From the mailbag:
New Testament Jesus Vs. Old Testament God?
Steve,
I have a really good friend of mine, who is backsliding from her faith. She has had bad experiences in the church and cannot reconcile a lot of “contradictions” in her mind within the Bible. She is a very emotional person and has a really hard time reconciling God in the Old and New Testaments.
She pointed to killing the Canaanites I believe, and killing everything that breathed, but saving some of the virgin women or something like that, as being very confusing for her. She has a hard time seeing Jesus there. And honestly it is a hard question for me to answer as well.
She has no problem with Jesus. She said that Jesus is the only part of the Bible she could read without really any problems. She just has a hard time with “God,” in her words. How Jesus and the Old Testament God are the same.
I honestly am at a loss of what to say or do. I am writing you because I seek more understanding myself, and ways to help her see God in the whole
Nathan
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Hi Nathan,
I am sorry that your friend is allowing herself to be deceived. People who are "very emotional" are especially subject to irrational responses to reality, and need to become capable of suppressing irrational and inappropriate emotions by clinging to the Truth.
According to the Old Testament, Yahweh is “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.” (Ex.34:6-7)
That was how God described Himself to Moses, and I can find no reason to doubt Him. He is the world’s greatest expert on Himself! David also affirmed the same things about God’s nature:
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. (Ps.103:8-14)
How is this different from Jesus in the New Testament? Jesus said that everything He did was a reflection of His Father’s behavior (John 5:19; 14:9). If we think that Yahweh is different from Jesus in character, love, justice, mercy, faithfulness, etc., then we don’t believe Jesus on this matter.
In the Old Testament, God endured the abominable behavior of various sinful nations for hundreds of years on end before judging them. However, God would be overseeing a lawless, unjust and chaotic universe if He never redressed evils and vindicated the innocent against their oppressors. It is the role of any judge who loves humanity to punish criminals. The difference between God and human law courts is that God is, in general, far more patient with sinners, giving them opportunities to repent prior to His cracking down upon them.
God judged sinners less frequently in the Old Testament than He did in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, He directly judged the world in the flood, wiped out Sodom and Gomorrah with fire, and Egypt with plagues. He struck down Nadab and Abihu when they offered strange fire, and Uzzah when he touched the ark. There are a few other cases. These actions were spread out over 4,000 years—meaning that there were many hundreds, or thousands, of years between, during which time God judged no one. In the Old Testament, judgment acts of God occurred, on average, less than, perhaps, one time for every two centuries.
In the New Testament, God struck down Ananias and Saphira for lying to the Holy Spirit, as well as Herod for taking glory to himself. He also destroyed Jerusalem with the plagues described in Revelation. These things all happened within a forty-year period—on average, more than five times as frequently as God’s judgments in the Old Testament. The plagues of Revelation are specifically said to be expressions of the “wrath of the Lamb” (Rev.6:16), who is, of course, Jesus.
Those who object to God’s bringing long-overdue retribution upon sinners may complain all they wish, but they cannot do so without condemning Jesus Himself, who exhibited the same behavior as does His Father. To one on God’s side, it appears audacious for arrogant humans to think that God is subject to their critical judgments. Those who think they can judge God would do well to humble themselves and judge themselves. When the time for ultimate judgment arrives, everyone will see who is on trial, and Who is not.
Blessings!
Steve [Gregg]
P.S. As for sparing those virgin women...what else would your friend have preferred to happen to them? _________________ Todd
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