I thought it was universally accepted that the OT is a coded document that, when deciphered, will lead to an ancient treasure/WMD that will help Han Solo defeat the Nazis in Vietnam and win the heart of his plucky wookie Ally McBeal.
Which Jews are you talking about... ---> Revelation 2:9 _ I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. The Jewish people you speak of (from the Khazar Empire) are imposters.
Man I just have to say I love that you asked this question because I rarely get to talk with people that come from a fresh and different perspective from me. I'm a pastor and have gone through a graduate program in theology and currently in a doctoral program. All that to say I have a lot of thoughts on the matter but typically discuss theology with people who are somewhere in the same ball park as me and that gets boring. 1) I believe the God of the OT and NT are exactly the same. The nature of His relationship with us and how He approaches us is certainly different. I'll get into more of why that's the case which will provide my answer to your question. 2) Reading through some of the responses here I will say I probably differ than most in that I do take the bible literally and believe it to be infallible and inerrant. That isn't directly related to your question, but I just wanted to be clear about the perspective that I'm coming from and understand many others (Christian and not) don't hold the same view. I could write a paper on this but I'll try to be brief. In my head this basically comes down to what you believe and understand about the covenants that God establishes in OT and NT and what you believe and understand about this life as well know it. Covenants God is constantly establishing covenants with humanity which defines the nature of His relationship with us. Some covenants are unconditional and establishes the security of our relationship with Him regardless of what we do or don't do (Abrahamic, Davidic, and New Covenant are examples of this). Other covenants are conditional and establishes blessings/curses or rewards/punishments based on what we do or don't do (the Mosaic covenant is the clearest example of this and is probably where you see God cursing or punishing people because of their rebellion). Now the reason this distinction is important is because even if God punishes people under the Mosaic covenant for breaking levitical law, He still hold true to his unconditional covenant which ensures salvation and an eternal relationship with Him (Abrahamic covenant for those in the OT and New Covenant for the church). It's also important to note that with the establishment of the New Covenant that Christ established, God effectively eliminated the Mosaic covenant and law which is why it "feels like" God is more gracious and compassionate in the NT. It's because there is no "Law" any longer. Mortal Life as We Know It The other reason why the distinction in the covenants is important is because it lays the ground work for understanding how God "raises" and redeems His people. REEKO made reference to this in his example of disciplining children. My theology asserts that before the New Covenant that Christ establishes at the Lord's Supper, God's people were without His Holy Spirit to guide and convict. Meaning God's people in the OT were like children or teenagers without the spiritual compass to know right from wrong or "clean from unclean" as stated in levitical law. The Law was in place to manage behavior and obedience for a people incapable with the Holy Spirit to know God's heart. This is akin to how I discipline my daughter who is simply too young to know why it's not okay to hit her sister when she's upset or jealous. I try to explain to her why it's not okay, to think outside of herself and to understand how to deal with her hurt and pain more maturely, but she's too young to fully grasp that. So as much as I try to explain, I still have to settle for managing her behavior by telling her when she does things like that she gets disciplined (losing things, groundings, etc). Now you and others have noted that this kind of discipline which all of us as parents can relate to is nothing similar to what seems like the harsh punishment of death for those in the OT (and even in the NT if you read about how God struck down a couple for lying in the early church). Here is why it's important (at least for things to fit theologically for me) to make a distinction in how we view our time and life here on earth. For the lives lost in the OT (like in the book of Job as you mentioned), it's seems harsh in the vacuum of the finality of death and loss of life as we know and understand it. However in the eternal perspective, which we have very limited understanding of, it is simply a moment or a parenthetical if we believe in an eternal soul. From this side of heaven it is certainly a hard pill to swallow. I deal primary in counseling and the hardest part of my job is sitting across someone who has suffered rape, trauma, abandonment, etc because the pain is enough to consume and destroy a person's life. Honestly in those moments I personally wrestle with God to make sense of all the wrong that happens in this world. But again what saves me from utter despair is this portion of my theology. Without invalidating or discounting the weight and significance of death and horrendous things done in the OT and today, from our own limited and human perspective it is like disciplining a kid, when you ground them from a party, take away their car, tell them you won't pay for something they so desperately what, or more seriously ask them to move out when their strung out on drugs and stealing from you.....all this can "seem like" the end of their world as they know it. But for us as parents we know there is more to their live and the only way they'll ever know that is by disciplining them. We do it out of love and because we know far more than they do about life.....but to them if feels like we hate them and are cruel and unfeeling. And I believe the reason why it "seems" like God is more compassionate and gracious in the church age is simply because through His Holy Spirit which indwells the Church, we know His heart more and (ought to) feel a greater sense of moral conviction. This would be the equivalent of us as parents and how we engage a more "mature" adult child. I would expect and hope my adult children no longer need me to discipline them the way I did when they were young, but could make right decisions because they know and understand my heart for them better. Anyway......like I said I could write a paper on just this question alone. For now I'll leave it there and you or anyone else can dissect or debate since I'm opening myself up to the discussion.
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