Automatic Transcript Generated:
Speaker 1
So do the stark differences between the underlying attitudes and motives of the Old Testament version of God and the New Testament version of God strike you? And if so, what do you do to reconcile this for yourself? So let’s talk about this a little bit. Like what? What are the underlying attitudes and motives of the God of the Old Testament, as some people would coin it, versus the God of the New Testament?
Speaker 2
You want to do that one first?
Speaker 3
What are the differences?
Speaker 1
What are the underlying attitudes and motives between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament? Is it the same? Is it different? Why does the Old Testament God look appear to be not love? And the New Testament God is love.
Speaker 2
If I could say averse to me, that’s what comes to mind when I think about and I’ve had people say this like, oh, you can’t even bring up the Old Testament because that’s a different God. It wasn’t until Jesus came. Then we see who God really is. But Jesus says in John 539, he says, Search the Scriptures. There was no New Testament at this point. Jesus tells his people, Search the Scriptures, the Old Testament, for in them you think you have eternal life. And they are they which testify of me. So all the Old Testament is a reflection of the character of God as seen through Jesus Christ. But we just see it more in stories and we see it in a different culture than maybe we have today. The culture in the Old Testament of these people was different. It was more primitive in some ways. People were farmers. It was just a different world. But at the same time, there’s still underlying principles of God’s mercy and love that you see, I mean, you see it from Genesis that God didn’t destroy Adam and Eve as soon as they sinned, even though they blatantly rebelled.
Speaker 2
God said, I’m going to bring my son through your seed. I will give my son for your Salvation. I mean, what greater gift could God have given than his own child? I couldn’t do it. I said, Lord, I don’t know how you did it because I couldn’t. I would never do it. I don’t know how you did. But God is so loving and so merciful. And despite that, there are some wars and things that happen in the Old Testament. We see in those stories more than the New Testament. But that doesn’t mean that God is any less loving at all. And there’s so many prophecies of the point to Jesus. And just the one that I’ll say and then I’m sorry, Dale, let you just really quick is Zephaniah 314 that says, Sing, O daughter of Zion, O Israel, be glad and rejoice with the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem, because God was saying, you’re going to have Salvation. And it says, he shall speak peace unto the heathen. God didn’t just want to save his people and destroy everybody else. That’s really never his plan. He wants to save everybody and he’s trying to use his people to get the job done.
Speaker 2
Just his people are not always doing a great job at it. It’s kind of what I found, but I don’t see any difference in the God of the Old Testament, the God of the New Testament, still the same God of love, trying to speak to people in a way that they understand in their culture and their point in history is basically what I see.
Speaker 3
That is so well said. I’ll just add maybe one point. Let’s look at Jonah. Jonah four, Jonah, chapter four, verse two. So we know the story. Jonah, right. God sends Jonah to give a warning. Does that sound familiar to the city of Nineveh before God was going to destroy it? Because they became utterly wicked and they actually repented. They listened to the very pitiful warning from Jonah. I mean, he just goes through he says, you guys are going to be destroyed in 40 days. That’s all he says, just go through the whole town. But they’re shaking. They know Jonah is a profit. They take his word seriously. They repent, they reform, and they’re not destroyed. And was Jonah happy and excited about this? No. Verse four, verse one. But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry. I wanted these people destroy God. And I said, they’re going to be destroyed. They weren’t going to look like a false Prophet. I mean, who knows what’s going on his head, right? And in verse two, it says, and he prayed to the Lord. It said, oh, Lord, was not this my same when I was yet in my country.
Speaker 3
Therefore I fled before Tashis, for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful and slow to anger and great of kindness and repentance thou of the evil.
Speaker 1
So he’s saying, Because I know God is good, I’m going to run away from my responsibility from what I’ve been asked to do, because I don’t want to do it, and God will have mercy on me.
Speaker 3
Yeah. I don’t want to go preach to these Vites because I know you’re going to turn them around and not destroy them. I want them gone.
Speaker 1
I’m going to look like a fool because I went and preached this and then you spared them, and now I look like a fool, so I don’t want to do that.
Speaker 3
Yeah, but I know you’re a good guy, God. I know you’re too merciful. I want these people to burn.
Speaker 2
Yeah. And I think too, just like I’m better than these people. Why wouldn’t you just get rid of that? I don’t want them saved. It’s like a class thing. Like he’s too good. And I think that’s such a huge thing when it comes to God. He is no respect of persons. And the Bible says that multiple times in his word. God is no respect of persons. He wants everybody saved. And like you think of missionaries that go to these countries where nobody’s reached them, that’s God’s will. God wants to reach these people despite whatever past they come from, whatever their sins, whatever people that you think, oh, they’re dirty or they’re people in prison, God loves them. And God is trying to change our heart in reaching these people to see the value of the human soul.
Speaker 1
Sorry.
Speaker 2
God loved us and how much he believes in us, that we would preach his message of love to a dying world.
