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Moses said to his people, "God commands you to slaughter a cow.
2:67
When we read verses 67 to 73 of Sura 2 we learn a valuable lesson and important message. To demonstrate this issue further we need to read a number of other Quranic words that are closely connected to the above verses and that collectively present this valuable message.
1- God does not wish to impose any hardship on you, but He wishes to purify you and complete His blessing upon you so that you may be appreciative. 5:6
2- The human being is, more than anything, argumentative. 18:54
3- Due to transgressions on the part of the Jews, We prohibited for them good things that used to be lawful for them. 4:160
From verse 1 we learn how God made the religion easy for us to follow and that God does not want for us any hardship in practicing the religion.
From verse 2 we read how God describes the human being as the most argumentative creature. We know that all too well and we also know how the human being has a tendency to complicate what God made simple and easy to follow.
From verse 3 we read how God prohibited certain items on the people of Israel simply because they have prohibited these items on themselves.
Now when we read 2:67-73 we start to grasp the message of all these verses together.
God commanded the Children of Israel to perform a simple and un-complicated act, that being to slaughter a cow. However, those who received this command were not happy performing it in its simple form. They kept asking God for details that were not required in the initial command. As a result of their argumentative nature and their attempt to complicate God's commands, God placed additional requirements that will make it harder on them. Initially, the command was simple and easy to follow, but due to their argumentative nature God made it more difficult on them.
Some would have simply got any cow and slaughtered it, they would have been in complete harmony and obedience to God's simple command, but others will say "the command does not include all the details!" As a result of not being satisfied with God's simple commands, they incur more burden on themselves.