As I continue reading through the Old Testament of the Bible, I realize how crucial it is for Christians to also read it. Many people think that the Old Testament isn’t relevant anymore since the New Testament and nothing could be further from the truth.
One of the things I realize is how many people think God is ONLY loving and forgiving and discredit the fact He is a righteous judge and a jealous God. As I read through Leviticus and Numbers, I saw God express time and time again how furious He becomes at our disobedience. That is because He has done so much for us and given us so much, yet we somehow think He owes us more or something better. It is a huge insult to Him just as it is if you gave someone a really nice gift that you worked hard to earn the money for because you love them and they tell you it’s crap and I want something better.
You also become furious at how ungrateful that person is, yet somehow we think God shouldn’t and instead should just forgive us and love us anyways.
Just as a parent disciplines their child when they do wrong, God also does the same. We idolize money, cars, houses, jobs, and other materialistic things, yet when things go bad and it all comes crumbling down, some curse God for it since “He’s just out to get me and wants to just punish me in some cruel way”, yet they have not given any regard to Him for a long time.
God wants our heart, for us to love Him and He love us and give us what’s best for us, not what we think is best. He displays that several times throughout the Bible and in the first few books of it, you see how the Israelites kept trying to choose what they thought was good for them and indeed it wasn’t. Our understanding of God is very limited and He sees the dangers ahead and tries to protect us from them just as a parent withholds their child from entering a busy street because He loves us. Sometimes He has to “spank” us because we don’t listen, just like the child who runs into the street or parking lot anyways.
Our laws, jobs, and society don’t let us just do anything we want without repercussions when we break the rules so why do we somehow think God wouldn’t do the same? We loose our freedom, our privileges, our jobs, our possessions, etc. if we disobey the laws of our government, who are often driven by corrupt agendas or selfish motives. But a sovereign, incorruptible, just God we seem to have a problem with ruling and judging us when it is indeed for our own good.
How does that make any sense?
