How often have you heard people say that the God of the Old Covenant is one of cruelty and punishment, but the God of the New Covenant is all about love and forgiveness?
Throughout my lifetime, both before and after I accepted Yeshua to be the Messiah, I have had to hear that ridiculous statement.
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When I hear people say that in the New Covenant God is merciful and forgiving, but in the Old Covenant he is cruel, I ask them, “Do you believe God is unchanging?” And, of course, they say that he is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
So, I continue to ask, “If God is unchanging, are there two Gods in the Bible- one before Yeshua came and one after Yeshua came? And, if God was different after Yeshua came, since the only God who promised to send a Messiah was the cruel one, which God do they think is truly Yeshua’s father?”
At this point, I get nothing but stares, eyes going up and down, mind turning at 1000 RPM trying to figure out how to answer without negating what they have been taught.
The smell of burning wood is overpowering.
The truth is, people, there is, was, and always will be just one God. He is the same God- merciful, forgiving, and trustworthy, from one end of the Bible to the other. And, if anyone wants to argue that in the New Covenant God is not cruel or punishes people, let me draw your attention to Acts 5:1-11.
This is where we read about Hananyah and his wife, Shappirah. They sold property and gave most of it to the Elders for the poor, but they held some back for themselves. That, in and of itself, was not a sin, but they lied about it when asked, saying they have given all of what they had. The moment that Hananyah lied to Kefa (Peter), he was struck dead! And later, when the wife came in (not knowing what had happened), she also lied, and she was struck dead, too!
So, nu? Is that forgiving? Is that all about love?
God is always the same: he does punish the unrepentant sinners, and he does forgive those who ask it, truthfully, with a broken spirit and a contrite heart (Psalm 51). God has, and always will, punish those who sin and do not do t’shuvah (repent/turn from sin) because he HAS to! God has to obey the rules he makes; if he doesn’t, we can’t trust him and the promises he has made aren’t worth the sheepskin they are written on.
Here’s the thing: if you ever hear someone say that the God of the Jewish Bible is different from the God of the Christian Bible, ask them the questions I do, and hopefully, you will be able to help them know who God really is, and not what some religion told them.
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That’s it for today, so l’hitraot and Baruch HaShem!
