I have learned a lot over my lifetime. I have learned
that it is not a good idea to put your hand on the stove when it's hot, learned
that one the hard way. I have learned that adulting is hard; enjoy childhood
while you can, children/college students. I have also learned that I don't know
everything, especially when it comes to God.
I have asked a lot of questions about God. Some I have learned the answers to, others I have not. One question I have asked is: why does God seem different in the Old Testament? He is about love in the New Testament and death in the Old, why is that? Believe it or not, after struggling with that, and after study at LBC, I have an answer.
It is important to note before we go on that many people ask this question because of the fact that the Bible says that God doesn't change (Heb.13.8). If God doesn't change then why is Jesus all about love and acceptance?
I'm glad you asked ;) It is true that God does not change, no matter how different he seems in the Old Testament as compared to the New Testament. However, God does change the way he deals with us. That may seem close to changing, but God's personality is still the same.
Think of it this way: at the beginning of the world, God gave Adam and Eve one commandment. They were not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If they ate, the consequence would be death (Gen.2.16-17). You know the rest of the story: Adam and Eve ate of the tree and they died immediately, right? Wrong! God could have killed Adam and Eve right away because they disobeyed. Not only that, but sin entered the world then. God cannot look upon sin; therefore, God could no longer walk with Adam and Eve. God showed love to Adam and Eve by not killing them immediately.
One part of God that I think we don't emphasize enough is that God is a God of wrath. He cannot be with anything unholy. When sin entered the world, God could have left us all alone to die; but, because of his love, he did not. He had a chosen people who were to be a light to the world: the Israelites.
The Israelites did an amazing job at spreading the good news and everyone was saved. Ha, just making sure you are still paying attention. The Israelites were given commandments. In the end, they did not follow those commandments, continued to sin, and fell away from God. But, before that happened, they had strong Godly leaders, like Moses and Joshua, that led them in God's ways. During that time, God told Joshua every time the Israelites defeated a city that everything was to be destroyed. That meant that the gold, animals, men, women, and children were to be killed. Hold up, isn't God a loving God? Why would he make the Israelites kill everything?
God knew that if the Israelites would keep those people alive the Israelites would fall into sin. That's great that God is taking care of His people, but why doesn't he care about those other people, the ones who were killed? God did care about those people. Israel's job was to be a light to the world. Do you think that the people in the towns the Israelites destroyed never heard of the miracles and victories the Israelites had? They did, in fact many times the cities joined with other cities to defeat the Israelites; but they were no match for God. These people in these cities were sinners, could they have repented? Would God have accepted them?
The Bible gives us a few examples of people who joined the Israelites because they repented. In Joshua 2, we read the story about how Rahab helped the spies. After she helped them, she asked to join them because she heard of the miracles that occurred and knew God was with them. Rahab did something that the other people in Jericho did not do: she repented. She did not run from God, but ran to him and, because of that, she and her family joined the Israelites. I could go on with examples of people like Samson who turned from God but at the end turned back, Ruth who stayed with Naomi though it meant hardship, and even the whole city of Nineveh who turned from their evil ways. All of them repented and followed God. God accepted them because he is a God of love and he doesn't want any to perish. But, God cannot look on sin which is why he is also a God of wrath.
Now you may be saying, "didn't the Israelites sin too? How could God look upon them?" The Israelites presented sacrifices to God. The only way that God could be with them is by a sacrifice of atonement that happened once each year (Lev.16 [specifically verse 34 if you don't want to read about how the sacrifice was made]). The reason why the sacrifice had to be made is because God sacrificed a lamb to make clothes for Adam and Eve. The blood of the lamb covered their sin. Sound familiar? It should because, I don't know about you but, I am so thankful that I don't have to sacrifice animals today because Jesus died for my sins. The Old Testament pointed to Jesus. The law was made to prove that we cannot make it to heaven on our own. We need Jesus to take our sin away. That's why Jesus came in and talked about love; because that's what Jesus came to share: God's love.
