A Common Objection
One of the most common objections to the Bible is that the God of the Old Testament seems to be a harsh unyielding God compared to the kinder God the New Testament.
Moses is punitive, Jesus compassionate.
Sounds persuasive - and on the surface conclusive.
A grain of truth is found in most objections, including this one.
Let's see if we can unpack it.
(Beforehand, we should note in passing, that there is more judgement in Jesus than sceptics are willing to acknowledge; and more compassion in the Old
Testament than they care to find. See comments at the end of this blog).
God speaks through two Books
According to the Bible, God reveals himself in two Books.
First, through the Book of Creation, which is God's word to every child of Adam. From its ingenious and beautiful pages we read of a God who is Power, Innovation, Goodness and much more.
All can read this Book for there is no speech or language where its words are not heard.
The Book of Scripture
The second way God reveals himself is through words on pages: The Book of Scripture; the words of the Old Testament plus the words of the New Testament.
This Book is our concern here.
Unlike the book of Creation, the book of Scripture was given progressively over time.
This is an important point.
Little by little, through the story of Old Testament Israel and the writings that emerged from their prophets, God disclosed more and more of his character.
By the time the Old Testament closes we know God better than we did in the days of Genesis and Abraham - but by no means completely.
The Old Testament is constantly looking forward to Someone, a Messiah, who will reveal God more fully.
So if we base our understanding of God on the Old Testament alone, we won't have the full picture.
We're not meant to.
In a dramatic change from this progressive approach, God suddenly and fully revealed himself in the Person of Jesus Christ, born in Bethlehem, crucified outside of Jerusalem and triumphantly raised from the dead on the third day.
In a flash of 33 short years, through a brief ministry of 3 years, in one blink of time's eye, the full revelation of God was given.
This new and personal disclosure of God builds on but eclipses all previous ones and is recorded in the pages of the New Testament.
Jesus Christ is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being. When we read his life, character and words, we're reading what God is actually like.
Not approximately, but precisely, because Jesus Christ is God come in human flesh.
What about the Old Testament then?
Where does that leave us?
Is the God of the Old Testament different from the God of the New?
The question is wrong headed because the presumed dichotomy between Old and New is false. There is only one revelation of God - the combined Old and New Testaments.
The Old Testament was never meant to be a full revelation of God, only an introduction to Him and a signpost to Jesus Christ who would reveal God fully.
They
say first impressions matter most, but how many times have we
discovered that someone we have grown to admire and love over time did not yield up their whole spirits to us straight away? We would have been wrong to judge their character by first draft.
That's how to understand the Old Testament, an introductory and partial revelation of God.
In the same way that a handshake does not say much about a new friend - and is not meant to - so the Old Testament does not reveal the whole character of God and was never meant to.
We need the Old which points forward to the coming of God to earth, and the New which points backwards to explain that Astounding Life to get the Full Picture.
Read the Gospel of Mark (Matthew, John or Luke)
So,
to everyone stumbled by the objection "the Old Testament God is severe"
we would say read the Gospel of Mark (or Matthew, or Luke or John). For there you will read what God is really, fully and gloriously like.
And there you will discover a God who is filled with grace and truth.
-------------------------------oOo----------------------------
Additional Note about Compassion and Judgement
Yes, there is more judgement in Jesus than the sceptics would care to acknowledge; and more compassion in the Old Testament than they are prepared to find.
Old Testament law was compassionate to three universally needy categories, the orphan, the widow, the alien (outsider). Their safety and well-being was ring-fenced by numerous laws. Old Testament laws were also kinder when compared to the laws of the surrounding nations. We see this when we compare the Code of Hammurabi, for example, with the laws found in the Old Testament.
Contrawise, Jesus said some of the most striking things about judgement found anywhere in the Bible. To towns who rejected his truth he said, "Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town." (Matthew 10:15). To someone who stumbles young faith Jesus said, "It would be better for them to have a large millstone rung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." (Matthew 18:6)
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