So often, we fall into a pattern when reading the Bible.
The God of the New Testament is just so much more loving than the God of the Old Testament. The Old Testament has all those wars and plagues and laws, and the New Testament just has Jesus and love and forgiveness.

There’s a problem with this mindset though.
The God of the Old Testament still shows a lot of love,
and the God of the New Testament still talks a lot about judgment.

Whether it’s the Psalms singing of God’s great love, the Prophets promising restoration, or God providing in the wilderness, the God of the Old Testament is still very much a God of Love.

Additionally, whether it’s Jesus rebuking the Pharisees, the letters to the churches calling out their mistakes, or the book of Revelation dealing with God’s judgment, the God of the New Testament still does a fair bit of condemning.

I know there’s a temptation to see God as a character evolving throughout the Bible— one who starts out angry and wrathful but mellows out after he has a kid. It would be such a handy way to explain away much of the Bible’s bloodshed, but such a reading dismisses many of the Old Testament’s most poignant moments and many of the New’s most instructive. While perhaps the emotions we project onto God have changed, God remains constant in Old Testament and New, so resist the urge. The Old Testament God and the New Testament God are one and the same, and that One God will always be by your side.