So, do you realize that God is a God of love and wrath? Do you see that God has never changed? Do you believe that Jesus died as atonement for your sins?
I have asked a lot of questions about God. Some I have learned the answers to, others I have not. One question I have asked is: why does God seem different in the Old Testament? He is about love in the New Testament and death in the Old, why is that? Believe it or not, after struggling with that, and after study at LBC, I have an answer.
It is important to note before we go on that many people ask this question because of the fact that the Bible says that God doesn't change (Heb.13.8). If God doesn't change then why is Jesus all about love and acceptance?
I'm glad you asked ;) It is true that God does not change, no matter how different he seems in the Old Testament as compared to the New Testament. However, God does change the way he deals with us. That may seem close to changing, but God's personality is still the same.
Think of it this way: at the beginning of the world, God gave Adam and Eve one commandment. They were not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. If they ate, the consequence would be death (Gen.2.16-17). You know the rest of the story: Adam and Eve ate of the tree and they died immediately, right? Wrong! God could have killed Adam and Eve right away because they disobeyed. Not only that, but sin entered the world then. God cannot look upon sin; therefore, God could no longer walk with Adam and Eve. God showed love to Adam and Eve by not killing them immediately.
One part of God that I think we don't emphasize enough is that God is a God of wrath. He cannot be with anything unholy. When sin entered the world, God could have left us all alone to die; but, because of his love, he did not. He had a chosen people who were to be a light to the world: the Israelites.
The Israelites did an amazing job at spreading the good news and everyone was saved. Ha, just making sure you are still paying attention. The Israelites were given commandments. In the end, they did not follow those commandments, continued to sin, and fell away from God. But, before that happened, they had strong Godly leaders, like Moses and Joshua, that led them in God's ways. During that time, God told Joshua every time the Israelites defeated a city that everything was to be destroyed. That meant that the gold, animals, men, women, and children were to be killed. Hold up, isn't God a loving God? Why would he make the Israelites kill everything?
God knew that if the Israelites would keep those people alive the Israelites would fall into sin. That's great that God is taking care of His people, but why doesn't he care about those other people, the ones who were killed? God did care about those people. Israel's job was to be a light to the world. Do you think that the people in the towns the Israelites destroyed never heard of the miracles and victories the Israelites had? They did, in fact many times the cities joined with other cities to defeat the Israelites; but they were no match for God. These people in these cities were sinners, could they have repented? Would God have accepted them?
The Bible gives us a few examples of people who joined the Israelites because they repented. In Joshua 2, we read the story about how Rahab helped the spies. After she helped them, she asked to join them because she heard of the miracles that occurred and knew God was with them. Rahab did something that the other people in Jericho did not do: she repented. She did not run from God, but ran to him and, because of that, she and her family joined the Israelites. I could go on with examples of people like Samson who turned from God but at the end turned back, Ruth who stayed with Naomi though it meant hardship, and even the whole city of Nineveh who turned from their evil ways. All of them repented and followed God. God accepted them because he is a God of love and he doesn't want any to perish. But, God cannot look on sin which is why he is also a God of wrath.
Now you may be saying, "didn't the Israelites sin too? How could God look upon them?" The Israelites presented sacrifices to God. The only way that God could be with them is by a sacrifice of atonement that happened once each year (Lev.16 [specifically verse 34 if you don't want to read about how the sacrifice was made]). The reason why the sacrifice had to be made is because God sacrificed a lamb to make clothes for Adam and Eve. The blood of the lamb covered their sin. Sound familiar? It should because, I don't know about you but, I am so thankful that I don't have to sacrifice animals today because Jesus died for my sins. The Old Testament pointed to Jesus. The law was made to prove that we cannot make it to heaven on our own. We need Jesus to take our sin away. That's why Jesus came in and talked about love; because that's what Jesus came to share: God's love.
So, do you realize that God is a God of love and wrath? Do you see that God has never changed? Do you believe that Jesus died as atonement for your sins?
For more information on God being a God of wrath and love check out this blog.
Image from here.
