Faulty Heroes
The Old Testament doesn't pull any punches. The heroes in our faith history were often prone to making mistakes. The Old Testament doesn't leave those mistakes out of the story.
For each of the Ten Commandments, we can easily find examples of what happens when the commandment is violated. For instance, "Do not commit adultery" was ignored by David in his 'fling' with Bathsheba, and the consequences troubled him for decades. "Honor your father and your mother" was obeyed by neither Eli's sons nor Samuel's sons, and the country fell into being led by a king instead of directly by God. Jacob's life was a mess because he did not obey "Do not covet."
Why put all these failures in the Bible? We need heroes, not scoundrels, right? I suspect the most important two reasons are, first, to see how foolish it is to choose not to obey God's guidance, and second, to show God can use even the most mistake-prone human to accomplish great things.
