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A question I need an answer to :)


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Plz help ?

I was asked a question yesterday and found I was at a loss for words to answer.

I'd like to get back to this person with a response that explains but is also easy for them to follow.

 

Q: Why does God come across as war like in the OT - different to the NT? Is it because in OT times mankind was more barbaric and God adjusted His dealings accordingly, whereby in NT times, mankind was more enlightened in the areas of treating others with kindness etc, so God's dealings with folk was less war like or devoid of it altogether?

 

Thanks guys?

Edited by HisFirst
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Thank you so much for your response Yowm, I really appreciate it? however, this person wont use the Bible and needs it in more simplistic words for understanding - not so "religious" language. An early 20's person in this modern world ?

Thanks Yowm?

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Guest shiloh357
26 minutes ago, HisFirst said:

Thank you so much for your response Yowm, I really appreciate it? however, this person wont use the Bible and needs it in more simplistic words for understanding - not so "religious" language. An early 20's person in this modern world ?

Thanks Yowm?

Show them all of the places where God is portrayed as compassionate, merciful and full of grace in the OT.    I say that so that you can show that person that it is not so binary.  It's not the case that God is wrathful in the OT, but not in the NT.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/  This online resource has an excellent search engine that you can use to look up those references.  You can look up words or topics along the same lines as mercy and compassion as related to the Lord in the OT.

The love of God is expressed all over the NT.  An important thing to point out is God's patience and how He always called for repentance and mourned over His people in the OT.   Judgment came, but it came with a broken heart.

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Question: "Why is God so different in the Old Testament than He is in the New Testament?"

Answer:
At the very heart of this question lies a fundamental misunderstanding of what both the Old and New Testaments reveal about the nature of God. Another way of expressing this same basic thought is when people say, “The God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath while the God of the New Testament is a God of love.” The fact that the Bible is God’s progressive revelation of Himself to us through historical events and through His relationship with people throughout history might contribute to misconceptions about what God is like in the Old Testament as compared to the New Testament. However, when one reads both the Old and the New Testaments, it becomes evident that God is not different from one testament to another and that God’s wrath and His love are revealed in both testaments.

For example, throughout the Old Testament, God is declared to be a “compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,” (Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 4:31; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalm 86:5, 15; 108:4; 145:8; Joel 2:13). Yet in the New Testament, God’s loving-kindness and mercy are manifested even more fully through the fact that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). Throughout the Old Testament, we also see God dealing with Israel the same way a loving father deals with a child. When they willfully sinned against Him and began to worship idols, God would punish them. Yet, each time He would deliver them once they had repented of their idolatry. This is much the same way God deals with Christians in the New Testament. For example, Hebrews 12:6 tells us that “the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.”

In a similar way, throughout the Old Testament we see God’s judgment and wrath poured out on sin. Likewise, in the New Testament we see that the wrath of God is still “being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness” (Romans 1:18). So, clearly, God is no different in the Old Testament than He is in the New Testament. God by His very nature is immutable (unchanging). While we might see one aspect of His nature revealed in certain passages of Scripture more than other aspects, God Himself does not change.

As we read and study the Bible, it becomes clear that God is the same in the Old and New Testaments. Even though the Bible is 66 individual books written on two (or possibly three) continents, in three different languages, over a period of approximately 1500 years by more than 40 authors, it remains one unified book from beginning to end without contradiction. In it we see how a loving, merciful, and just God deals with sinful men in all kinds of situations. Truly, the Bible is God’s love letter to mankind. God’s love for His creation, especially for mankind, is evident all through Scripture. Throughout the Bible we see God lovingly and mercifully calling people into a special relationship with Himself, not because they deserve it, but because He is a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in loving-kindness and truth. Yet we also see a holy and righteous God who is the Judge of all those who disobey His Word and refuse to worship Him, turning instead to worship gods of their own creation (Romans chapter 1).

