Old and new

[Jonni]

Hi, could someone please explain why there is so much death in the old testament, god wanting people killed but if Jesus is god then why was he not like that in the new testament.
Thanks in advance

 

[Dorothy]

Hi, could someone please explain why there is so much death in the old testament, god wanting people killed but if Jesus is god then why was he not like that in the new testament.
Thanks in advance

The Old Testament was a preparation for the Incarnation. That is why God formed a chosen people and revealed Himself to them.

The pagans that lived around them did many abominable things in their pagan religions. They sacrificed their babies in fire to “appease” their gods, and they practiced temple prostitution. They did not have the knowledge of God as being a loving Father. They and their children had to be out of the picture, because the Lord was forming a people that would trust in Him and follow His commands. The Lord did not want them to intermarry and worship their false idols, but many times they did so.

Did they do so perfectly? No…but there was always a remnant who followed Him, and prophets who spoke God’s word to the people.

In the New Testament the Incarnation had taken place for all peoples. God was there in the flesh to speak to His people and give them example of how to live.

 

[Jonni]

Many thanks for your reply

Could god not of shown himself to the pagans to help them know the right path instead of killing them?

 

[Ophelia23]

Disclaimer I know this is not the answer to your question!

But for what its worth, sometimes I think of my two year old. If she is misbehaving and I have asked her and asked her and asked her and ASKED HER to do something, my eventual reaction is to raise my voice and demand it. …But that doesn’t really get very far. It usually ends with escalating the situation, causing her to be more upset, and then I have a long drawn out time-out on my hands, and nobody wants that.

Then there is the second approach. It’s a smile, a sweet voice, and an encouraging tone full of patience and gentleness. …It usually works SO much better. That’s not to say she doesn’t still get a time out from time to time, but it all just works so much smoother.

Sometimes I can’t help but think of the bible in this way. We are God’s children. Maybe he tried the approach of wrath, decided He really needed to take a new approach, sent his Son, and tried getting to us from a new angle.



Just a thought. I know it totally oversimplifies it, but it makes me smile nonetheless.

 

[Dorothy]

Many thanks for your reply

Could god not of shown himself to the pagans to help them know the right path instead of killing them?

Many of those pagans saw what God had done for the Israelites, and still did not want to serve Him.

For example: Elijah on Mount Carmel

                    Moses and the ten plagues

Because I don’t see the bigger picture I cannot judge what God is doing and think He should have done something else. God is perfect mercy and justice - we just have to look at Jesus to know that.

 

[PJM]

=Jonni;9739255]Hi, could someone please explain why there is so much death in the old testament, god wanting people killed but if Jesus is god then why was he not like that in the new testament.
Thanks in advance

Sure

AND PLEASE KEEP IN MIND THAT IT IS THE SAME GOD.

The Old testament in many ways is more often a sort of history book with many hidden messages.

Going from the time of Abram through Moses for example shows a people who at first were just being introduced to the NEW CONCEPT of “one and ONLY One God”. They were mostly uneducated, a rough “around the edges” people greatly influenced by the surounding pagans and their evil practices.

The CODE of “ethics” was “a eye for an eye” mentality and God had to wean them from their current practices and mind set. Not unlike today; “MESISM” was very dominate.

What’s in it for ME? How do I benefit? and the like.

So God used what they would understand: “the carrrot and the club”…

BOTH good and EVIL were acknowledged, punished and if warranted; rewarded.

God SAVED them from slavery in Egypt, provided water from the rock; Manna, and the flesh of birds to eat at night and they where still ready to over-throw Moses and God for a golden calf.

As they progressed in wisdon, understanding and knowledge of God as ONE, God lessed and changed His tactics.

Then Came "the long awaited Messiah; Christ with new teachingss:

John.13: 34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another” NOLONGER an eye for an eye; ut rather TURN THE OTHER CHEEK became the “new law.”

God always MEETS US WHERE WE ARE AT IN THE PRESENT TIME.

Matt.13: 12 “For to him who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”

This Profound verse tells us that God judges all based on what he has made possible for them to know.

Hope this helps you,

God Bless,
pat /PJM

 

[Evan]

One simple answer is

Old Testament: 100’s of years, many generations
so you have famines, wars, strife of all kinds
New Testament: 1-3 years
so you have a political and religious dialog

Which one is more likely to have deaths. There were many times in the OT where there were no deaths, but a lot of people focus on the times when there were.

