Whether or not the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament is a common question in the hearts and minds of people that have studied the bible. The Bible gives us a direct answer to that in Hebrews 13:8 – ‘Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today, and forever. This means God has always been the same. He has never changed. Malachi 3:6a – ‘For I am the LORD, I CHANGE NOT’.
Whenever it appears as though there is a disconnect between the God of the Old Testament and that of the New Testament, it means we are not seeing Him as we ought to. To assume that He has changed is to assume wrong as we know that He can never change.
Let’s take some examples in the Old Testament: Many have asked ‘Why did God kill the Egyptians? Why did He destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? Why did He inflict Job with sicknesses and hardship?’. The simple answer to these questions is that God never did any of the above!
If you study the Bible carefully, you will find out that the Egyptians were destroyed simply because of unbelief. They did not believe in God’s promise of the life that was communicated to them by Moses. Therefore, the destroyer which is the devil destroyed them. Not God. God does not destroy! Luke 9:56 – ‘For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them’.
The same goes for Sodom and Gomorrah. The destruction of the cities depicts to us the destruction that awaits those who despise and do not believe the gospel of Christ. Job was also inflicted with sicknesses by the devil. It wasn’t God punishing him or trying to teach him a lesson. God doesn’t teach us lessons with sicknesses or diseases. He gives only good gifts. James 1:17 says ‘Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning’. Notice the word EVERY GOOD and PERFECT. Do not be led astray, James says. God does not give both good and bad gifts, He gives ONLY good gifts. We must remember that God is good and consistent. He has not changed. He is the same God in the Old and New Testaments.
This seeming contradiction between God of the Old Testament and God of the New Testament is largely due to our inability to see God as Christ. To understand God, read the story of Jesus. He is the full explanation of God. Whatever you do not see Jesus do is not in the character of God. The God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament now fully revealed in His Son – Jesus Christ. ‘No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him’ – John 1:18.
The Son is the Father revealed. When you SEE Jesus, you KNOW God.
So when next you read the books of the Old Testament, read with this understanding and see how good and gracious God has been, is and will be.
Till next time,
Remember that God is good and He can never change.