If God is omnicsient, why does It change throughout the course of the Bible?

Question

The old God is quite mean, killing off everyone in a flood, putting plagues upon entire civilisations, acting as a force of tribal warfare in the book of Joshua, torturing poor Job, if he's perfect why did he commit these actions only to renounce them later?

But Jason, in the OT, God is a tribal god used against the Jews in combat against the other tribal gods in the region. The OT god didn't have the Israelites try to convert their neighbors to their religions. Suddenly in the NT he is the God of everyone on the face of the planet and orders Christians to convert everyone, even if it means abandoning the dietary restrictions he had for the Israelites.
How can you say he didn't change?

oops I meant "used BY the Jews" in the above, not AGAINST

Answer 1

God was on the rag during the OT.

Answer 2

The "old God" as you describe Him never existed. Putting those examples back into context, the world was in terrible sin, and their were but one or two righteous people left in the world. God whiped out the evil from the world, giving it another chance to start off. God's heart broke from having to kill so many in the doing of it, that after it dried up, he promised to never flood the earth again. In the case of Egypt, the Israelites had been in slavery for Four Hundred Years! God gave Pharoh plenty of chances to recant and release His people (through the mouth of Moses), but Pharoh refused, so God punished the land and rescued the Israelites. With Job, God was strengthening his trust and belief in Him by testing him, and after it was all over, he had twice what he did before, and though it hurt "poor Job" in the process, he came out much more refined than he had been before.
God never renounced the actions he took. He is perfect and his perfect will will be carried out however he wants, since he is all-powerful. He is a God of Love and Compassion, it breaks his heart to have to punish like that, but like a parent correcting their child, it teaches us lessons that are hard to forget afterwards.
Hope that answered your question.

Answer 3

I think God may have had a problem with alcoholism, or was perhaps Bipolar. It also can be effective mind control. Abusive husbands/parent often use the same technique. Beat up and yell at their wives and/or kids, then forgive them and say how much they love them, but that they beat them for their own good because they did something evil like overcooking the steak, forgetting to get beer on the way home. The victim feels so good about being forgiven that they don’t think about the fact that they didn’t deserve the beating in the first place.

God’s kind of like that on a larger scale. “I told your ancestor not to eat that fruit, so I had to spend a few thousand years torturing and killing their descendants, but I love you, so if you obey me I won’t torture you for eternity.” Golly it feels so good to be forgiven for something you never did wrong. :-)

Also, if you make people feel guilty for relatively harmless things they can't help, like wanting to have sex, then conditionally forgive them, you can manipulate large groups for say political motives.

Christianity was corrupted very early on for the purpose of controlling the population by the roman emperor Constantine. If Jesus was even real, he probably said different things than you actually see in the Bible. Ancient Jewish leaders also used the silly "God's Wrath" stuff to scare people into obeying them. Scared people are easier to control on a mass scale.

Answer 4

Perhaps because the bible was "written" by man. It is a collaboration of different books by different people throughout ages. Then, the churches "decided" which books should be bound to come up with the end product. You just might be missing some info in between that did not make the end product.
Or someone might have interpreted God's actions,meanings,words, ext incorrectly into "men's" written language.
It's amusing how many people find Gods flaws & inconsistancies in the words,language, & pen of man.

Answer 5

Because different parts of the Bible, were written by different people, in various times in history. At a certain point (sorry, I don't know the year), the Babylonians took the Hebrews as slaves, and forced them to re-write whole sections of the Old Testament.

The New Testament, supersedes the Old Testament. That is, the idea of "An eye for an eye...." is superseded by Christ's teachings of love and forgiveness.

God is the same, now and forever, but may manifest Himself differently in man's history. In certain branches of Christianity, is the idea of "Imago viva Dei" ..."in the Image of the LIVING God" ... that mankind is in the image of the Creator, and participates with the Creator. And, the fundamental quality of that God, is love of mankind. Hatred and revenge have no place in Christianity.

Uhhh....and also, please remember....the Bible wasn't written in English....different translations, will yield different interpretations...

Answer 6

God hasn't renounced any of his past actions. The New Testament clearly teaches that the Old Testament reveals God's holiness and wrath and that God is holding back that wrath for a time so that many will be saved. His wrath will be released again in the last days. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament testify to God's love, compassion, and mercy, as well as to his holiness, justice, and wrath. He is perfect in all of his attributes, including his wisdom in how he deals with us throughout time.

You think God is "mean," but God's ways are not our ways.

Answer 7

God never changes, we do. The new testament is so different because all men can now have a relationship with him. The old testament describes the old covenant before the cruxifixition. Also, I dont believe He ever renounced his actions: I'd like to see references. He didnt torture Job, He allowed SATAN to do it, afterwards he fixed what Satan messed up. As for the addition, I say again, He didnt change, our situation with Him changed. Now salvation could be gained by all men compared to just by the Jews.

Answer 8

God is righteous in both God is both righteous and merciful Christ represent God's mercy. First came the law which is God's righteousness then came salvation through Jesus which is God's mercy.Same God different situation those who accept the atonement receive God's mercy. God did not change but man's relationship with God changed. Consider how many times man's relationship has changed. Adam before disobedience Then Adam after. Mankind before the covenant with Abraham then after the covenant . Before and after the law brought down by Moses. From the Law to the grace brought by Christ before and after the Atonement...present day before the second coming and the differnce in man that day will make....God never changes but man's realtionship to God changes.

Answer 9

The God of the New Testament is the same as the God of the Old Testament. The Bible says that He never changes. He is just as merciful in the Old Testament as He is in the New Testament. Read Nehemiah 9 for a summary of how God mercifully forgave Israel, again and again, after they repeatedly sinned and turned their back on Him. The psalms often speak of God’s mercy poured out on sinners.

He is also just as wrath-filled in the New Testament as He is in the Old. He killed a husband and wife in the Book of Acts, simply because they told one lie. Jesus warned that He was to be feared because He has the power to cast the body and soul into hell. The apostle Paul said that he persuaded men to come to the Savior because he knew the "terror of the Lord." Read the dreadful judgments of the New Testament’s Book of Revelation. That will put the "fear of God" in you, which incidentally is "the beginning of wisdom."

Perhaps the most fearful display of His wrath is seen in the cross of Jesus Christ. His fury so came upon the Messiah that it seems God enshrouded the face of Jesus in darkness so that creation couldn’t gaze upon His unspeakable agony. Whether we like it or not, our God is a consuming fire of holiness (Hebrews 12:29). He isn’t going to change, so we had better ...before the Day of Judgment. If we repent, God, in His mercy, will forgive us and grant us eternal life in heaven with Him.

Answer 10

SBF all about sums it up. the people, before the flood, were wicked througout! Job went through a trial for being a good person and died a horrible death? no! he was rewarded with 10 times more. (lesson to be learned, especially by atheists), he plagued the Egyptians for enslaving and not releasing the Jews. I mean, c'mon, why so incredibly stupid? really!

Answer 11

My dear...

God prefers mercy over judgment. He offers mercy before judgment. Every time. Period.

Some just choose not to accept mercy and therefore judgment occurs.

As for Job, there is a difference in God causing and God allowing. God allow Satan to test Job. Matter of a fact...Satan must ask for permission before doing anything. (I love that fact!!!)

God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.