Some people are put off by the Old Testament because they see a vengeful God portrayed in its pages which does not square with their vision of the kinder, gentler Jesus Christ of the New Testament. The Bible is clear throughout that God is unchanging and that He is one God, not two. The God of the exodus who appeared to Israel by day as a column of smoke and by night as a pillar of fire is the same God who appears in the New Testament as the incarnation of Jesus Christ as the suffering Messiah.
Malachi 3:6 – For I the Lord do not change.
Numbers 23:19 – God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
I don’t see a stern and vengeful God at all when I read the Old Testament. I see a loving, kind, gentle and soft-hearted God. I see a God who is repeatedly scorned and rejected by His people yet He remains faithful and patient. God’s forbearance can be seen by His giving Israel numerous chances to obey his statutes. God could have ended history when Adam fell in the Garden of Eden but instead He came up with a plan to redeem fallen mankind. The Old Testament presents God’s love, mercy, grace, and patience on an epic scale. In the Bible God says He loves us but God’s actions in the Old Testament shows He loves us.
James 1:17 – Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
2 Peter 3:9 – The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
With the possible exception of the book of Ester, every book of the Old Testament makes reference to the coming of Jesus Christ to redeem mankind. There are over 60 prophecies in the Old Testament about the Christ, the Messiah, and the man Jesus fulfilled them all as documented in history. Our God is the true God because, as the Author of history, He knows the end from the beginning and He proves it through prophecy. The Bible is one third prophecy (28%) and most of that is in the Old Testament. There are over 1,000 prophecies in the Bible, over 500 of which have been fulfilled as written. No prophecy has failed to be fulfilled at its appointed time. God gives us prophecy not only to prove that He is God but also to let us know what’s coming so we’ll be prepared.
Witnessing for Christ