I was talking to my partner this morning, and she raised a question that I think many of us wrestle with at some point:
“Why does God in the Old Testament seem so vengeful and angry, while Jesus speaks of a God of love and peace?”
It’s an honest and profound question. At first glance, it can feel like we are looking at two completely different portraits of God—one full of wrath and judgment, the other overflowing with mercy and compassion.
But as we talked, something came to me that brought it all into focus:
The Bible isn’t a snapshot—it’s a journey, a gradual revealing of God’s nature. And God—like the deepest mysteries of life itself—is too vast, too infinite, to be fully known all at once.
The story of Scripture isn’t about two Gods but about the unfolding of one God, seen through the lens of human understanding, human history, and human experience. It is, I believe, the story of a God who holds both justice and mercy, strength and tenderness, power and humility—two seeming opposites, united in one perfect wholeness.
The Mystery of God: Holding the Tension of Opposites
In many spiritual traditions, the greatest truths are found in paradox—light and shadow, strength and gentleness, power and peace. The Celtic Christian tradition deeply understood this. They saw the world as woven together in a sacred balance—day and night, sea and shore, life and death. All of it, blessing and burden alike, was held together in the heart of God.
So it is with the nature of God in Scripture. We encounter:
- The God of Justice and Judgment in the cries of the prophets and the warnings of the wilderness.
- The God of Mercy and Compassion in the ministry of Jesus and the healing of the broken.
These are not two gods, but two facets of the same God, a God who cannot be reduced to a single image or definition.
The Celtic Christians would say that God is beyond all opposites, beyond categories of ‘angry’ or ‘gentle,’ ‘vengeful’ or ‘peaceful.’ The old word for this was mystery.
The Old Testament: God Revealed Through Covenant and Justice
When we read the Old Testament, it helps to understand who it was written for and why.
The Old Testament tells the story of a people—Israel—learning who God is through covenant, struggle, and wilderness. They encountered God in a world that was harsh, tribal, and full of warfare. In this context, they came to know a God who was:
- Fiercely Protective: A defender of His people against oppression.
- Righteous and Just: A God who upheld the covenant and demanded fairness.
- Powerful and Sovereign: One who could part seas, shatter kingdoms, and bring down empires.
But even in these moments—often misunderstood as “angry” or “vengeful”—there is a thread of relentless love.
We see it when:
- God spares Nineveh after Jonah’s reluctant prophecy.
- God calls Israel back from destruction time and time again through the prophets.
- God cares for the orphan, the widow, and the stranger, demanding justice for the most vulnerable.
This is not cruelty—it is covenant love, a love that says: “I will not leave you to destruction. I will fight for you.”
The Old Testament God is like a fire—untamed, purifying, powerful. But fire, though fierce, brings both light and warmth.
The New Testament: God Revealed Through Christ and Compassion
Then comes Jesus. And in Him, the mystery deepens.
If the Old Testament is about God above us and beyond us, the New Testament is about God with us and within us.
Jesus is:
- The Lion and the Lamb—powerful yet humble.
- The Healer and the Prophet—merciful, yet unafraid to confront injustice.
- The Teacher and the Sacrifice—wisdom and self-giving love, united.
Through Jesus, we see not a different God, but a fuller vision of the same God:
“The Son is the image of the invisible God.” — Colossians 1:15
In Christ, the fierceness of justice meets the tenderness of mercy. The cross itself is the ultimate paradox: power through surrender, victory through sacrifice, life through death.
The Journey From Old to New: It’s About Us, Not Just God
So, is the Old Testament God different from the New Testament God? No. But our understanding of God is evolving through the story.
The journey is as much about us as it is about God.
Think of it like this:
- In childhood, we often see authority as rules, boundaries, and consequences. It feels firm, sometimes harsh, but it protects us and shapes our understanding.
- In adulthood, we come to see the heart behind those boundaries—love, protection, and wisdom.
The story of Scripture is a bit like humanity’s growing relationship with God—from covenant and law to grace and intimacy, from knowing God as sovereign to knowing God as Father and Friend.
The Celtic Way: Embracing the Tension
The Celts never tried to resolve the tension between the “Old Testament God” and the “New Testament God”—because they knew it wasn’t a tension to solve. It was a mystery to live within.
For them:
- God is both just and merciful, because true love cannot be one without the other.
- God is both powerful and gentle, because strength without tenderness is cruelty, and tenderness without strength is helplessness.
- God is both beyond us and within us, because a God we could fully understand would not be God at all.
They lived with a deep trust that all things—light and shadow, fire and water, judgment and mercy—were held together in God’s wholeness.
Where Does This Meet Us?
So, when we struggle with the difference between the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament, perhaps we are being invited into something deeper:
💡 To stop looking for a ‘simpler’ God and start embracing the fullness of the God who is.
💡 To stop choosing between justice or mercy and begin living from both.
💡 To trust that the same God who confronts us is also the God who heals us.
Because, ultimately, the journey is not about God changing.
It is about us changing—learning to see more clearly, love more deeply, and rest more fully in the God who holds all things together.
A Blessing for the Mystery
May you walk the path that holds both light and shadow.
May you know the God who is both fire and friend.
May you trust that judgment and mercy are but two hands of one love.
And may you rest, not in answers, but in the One who is beyond all answers—
Yet closer than your breath.
Amen.
Reflection Questions:
💬 How do you reconcile the justice of God with the mercy of Christ?
💬 Have you experienced God’s love through both challenge and comfort?
💬 What helps you hold space for the mystery of who God is?
Let’s journey through the mystery together. 🌿✨
Feeling lost, stuck or disillusioned on your path?
Take a look at
Walking Together
Ancient Whispers 
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