GOD IN THE OLD TESTAMENT - Was he harsh?
PROLOGUE.
Some non-Christians resort to the Old Testament to prove that the Christian God is harsh.
This view, however, is only half the truth.The whole truth will be revealed in the stories of the Old Testament, which are outlined in the present book. Then we will be moved to exclaim:
“Who is as great a God as our God? You are the God who works wonders” (Psalm 77:13-14).
HIGHLIGHTS
"If there is a God, He must be compassionate; I have stepped over corpses, yet He still keeps me alive," confessed an atheist. Yes! God was, is, and will always be compassionate. That is His very nature. Thus, He was compassionate even in the Old Testament.
He had to deal with a fallen world unlike any before, a world that had sits own psychology, its own DNA. Accordingly, it required a special approach, one that aligned with its psychology.
Its defining trait was hardness of heart. Parents burned their children alive, offering them as sacrifices to their gods.
In such a world, murder was an easy matter. With what ease Cain Killed Abel; With what ease did the meek Moses slay an Egyptian who was mistreating a fellow Israelite.
In order to put an end to this barbaric and dangerous habit, the Lord established 'an eye for an eye.'1 Namely: if someone poked your eye out, you were allowed to poke his eye out; but no more than that; do not kill them. Thus, the tension was released and did not escalate to murder.
Within this framework we must look at the punishments that God sent to the Israelites when they sinned. They were not scandalized when they were punished. They would have been scandalized if they were
not punished; they would begin to doubt whether God is just!
This climate 'forced' God to include in the law that He gave to Moses (the Mosaic Law) some of the harsh customs of that time, such as the custom that fornicators and prostitutes should be stoned to death. 1 If He had annulled it, it would have been as though He was giving a green light to prostitution.
At the same time, Ηe was teaching the Israelites:
"Do not hate your neighbor even in your thoughts." In an era when hatred was natural, God demanded internal purity.
Despite the harshness of the times, God taught mercy: "Do not hate your neighbor even in your thoughts." In an era when hatred was natural, God demanded internal purity.
To employers, He commanded justice: "Do not wrong anyone. Pay the worker his wages the same day—before the sun sets—or you will be sinning."
Even slaves were protected: "If you buy a slave, you may keep him for six years. In the seventh year, you must set him free, and not empty-handed—reward him for his labor and send him off with gifts."
God even cared for animals! "Do not yoke an ox and a donkey together to plow your field," because the ox is stronger and the donkey will suffer. "Do not muzzle the ox while it treads out the grain," so it can eat freely as it works. Only a merciful God could have said such things at such a time.
PROLOGUE
2. “Bone of my bones”
3. The King in the Palace
2. Downfall
3. A harsh life begins
4. A mysterious thing
2. God’s reaction
3. Abel's relatives
2. A Century for Repentance
3. Clarifications
4. The Flood
5. Miracles in the Ark
2. Abraham and Sodom
3. Lot and the Angels
4. Horrific death and divine mercy
2. Baal and Elijah
3. The "Mistake" of Elijah
4. The most perfect Baptism
5. Baptism by sprinkling
2. Jonah and the fish
3. Jonah and the gourd
2. David, Goliath, Saul
3. Moses
4. Α sacred journey
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