The God of the Old and New Testaments - Essay Example

Full s the Paper is due] [Assignment It has been said that the God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath, but the God of the New Testament is a God of love. Is this statement accurate? It is true, the Old Testament shows a God of wrath, and the New Testament does show a God of love. However, it is not entirely accurate. God’s commands, as well as character and actions show both love and wrath in the Old and New Testaments. It is spoken in the various books of the Old Testament how God continues to love those who continually reject and do Him wrong. As depicted in Exodus 34:6-7, wherein He is the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, and forgiving wickedness, sin, and rebellion. As well as in Hosea 3:1, wherein the passage goes: “The Lord said to me, ‘Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.’” In the Old Testament, the Israelites repeatedly rejected God and did wrong, but God continued to love them, and all other people. God’s character and actions show that He makes a covenant with His people to love them continuously, yet inspire fear in them so that they may not turn away from Him; and those who do His bidding will be rewarded in the highest form, just as stated in Jeremiah 32:40-41. Even those whom God may seem to speak against are still loved by Him, just as it is in Jeremiah 31:20, which say: “‘Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,’ declares the Lord.” Much is made of God’s wrath in the Old Testament, however, when He punishes, he does with reluctance – which still shows His love for His people. Lamentations 3:31-33 writes “For the Lord will not reject forever. Although he causes grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love; for he does not willingly afflict or grieve anyone.” Such of God’s character is also evident in Ezekiel 18:31-32 wherein God asks His people to repent. To repent and live, so that He may not punish them, for He takes no pleasure in punishing them. He asks them to rid themselves of their offenses and get a new heart and spirit. God often pleads the Israelites to repent so that He may give them blessings. Anyone who was experiencing God’s punishments could end it immediately just by simply repenting. In the Old Testament, Jesus has not come yet, and therefore God arranged for His chosen people to know His basic laws, and arranged for punishments to occur if these people broke those laws – He wanted to let His people know the seriousness of His will. So, in the following, Exodus 21:24, Leviticus 24:20, Deuteronomy 19, God puts a firm hand in setting his laws and its implementation “eye for eye, tooth for tooth”. This seems harsh, but if one thinks about it, no person wants to lose an eye or tooth, and therefore would avoid hurting another person for the sake of self preservation. God loves His people so much, that He became so angry with them and punished them because of his love for them. Nations were punished because their citizens were cruel to others, oppressing the needy, even killing the innocent – an example of such in Jeremiah 5:26-29. God’s wrath came in the forms of punishments, but it was to get people to stop hurting other people. He intervened on the behalf of the oppressed because he loved them, and he disciplined the oppressors, taught them good instead of evil, because He loved them too, as written in Psalm 94:12-13. A popular story of God’s wrath is the Flood of Noah. God sent a flood, destroying all men because they were wicked and sinful, but spared Noah and his family because they were found to be righteous in His eyes. As written in Exodus 34:6-7, God is slow to anger; which shows that for Him to send the flood, the people were too wicked and too sinful already – and He loves them so much, He asked them to repent, but they refused. Genesis 6:5 states, “The Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind was so great in the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.” Proving that God loved His people, and he punished with reluctance, asking for repentance from them. In the New Testament, God is known as the God of love, because in these books, Jesus has already come. Jesus was God’s ultimate sacrifice – as written in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” God still punished the wicked and the sinners, but it was overshadowed by his love, because of Jesus. Not only was this shown in the book of John, it is also written in Romans 5:8, “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” Although God’s commands of Love God, Love Others as Yourself and Love Your Enemies are in both the Old and New Testaments, it is more popular in the New Testament, as Jesus’ teachings. In Matthew 5:44 Jesus tells them to love their enemies, and pray for those wmho persecute them – making the selfless, reflecting a selfless and loving God. In the New Testament, God’s judgment and punishment is also written, but just overshadowed by his expression of love to His people – the death of Jesus. In Acts 5:1-11, God punishes a man named Ananias, and his wife Sapphira for dishonesty. They sold a land, and Ananias kept part of the proceeds of it for himself, and laid the remainder at the apostle’s feet. Ananias fell at his feet and died, and same happened to Sapphira for they tested the Spirit of the Lord. Such punishment shows the wrath of God, similar to those in the Old Testament. Acts 5:11 says, “Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events”, showing that God still inspires fear in His people, so they may not turn away from him. Matthew 13:41-42 states, “The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” A very clear passage showing us that God, in His power, judges and punishes each and every man individually – and those found to be wicked and sinful with suffer. The God of love of the New Testament did unleash his wrath, but His giving of Jesus, his only Son to save the people from their sins was highlighted in these books. Hence, in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, God’s character and actions didn’t change – He is neither just a God of wrath, nor just a God of love, He is both. In both the Old and New Testaments, God is a God of love who unleashed His wrath because of His love for His people – giving them a chance to repent, and opportunities to discipline themselves learning good instead of evil. Is there anything that you learned in this course about the Bible in general (Old and/or New Testaments) that you have never considered? Is there anything that you learned about the Bible that surprised you? I have always known that the Bible is a book containing the teaching of Jesus, and is more of a “guidebook” of Christianity. However, what I have realized lately is that the Bible is more than just a guidebook. It actually inspires an individual into the teachings of Christianity. The stories in the Bible, which are of true accounts, have inspired me to think in a wider perspective. The stories of God’s love and punishments, and how He judges each of us individually has inculcated in me some things I used to take for granted in the past. I have always seen dishonesty as something petty – everybody lies. Also, I have seen divorce as a common practice in society – especially in western culture. However, the Bible has specific teachings about these in particular, and the consequences to such behavior, or actions are very much harsh that I couldn’t believe that I once saw these things as something petty, something small. Yet, besides these things that arose a bit of fear in me, there is also another emotion that arose, hope. In the Bible, it is made clear, that anyone who believes in God will be saved, will be brought to Heaven. And anyone who repents, and is truly sorry for his sins will be forgiven and saved. This is one thing that got me thinking how wonderful God is. I, at this point, realized all that I have done in my life, and the Bible is a part of it. Well, what actually surprised me is that the Bible isn’t just a guidebook or a manual on Christianity – it’s a book of inspiration that guides an individual into the path of righteousness. Read More