How do christians respond to the fact that in the Old Testament all God does is take vengeance on people? ?

Question

He punishes people, strikes them down, causes mass murder by flooding the whole world. and when how can he judge a man he has created in his own image? If man has evil in his heart, it is because God put it there. how then can you trust the rest of the bible? it is after all, written by men.

Answer 1

They write it off saying that they are not held to the laws of Leviticus any longer as per god. ::rolls eyes:: That OT God has been transplanted by thenew and improved NT god.

Answer 2

actually if you read the bible you Will find all the answer also god didn't made men bad they choose to be he made you but he gives you free will. and plz don't blame god for what some ignorant christian did, are doing or will do.

Answer 3

Yeah well. God is just a wicked old b*****d! Stay well out of his way unless you're looking for grief!

Answer 4

That's not all He did. He created the earth, man and all the creatures on the earth, then since the fall of Adam its all been about the restoration of mankind back to the place God intended man to be......

Answer 5

All you do is show your ignorance when you parrot other people instead of doing real and objective research on your own.

Answer 6

Have you ever stopped to consider that this might just be the way people back then rationalized the workings of Nature? A flood is a natural occurrence. If a bad person suddenly got sick and died, it could be seen as god's workings. The flood could have been seen as god's punishment for wicked people. And when you throw in the exaggerations and poetic license, you will see that most of the horrible stuff is man-made fiction. God is a loving being, always has been, always will be.  

Answer 7

They skip that part and move on to the New Testament. According to some Christians that I know, the Old Testament is no longer relevant to ours lives today.

The Bible was written by men that supposedly had solid, concrete faith in God. And that if you have faith, then you will know that the Bible is the Truth.

Answer 8

"God is all loving... free will... blah blah blah..."

Edit: I don't mean to come across as rude, and I'm not trying to offend anyone. I just have to agree. The God of the Bible is... well... mean! To put it nicely. Once you really think about it, how DO you justify such things?

Answer 9

It is not true to say that "if man has evil in his heart then God put it there."  God made man with free will, otherwise we would just be like robots.  He gave us the oportunity to chose right or wrong and our forefathers made the wrong choice.

The bible was written down by men, but it was directly inspired by God.  

Answer 10

Basically, the during Old Testament times God was mainly focused on keeping Israel "in line" until the coming of Jesus Christ.  When they strayed and sinned and worshiped idols, they were punished with famine, death, and even banishment from their land.

Answer 11

You know, it's a strange thing.

I'm always hearing people complaining that God lets people get away with all sorts of horrid things.

Why, they will ask, did God "allow" so-and-so to murder all those people?

And these are the same people that complain that God was too harsh back in the O.T.

Evidently, even God can't please all of the people all of the time, eh??

Answer 12

It's not all he does... He loves his people, but he is holy and has to punish sin.

He created man in his image and gave him free will, but man used his free will to bring sin into his life.

The bible is written by men, but God directed those men to write what he told them to write.

Interestingly, he also takes vengeance in the New Testament. It isn't something he did once and then gave up.  

Answer 13

God gave us free will and a conscience.

Cant answer the second part-I am a biblical "literalist" skeptic. Words are just words- it is the interpretation of the individual that matters-Too many hands with different agendas have touched the good book. I think the answer is out there- I just think we cant put the pieces together from the perspective of a "speck" on earth..

THe mean part was to scare people into compliance ( and in some cases probably keep them safe::)

Answer 14

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 h**l. 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.

-Till He Returns

God Bless

Answer 15

God was mad because the Dinosaurs killed jesus.

And by the way ever noticed there are no Dinosaurs in the ******* bible just a thought.

Answer 16

oh its okay it was in his "plans" right christians?

Answer 17

Under the law, sin is dealt with severely.  

Now that you know how serious, believe the truth about Jesus by grace through faith, and avoid being sent to eternal torment in h**l.

The only way to get into heaven and avoid eternal h**l, is by a free gift, by believing that Jesus, who is God, died for our sins on the cross and rose from the dead.

Answer 18

You need to stop reading books written by people lying about what the Bible says and read it yourself.  God is both a God of wrath and a God of love.  He is both things in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.  He did strike down the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, but He spared Lot and his family.  He did drown the Egyptians and kill their firstborn, but He did spare those who were obedient to Him.

It is the same today.  That is why Christians try to tell people of the peril in which they are putting themselves.  God has a way for you to escape the wrath, but you can choose that wrath just like people in both Old and New Testament times have.  You are right about one thing though.  That free will thing can kill you.

