Genesis 7), save 8 people. This follows from the above statement, that He gave many life, but because of unrighteousness, He took it away.Bestowing the ControlWhen one thinks of God taking life away, we more or less see it as a natural event that doesn't have much personality to it. When God produces laws that require men to kill another for breaking a law, this becomes a more personal event, and the reality of morality becomes hauntingly visual.The JewsExodus 19:6: "'[A]nd you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel."The Jews were rescued by Moses and were given their own land to become their own nation. However, this gift came with a pre-requisite; they had to be a nation that had higher standards than the rest of the nations of the world.The Difference Between Barbarian and Appropriate ConductImagine 3 people: Jim and his brother Bob, and their friend Zack. If Zack killed Bob, it would be wrong for Jim to take revenge on Zack by killing him. If there was a law that said "If someone kills another, he must be killed also as punishment", then it follows that Jim would be morally allowed to execute his brother's murderer.Laws are presuppositions that dictate what should happen should an event occur. Without the presupposition, there is no fair way to logically conclude how to deal with the situation.The Mosaic LawNo Work on the SabbathIn our culture today, if we saw someone working on a Saturday (the Sabbath day), it would be blatantly wrong to kill that person. Now, in the ancient Jewish culture, there was a pre-requisite that stated no one should work on the Sabbath, or he is to be stoned. If this was a law, then no person in their right mind should want to work on the Sabbath, that's just an obvious truth. So, when someone did work on the Sabbath, they were not killed because they were doing a simple task that we perceive to not be wrong, he was killed because he was blatanly showing a lack of respect and disobedience to the one who rescued him out of Egypt.In the passage in Numbers that my opponent quoted, there shows a unanimous hesitation for the Jews to not want to stone the person who was caught working on the Sabbath. The only thing that convinced them otherwise was the belief that Yahweh was definitely commanding them to enforce the Law that He gave. Yahweh was in an impossible situation- He made a law that was given as a gift for a free day to relax, and someone not in their right mind went and defied it anyway. This was not a barbarian act, this was a group of people enforcing a law that their Creator had given them.Blaspheming GodThis law is different in that it affects those who were not born Jewish. However, I assume this law is applying to those who were not born Jewish but also became a resident in the Jewish community. By becoming a resident in the community, they are accepting the Mosaic Law.AlsoJoshuah 2:8-11 "Now before they lay down,[Rahab] came up to them on the roof,and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have melted away before you.For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, to Sihon and Og, whom you utterly destroyed. When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained in any man any longer because of you; for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.This shows that other nations heard of the wonders of the Jewish nation and understood the magnificence that was the God of the Hebrews. If other nations feared a god that was not of their own religion, how much more so should the Jews have been obedient to laws their God gave them and would have not wanted to break them?Other Laws that Required Death as PunishmentAs already stated, this nation was to be a holy nation that had to obey higher standards. This was not God promoting the death penatly, these were laws saying that, given that certain situations arise, this is how to deal with them. Instead of looking at these laws from a horrific point of view, one can see this laws from the standpoint that this nation valued rightouesness, albeit at a high cost. The less severe the punishment for the breaking of a law, the more-so the law will get broken. This is the reason for the severity of the Mosaic law.Comparison to the American CultureIf we look at our country in America, we see that we have many laws with much less severe punishments, but we also see a very high crime rate. We compromise having a high crime rate so that we do not have to have the death penalty extend to multiple laws. In ancient Israel, they compromised having a lot of laws with the death penalty so that the crime rate would be dramatically lower. What this debate depends on is what we decide is worth the compromise.ConclusionAs a Christian, I would most definitely hesitate to stone a man, just as the ancient Israelites did, but if I was living during their period and witnessed the great power and wrath of God that they did, and also be willing to compromise my personal views to live among a nation with a lower crime rate and have higher standards, I would be find myself enforcing the law that my community and myself agreed to follow, despite the intense consequences.