New Testament and Old
A Look at The Differences in Attitute and My Unchanging God
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"Did God change and become sweet where He used to be harsh? No, he didn't. God is all-knowing. He knows the past, present and future of everything. God is all-powerful. He is capable of instantly teaching or killing anyone or everyone.
How can we then reconcile God's apparent anger and harshness in the Old Testament and Jesus' Gentleness in the New Testament?
I think an answer might be in the types of people that He was dealing with at the time. During ancient times in the Old Testament, about the only thing that got people's attention was raw power. The most powerful warrior would conquer territories and become King. When a more powerful person came along, that King was killed and the new person became King. Authority was almost synonymous with power.
Given such a prevailing attitude, it makes sense that God didn't actually change. He simply presented a different view of Himself. He presented a spectacular Creation in Genesis, and He regularly "smote" whole armies in an instant to permit victory for His favored Tribes.
Consider a human father who finds the need to reprimand a young child. He might easily attempt to seem extremely harsh and powerful, in order to get necessary lessons across.
By the time that Jesus Walked on Earth, men's attitudes had advanced (a little). Jesus consistently demonstrated and taught Love and Generosity and Gentleness. We then had first-hand experience of the wonderful Lovingkindness of God. That Lovingkindness had always been there, even in the apparently harsh Old Testament God. But, during Old Testament times, such Gentleness would have been perceived as weakness, and God knew that. Therefore, even though He Loved His followers very much, it was not appropriate for Him to show it.
Jesus showed us that it was possible to display Lovingkindness without affecting the sense of incredible power that everyone knew that He had. Even during His trial and Crucifixion, most people seemed to believe that He could have instantly swept all that away, but that He knew that He had to suffer through those experiences in order to fulfill Old Testament prophecy.
Therefore, there is actually no distinction or difference between the attitude or the personality of the Old Testament God and the New Testament Jesus. Our One god just displayed different aspects of His personality as necessary for the people He was interacting with."
I think we agree that God did not change, but the circumstances DID; that's the point I'm trying to make.
And also along with the changes in people and society, grace entered the world in a larger sense. God has always had grace, and HE didn't change, but He did send His son to make it easier. This is the bigger picture I was looking at. It's grace versus legalism. People were bound by the law, is what it comes down to... sacrafices, incense, cleansings, etc etc etc. It's like they were so worried about doing the RIGHT thing (ie: Pharisees) that they weren't really living their lives.
This verse completely sums up the point I'm trying to get across: "I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest" (John 10:10).
~Sarah
How can we then reconcile God's apparent anger and harshness in the Old Testament and Jesus' Gentleness in the New Testament?
I think an answer might be in the types of people that He was dealing with at the time. During ancient times in the Old Testament, about the only thing that got people's attention was raw power. The most powerful warrior would conquer territories and become King. When a more powerful person came along, that King was killed and the new person became King. Authority was almost synonymous with power.
Given such a prevailing attitude, it makes sense that God didn't actually change. He simply presented a different view of Himself. He presented a spectacular Creation in Genesis, and He regularly "smote" whole armies in an instant to permit victory for His favored Tribes.
Consider a human father who finds the need to reprimand a young child. He might easily attempt to seem extremely harsh and powerful, in order to get necessary lessons across.
By the time that Jesus Walked on Earth, men's attitudes had advanced (a little). Jesus consistently demonstrated and taught Love and Generosity and Gentleness. We then had first-hand experience of the wonderful Lovingkindness of God. That Lovingkindness had always been there, even in the apparently harsh Old Testament God. But, during Old Testament times, such Gentleness would have been perceived as weakness, and God knew that. Therefore, even though He Loved His followers very much, it was not appropriate for Him to show it.
Jesus showed us that it was possible to display Lovingkindness without affecting the sense of incredible power that everyone knew that He had. Even during His trial and Crucifixion, most people seemed to believe that He could have instantly swept all that away, but that He knew that He had to suffer through those experiences in order to fulfill Old Testament prophecy.
Therefore, there is actually no distinction or difference between the attitude or the personality of the Old Testament God and the New Testament Jesus. Our One god just displayed different aspects of His personality as necessary for the people He was interacting with."
I think we agree that God did not change, but the circumstances DID; that's the point I'm trying to make.
And also along with the changes in people and society, grace entered the world in a larger sense. God has always had grace, and HE didn't change, but He did send His son to make it easier. This is the bigger picture I was looking at. It's grace versus legalism. People were bound by the law, is what it comes down to... sacrafices, incense, cleansings, etc etc etc. It's like they were so worried about doing the RIGHT thing (ie: Pharisees) that they weren't really living their lives.
This verse completely sums up the point I'm trying to get across: "I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest" (John 10:10).
~Sarah
) on the Sabbath, and for being disobedient and rebellious. You have very good food for thought though. That does seem like quite a huge contrast between those OT verses and that verse in Luke. Hmm, I agree with you.