Speaker 1
Back up a moment. You used a term that it’s a fairly new term to me and I think probably a lot of people, I have not heard it before. You said God is no respect or of persons, but respect is a part of love. So what does that mean? I hate to say it, but I hear it used a lot as a way to kind of say, well, God was no respect for a person, so I don’t have to respect you kind of thing. I hear it used like that a fair bit. So tell me a little more, what does it mean that God is no respect for persons?
Speaker 2
That’s a good question, because obviously this is the respect of persons, meaning that God doesn’t value one person more than another. Not that God doesn’t respect us, of course. God respects us. He respects us enough to let us do as we will. He doesn’t force us to convert. He gives us the option and he respects our choice, whatever it be, whether to turn to him or turn away from him, but rather to the respector of persons. It just means that God doesn’t favor one person over another. It’s not that in that sense, it’s not like, oh, this person’s my favorite and I don’t really like him as much, so he’s not as valuable. Whereas I think we see that in this world, it’s like, well, I only want to hang out with the cool people and you’re not cool, so you don’t matter to me. God’s like, no, I love everybody. I don’t care if you’re cool or not. I don’t care what your background is, what your color is, what your anything is. God’s like, I love you. I love everybody the same. I want everybody in my Kingdom. There’s nobody that I’m like.
Speaker 2
Maybe I want them to say, maybe not. No. God values every person.
Speaker 1
Every soul, even the person that is steeped in sin of every way. You’re telling me God even loves that person?
Speaker 2
Oh, yeah.
Speaker 1
So the person who I don’t want to name specifics here because they get really controversial. But you think about the things that are most controversial today around topics in the Bible and in our cultural moral values and such, all of those things, every place where people differ from maybe God’s ideal plan or God’s ideal ways for them. Every person who’s struggling with sin of every kind, whether it be, I think a big one that comes up a lot, of course, is sexual sin in every form of the matter.
Speaker 2
Sure.
Speaker 1
People who have murdered somebody, people who have committed murder in their heart, even if it wasn’t real. God loves every single one of these people, the same as the pastor preaching the good news and has some little shortcomings here and there. But they’re doing the Lord’s work, so they get a pass, right?
Speaker 2
No.
Speaker 1
Sorry.
Speaker 2
When you don’t mean to interrupt you again, looking back, when the Bible says respect or of persons, it’s not like God doesn’t give respect, like value the word. We have to look at the language. And I love blue letter Bible going to say it again, and you go back to the original meaning of the word.
Speaker 4
It means one who discriminates. So God is not one who discriminates. God is not a discriminating God.
Speaker 2
He has no prejudice. He’s not going to discriminate against one person or another. That’s the meaning of the word.
Speaker 3
Perfect fairness.
Speaker 2
Exactly. But when you think about people in the Bible, and I think that’s why it’s so important that we read the Old Testament, because you look at the story of rehab, she was a prostitute and she was a heathen, and yet God spared her life. And Jesus came through her line. What? But God saw value in her. I mean, she was a godless hooker. And God said, My son, Jesus is going to come through her line. Like, I think God doesn’t care who you are as long as your heart is right with him. And God sees potential in your heart to love as he loves. It doesn’t matter your background or your past.
Speaker 1
That’s beautiful. I hope that that will be a comfort to a lot of people who are able to tune in and hear this.
Speaker 2
I hope so. And I mean, just like you’re saying, David was a murderer, impregnated his best friend, a good friend’s wife, and then killed him. Yet God was like, I love you, David. You messed up big time. You’re going to have to suffer for it. You’re going to pay some consequences. But I don’t want you to be destroyed. He’s always wanting us to come back to him, just like you treat your own child like, yeah, you know, your kid needs to suffer some consequences. But man, like, you think of the prodigal son who comes back, the father is overjoyed. I mean, that should be always our image of God. It’s the God that runs to us when we return to him. He loves us. He throws his arms around us.
Speaker 1
And he wants the sin destroyed, but not the person.
Speaker 2
Amen. Absolutely.
Speaker 1
All right. Did you have any other comments?
Speaker 3
Nope.
Speaker 1
Okay, let’s get onto our next question here.
Speaker 3
Maybe just say, too. We appreciate all you guys are tuning in watching live. Please keep sharing the comments and drop us questions. We can answer these live. This is right now in real time so we really want to engage with you and love to hear from you.
Speaker 1
Oh there’s some comments here that maybe we should pull a couple of these up.
Speaker 3
So like maybe the comment from Nancy that God even loves Satan.
Speaker 1
Yeah.
Speaker 3
She has many good comments but yeah.
Speaker 1
Let’s go with this one. God even loves Satan and wanted him to change his wicked ways but God knows he won’t and will continue hurting others so God has to permanently end Satan’s life at the end of time to end suffering but he still loves Satan and grieves that he won’t turn from his wickedness.
Speaker 3
Actually that’s a pretty good transition to our next question.
For full episode:
https://youtu.be/lWShVLnOSWM
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