Question on the Old and New Testament?

Question

How can there be two different versions of God. The OT, God seems to be cruels and evil, but the NT God is seen as good and kind. How can there be such a difference. Can you please explain it to me.

Please don't say that there isn't any god either. Just give an answer please.

Answer 1

The Old and New Testament are two different books written by Jesus's deciples. The Old Testament was written before Jesus's birth and the New was following his birth. God isnt cruel just because he punished people in the Old Testament. He wouldnt have been a good God if he hadnt done it. The OT is mostly about the problems of people on earth and how they are resolved. Because the world wasnt going as He planned, He decided to wipe it out with the flood and start over. People were too much of sinners. Sometimes what we see as bad is really good and what God did was not evil.

Answer 2

G-d in the "OT" is a G-d of justice - the building block on which society stands. the point of the "OT" is to show people that the world is kind only to people who are also kind, and that if you do bad, bad is going to come right back at you. the "NT" changed the rules, and said that good people can go to hell and bad people can go to heaven, and that what mattered is not how you behave but what you believe in. it makes the assumption that good and evil is based on your beliefs rather than your actions. you''ll find very little in the OT of G-d saying, "believe in me, or else" - thats all NT. the motto of the OT G-d is "be good, or else."

"Will you call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord? Is this not rather the fast that I have chosen? To loose the chains of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and to break every yoke? Is it not to share thy bread with the hungry, and that you bring the poor that are cast out to your house? When you see the naked that you cover him; and that you do not hide from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the morning, and your health shall spring forth speedily; the glory of the Lord shall be your rearguard. Then you shall call, and the Lord shall answer; you shall cry and He shall say, here I am. If you take away from your midst the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking iniquity; and if you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light arise in darkness, and your gloom shall be as the noonday." - isaiah 58

Answer 3

If you really study the scripture there is no difference. It is only those who pick out individual verses and spread them around out of context that makes it seem so. First of all the God of the OT is just and kind. Jeremiah 9:24 "...I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD." Second the God of the NT is not as much of a "cream puff" as a lot of Christians would have you believe. Hebrews 9:30 "For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God." This is Jesus that is being talked about here.

Answer 4

You don't seem to think there is a God. Its quite simple in the old testament people were like children and they needed harsh punishment so they could know God. They were only just out of the caves for Gods sake it took harshness to keep them together and on the right path. While in the new testament they had reached a greater civilization they were under the Romans now much of the culture of the Romans had rubbed off on them. They were a gentler people. less savage so kindness could be applied with more understanding. Of course these idiots are going to tell you they are both the same and you are taking things out of context. BB

Answer 5

A closer reading shows a change in God, especially in some of the prophets. Amos' God complains about the over emphasis on worship and the lack of social justice. Hosea's God tries to woo Israel back like an abandoned husband. Isaiah's God (after Chapter 39) promises restoration and tender care to Israel in exile. The end of 2 Kings and the beginning of Ezra depicts Cyrus, the king of Persia as an instrument of God, freeing Judah from exile. The Jews were coming to a new understanding of God long before the New Testament.

Answer 6

The understanding is, the OT God was molding the Israelites into his 'chosen people'; thus having to put them through trials and such. Now, with the coming of the Jesus as the Messiah, the teachings went towards love and those accompanying ideals.

Of course, I cannot prove any of this, but it's just one train of thought among several theories.

Answer 7

This is not the case. The old testament is the promise of the Messiah, the new testament is the fulfillment of that promise. The old testament seems harsh and violent because God was showing that you cant be saved by laws and rituals and genealogies and such, only by faith in the Lord Jesus.

Answer 8

The mistake is believing that , as you say, "God seems to be cruels and evil". That He would SEEM that way is because you haven't understood the meaning of the OT.

God greatly blesses those who are His. They are His children and He protects them from evil people by all means at His disposal and that is a great deal of power.

Do you love your children? Would you stop , by any means, those who want to do great harm to them or even kill them?

Such is the love of God for those who have become His children.

If some of those who are His children rebel against Him, He tries to bring them back by discipline. If they despise Him, they are on their own in an evil world of hurt and pain until they come back(repent) of their rebellion and disobedience to Him.

He is our FATHER. He is also our God and lord.

Answer 9

Great question! The Old and New Testament are both talking about the same God. But the difference is the covenant which God made with us. In the Old testament, God made a covenant with Abraham that he and his decendents would be God's chosen people to do the Lord's work, and the sign of the covenant was circumcission. In the New Testement, God fulfills his promise to Abraham that his people would be his chosen people by sending his Son, Jesus Christ, (seriously Jesus was both God and man) of the line of Abraham to die for our sins. Through the jewish ancestry, Jesus came into the world and lived among us and one day would die for our failures! The sign of the New Testament covenant was the cross, or rather Christ defeating death and rises from the dead to be our very active Lord and Savior!
Althoughout the Old Testament, the jewish people were instructed to sacrifice animals in payment of sins committed. But Christ came as the only true sacrifice to pay for the sins of those who believe in Him.
The God of the Old Testament loved His people very much, so much that He punished them for things they did wrong. Parents, when their child has done something wrong, out of love and concern for the child punish them. With the second covenant (or promise) God paid for all the sins; but asked that we believe in Him and in His love for us! He has always loved us, and always will, and sometimes that love is seen through things happening that we don't understand, but that makes Him all the more believable to believe in: He is all powerful, all forgiving, AND far beyond what we could ever imagine. He is sovereign!

Answer 10

I don't think God is cruel in the Old Testament.

"For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord" Ezekiel 18:32

"Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I" Isaiah 58:9

"For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings" Hosea 6:6