Q: Why does God seem to act differently in the Old Testament than how He does in the New Testament? —Michael
A: It’s a common misconception that God in the Old Testament acted differently than He did in the New Testament. Often, we picture Him as a terrifying God of wrath, judgment, and punishment in the Old Testament, but embrace Him as a loving God of forgiveness, mercy, and grace in the New Testament.
But the God of the Bible doesn’t change—He is immutable (Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29; 2 Timothy 2:13; Hebrews 6:17–18; James 1:17). God Himself has said, “I am the Lord, and I do not change” (Malachi 3:6). The apostle James said that God “never changes or casts a shifting shadow” (James 1:17). And the Bible is very clear that our eternal, perfect, omniscient, and omnipotent God is unchanging and unchangeable!
Perhaps, one of the reasons why we might think God acted differently in the O.T. (than He did in the N.T.) could be due to the fact that God has progressively revealed Himself to us throughout human history—in particular through the nation of Israel, and through Jesus Christ (Acts 13:16-41; Romans 16:25-26; 1 Corinthians 2:7-12; Ephesians 3:3-5; Colossians 1:25-26; Hebrews 1:1-2; 1 Peter 1:10-12). Since no single Bible passage can give us a complete picture of who God is, both the OT and NT must be taken together if we’re to truly understand who God is.
The God of wrath in the OT is also the one who revealed Himself as “the God of compassion and mercy . . . slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness . . . lavish[ing] unfailing love to a thousand generations . . . forgiv[ing] iniquity, rebellion, and sin” (Exodus 34:6-7; Numbers 14:18; Deuteronomy 4:31; Psalm 86:5,15; Psalm 103:7-13; Isaiah 54:10; Lamentations 3:22; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; Micah 7:18). Even after being punished through the Babylonian exile, Nehemiah affirmed God’s great love in his prayer, “But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love” (Nehemiah 9:17).
On the other hand, the God who loved the world so much that He gave His only Son (as revealed in the N.T.), is also the God of wrath and judgment. The apostle Paul warned that “God shows his anger (wrath) against all sinful, wicked people” (Romans 1:18), and those who refuse to repent “are storing up terrible punishment for [themselves]. For a day of anger is coming. . . . He will judge everyone according to what they have done. . . .. He will pour out his anger and wrath on those who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness” (Romans 2:5-8). “Because of these, the wrath of God is coming” (Colossians 3:6, NIV). And the apostle John writes of the terrifying outpouring of “the wrath of the Lamb” in the book of Revelation, “For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to survive?” (Revelation 6:16-17).
As we read both the O.T. and N.T. in their proper perspectives and contexts, it’s clear that the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. And we proclaim, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). —K.T. Sim
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mike wittmer on September 14, 2013 at 9:10 am
Terrific question and response, K.T.! Your answer sparked this thought–I wonder if our time is similar to Noah’s time, when we don’t feel the wrath of God only because He is patiently enduring our rebellion. But as you say, the Day of the Lord will bring fiery judgment on those who do not love Him. And even that wrath is generated from love–tough love, to be sure, but a love that respects people enough to give them what they have chosen.
gillian on October 15, 2013 at 3:19 pm
Martin, I have over many years struggled with this one. Many thanks to KT Sim and all his use of appropriate Bible references about God’s character and the definitive evidence that God does not change. We do need the OT and NT to give us the full picture.
I think the problem in our thinking lies in modern day Christianity, that in order to make the Gospel message more attractive the emphasis in our Churches has got to be on God’s love and compassion. I think we are becoming pick and mix Christians, where we pick out in this case the aspects of God’s character we like and can relate to and ignore everything about God we find unpalatable.
As people created in the image of God, don’t we too often display all the characteristics that we think God should not possess?
Fortunately, in the NT we are shown through Jesus the way of salvation and how we can develop a personal relationship with our loving and forgiving God, who we are now able to freely approach as, “Our Father.”
gillian on October 16, 2013 at 5:24 am
Apologies Michael for calling you Martin!
I woke up this morning, feeling I should add a bit more to my comment above.
From my own experience, it is very tempting and comfortable to be selective in our Bible reading and read only the bits we can personally relate to and understand, particularly, concerning God’s character. However,all this leads to is stagnation as a Christian and Bible reading becomes so boring and such a chore.
In the last few years, I have read far more from the OT which I had previously often thought of as representing the revelations of a God of the past and not got much relevance to our modern day. How wrong I was! I constantly am brought back to the fact that the problems, situations and so on could have been exclusively written for the age we live in. I have that many, “WOW” moments now and have found that God is consistent throughout Scripture.
Also, I would encourage you to read the excellent ODJ daily devotionals which are frequently challenging but so exciting and never a chore to read. Now,I so look forward to reading the Bible and going on the aptly named daily journey, wondering what God wants to reveal about Himself next, through His word and how I am being called to put it into practice.
I believe God is calling us all to get out of our comfort zone and go on a journey of discovery with Him.