{"id":1815,"date":"2021-04-19T16:20:01","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T16:20:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/?p=1815"},"modified":"2021-04-19T16:20:01","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T16:20:01","slug":"god-of-the-old-testament-cruel-or-loving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/safeplacewithruthgraham\/2021\/04\/god-of-the-old-testament-cruel-or-loving.html","title":{"rendered":"God of the Old Testament: Cruel or Loving?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>During the pandemic I decided to read the Old Testament prophets starting with Jeremiah who is one of my favorites.<\/p>\n<p>There are those who think the Old Testament is harsh and God is angry and cruel. I don&#8217;t see Him that way at all. I see a loving God who is trying to form a people, a nation, for Himself to bless the world He created and we get to enjoy.<\/p>\n<p>But men and women have been in rebellion ever since the Garden of Eden. God has been trying to woo them back. It&#8217;s a wonderful love story. God is a jilted lover. He longs for His people and longs to bless them, if they would only return to Him.<\/p>\n<p>He calls through His prophets. &#8220;A voice is calling, clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness&#8230;&#8221;; &#8220;The heavens are telling the glory of God&#8230;&#8221;; &#8220;Do not fear, for I have redeemed your; have called you by name; you are Mine!&#8230;you are precious in my sight since you are honored and I love you.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Does that sound like a harsh angry God? Not to me. <\/p>\n<p>Now when the nation rebelled, there were consequences. Not capricious or arbitrary consequences &#8211; God had spelled it all out to them. He was fair with them. If you obey my laws, you will be blessed. If you don&#8217;t, there will be unpleasant consequences. His laws were for their good. He sounds like a good parent to me.<\/p>\n<p>And He loves us. So much so that even in our rebellion and disobedience, He sent His only Son, Jesus to die for us. His heart broke for us and still does as He sees what we do to ourselves in our disobedience. We shake our fist in His face, tell Him to get out of our lives then wonder why we are in crisis. God will not be mocked. There are consequences living in rebellion.<\/p>\n<p>But all along He has been calling out to anyone who would hear His voice. &#8220;Come unto Me.&#8221; He is not angry with you. Not at all. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the pandemic I decided to read the Old Testament prophets starting with Jeremiah who is one of my favorites. There are those who think the Old Testament is harsh and God is angry and cruel. I don&#8217;t see Him that way at all. I see a loving God who is trying to form a&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,666,669],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1815","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-god","category-is-god-cruel","category-the-old-testament-god"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>God of the Old Testament: Cruel or Loving? - Safe Place with Ruth Graham<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God of the Old Testament: Cruel or Loving? - Safe Place with Ruth Graham\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During the pandemic I decided to read the Old Testament prophets starting with Jeremiah who is one of my favorites. 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No stranger to heartache, she seeks to provide a Biblical perspective to her journey of faith. She is warm and talks openly about her own need for a safe place as she journeyed through her husband\u2019s infidelities, her subsequent depression, her divorces, her teenage daughter\u2019s two unplanned pregnancies, another daughter\u2019s bulimia, her son\u2019s battle with drugs, grandson's special needs and returning to school at age 40. Although born into the \"famous\" Graham family Ruth did not feel she had a safe place to unburden the secrets of her life. She felt she had to project and image and wear a mask that she \"had it all together\". She had to meet others' expectations of her. It was not until a mid-life crisis did that she fully discover the unconditional love and grace of God. Her life's passion is to connect people to that same grace and love she found, no matter who they are or what sin. Ruth is an experienced conference speaker and Bible teacher. She has appeared on a variety of radio and television shows including: Good Morning, America, The Hour of Power, Focus on the Family, Moody Broadcasting, Fox &amp; Friends, CBN, Life Today and CNN. She has worked in publishing for over 14 years and is the founder of the Ruth Graham &amp; Friends Ministry. Ruth has three grown children and nine grandchildren. She lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. 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