Bible Questions Answered:
It seems to me that the God of the Old Testament, is a different God, than that of the New Testament. Waring God, versus loving God.
Ronald/ Ft. Riley, Kansas
Bible Answer:
God does “not,” change! In theology, this is known as the immutability of God, that is He is always the same.
Psalm 102:27 KJV
But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
Malachi 3:6 KJV
For I am the LORD, I change not...
Hebrews 1:12 KJV
And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
Hebrews 13:8 KJV
Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
People in the O.T. Were warned to turn from sin, and many times for decades, then judged.
And God, judges evil yet today, in our world!
Psalm 7:11 KJV
God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day.
Jeremiah 18:1-10 NLT (God never changes, but people do!)
1 The Lord gave another message to Jeremiah. He said,
2 “Go down to the potter’s shop, and I will speak to you there.”
3 So I did as He told me and found the potter working at his wheel.
4 But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over.
5 Then the Lord gave me this message:
6 “O Israel, can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand.
7 If I announce that a certain nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed,
8 but then that nation renounces its evil ways, I will not destroy it as I had planned.
9 And if I announce that I will plant and build up a certain nation or kingdom,
10 but then that nation turns to evil and refuses to obey Me, I will not bless it as I said I would.
Nations and people had been warned, and yet they did not repent: Sodom, Canaan, Amorites, given centuries to repent, but they did not (Genesis 15:16). In Noah's day, God warned the people for 120 years, and yet without repentance, then judgment came (Genesis 6:3/7:11,12).
And in New Testament times, Christ, often spoke of judgement.
Matthew 23:37-39 NLT
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let Me.
38 And now, look, your house is abandoned and desolate. (70 A.D. Roman Emperor Titus would destroy Jerusalem.)
39 For I tell you this, you will never see Me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!”
Matthew 10:34-36 KJV
34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
(God's will, always was that of love and mercy, would reign, not sacrifice. God always has been and always will be a God of love.)
I Samuel 15:22-23 KJV
"... Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, He hath also rejected thee
(Christ's summary of the O.T.)
Matthew 22:36-40 KJV
36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Matthew 9:13 KJV
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
Matthew 12:7 KJV
But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
Is a God of love, and warning, still Judging people and nations?
One has only to read the book of Revelation, to know the answer, the greatest of all judgments of people and nations are yet to occur.
Psalm 9:17 KJV
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God...
God, never sends any people or nations to judgment and hell, they send themselves.
And they do it by not repenting of their sins and turning to the living God.
Our Lord's warnings to Israel, our warnings as well!
Ezekiel 18:23-32 NLT
23 “Do you think that I like to see wicked people die? says the Sovereign Lord. Of course not! I want them to turn from their wicked ways and live.
24 However, if righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things and act like other sinners, should they be allowed to live? No, of course not! All their righteous acts will be forgotten, and they will die for their sins.
25 “Yet you say, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ Listen to Me, O people of Israel. Am I the one not doing what’s right, or is it you?
26 When righteous people turn from their righteous behavior and start doing sinful things, they will die for it. Yes, they will die because of their sinful deeds.
27 And if wicked people turn from their wickedness, obey the law, and do what is just and right, they will save their lives.
28 They will live because they thought it over and decided to turn from their sins. Such people will not die.
29 And yet the people of Israel keep saying, ‘The Lord isn’t doing what’s right!’ O people of Israel, it is you who are not doing what’s right, not I.
30 “Therefore, I will judge each of you, O people of Israel, according to your actions, says the Sovereign Lord. Repent, and turn from your sins. Don’t let them destroy you!
31 Put all your rebellion behind you, and find yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O people of Israel?
32 I don’t want you to die, says the Sovereign Lord. Turn back and live!
Be sure to read God's Immutability Part I
