In the OT why did God kill people? And now God is a God of love? I just dont get it.?

Question

I want to understand. If you want to go into more detail which I would like, please email me.

OH AND GOD TOLD OTHERS TO KILL OTHER PEOPLE AND CHILDREN. I DONT GET IT.

Answer 1

1)God knowingly creates people who are unperfect, and can never have a chance of being perfect.
2)God kills all the people for being just that, inherently unperfect.

Logic isn't fundamentalists strong suit :O

Answer 2

God kills people all the time. Earthquakes, floods, starvation and famine - all acts of - guess who?

But in the OT, the Israelites were under the LAW - which as long as they obeyed the law, they were blessed. When they didn't obey the law, they were chastised. Sadly, the OT Israelites didn't obey the law very much - hence lots of chastisement.

Since the Resurrection of Christ, we now live under GRACE. Grace is earned by first recognizing our sinful ways and making big changes in our lives. The biggest change is that you have to accept Jesus Christ as your savior and all that goes with it. THEN the work begins. You have to make changes to your behavior. Things you used to do should become things you don't want to do any more - like putting your possessions ahead of God etc. That sounds easy enough but it's tough to put into practice.

But when you do the things you're supposed to do all of a sudden, life gets better. Richer. More fulfilled. Don't ask me why or how - but it does. That's when GRACE enters your life.

It's a good feeling.

That's why the God of the NT is the God of Love. God doesn't have to be jealous or just or fearful any more. He can now be our Savior. Our friend. Our protector etc. etc. when before he had to be the disciplinarian.

I rather like to think God prefers the NT way to the OT way - but I won't find that out until I go to meet Him.

Answer 3

I know exactly what you mean. As a Christian, the taking of Canaan is my biggest issue. God did command Joshua to take all the lives at Jericho (I think that was the location), sparing no one, man woman or child.

It is a point of major contention in my personal faith path. One that I have not been able to reconcile with my personal Lord and God. And I really wonder if it is the same "God."

I wish I knew, too. This is one of those times where I say, "This one is yours, Lord."

Regards and respects

edit: Yes, it is written in the Bible, Joshua, I believe, were God himself commanded Joshua to take Canaan by force and to spare no man, woman, or child. They slaughtered Jericho. Were the Canaanites given the chance to find the Jewish God? Or could it have been a case of racism of the worst kind? What DID the Canaanites do to deserve this?

Answer 4

In the OT, God gave orders to destroy people because they did not keep their promises of faith, had no regard for God and his laws and acted out as their flesh commanded them, ie., had sex w/various people, robbed, killed, etc.. God continued to find the faithful -- and only found a handful of them, those few were brought up to God to live in a peaceful life. In the OT we learn of a God who kept giving to his people, gave them signs, spoke to them more often, and yet, they just shrugged him off -- so they faced the wrath of God. Then in the NT, Jesus, his son was given to us to enlighten us of God, and that he was a forgiving God, that he loved all and if you just follow in Jesus' footsteps, basically the same as the OT, if you have faith and follow God's laws, you will have a good life -- live a good life and be blessed for all that you give to God and upon Judgement Day you will be welcomed into life ever after. Hope it helps.

Answer 5

God never changes, he hates sin, period. In the old testament the judgment was swift and harsh. We are under a new covenant and we have more grace. We will still be judged some day, but the punishment will mostly be in eternity. God is love, Justice and He made a way for you to be saved from hell if you want.

Answer 6

Because a lot of time passed between the the OT and the NT. The people who wrote the NT adopted a different view of God because they were disenchanted with the God of the OT.

Answer 7

This is one of the great debates... did or did not Jesus reaffirm Deuteronomy and other OT nastiness in the NT. The answer: pretty much...

The first thing to understand is that Yahwe was the Jewish God of War; just one of the Jewish pantheon before they evolved to monotheism. Hence the "no Gods before me" line... It's all downhill from there.

Unas A (above): have you ever actually read the Bible?

Answer 8

It was a combination of two religions. The OT God was vengeful and jealous. The NT God is the God of love. The church was trying to bring pagans into the fold and had to do little things like that to appease the masses.

Answer 9

Put aside that i do not believe in this mythology.

1) God created the universe and everything in it with full knowledge of everything that would happen (omniscience).
2) Therefore, God is responsible for everything that happens. Here's the logic in a thought experiment:

I make a robot knowing it will develop a personality and that said personality will lead it to kill someone. Who is responsible when the killing happens?

3) Therefore, God is responsible for ALL deaths that have ever happened.

Besides, an all-loving, all powerful creator would preclude the possibility of reasoned disbelief in its creatures.

Answer 10

God created us with free will.
Its a blessing and a curse.
Our free will has gotten us into a whole lot of trouble throughout the years.
There are times when it has gotten so out of hand that God needed to wipe the slate clean. See Sodom, etc.... in the Bible.
God is a god of love. He is also a disciplinarian. We need to keep our hearts open to him, our minds free if worldly garbage and our thoughts directed to his will.
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Answer 11

In the old testament, sacrifice was the way to atone for sin. If they didn't sacrifice then they were enmity with God. God could and still can kill whomever, but now we have Jesus who was the ultimate sacrifice for us. Now, God sees us through Jesus. That's why if we don't accept Jesus, how can we be saved? An animal won't do it!!