Why Was God So Mean

A lot of people ask the question why was God, specifically in the Old Testament, so mean? He struck people dead who rebelled against Him, He flooded the entire earth, He destroyed entire cities like Sodom and Gomorrah and sucked entire clans of people into the ground (the tribe of Korah). There seems to be so much wrath and judgement and anger in the Old Testament. And then we read the New Testament which is full of love and grace and peace and mercy and hope and joy. In the New Testament we don’t have any accounts of cities being abolished and entire groups of people destroyed and it is hard for us to marry the Old Testament to the New Testament. How is God a God of wrath and destruction as well as love and mercy?

To help us understand this I want you to picture the sun. It rises in the east and sets in the west. It has beautiful warm rays that brighten the day, make plants grow and give vitamin D and warmth. Imagine sitting on the couch with the warm sun coming in the window as it’s bright rays surround you. If you sit in that spot all day the warmth begins to disappear and the light subsides and the room becomes dark. It would seem as if the sun went away because the room is now dark. But we know that isn’t true. The sun is still in the sky and it is still warming and providing all the nutrients it always has, you just can’t see it because it is shining on the other half of the world. Did the sun change? No. It is the same sun. Your perspective of it changed. It is in the same spot in the sky and it is functioning as it always has.

God says He is the same yesterday today and forever. Similar to how the sun does not change places in the sky, it does not move, and it does not change in purpose or substance, God also does not change. He is the same God in the Old and New Testament, from the beginning to the end He is the same. He is a God of wrath that demands holiness and purity as well as a God of love, mercy and grace. So then what changed from the Old Testament to the New Testament, if anything?

Well something did change and it wasn’t the nature or character of God. I want you to picture the side of the earth after the sun has set like the Old Testament and the other side of the earth illuminated by the noonday sun, at the brightest, hottest moment of the day, as the New Testament.

In the old testament God’s people were living under sacrificial law. The Israelites would sacrifice daily, they sacrificed grain offerings, free will offerings and sin offerings as well as others. There were laws set up by God as to which animal was to be presented to Him at which time of day and this was how people were reconciled to him. There had to be a blood sacrifice, for the forgiveness of sins. Maybe gross in your opinion but our ways are not God’s ways.

Well, people got it wrong quite a bit. The Israelites were a complaining, dissatisfied, forgetful group of people. They grumbled about their provision and their salvation out of Egypt. Moses would fall on his face before the Lord as their advocate to plea with God to not destroy them. God relented and showed mercy in many instances. But the sacrificial system was both tedious and because sinful men were in charge of it there were times that circumstances did not meet the standard God had. When He saw rebellion and pride, He righteously and actively judged His people.

God still judges. He judges and punishes people now and He will judge and punish people at the end of time. We will all give an account for the life we have lived and the goal of someone who follows Christ is to hear the words “Well done my good and faithful servant”. It is heartbreaking that God will say to many people, “Depart from Me I never knew you”.
But the question we want answered is why we don’t see destruction in the New Testament? Why does God seem different?

This is the exciting part!! One extremely crucial thing in history changed. God’s son, Jesus Christ, was born and He lived a perfect life and died a perfect death and rose again from the dead. (Yes Kara, we know but what does that have to do with God’s seemingly changed personality.)
Well finally! God now had a perfect sacrifice which fulfilled the imperfectly performed sacrificial law. Jesus is the perfect High Priest which fulfills the role of the Highpriest in the tabernacle. Those who believe Jesus died for them have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and now our bodies are the temple of God and Jesus is actively fulfilling the role of prophet by illuminating the scripture. Jesus Is now our advocate petitioning before God and praying for us, similar to how Moses prayed for God to have mercy on the people, Jesus is now a perfect advocate on our behalf and He prays for us in heaven.
And as God looks at us through the life of Christ, He is slow to anger and slow to wrath because His wrath was poured out on Jesus on the cross. We are now in the final days of having the opportunity to put our faith and trust in Christ as our savior. God wishes for all to be reconciled to Him before the coming judgement of mankind.

Did the sun change? No. Your perception and location on the couch did. Did God change? No. You are simply viewing Him through the lense of Christ. When we view God through the lense of Christ we see the light, the glory, the love, the sacrifice, the perfection, the holy, the majesty, the light. As we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives we see the trinity working together as a whole and we become one with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We see the perfect fulfillment of prophesy, law and the sacrificial system through the blood, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. But because His perfect blood was shed we can now confidently approach the throne of grace blameless and pure having been covered by Him.

As the blood of Christ forgives sinners one by one the the Son and all of His radiance now shines on the world history of mankind. Because of Jesus, we will always be able to sit in the noonday light of the New Testament and the fulfilled scripture.

There are two choices we have at this very moment. One is to enter a life of forgiveness, love and hope through the blood of Christ and be eternally saved. Or reject this gift and be eternally judged by the wrath of God.
If you have not put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord of your life then today is the day to do so, today is the day to repent of your sins and lay them on the cross. He will wash you clean and redeem you today and you will forever see the radiance of God’s love through the sacrifice of His son Jesus. I pray today you choose to dwell in His light.

The Lord Bless you and Keep you,

Kara