 

[Jonni]

Many thanks for all you effort in your replies.

I still can’t help thinking that if I was god then I would give them knowledge (a miracle just like when all the disciples could speak all languages) to save them being killed on the order of god.

I am starting the RCIA next week and I have been trying my best to teach myself and read the bible and other religious stuff and I find the more I read the more problems I come across. I used to beleave in Jesus 100% and now I am all messed up and now wish I didn’t start going to church and start studing myself.

Sorry if I offend anyone as that’s not my intention I just wanted someone to put me back on track

All the best to you guys

 

[MrsNoahMoerbeek]

For everything there is a time and a place. Christ never condemned what was done in the Old Testament, and thus we have no reason to believe it was wrong. Christ did in fact show support for this by his parable of the nobleman in the Gospel of Luke, 19.

But as for those my enemies, who would not have me reign over them, bring them hither, and kill them before me.

This “difference” shouldn’t scandalize us. Ecclesiases 3:3 “A time to kill, and a time to heal.”

I didn’t read the comments, so I don’t know if this was pointed out already.

Do you have a copy of the Catechism of the Council of Trent?

 

[TimothyH]

Hi, could someone please explain why there is so much death in the old testament, god wanting people killed but if Jesus is god then why was he not like that in the new testament.
Thanks in advance

Ananias and Saphira were killed by God for witholding property from the Church in Acts 5.

Jesus said that the temple would be torn down and that Jerusalem would be destroyed in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24, 25; Mark 13; Luke 21). This was fulfilled in 70 AD when the temple was burned, the city was utterly destroyed, and hundreds of thousands died.

There is much death in the New Testament. The Book of Revelation says that Jesus is a King who rules with a rod of iron, a warrior on horseback who has a sharp sword. Revelation is full of God commanding death and destruction - destruction of all creation at the end of time!

-Tim-

 

[babs57]

Many thanks for all you effort in your replies.

I still can’t help thinking that if I was god then I would give them knowledge (a miracle just like when all the disciples could speak all languages) to save them being killed on the order of god.

I am starting the RCIA next week and I have been trying my best to teach myself and read the bible and other religious stuff and I find the more I read the more problems I come across. I used to beleave in Jesus 100% and now I am all messed up and now wish I didn’t start going to church and start studing myself.

Sorry if I offend anyone as that’s not my intention I just wanted someone to put me back on track

All the best to you guys

In Gen 3:14,15 God promised us that HE would fix everything. Man is weak, God is strong, and knows what HE is doing. But in order for HIM to do what HE needed to do, HE had to (first) form for HIMSELF a people into and through whom HE could manifest HIMSELF to save them. This required much correction and “finagling” of the circumstances, as we were VERY weak. (by we I mean Isreal) Then, Whenever we seemed to be on the verge of understanding and accepting, we would lose sight of what GOD had done for us.

As any potter knows, clay has to be well kneaded to become malleable enough to create a more stable form. (This is the metaphore of the potter - IS 64:8) God needed Israel to be strong.

Also, after the flood, GOD didn’t do the destroying directly. HE allowed us to war against ourselves. (Except in the case of protecting the HOLY - as The Arc Of The Covenant, etc)

Jesus, as the fulfillment of the promise of Genesis, came into a world that had been well-prepared. The Jews had learned their lesson (It was a long hard lesson, but if you read the book of Maccabees in the bible, you can see how far they had come since the “golden calf” incident.)

Now, everything is a matter of faith. Is Jesus the fulfillment of the promise of Genesis? If, so, what does that mean for us now? How do we respond to such love as God showed to us in Jesus?

It is not GOD who has changed, but us, and for the better.

 

[stevekehl]

Hi, could someone please explain why there is so much death in the old testament, god wanting people killed but if Jesus is god then why was he not like that in the new testament.
Thanks in advance

Do you mean the peaceful NT where Herod murdered the babies of Bethlehem, John was beheaded, the Romans commonly crucified people, the Temple leaders were corrupt, an innocent Jesus was killed, the church was persecuted, everyone from apostles to common believers jailed and murdered in countless numbers all in a span of about 60 years?