Mean?

[FaithT]

Another question at the risk of sounding terrible but I’m currently trying to read the OT (after a few failures) and the God of the OT seems so mean and vengeful. I mean the Plague of the firstborn and other things. Why?

 

[Daniel9v9]

Another question at the risk of sounding terrible but I’m currently trying to read the OT (after a few failures) and the God of the OT seems so mean and vengeful. I mean the Plague of the firstborn and other things. Why?

Yeah, it’s easy to misunderstand God as mean or unrighteous when reading the OT, but that’s a result of not understanding the context and the gravity of sin. The more we understand the context and realise how fallen we are, the more we start to see God’s love, grace, and long-suffering.

God always calls us to repentance and faith, and the God of the OT is the same God that is Jesus. So to rightly understand the OT, we should understand it through the NT, just as we understand the NT through the OT. It’s not as if God is angry in the OT and all mellow in the NT. God is the same forever — He is good, holy, merciful, and righteous.

 

[Rachel20]

Another question at the risk of sounding terrible but I’m currently trying to read the OT (after a few failures) and the God of the OT seems so mean and vengeful. I mean the Plague of the firstborn and other things. Why?

Pharoah had ordered the Hebrew sons to be killed though (which is why Moses had to be hid). So it seems like sowing & reaping to me. Growing up, I always loved the OT more than the New - probably because of the story-telling format. And I never saw God as mean - but more as rescuer of the oppressed underdog.

 

[jesuslover811]

I think of the OT as a example for the future. 3000 or so years of pain and punishment for tens of thousands of years to remember. Remember all the people that got sent to hell in the OT had the chance to be saved by Jesus when he went to hell. God loves us and maybe outside of his personal hobbies does everything for us to make things easier to understand for future generations.

 

[Cute Peonies]

I'm currently reading the OT too!! I don't see Him as mean but He acts like a Father who disciplines his children, the Israelites. And since they keep on misbehaving, He keeps on ... punishing them I guess.

Like @Daniel9v9 said, it's about context.

 

[FaithT]

Yeah, it’s easy to misunderstand God as mean or unrighteous when reading the OT, but that’s a result of not understanding the context and the gravity of sin. The more we understand the context and realise how fallen we are, the more we start to see God’s love, grace, and long-suffering.

God always calls us to repentance and faith, and the God of the OT is the same God that is Jesus. So to rightly understand the OT, we should understand it through the NT, just as we understand the NT through the OT. It’s not as if God is angry in the OT and all mellow in the NT. God is the same forever — He is good, holy, merciful, and righteous.

He surely does seem angry in the OT and mellow in the NT. I mean to have all the firstborn killed is just wrong and cruel.

 

[jesuslover811]

He surely does seem angry in the OT and mellow in the NT. I mean to have all the firstborn killed is just wrong and cruel.

He was returned to god. And god willed it to be so it must be done and is justified

 

[Daniel9v9]

He surely does seem angry in the OT and mellow in the NT. I mean to have all the firstborn killed is just wrong and cruel.

I remember the first time I read the Bible for myself — that was my initial reaction as well. But, as already mentioned, the more we understand the context, the more we see God's love, mercy, and grace.

Maybe this is helpful: When we read about God's punishment of sinners, instead of thinking to ourselves "how severe these punishments are", we should instead contemplate what offence deserves such a punishment. That is, God is good, holy, and righteous, and His punishment is only severe because sin is severe. Simply, God's punishment of sinners often seem severe to us, but that is because we don't understand the depth and severity of sin.

Specifically, regarding the Exodus, we have to understand what is taking place — namely, Egypt is bent on idolatry, refuse to repent, and reject God. In rejecting God, they reject He alone who is good and the source of all that is good, and by doing this, they embrace evil and are evil, and the consequence of sin is death, which is what they merit for themselves. It would be a mistake to think of Egypt, or any sinner, such as you and I, as innocent, because we are all guilty before God. But it's for this precise reason that He sent His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ to save us!

 

[Torah Keeper]

He surely does seem angry in the OT and mellow in the NT. I mean to have all the firstborn killed is just wrong and cruel.

When Pharaoh ordered all Hebrew boys killed it was just wrong and cruel. Egypt agreed with Pharaoh. Yahweh understands justice. I am surprised He did not just wipe out all the Egyptians. He is also very merciful.

 

[Thera]

He surely does seem angry in the OT and mellow in the NT. I mean to have all the firstborn killed is just wrong and cruel.

As Rachel said, Pharaoh had already had most of the sons of Israel killed by drowning in the river. That's generations of children without fathers, women without husbands, grieving parents. These wicked Egyptians had been given many years and even 9 previous plagues, to repent, and they did not. That God did not wipe them all out entirely for this and the years they had enslaved His people, but instead, simply gave them a little taste of their own medicine, seems merciful to me.

 

[CaliforniaJosiah]

Another question at the risk of sounding terrible but I’m currently trying to read the OT (after a few failures) and the God of the OT seems so mean and vengeful. I mean the Plague of the firstborn and other things. Why?

God is not Mr. Rogers. God is just. And to Whom was He most "mean?" Himself, on the Cross. And by that, we have life, forgiveness, salvation, heaven, hope, strength, meaning, courage, love.



.