My apologies, it's just that so much of the OT especially to me seems so much more like the work of human leaders in a society back then rather than the transcendent views and morals of all-powerful all-knowing God. We're supposed to judge others by their fruits, and the fruits displayed in the Old Testament often seen more like a past culture's means of political gain than anything else. Certainly very far removed from many things Jesus taught.
Hello. I definitely have similar 'Gut Reactions' like you do. I used to embrace the NT, and sort of tip toe away from the OT. Alas becoming good at the Bible simply does not allow such a shortcut so I had to stop. But over the years I came to terms with a lot of perspectives that I didn't have in the beginning. The amount of perspectives that you gain increase over time when you study it. For starters, Jesus does indeed throw some 'Hairy' things out there in case you are all about the 'Turn the other cheek' Jesus. Oh he does have some harsh things to say about the wicked. But Jesus' literal mission, the reason for his birth, was to become the fulfillment of the OT, he was the promised 'Suffering Messiah' that was to turn the other cheek and bare the sins of many in order to save them.
Read Isaiah 52:13 through the end of Isaiah 53. Interesting little tid bit, for awhile before Jesus, Jewish literature documents that Jewish religious leaders were actually confused about these 'Suffering Messiah' passages...for the most part they just embraced the 'Conquering Messiah' passages, but they didn't know what to make of the suffering Messiah passages. Jesus was both however, the conquering Messiah is not yet fulfilled. Even Peter didn't get it, he argued with Jesus when Jesus told him that he must suffer & die. Isaiah was written hundreds of years before Jesus, some Christians have printed out Isaiah 52:13 through Isaiah 53:12 and then handed it to various non-religious people and asked them who it was referring to, people almost always say Jesus.
Another perspective to realize, the Bible REPORTS many things but it doesn't mean that it is 'Teaching' those things. Yes God is an all knowing all powerful God, but he was working with complete fools. The Jews literally watched God part the sea for Moses, yet they couldn't even wait for Moses to come back down from the mountain before they were worshiping a golden calf (just an example of how obtuse they were). They constantly fell into idolatry all throughout the OT.
Another perspective, think about the whole world as if it was the largest football stadium in the world, that seats about 100,000 people. In OT times, the Jewish nation must have represented one bathroom in that stadium. The OT, and the Jewish people, were literally an unfolding mission. It was God selecting a chosen group of people to become a light to the rest of the world in order to eventually reveal to the world who the true God was. The Jews were literally considered to be 'A Kingdom of Priests.' But remember what I said, how the Jews were complete fools?? Herein lies the problem! Think about the responsibility you have if you become a Navy Seal? Think about how much leisure & easiness you give up for such a strict lifestyle! Navy Seals literally go through torture training for one example (many will make the argument that waterboarding is torture)...compare that to our easy lives.
Anyway, when you read through these STRICT law codes for the Jews in the OT days, always try to keep something in perspective, the OT Jews were 'A Kingdom of Priests' who's purpose was to 'Be a light to the nations of the world about the identity of the true God!' If you think being a Navy Seal puts extreme pressure on a person, how much more pressure is being the light of God to the rest of the world?? That's why the punishments and laws were so insanely strict...yet you literally have parts of the Bible that flat out tell you that no human is good enough to live by that strict law code! So people in the OT were executed at times over a law code that seemed way over the top, than later on the Bible itself admits that 'The Law' is too strict for any person (other than Jesus) to fully obey it (and Jesus forgave people from it). Why?? It's because of how VERY VERY high the bar was set for OT Jews being a Kingdom of Priests to the nations of the world.
Another perspective, God takes EVERYONE"S life! If you die of old age at 97...God just took your life. The unfolding mission of the Bible is to lead people to the gift of eternal life. But countless people have cursed God their entire lives over the fact that people unnecessarily died too young.
Another perspective, one thing I always talk about, is how the 'Purely Nice God' makes no sense. Everyone must look at reality and make sense out of it. I literally stop watching the news sometimes for weeks because reality is so evil and depressing. But I know lots of people who say "I hate the OT God, 'MY God' would never do that stuff!!" So then I look at the OT and say "Ugh, this kind of looks like a snapshot of 'Ugly' reality!" And maybe you don't like the way God in the OT is handling reality, but the thing is is that it looks an awful lot like those jaw dropping news stories that I watch. This 'Purely Nice God' that people seem to believe in doesn't fit the picture of the world (reality). It's one thing for someone to slam their fist on the table at the fact that the God of the Bible will allow a serial child rapist to run wild without striking him down instantly...but it seems to me more baffling how the 'Purely Nice God' could possibly exist with serial child rapists running wild?? Granted the answer the Bible gives for such a reality might not satisfy you one bit, but it does give answers for it. Conversely there is no logical answer if you believe in the 'Purely Nice God.' I believe that last time I referred to it in another forum I referred to it as the 'Hugs & Puppies God.'
I'm just spit balling ideas off the top of my head, but the more I thought about things the more I thought about the big picture. You had said in the beginning that the OT just seems like past cultures trying to attain political gains, to which I said just because the Bible reports this madness doesn't mean it condones it. Think about all the characters in the Bible. Now, who are said to have been the GREATEST of men (other than Jesus of course)? Samuel. John the Baptist. Joseph. They were the most peaceful of the bunch! They were the most Christ like!!! People like Samuel, John the Baptist, and Joseph were some examples of the best. So remember that when the Bible records appalling things such as things Sampson did, it is not putting the stamp of approval on it it is just reporting it.
Also remember, the Bible is insanely brief for how many years it covers. And, what is it's purpose? Well one of it's purposes is to document the depravity of the human race. So another thing to keep in perspective is that the stories it records might very well be the worst of the worst!!! I'm just speculating but maybe it sounds more blood thirsty than it actually was because it hand selected those stories that teaches human depravity in the most convincing ways?? Just a theory of mine.
I'll just expand on my theory here...suppose I had to write a book covering the complete history of human depravity. And I wrote the book and chapter 1 was Jack The Ripper. Chapter 2 was Charles Manson. And Chapter 3 was Jeffery Dahmer. If you read my book your head might start spinning at THE LEVEL of how sick & twisted it is!!! Similar to the reaction you get when you read the OT. But what if you took a moment to realize that it might not be as bad as you think considering the fact that I am literally hand selecting the absolute worst of the worst stories on purpose in order to teach a lesson?? So maybe it sounds worse than it really is! Again just a theory of mine.