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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: Brother, Keep reading and use some good evangelical commentaries. God's nature and attributes never change. The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New as well. Using your present reasoning, one might ask, "What kind of a God sacrifices His own sinless Son?" God never condoned polygomy. He never "ruthlessly" destroyed nations. Scripture reveals that He allowed His own beloved people to be in slavery in Egypt to give space to the heathwen nations in the Promised land to repent. They had had the witness of Abraham et al previously. The testimony of Rahab was that the fear of Israel fell on those people in the land when Israel came out of Egypt. She repented and was saved, which indicates that God would save anyone that would follow her example. God never destroyed sinful nations until they had been warned. Check out Jonah, the reluctant Jewish prophet to a Gentile city. The sacrifice of perfect animals showed the necessity for payment of sin, and preached of the great sacrifice of Christ that was to come. As to slavery, it was far different than what we know of in America. A good Bible Dictionary will show you true picture of this. GB, Scrip |