If God is eternal and immutable, why the differences in personalities and teachings from the OT to the NT?

Rather than contrasting God’s Old Testament revelation of himself with that in the New Testament (i.e., pitting one against the other), it is better to view the entire biblical revelation as a gradual unfolding of the mystery of God and his divine plan.¹ The Bible does not present an idealized, glamorized, or romanticized version of history or of God’s dealings with mankind, which helps us understand and appreciate the extreme “bad news” of sin and why the gospel message of Jesus Christ is such “good news.” 

 

Taken as a whole, the Bible’s story is of a loving and compassionate God seeking to redeem a lost and broken world, while maintaining his justice and holiness. The intention all along has been to bless all people of all nations of all time.² But free moral agency rejecting the righteous ways of God, resulting in sin, corruption, and evil, persistently gets in the way.  Through the centuries the Lord has patiently endured, made the tough calls, has been rejected and ridiculed, but his mercy endures forever.³ Even so, the God of the Bible is also an infinitely holy God of indisputable justice.⁴

From our minuscule place in the universe, when God himself is judged as a petty human being, the biblical message is twisted and misunderstood (cf. Hos. 11:9). To portray him as a cruel, vindictive, malicious tyrant, most of the biblical record has to be ignored, his justice and holiness misconstrued, and divine attributes like love, grace, and mercy overlooked.⁵ God’s revelation of himself cannot be fully understood from the Old Testament alone, nor from the New Testament alone. There is a reason the Bible is comprised of both.

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ Ex. 6:2-8; Jer. 31:31-34; John 14:6-7; Rom. 16:25-27; Gal. 4:4-5; Eph. 3:1-7; Col. 1:26-27; 1 Pet. 1:10-12.

     ² Gen. 12:3; 18:17-19; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14; 1 Kings 8:38-43; 1 Chron. 16:7-36; Isa. 9:2; 42:1-6; 49:6; Jer. 16:19-21; Jonah 1:1-2; Hab. 2:14; Zech. 8:20-23; Acts 3:25; et al.

     ³ 1 Chron. 16:34, 41; 2 Chron. 5:13; 7:3, 6; 20:21; Ezra 3:11; Psa. 106:1; 107:1; 118:1-4, 29: 136:1-26; 138:8; Jer. 33:11. 

     ⁴ Gen. 18:25; Deut. 32:4; Isa. 30:18; Rom. 2:4-9; cf. Ezek. 33:11.

     ⁵ Ex. 15:13; 20:6; 33:19; 34:6-7; Num. 14:18-19; Deut. 5:10; 7:7-9; 13:17; 30:3; 2 Sam. 24:14; 1 Chron. 16:34, 41; 21:13; 2 Chron. 7:3, 6; 20:21; Ezra 3:11; Neh. 1:5; 9:17; Psa. 13:5; 17:7; 23:6; 25:6; 36:7; 40:10-11; 51:1; 63:3; 69:16; 103:4; 119:77, 156; 145:9; Isa. 30:18; 54:8, 10; 63:7, 9; Jer. 9:24; 16:5; 33:11; Lam. 3:22, 32; Dan. 9:4, 9, 18; Hos. 2:19-23; 6:6; Joel 2:13; Jon. 4:2; Mic. 7:18-20; Nah. 1:3; et al.

 

Related Posts: The Violent Genocidal God of the OT?

 

Image credit: adapted from https://www.wordslingersok.com/2014/01/a-game-of-tug-of-war/