Prior Book | Prior Chapter | Prior Verse | Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | John 3:16 ¶ "For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. |
Bible Question:
I am becoming increasingly baffled by God as He is portrayed in the O.T. Why did he condone slavery, polygamy, and war? If He is the God of love, why did He so ruthlessly destroy so many nations? Why did He want His holy temple to be a slaughterhouse? The number of animals sacrificed daily must have been mind-boggling. I love Jesus with deep gratitude and adoration, but I fear this God of the O.T. The more I study the O.T., the more wary I feel about God, and I know it shouldn't be that way. What am I doing wrong? Skip |
Bible Answer: The Old Testament was given to us so that we can understand God. So you are baffled by what you see? It shows, I think, that God is very great. Who can know the mind of God? And who can second guess him or instruct him, or correct him? Let's say you think God is too ruthless, or too anything, what can you do about it? God is soverign and will do as he pleases. We cannot ask him, "What are you doing?" and we cannot stop him. That said, we must understand that God is revealing that he is just. He does only what is right, and he is right to punish sin. Think of what he did to his own son when he stood in your place and took upon himself your sin. That is in the New Testament. What if he would allow his temple to be a slaughterhouse to impress on us the enormity of our sin. And consider that the cause was our determination to continue sinning. He asked, begged, pleaded, that we should stop, but we would not. Meanwhile, all his commandments were good. Why would we not listen and obey? That is baffling. That is mind-boggling. But continue reading. Look at the ends of the stories. Understand that, whereas the thought and imaginations of man's heart is only evil continually, God's thoughts for us are for our good. Understand from Jeremiah that God exercises not only judgment, but also righteousness and lovingkindness in the earth. Understand from Moses that the LORD is merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." Please do not ask that the Lord be less than just. Concerning slavery, and polygamy, and war, please think about them some more. Try to understand what God allows and why. Why, he even allows us to defy him and to ignore him for a while. Meanwhile, he keeps calling us to himself. The Lord has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that they turn to him and be saved. But you seem to be puzzled by both his justice and his patience. When you think of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, the effect it has on us, how it offends God, you may agree that God must be just and that he must punish sin. When you think of his patience and how many warnings he gives before he brings judgment, you may not understand it, but you can be grateful for it. When you think how freely he forgives, I hope you freely accept it. Above all, understand that the God we serve is not our invention. He is the real God and he reveals himself in his word. The God of the Old Testament is the same God in the New, it's just that by the time you get to the New he has revealed more. Since we did not know him that well before or otherwise, let us be grateful for what he shows us. Let us be impressed, but let us not be disappointed. Our God is great, and he is good. We need to bow down and worship him. |