Why does God seem harsher in the Old Testament?

Question

I hope I don't offend anybody, but I am just getting into reading my Bible to try to better myself and grow closer to God. However, some verses in the Old testament seem very harsh. For example, Deuteronomy 25:11-12 "If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity."

Answer

It may seem more harsh, but God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Answer

Much of the Old Testament was written about the law of God. All of Jewish society and culture at the time was focused of upholding and serving the law. For instance, eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth. In contrast, the New Testament is focused on mercy and forgiveness. When Jesus came to earth, His message was focused on this. He changed an eye for an eye to when you are struck on one cheek, offer them the other cheek also (aka turn the other cheek). The Old Testament law was about people having to make sacrifices to repent of their sins (often an unblemished lamb). In the New Testament, Jesus became the unblemished lamb by willingly going to the cross and accepting the punishment for all sin. He became the sacrifice, so we no longer have to.

Answer

The rules seem “harsher” because at the time of the Old Testament, God was still building and establishing Israel as his chosen nation.  A lot of the rules were put in place to keep the nation pure and also fruitful and reproducing.  My study bible gives a good simple explanation of  the harsh punishment.

So yes, it seems harsh to us to cut off someone’s hand, but like always, God has a reason. 🙂

Answer

God is harsher then because he is God. There is no Jesus to buffer our understanding. He expected us to be and act the way he commanded. When he sent Jesus because it was our last hope for how angry the father was Jesus lived like we did and in a sense helps god understand why we are the way we are. He created free will so it makes sense. And so before Jesus he was harsher and we had no savior

Answer

They didn’t have the Holy Spirit with them at all times guiding them, so it was easier to lead people astray with your sins

Answer

It may seem that way, however, I’ve have 2 points to consider. 
1. The Old Testament laws were designed to obviously separate Jews from gentiles. So that there was no question who was God’s ppl
2. Jesus equated lust to adultery and hate to murder in Matthew chap. 5. He also goes about setting stricter standards on the behavior and attitudes towards believers. So, you could say that the New Testament is actually harsher, just to show exactly what kind of a powerful savior we have.

Answer

I was just thinking about that!! I kid you not! The answer lies within the atonement. Before the atonement, and keep in mind that Heavenly Father has always loved his children, but God was was angry and hurt because there was so much sin in the world, so He was obviously disappointed in us the way any Father would be if their child deliberately disobeyed everything that they've ever been told or taught so that much is perfectly understandable. All He ever wanted was for His Children to obey and honor his commandments so that we could return to live with him someday so when He saw how much sin there was, He obviously knew that we didn't stand a chance. Yet, Heavenly Father loved us still, and He still wanted us to come back home, the way any loving, kind and forgiving father would want his son/daughter to be able to come back home, but he knew that we couldn't do it on our own, and he knew that we needed a savior, in order to return to live with Him. So He sent his only begotten son, (not to be confused with his only son, rather his only, "begotten," son) here to live and walk among us, to teach and minister to us, and to set an example for us, and ultimately die for each and every single one of us so that we may be forgiven. The Savior's atonement made it possible for us to repent, and to be forgiven of our sins. The atonement makes it possible for us to return to our Heavenly Father. No... we don't always deserve it, yet... Heavenly Father loved us so much that He came up with the perfect plan, to save us. If you ask me, He was never as angry of a god, or unmerciful, and unforgiving, or even a vengeful, spiteful god. He was disappointed, yes. But, sending His only begotten son testifies to me just how merciful and loving and forgiving He's always been the way every good, decent caring Father should be with his children and He is the ultimate loving and merciful heavenly parent, or else we never would have been given the beautiful and precocious gift of the Saviors atonement.

Why does God seem harsher in the Old Testament?

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