When we think of the God of the Old Testament, we often think of judgment. Wrath. Violence.
And we are right to think that. The Old Testament is full of it.
The Flood
Genesis six through eight. God looks at the earth and sees only violence and corruption. And He decides to wipe it all out.
"So the Lord said, 'I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created.' With his breath he killed every living thing on the earth."
Genesis 7:23With his breath He killed every living thing. Every person. Every animal. Everything that had breath.
This is not a metaphor. This is not an exaggeration. This is what the text says. God killed everyone.
Sodom and Gomorrah
Genesis nineteen. God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone. The entire cities. The entire population.
"Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. He overthrew those cities and their entire population, along with the vegetation of the land."
Genesis 19:24-25The entire population. Every person. Every family. Gone.
The Egyptians
Exodus. The ten plagues. The final one is the worst.
"At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the cattle as well."
Exodus 12:29All the firstborn in Egypt. Every family. Every household. All of them.
God killed them. Directly. Personally. Because of Pharaoh's hardness of heart.
The Canaanites
And then there are the Canaanites. When Israel enters the promised land, God tells them to destroy the inhabitants.
"When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are taking possession of, he clears away many nations before you. The Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and more powerful than you. When the Lord your God delivers them over to you and you defeat them, you must completely destroy them."
Deuteronomy 7:1-2You must completely destroy them. That is the command. No survivors. No mercy. Total destruction.
The Old Testament presents a God who kills. Regularly. Publicly. Without apology. The flood, Sodom, the Egyptians, the Canaanites. This is not a minor theme. It is a major theme of the Old Testament.
Why This Matters
Why does this matter? Because some people want to separate the God of the Old Testament from the God of the New Testament. They want to say the Old Testament God is harsh and the New Testament God is love.
But that is not what the Bible teaches. Jesus said He came to fulfill the law, not to abolish it. The same God who killed in the Old Testament is the same God who loves in the New.
He is love. But He is also justice. He is grace. But He is also wrath. Both are true. Both are real.
Try This Today
We cannot have one without the other. The God of love is also the God of wrath. The God of grace is also the God of judgment. To know God fully is to know both. Do not shrink from the hard parts. Embrace the whole God.
The Answer
So how do we reconcile this? How do we understand a God who kills?
First, we acknowledge it. We do not explain it away. We do not soften it. We admit the text says what it says.
Second, we trust that God is good even when we do not understand. We trust that He knows what He is doing even when it looks wrong to us.
Third, we rest in the cross. The cross is where God showed His love while also bearing His wrath. The cross is where judgment and mercy met.
That is the answer. Not explanation, but revelation. The cross shows us who God is.
Father, thank You for showing me the whole picture of who You are. Help me to embrace both Your love and Your justice, Your grace and Your wrath. Teach me to trust You even when I do not understand Your ways. Thank You for the cross where mercy and judgment met. Help me to walk in humility before You. In Jesus Name, Amen.
With honesty and hope,
Claire