Why is it important to remember that Israel was an agrarian society when reading the Old Testament?
Remembering Israel was rural and agrarian helps readers grasp the agricultural imagery behind Old Testament laws and spiritual lessons. Terms like "yoke" evoke beasts of burden plowing together, so commands such as not being unequally yoked carry concrete meaning from daily farm life.
Les teaches that as you read the Old Testament, you always have to remember that Israel was a rural or agrarian society. They still lived back in the antiquities, when animals were used for beasts of burden. Because of this, there is a lot of correlation between the agriculture of the day and even spiritual understanding. For example, when Paul says, "be not unequally yoked," the word yoke immediately brings to mind the beasts of burden out in the field plowing. A yoke put two oxen together so they could pull in unison. Deuteronomy 22:9-10, part of Israel's law, says not to sow a vineyard with diverse or different seeds, lest the fruit be defiled, and the admonition is still the same today: be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.