Why is God so different in the old and new testament?
When I started reading the Torah with new eyes, I expected to find a God of vengeance and punishment, yet what I found was a God rich in compassion, mercy, and loving kindness.
We've been duped for centuries by misguided theology.
God's grace in the Hebrew Bible is the same grace that leads to the new covenant.
Throughout the pages of the Bible, I find a God who doesn't give us what we deserve, but tries again and again to extend grace beyond what is expected.
I see a tangible faith of His people, who trusted in his character before they ever had scripture to read daily.
I see a Father who delights in his creation and desperately wants them to live in wholeness and shalom.
A God who hears the cries of his people and is willing to act and bring deliverance for the sake of his great name and the good of his children
A God who over and over makes space for the outsider who doesn't follow His ways, but slowly begins to believe in the King of the Universe.
The Bible (Old & New Testament) is filled with stories of normal people like you and me, that God invites into his purposes.
People who don't get it right all the time.
People who screw up royally after magnificent encounters with God.
And while there are always consequences to their actions, God still calls out their true identity and continues to involve them as they change their ways and follow Him
The Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible, has become the lens through which I read all of scripture now. It makes the stories of the new testament make sense as they're put in their original context. To see this small community of Jewish believers who were so impacted by a radical person named Yeshua, who lived His life listening constantly to the father and doing whatever He said.
If the Old Testament has felt foreign to you, I can't encourage you enough to pick it up for a year. And as you read, ask God to give you eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart to understand what His Spirit might want to do in your life.
If this is something you've already begun, I'd love to hear your story in the comments! 🌿
