What is the Old Testament basis for the position that God is a God of love, compassion, and mercy?
score:7
There are a host of verses to which one could look throughout all of the Old Testament, with the first being in Genesis 3:8-21, God could've brought complete destruction on Adam and Eve, but instead showed mercy by allowing them to live and gave them a promise of a redeemer who would eventually come to destroy the serpent.
Genesis 4:6-7 shows God having compassion on Cain before he killed his brother:
Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."
Jump ahead to the conquest of Canaan, and see the mercy and love shown to Rahab and her entire family (she is so important for having been saved in Jericho that she is in the human line of Christ):
"Now therefore, please swear to me by the LORD, since I have dealt kindly with you, that you also will deal kindly with my father's household, and give me a pledge of truth, and spare my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters, with all who belong to them, and deliver our lives from death.? So the men said to her, "Our life for yours if you do not tell this business of ours; and it shall come about when the LORD gives us the land that we will deal kindly and faithfully with you."
She's even celebrated in the New Testament, "By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace."
In Daniel 3:28-30, we see God's deliverance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego as having a profound impact on the king:
Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way." Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to prosper in the province of Babylon.
In Esther we see God strategically putting one of His people into a position of extreme influence to the King whereby He saves His people from the maniacal plans of Haman who wanted to exterminate the Jews.
In II Kings 5, we see God having mercy on the captain of the Assyrian army, Naaman via the instrument of a Hebrew maid girl in his house.
In short, the Old Testament is as replete with God's mercy, love, and compassion as the New Testament.
Upvote:3
Jonah 4:2 has this formulation:
you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity
that is repeated in Exodus 34:6, Numbers 14:18, Psalm 86:15, Psalm 103:8, and Psalm 111:4, just to mention a few places. As such, it seems this is a standard formulation for describing character - in the OT - that focuses first on God's love, above and beyond his justness.
More post
- 📝 According to Catholicism, is the power of exorcism the fruit of the true church?
- 📝 What do Orthodox Christians mean when they talk about the Real Presence in the Eucharist?
- 📝 What is the Baptist justification for anti-confessionalism?
- 📝 What is meant by the punishment for Satan in Genesis 3?
- 📝 What is the Biblical support for Purgatory?
- 📝 How did Jesus manage to remain sinless?
- 📝 How do Catholics and other Christians respond to the US Bishops' teaching that Matthew was not written by it supposed author?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, how can a relic help a sick person?
- 📝 Did any of the Early Church Fathers believe that Revelation 12:1-5 is about the Virgin Mary?
- 📝 Dying for Christ
- 📝 Are there explicit statements in the New Testament about the purpose of life?
- 📝 Why is there a day of judgement?
- 📝 Who was the man God was talking to in Job
- 📝 What is Christus Victor?
- 📝 Biblical basis for baptism as a prerequisite for salvation
- 📝 Which Bible verses support adult-only baptism?
- 📝 Why is there a modern misconception about Christianity and Science?
- 📝 How to identify a Catholic 'order' from initials that follow a nun or priest's name?
- 📝 Was the washing of feet of the disciples by Jesus, part of a Jewish tradition?
- 📝 Recommendations for Ancient Greek NT "versions"
- 📝 What Charities Did Jesus Contribute To?
- 📝 How did Swedenborg interpret 1 John 2:2: "He is the propitiation for our sins"?
- 📝 "Felix culpa" - is it correct?
- 📝 Which religions is this song inspired by and what do the metaphors/symbols mean?
- 📝 Why did Pope Pius XII mention the soul of Mary?
- 📝 Did Augustine believe in Purgatory?
- 📝 Was Jesus circumcised and did he eat pork?
- 📝 Are there any trinitarian Christian denominations that believe one should only pray to the Father, not to Jesus?
- 📝 Is there a possible compatibility between immutability and God's mercy?
- 📝 Percentage of Christians to hold pre- or post-tribulation view of rapture
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What is the Old Testament basis for the position that God is a God of love, compassion, and mercy?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis in the Old Testament for the belief that the Messiah must be God?
- 📝 What is the Old Testament Biblical basis to the idea that only God can forgive sins?
- 📝 What is the basis for the claim that the entire New Testament can be reconstructed apart from original and copied manuscripts?
- 📝 What is the basis for believing that the wrath of God is not an accommodation?
- 📝 What is the basis for the idea that the Song of Solomon is about the relationship between God and the church?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the belief that God likes or feels affection toward us?
- 📝 What is the basis for the Swedenborgian view that the most common concept of God in Christianity (the Trinity) is a belief in three gods?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the belief that God loves individuals?
- 📝 What is the New Testament basis for the idea the God is a God of judgment and vengeance?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for believing that God punishes Christians for disobedience?
- 📝 What is the basis for the position that the woman of Revelation 17 refers to Rome?
- 📝 What is the basis for the position that only Paul's writings are applicable to the church today?
- 📝 On what basis was Jesus’ death sufficient for redemption according Non-Trinitarians who maintain that Jesus was not eternal God as God the Father is?
- 📝 What is the basis for the idea that God is highly involved in human lives?
- 📝 What was the explanation for why Catharism identified the Old Testament God as Satan?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the belief that separation from God is in itself sin?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the position that embryonic stem cell research is immoral/sinful?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for saying that God can annihilate human souls?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the belief that God foreordained the fall of Adam and Eve?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the claim that Malachi 3:6-12's curse and blessings concerning tithing apply to the New Testament Church?
- 📝 What is the biblical support for the idea that people in the Old Testament went to heaven?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the belief that God cannot be manipulated?
- 📝 What is the basis for the claim that "we have the completed revelation from God in the Bible"?
- 📝 What is the scriptural basis for believing that God wants us to know an action is morally, objectively right or wrong?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for believing God is the same throughout the Old and New Testament?
- 📝 What is the Biblical basis for the idea that God doesn't have form?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the idea that God stores our prayers?
- 📝 What is the Biblical Basis for teaching that Lucifer wanted to become the "firstborn son" of God through Eve?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for the claim that abortion is immoral?