Why was little or no faith needed to believe in god during Old Testament times (god appeared to humans regular

Question

yet today christians have to rely on 100% faith for their belief?

Answer 1

excellent question

Answer 2

I think that God's point all along was faith. It's easier to understand if you translate 'faith' to 'trust.' As you will find, trusting God is expressed as important throughout the Bible.

Exodus 14:31
And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.

2 Kings 17:14
But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their fathers, who did not trust in the LORD their God.

I just put those there for examples. I am not really trying to say anything other than that by using them.

About your question;
"Why was little or no faith needed to believe in god during Old Testament times "

I think that it was. But what you may have picked up on is the incredibly long Law that God placed upon the Hebrews. About which He said:

Leviticus 22:31 "Keep my commands and follow them. I am the LORD.

Alas! No one could keep them! Until that is, Jesus came upon the scene.

And it was Peter during a council at Jerusalem, while they were discussing what to tell the Gentile Christians about the Law of Moses:
Acts 15:10 Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? 11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are."

. . . . and so they didn't listen to him! ) :

So what changed is how we are to approach God. You got it right, it's the revealed path of 'faith.' Not the works that we might THINK that are good.

I'm really liking that! Because what a piece of crap that I am. But for trusting God I can live a life that is within His grace, and I have the freedom from the Law of Moses. And freedom from sin.

Answer 3

Because during Old Testament times, the humans knew very little about how their world worked. The most "logical" explanation, given their lack of knowledge, was that there was some great, all-powerful being that controlled their lives and surroundings. For example, lightning HAD to have been God throwing spears They just "knew" that such a being existed. When you have knowledge, you don't need faith. As time passed, humans learned more and more about how the Universe "ticks." The more they understood that what had previously been considered supernatural was actually quite easily explained. We now know that lightning is a rather common occurrence that does not require divine intervention. As more and more of the Cosmos is explained by science, the direct link between phenomena and the need for a supernatural, divine explanation grew weaker and weaker. Whereas humans during Old Testament had no explanation other than God, today humans know there are other, rather mundane, explanations. Their relationship with God requires more and more Faith.

Answer 4

With no written record.God had to give His word to man either in dreams ,prophecies through his prophets,or in some cases ,appearances by the pre-incarnate Jesus as the "Angel of the Lord".The same in the new Testament .That's why the Apostles had "Sign Gifts" of healing and different miracles.Once the Canon of Scripture came together those gifts for the most part,disappeared.
Everything was by Faith.When Noah believed God and began work on the Ark ,it was by faith .The same with Abraham.The Bible says"Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness"God had told him his son would father a great nation.Then later ,told him to sacrifice him.Abraham believed even if he did what he was asked,somehow God would keep his promise.That was MAJOR faith.Gideon had faith that God would be with him in battle,Samson's parents believed the angel that their son would deliver Israel from the Philistines.The O.T. is nothing but FAITH.
The whole "Blood Sacrifice "thing was believing God would cover their sins.The ones who just went through the motions ,not in faith ,were in for a surprise.

Answer 5

Actually, God appeared very few times to people. Most of the "appearances" were understood as references to His Glory or an angel. The Bible spans 3000k years and there just aren't that many "appearances" for that long - other than Jesus.
Considering how poorly faith held up in the OT, it must not have been too easy. Eve and A blew it, Cain, Ham, the sons of Eli, Samuel, the Israelites leaving Eg and then living under the Judges, all the warnings the prophets had to give - in vain. From Jesus, it appears they believed more in the Temple and perhaps a system than in God. But then, no one asked us to judge.

Answer 6

You premis is inacurate. God did not appear in miraculous ways regularly in OT times. For 40 years in the time of Moses, during the lives of Elijah and Elisha, A few isolated miracles, but the rest of the time He was just like today.

Answer 7

Read the Bible. In the Old Testament, God was silent for centuries at a time. Adam to Noah, over 1000 years; Noah to Abraham, several hundred years; Abraham to Moses, several hundred years; etc.

Answer 8

Faith (and pretty much the same amount of it) has always been required, old testament and new.

Answer 9

The bible itself records the rebellion against God by many even amidst many miracles and blatant signs from God. We are no different. We are all rebelous against God by nature. He knows that. He created us. That is why He gave us His son, Jesus. He laid His wrath upon him. The wrath that we deserve was placed on the one who did not deserve it.

Answer 10

I telling' you they lived under the law, one sin back then thay died, now today we are saved by the Grace of Jesus Christ Faith is believing in Jesus, that he died for oue sins

Answer 11

Who told you that we rely totally upon faith? We see God everyday, feel His touch in all we do.