In the Old Testament, we saw a fierce and gruesome dealing from God towards what men felt were petty mishaps. We first saw a fervent display of God’s righteous standard with the death of Aaron’s sons. Fire came down from Heaven to destroy them for putting strange fire on God’s altar. Also, Aaron was forewarned not to complain or mourn their deaths personally. Even good intentions did not do. Speaking of good intentions, Uzzah thought he was being of help to the Ark that was slipping off the cart. He died on the spot, and even David was confused and furious.

It’s not just the Israelites: Men of Beth-shemesh in Philistia died mercilessly later for simply looking the Ark of the Covenant. Korah challenged Moses and it suddenly became a matter of life and death. God caused the earth to open and swallow up not only Korah, but his supporters and their households. 14,700 people died. Imagine dying because your uncle thought he was right. That reminds you of Achan, right? His wife and children were burnt to purge God’s camp of his abomination.

God’s Judgement in the Old Testament

Korah was not the only one to challenge authority; Miriam had her fair share of leprosy for boasting about being God’s spokesperson too. The sons of Aaron aren’t the ones to taste God’s consuming fire. In Taberah, when they complained against God for saving them from Egypt in Numbers 11, it wasn’t taken lightly. Fire also came down from Heaven to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, a city never rebuilt until now. In Numbers 21, God sent fiery serpents to the camp of Israel as judgement for their stiff-necked attitude. Not forgetting the plague at Peor in Numbers 25.

Stubborn leaders like Eli and Saul and their sons died gruesomely after God rejected their house and rule. What about Er and Onan, sons of Judah whom God struck. Er died suddenly for being wicked, and Onan died because he spilled his semen with the intention of not bearing children for his brother’s lineage. Lot’s wife turned into a pillar of salt. The entire earth populace was wiped clean with a flood, leaving only 8 humans.

More Examples

A man simply gathered sticks on the Sabbath in Numbers 15:32. Another man in Leviticus 24:10 cursed the Name of God in a fight. Moses sought the Will of God in both occasions and it all ended the same; they were stoned outside the camp. David took a census against God’s Will and innocent people going about their day were killed, leaving a whooping 70,000 dead at the end of the day. Gehazi made an error and his entire lineage had to pay for it. Job was called blameless and upright and God-fearing in the very verse of the book. Yet, he lost all he had, including his 10 children, in one moment. What about God instructing the Israelites to kill an entire ethnicity, including innocent women and children?

Time will not permit me to talk about God using more evil nations to punish His own people, of King Uzziah, of King Ahaziah’s messengers, of Judges 19-21, of Jonah and Nineveh, of Habakkuk’s interrogation with God, of Job’s intellectual discourse as well, and the prophetic intercessions of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Samuel and the prophets to slow down the swinging pendulum of justice against sin and evil in their days. Leaving this at face value, you may have a problem with God’s judgement, or at least, a question. Especially when you compare it to the New Testament outlook.

1st Deviation: God of Love

There are two deviations I see as we humanly try to reconcile God’s Love and God’s Wrath; one school of thought will completely denounce all these numerous examples of God’s judgement as misconceptions and paint a God full of Love. Since Jesus is the fulness of the revelation of God and did not kill during His 33-year tenure on earth, therefore God does not kill. Meanwhile, my non-exhaustive list of God’s judgement can be grouped under 4 main ways;

A. God directly executed the punishment, like in the case of Aaron’s sons.

B. God explicitly prescribed the punishment, like the ones Moses inquired and also instructed in the Law.

C. God commanded His people to execute judgment, like in the case of Achan and the surrounding nations of Canaan.

D. God allowed another agent to execute judgment, like he using Nebuchadnezzar and Assyria to punish Israel.

However, no matter how merciful God is, God never shows unjust mercy. Also, Jesus’ first coming was about Grace and Truth. His 2nd coming is about Righteousness and Justice. God’s fiercest relevation of God is seen, not in the Old Testament, but the New. The 7 seals, 7 bowls and 7 trumpets, executed as the Wrath of the Lamb (this same Jesus), did not come from hell but Heaven.

2nd Deviation: God of Wrath

The second deviation is to paint God as an angry, wrathful, non-forgiving Being who just wants to vanquish people. This is completely wrong. Some even make a mistake of dichotomizing the God in the Old Testament from the New. We make God the Father look like the Wrathful One, and make Jesus look like the Lovely One. We even try to justify it by comparing the intolerance of God the Father to the loving nature of Jesus in the New. After all, in the Old in comparison with the New Testament, the closest thing to sudden divine judgements is Ananias and Sapphira, and perhaps Herod in Acts 12. Meanwhile, when the New Testament talks about Love, it is mostly attributed to person of God the Father (1 John 3:1, John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 13:14). God is One.

That is the importance of this series. God remains unchanging in His Nature. We shall explore Grace in the Old Testament, and see Judgement in the New, lest we abuse the Grace of God and think God will still treat us better than the Israelites of Old because we live in the New Covenant. Will He?

To be continued…