TWO GODS? – Part 1

I want to challenge the narrative that the Old Testament God is different from the God represented in the New Testament. To begin, we need to visit the way that the God depicted in the Old Testament describes himself: After Yahweh tells the Hebrew people that they are not to worship any other gods before him; The second commandment found in the Bible states the following:

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

Exodus 20:4-6

Some people may step back and find this very offensive and claim that these words sound harsh. Consider for a moment that perhaps the Creator of the universe knows something that we do not know and neither did these Hebrew people in ancient times. In context, God is speaking to a people who had not known freedom for several generations and now he is trying to lead them to become the free people that he had always intended for humanity to be. I pose that we are not much different than the people represented here in the pages of the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament).

The World As It Is

Few would debate that our world appears to be increasingly violent in the West. What is happening is a battle of ideologies and the Christian faith is at the center of this battle that rages all around us. That may come as a surprise to you if you are only getting your news from the mainstream media, or perhaps you attend a seeker sensitive church. Many people are focused on soundbites and the national stage. Admittedly, that can be confusing and misleading.

The battle for the human soul has been a full-scale war ever since Yahweh breathed life into the first human couple. It appears that before they had a chance to conceive and begin populating the earth, Satan was right there ready to place the seeds of doubt about the Creator in their minds. He knew that if he could succeed in placing doubt in the minds of these special creatures, he could control them and draw them away from their source of life. What we see happening in our world is the same war, only it is far more violent, insidious, and psychological than most people understand. The psychological warfare element is relentless and has only increased over the past thirty years as technology availability has spread to the average consumer and a better understanding of how our brains work has been discovered through scientific studies. The voices that we allow to influence us will determine our destiny.

The Problem

There are far too many people who believe that the God found in the Old Testament is different from the God represented in the New Testament. This would require that there be two ultimate Beings. This is not a belief founded in a polytheistic Hindu dominated culture, unfortunately it is a proposed idea that stems from some nominal Christians in America. Sadly, there are many “churches” that intentionally downplay the importance of the Old Testament because they believe that the God depicted in those pages is too controversial and violent.

Their view is that the God found in the Old Testament is genocidal, angry and inappropriately jealous and the God represented in the New Testament is peaceful, full of grace, and forgiving. How is it possible that the church has helped propagate these inconsistencies? The consequences of these philosophical musings have had serious repercussions in the Christian community.

The downplay of the Old Testament presents a big problem. The Church’s role is to point people to the Christ and to build disciples not to make certain that no one is offended. Jesus offended most everyone and still does (John 6:35-71). Jesus was clear when he told those following him that they had to be “All In.” He is the bread of life and if people do not understand what that means, how will they be able to make that conscious decision to be “All In?”

No one can make that decision unless they come to acknowledge who Jesus is, and who we are as humanity. More importantly, we cannot understand Jesus until we comprehend who the Creator of the universe is. This requires an acknowledgement of the Old Testament. It is true that there is a lot of violence and anger centered around Yahweh in the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament). Understanding and perception make a big difference when we are able to see things clearly. We are talking about the Creator who is sovereign in all things and exists outside of time as we know it. There is always a reason for his actions and his requirements for mankind.

The Angry God

Those who would like to ignore Yahweh seem to have a problem with God’s demands to annihilate large groups of people. Most Christians do not want to tackle this reality either, but we cannot simply ignore God’s actions. There is a reason for God’s demands of his people to annihilate an entire village and there is a reason why he would claim to be a jealous God (Exod. 20:4-60). The story of God’s intervention with humanity and his chosen people can be found in the Old Testament scriptures. We read how He labored patiently with his people as they complained and showed distrust of him when they were on their way to a land that God had planned for them to take (Exod. 34). Throughout the Hebrew scriptures we read how he has been patient with mankind throughout history. But why would the Creator find it necessary to wipe out entire groups of people if he cared about his image bearers?

Living Outside the Guidelines is Harmful

The Creator knows exactly how he formed humanity and science is forever attempting to catch up to the technical aspects of God’s design. A human’s physical characteristics are obvious to the eye, but what is not so apparent is how the human mind works. How we think as humans will affect every aspect of our lives. The ability to exercise self-awareness and to contemplate our actions for the purpose of communicating with our Creator makes mankind different from all of the created order. Studies show that when a person is living rightly their brain synapses connect in a way that allows for clear thoughts that lead to productivity.

When the human mind rejects the things of God and begins to live into that rejection, the brain synapses are forced to rewire themselves. This rewiring is an unnatural process that forces the thoughts of the individual to begin contemplating a false dichotomy. In other words, the person involved is rejecting truth and accepting a false reality. An extreme example of this is virtual reality technology. Virtual reality can trick the brain into believing that what is not real, is real. This can lead to psychological harm.