Answer 19

Pascal on the Bible - Two errors in reading:

1. To take everything literally.

2. To take everything spiritually.

These events go back 4,000 years. Times were different.

The basic idea behind the OT is that when the people strayed from God, they got whipped. When they listened to the word, things went a little better.

Hope that helps.

God love you!

Answer 20

How do you respond to your biological father punishing you when you've done wrong. Do you hate him too. After all where do you think he learned right from wrong, from Charles Darwin? I don't think so. He learned it from the same God you hate.

Answer 21

From reading your take on the Old Testament I'm guessing that you have never read it.

Right?

Answer 22

Hello,

Great question! First of all, I completely understand your arguments & questions. I also apologize for anyone that may criticize or offend you for your questions or beliefs. I will tell you right away that I do believe in God, however, I have often wondered many questions just like yours in the past. I believe questions like these are great because they can lead to a better understanding. If we didn't question things in science, we wouldn't understand the world we live in. I think this also holds true in respect to religious texts. I would like to offer my perspective on the matter. I mean no offence to you or anyone else that may have a different view or belief.

You are right about many catastrophies happening within the old testament. Floods, murders, etc. do all occur. However, I don't think that God has changed in any way in reference to the new testament. God still punishes people, however, it is reserved now until the time of judgement which is referenced in the revelation chapters. Whereas in the old testament, life was radically different. Groups or tribes of people would burn their own children for a sacrifice, and many more horrific things.

God did indeed interfere in human history during these times. I think He still may, but to what extent I am not sure. But at the same time, God did offer repentence & a "second chance" many times in the old testament to people, and when they obeyed, He did not bring these things on them. For example, we have the story of Jonah, where he actually led the people to change their ways & God didn't destroy them.

In many cases, God repeats that if the Jewish nation follows His commands, that He will protect them (and He does for a long time). However, they eventually were briefly taken over by other kingdoms during the books of Kings/Chronicles because they had disobeyed Him and broken their covenant.

So, I do completely understand your view point about God seeming to be more agressive in the OT, but I think that you can also equally see His grace and love and kindness, and that many things in the OT that God did were completely warranted. Also, you can see this same side reflected in the NT in the book of revelation.

Now, about the free will thing. Here is my perspective on that. I think we do all have free will. I mean let's be honest for a second: I can personally choose to be a faithful husband to my wife, or I can choose to cheat. That is my choice right?

I know that God did make us in His image, however, that was before disobedience. Man didn't know evil until after disobedience of his free will.

About the argument of God creating evil along with free will. I don't believe God did create evil by itself. I believe that in God's design, evil could be interpreted and done, or good can be interpreted and done--depending on your own choosing.

For example, did the person that created the alphabet create bad words. No they did not. But an individual can choose to take what was there, and either manipulate it in a positive or good way (and spell things such as love, trust, etc.), or they can take that and may it in an evil purpose (such as curse words, hate, etc.).

Another example would be computer software. Did the author of a computer program also create viruses along with it? No, but the way the software is designed, people can manipulate things & create viruses that damage computers if they have a negative or harmful intent.

So in my perspective, God never created evil, however, in His design evil can be exercised or good can be exercised based on free will.

You mentioned the example about throwing chicken & your dog eats it on instict & then you punish it. Well the truth is that most so called "sins" aren't against human instinct, but rather a misuse of that instinct.

s*x is a very natural instict, but there isn't anything wrong with s*x in the context of a loving marriage. But misuse of that makes it a sin.

Desiring to earn a good living isn't a sin. However, building up excess money while there are people right now experiencing extreme hunger/disease, and a choosing to do nothing (or not to pay taxes to help these situations) is somewhat greedy & does become a sin.

Also, God does even in the OT give a way for people to be forgiven in the form of sacrifice. This has never changed, except the way the sacrifice is done. Now, christians consider Christ their sacrifice. And even though Adam disobeyed, most consider that Adam will probably live eternally anyway (due to the fact that He probably sacrificed & followed God's way after the fall).

Again, great question. I think questions are great regarldess of your own personal belief because they can offer different perspecives on topics & give a deeper or more thorough understanding of the different ideas & concepts people believe. Have a great day!

Answer 23

That's not true.  In the old testament you can read about people

who were blessed by God.  Live a life that obeys the word of

God and you will be blessed.  Live a life that disobeys the word

of God and you will be cursed because God hates sin.  When

God took vengeance against anyone in the bible it was because of their evil deeds that grieved the heart of God.