Christianity
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'Evil' God in the Old Testament
The God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament is the same. God's nature does not change. "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."(Hebrews 13:8)Originally Posted by ninjerpander
God's nature is LOVE. He is also infinitely HOLY.
The Bible teaches that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). It also goes on to teach us two ramifications of our sin.
1. Our sin has separated us from God. It is impossible to approach an infinitely Holy God because no matter how good we are we can never be Holy enough to be in his presence.
2. Secondly, sin strips us of life. It results in death. That is its price. That is what it costs us. “For the payment due for sin is death” (Rom. 6:23).
In the Old Testament we suffer now the consequences of our choice. It's the law of "cause and effect", of "action and reaction", which controls the destiny of all living entities.
In the East it is known as the law of karma. It states, that every action performed in life creates another reaction which in turn produces a new counter action. Thus an endless chain of actions and reactions is produced which binds the living entity to his good and bad deeds. This is the way how karma works. It creates an action and another reaction simultaneously and this increases the chain of material activities, keeping the performer in material bondage.
The universal law of karma is explained in the holy Bible which we know by the statement: "as ye sow, so also shall ye reap".
It says, that whatever you sow, so also shall you reap [the fruits of action]. It also says that you only reap as a result of having sown in previous periods. That what you are reaping today in your life, is a result of what you have sown in the past. And what you reap in the future is a result of what you sow now. This is generally known as the law of sowing and reaping or the law of "return", which returns to us in an similar way that what we do unto others.
"An eye for an eye, tooth for tooth, life for a life". For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Or in other words, if a human being for example, unnecessary takes the life of an innocent animal he must suffer the result at some point in the future; namely he must give his own life for taking a life.
We were hopeless and sentenced to death. This leads us to the predicament that our sin caused for God, who is just yet also full of love and mercy. The problem is simply this: how can God remain Holy (sin is what God isn't) and not separated from us?
The answer to this problem is the cross. Because of the cross, Jesus now forbids vengeance, retaliation and violent resistance and in its place commands mercy. Jesus: You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you, whoever strikes you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Effectively sinless Jesus reconciles sinful mankind to Holy God.
Thus in the Old Testament, in Deuteronomy Moses goes so far as to stress that the law must not be waved aside out of compassion. “Show no pity,” the text says, “ life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot” (Deut 19:21).
While Jesus forbid his disciples from ever hating or doing any harm to an enemy. Instead, he commanded people to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Mt 5:43-45). Luke includes the command to “do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you” and “pray for those who mistreat you” (Lk 6:27-28).
Jesus emphatically makes loving enemies rather than hating them the precondition to being a child of God. We’re to love, bless, pray for and do good to our enemies “that you may be children of your Father in heaven” Only if we love indiscriminately can we “be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked” (Lk 6:35). Small wonder, therefore, that when Peter drew his sword in self-defense- acting in accordance with Old Testament norms-Jesus rebuked him.
Reconciliation has a large place in Christian Theology. Man's choice unspeakably altered both his status and his nature. Hitherto he had had no sense of the displeasure of God, for it had not hitherto existed toward man; now he carried about with him everywhere that sense of having displeased God. Hitherto he had had a desire to meet with God, God had been his Associate and Friend; now he shrank from seeing him, or hearing his voice.
Man became changed. He does not, as he once did, delight to meet God. He feels his guilt. He seeks to hide from him, when he hears his approach. Ah, he is different from what he was, sadly different! The difference is that he has sinned and he is a sinner.
Not only was sin universal, but irreparable so far as man's power was concerned. The tendency of sin once begun in the human race, according to Old Testament teaching, was to continue, not to cease; to increase, not to decrease; to become worse, not better. How rapid was the course of evil from the apparently trifling sin of Adam's disobedience to the murderous act of Cain! From the remorse and regret even of Cain, to the defiant impenitence of Lamech! From the occasional crime of the first generations to the general lawlessness of the Deluge period!
The sinful state of man was not his original state:
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him." Gen. 1:27. Absolutely, this could not refer to the physical nature, but to the moral and spiritual nature; that man, as first created, was like God morally holy or sinless.
What did God desire Adam and Eve to do after the fall? He wanted them to show repentance and contrition (sorrow) by turning to Him. Notice that God tries to draw out a confession from them after the fall. God asks them, “Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9). This is not a question of physical location, but of spiritual condition. Adam, instead of exposing his spiritual condition to God, tries to hide himself physically. God then asks, “Who told you that you were naked?” (Genesis 3:11). Adam’s reply, instead of being repentant and contrite, is, “The woman who you put here with me – she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it” (Genesis 3:12). He does confess, but without repentance or contrition. Instead, he plays the blame game. We must notice that he does not primarily blame the woman; he primarily blames God: “the woman YOU put here with me.” The consequence for this unrepented sin is exclusion from being able to eat the fruit of the tree of life. Access to divine life is cut off by man’s choice.
Another Old Testament event that prefigures the sacrament of reconciliation is in Genesis 4. Adam’s oldest son, Cain, kills his younger brother, Abel. God, like he did with Adam, tries to elicit a confession. God asks Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” Not only does he not confess with repentance and contrition, he lies by saying, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Genesis 4:9). Cain accuses God of being unjust and the rest of humanity of murderous intent. Cain remains unrepentant and unconfessed. The consequence for sin is exclusion from the Lord’s presence (cf. Genesis 4:16).
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