When a person engages in activity that is antithetical to God’s design for humanity, they feel guilt and sometimes this brings fear. However, the more that a person engages in this same aberrant activity the bolder they become in rejecting God’s design and eventually the behavior becomes a way of life that the individual feels justified in living out (Rom. 1:18-32). Paul calls this a seared conscience, and James describes this as full blown sin that leads to death (1 Tim. 4:2; James 1:13-15).

Doubting Yahweh in the garden set the course for human history, as the choice to distrust our Creator broke our supernatural bond with him (Gen. 3:15). This doubt began in the brain and then it was acted on, which set into motion fear and anxiety as Adam and Eve hid from their Maker (Gen. 3:8-10). Fear sets off a series of chemicals in the human brain as well as a hormone that crosses the blood brain barrier known as cortisol. Most likely, this was a sensation that these two humans had never experienced before. Cortisol is a very powerful hormone which helps regulate the body’s response to stress which will cause angst if not dealt with. Living in a constant state of angst and fear causes anxiety and stress that trigger the amygdala to override the prefrontal cortex where our rational thought processes take place.

This chemical reaction is highly destructive. Satan knows this and will not waste a moment to help the individual who is living in this state of being to self-destruct. Reality states that when humans live within the guidelines set by Yahweh, they will experience a peace that passes all understanding (Phil. 4:6-8).  By seeking God in stressful situations, he will guide our thoughts and help us see things differently.

Deception, on the other hand, will guide the individual away from this reality and encourage the individual to seek peace through human efforts and fleshly pursuits. Many people turn to sex, drugs, or alcohol to make themselves feel better, but peace will remain elusive. Frustration and violence, in one form or another, will soon follow if the individual is unable to find relief from the cognitive dissonance caused by rejecting Truth. What is worse is that harmful behaviors will cause genetic alterations that will be passed on from one generation to the next as chemical markers settle on one’s DNA.

The Jealous God

There are several passages in Scripture that reveal when Yahweh found it necessary to wipe out entire civilizations. I mentioned in the beginning of this commentary that God always has a reason for his actions. That includes getting rid of certain sectors of humanity. The Flood is the first example of Yahweh getting rid of corruption that we read about in Scripture (Gen.6:9 - 8:22). It is clearly stated that the thoughts of the people were evil all of the time (Gen. 6:1-8). In the Hebrew, “all of the time” literally means continually. Humanity had become so perverted and depraved that they no longer resembled the image of God that was placed inside of them. What was worse was that they passed on their depraved behaviors and mannerisms to the next generation through their genetics.

The longer Ya’ allowed for this human depravity to continue, the worse the world became. Everyone was under the influence of the devil and had all become so corrupted that they did not give God a second thought as they reveled in their carnal pursuits. Fortunately, there was one man on earth that Ya’ found with integrity. The Scripture reads that Noah was blameless (Hebrew: tā·mîm) in the sight of the LORD (Gen. 6:9). The Hebrew word tā·mîm not only means to have integrity, but also without blemish. To be without blemish is a genetic state of being. In other words, Noah’s genetic code had not been corrupted through aberrant behaviors.

Every other instance in Scripture where the Creator finds it necessary to annihilate entire populations, it is for the same reason. The next evidence that we see in Scripture of this is the judgment on the populations of Sodom and Gomorrah where there were not even ten people in the entire populace that were without a depraved mindset (Gen. 18:16-19:29).

Imagine, the God of all Creation was willing to spare an entire civilization if there had been even ten people that had not corrupted their minds and genetics by right living. Humans know when they are living outside of the boundaries set by the Creator, because those boundaries are wired into our human genome and genetic code. There is not an instance anywhere in Scripture where Yahweh acts out of irrationality. His love and concern for his image bearers is evident throughout human history (Joel 2:12-14). God knows that if an individual does not turn from their aberrant behavior, they are not only perverting their genetic code while rewiring their brain to accept wickedness and reject purity, but they are turning their backs on their Creator.

God sees what we do not see; the intent of man (1Sam. 16:7). The Creator knows the consequences that are in store for those who choose to side with the demonic, and because of this he cannot allow those who have fully corrupted their thinking to spread their cancerous ideas and behaviors to the next generations or to the rest of society. Scripture shows us that Yahweh, the God of Israel goes out of his way to save humanity from destruction and torment in eternity (2 Pet. 3:9). God is jealous because he wants us to live abundantly and not to be tormented as we would allow ourselves to fall under the control of the enemy. We have all been given the freewill to choose to listen to our Creator, or not to listen. When we consciously reject God’s voice, we leave ourselves vulnerable to the voice of the enemy.

There is a reason for everything that Yahweh does even sending Jesus to die for the sins of humanity. This is the God depicted in the Old Testament.

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God,for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?”

Joel 2:12-14

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