Because of God’s righteous and holy character, all sin—past, present, and future—must be judged. Yet God in His infinite love has provided a payment for sin and a way of reconciliation so that sinful man can escape His wrath. We see this wonderful truth in verses like 1 John 4:10: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” In the Old Testament, God provided a sacrificial system whereby atonement could be made for sin. However, this sacrificial system was only temporary and merely looked forward to the coming of Jesus Christ who would die on the cross to make a complete substitutionary atonement for sin. The Savior who was promised in the Old Testament is fully revealed in the New Testament. Only envisioned in the Old Testament, the ultimate expression of God’s love, the sending of His Son Jesus Christ, is revealed in all its glory in the New Testament. Both the Old and the New Testaments were given “to make us wise unto salvation” (2 Timothy 3:15). When we study the Testaments closely, it is evident that God “does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17).

https://www.gotquestions.org/God-different.html

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Thanks to all who took the time to respond - I appreciate it?? 

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Blessings HisFirst

Quote

Show them all of the places where God is portrayed as compassionate, merciful and full of grace in the OT.    I say that so that you can show that person that it is not so binary.  It's not the case that God is wrathful in the OT, but not in the NT.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/  This online resource has an excellent search engine that you can use to look up those references.  You can look up words or topics along the same lines as mercy and compassion as related to the Lord in the OT.

The love of God is expressed all over the NT.  An important thing to point out is God's patience and how He always called for repentance and mourned over His people in the OT.   Judgment came, but it came with a broken heart.

                        posted by Shiloh

IMO this is the best answer,God is,has & always will be "The Same".....He has always Revealed Himself to those earnestly seeking His Face as the Merciful ,Loving,Compassionate,understanding,Patient Kind,Forgiving & JUST God that He IS,the Great I AM,full of Grace                       With love-in Christ,Kwik

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I get it, he uses the bible for his objections but not for the answers to his objections. :rolleyes:                                               Yown

Yes Brother,often the case and sadly so                                                              With love in Christ,Kwik

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On 9/29/2016 at 5:37 PM, HisFirst said:

Thank you so much for your response Yowm, I really appreciate it? however, this person wont use the Bible and needs it in more simplistic words for understanding - not so "religious" language. An early 20's person in this modern world ?

Thanks Yowm?

It's to bad they won't use the Bible because that is where their answer is. 

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In the Old Testament God waited hundreds of years to destroy the people who lived in Israel and the surrounding land the children of Jacob/Israel were to occupy.  They had to wait till the people were all completely wicked and vile.  Everyone was compelled to serve as a prostitute for a term as part of the worship of the fertility gods, baal and ashter.  This produced unwanted babies that were burned alive while the parents watched.  Their cruelty was horrible.  So finally God judged these nations and commanded that every man, woman and child be destroyed.  

We are told that the sins and judgements of the Old Testament help serve to teach right from wrong today, and that those who continually do evil will certainly be judged as well.  Meanwhile God is offering all mankind the opportunity to turn away from sin, from not being perfect and from continual errors, and turn to Jesus for help and forgiveness.  God is holding off judging us as nations as well.  We burn babies alive with acid and pull them apart limb from limb during abortions.  Everyone just doesn't want to know but instead claim it is a "woman's right".  They claim that the baby isn't alive.  It is choosing to not believe reality and choosing instead to murder babies--not that much different from the sins the people in the Old testament were wiped out for.    And God will judge this as well as all lies, adultery and all sex outside of marriage,  dishonoring of parents, and for lusting after money and the possessions of others;  Cheating, stealing, and most of all for not worshipping our Creator but choosing to deny His existence when all of his creation reveals Him.

God hasn't changed at all.  He is still patient and compassionate, and merciful to us while we don't deserve it.  But the more people become hard toward God and hate the people who love Him, the sooner the time of judgement will come.

 

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On 9/30/2016 at 7:37 AM, Yowm said:

I get it, he uses the bible for his objections but not for the answers to his objections. :rolleyes:

Frankly, if he won't accept answers from the Bible, then he cannot use it to make objections either.

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