God of the OT and the NT

[Jun_Canada]

Hi every1
Hope every1 is having an amazing day!
I have a question.
Is there a diff btwn the God of the OT who called the floods of Noah etc and the God of the NT who came to save man kind?
Any help would be great!
Thank you
God Bless

 

[Lilly of the Valley]

No, there is no difference. God is the same all the time, He never changes. There are different sides of God however. The Lord is merciful and compassionate, but He is also a judge and powerful. You need to be aware of both sides to have a accurate view of the Lord.

 

[mannysee]

how about perhaps a couple of thousand? years!!!

"Turn to me and be you saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness and will not return, that to me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear" Isiah 45:22,23

 

[Jun_Canada]

I am refering to the character of God, not the time frame
Thank you for responses!
Hope every1s having a great day!

 

[IKTCA]

Sister JC:

Old Testament is mostly about God and Israel. God decided to reveal his grace and righteousness through one nation, Israel. In other words, he was setting an example to all nations through Israel. (Poor Israel )

He made a small tribe a nation in Egypt and lead them into the Promised Land. When they were obedient to his righteous commands, he gave them prosperity; when they rebelled in wickedness, he punished them severely. (Again, poor Israel ) Then they repented and turned back to God. Again, God delivered them out of their enemies. This cycle is repeated many times.

In the New Testament days, God is represented by his Son, Jesus. He came to cleanse the sins of the rebellious nation Israel and all the Gentile nations that accept him. Wonders and miracles followed Jesus and his apostles.

It does appear that God is a wrathful, to-be-feared God in the OT days and a wonderful, forgiving God in the NT days. But in OT you can also find merciful, forgiving God just as you can find the Righteous Judge in NT.

I am not sure if I am going in the right direction or tangential to the subject of your concern. If you would like to continue this discussion, please let me know.

Rupert

 

[Jun_Canada]

Plz continue!
Ya...thing that I am confused about is the the vengeful God in the OT and the loving God in the NT..if he is the same then how can he be both vengeful and loving?
I hope you understand what im trying to get at
Thank you very much for ur response!
God Bless

 

[IKTCA]

What God wants of man is living together in peace, caring for one another. This is not an impossible command to keep. Of this, Paul said that the scriptures are summed into one command: Love your neighbors. It truly is the summary of all scriptures.

God told Israelites to care for the poor. He told them to leave some figs on trees and grapes on vines in harvest time so that the poor can have something to eat. When one sees a cow in a ditch, he must pull the animal out of the ditch and look for the owner. These are not hard commands to keep.

But Israel did not keep the commands. They became greedy and took advantage of the oppressed. This was in direct rebellion against God. God struck them and made them slaves to other nations.

When we say God is vengeful, it's because we do not see our own wickedness, because we do not see how we have betrayed his love.

I have loved you, says the Lord.
But you say, "How have you loved us?" (Malachi 1:2)

Let us continue our discussion tomorrow. I am getting sleepy already and I need to have some devotion time before bed.

Brothers and sisters,
We cannot send our young sister away without getting her questions answered. Please help her with what's on her heart.

Sister JC:
Keep the question stored in your mind. God will open your eyes and let you see his righteousness and our wickedness.

Brother Rupert

 

[sheep in wolves clothing]

Hi,

I also believe God is the same yesterday, today and forever. That being said, God in the old testament was shaping a nation of people who were not a nation yet. He was teaching them obedience just as He teaches us today. The same lessons we see again and again in the old testament of God teaching Israel to obey and love Him and trust Him are reiterated in the new testament and restated by Jesus concerning us. We must obey and love Him. The view or focus has changed from israel to us, but the message has not changed.

I am also assuming you are referring to the way God treated the nations that came in contact with israel in caanan. God used israel to deal with those wicked nations who had rebelled against god or were going to influence israel in a negative way in the times to come when they finally setteled there as a nation. (which israel ended up messing up because they didn't destroy some of the nations the way God told them to)

Another point that illustrates the "sameness" of God is the fact that before He judged a people in the OT, He always gave them a chance to repent or change thier ways. In Noah's time, he had Noah building the ark and telling the people that a flood was coming. The people scoffed at him and rebuffed his warning and they were punished.
In Nineva, God sent Jonah to bring repentance to the people there and they listened to him and were saved. This same formula, if you want to call it that, is used throughtout the bible in one form or another even in the Jewish ceremonies in the temple with the sins of the people being covered by the sacrifice. That was the "Old Testament". When Jesus came and died for us he was placing himself in the place of the sacrificial lamb and covering our sins for all time, once and for all.

God's plan for mankind has not changes and will never change. He wants all to come to Him for repentance and restoration so He can love us again and bring us back into fellowship or a close relationship with Him.

This is the basic theme of God in the Old Testament and in the New Testament and the basis of His work here on earth.

Love,

A Sheep in Wolves Clothing

 

[Jun_Canada]

Wow these are some great responses! Thank you. I cant wait to hear more responses! Thank you so much
P.S.: Sorry I just had to bring it up...its Brother JC not sister
Take care!
God Bless!

 

[IKTCA]

Brother JC,

My apology for the mixup.

God wants man to be in love with Him. He loves man and wants to be loved by man. I do not understand well why God wants to be loved by man but that is the nature of Him. He often called Israel His wife. As a husband wants to be loved by his wife, God wanted to be loved by Israel.

If my wife liked my neighbor's house better than mine and spent many days and nights in his house, she would be an adulterer. Israel didn't like to live to God's laws, and spent much time in the world where there is no law. Israel wanted to be wanton in the world, of which the name of the ruler is called the Lawless (2 Thessaloninans 2 ).

As I wouldn't leave my adulterous wife in adultery, God didn't leave Israel in adultery. He put hedges around her so that she could not go to the lawless lover. (Hosea 2) Sometimes, He caused hardships to Israel but Israel wouldn't return. (Amos 4) In order to set an example to all nations, God sent Israel to foreign nations as slaves. Then, Israel repented of their whoredom and returned to their husband.

The bible, both OT and NT, is the love story between God and man. Brother JC, I ask you to desire to see beyond the wrath of God this love that interweaves the events and stories of the bible. God will fulfill the desire of your heart. Amen.

Brother Rupert

 

[johan777]

God is the SAME God in the Old and New Testament.
Exo 34:6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness..
Nahum 1:2 The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies.

However, don't forget! There is a difference. The difference is that there are two Covenants
"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jer.31:31-34)