Angry Old Man in the Sky

How many of us view our merciful God like this?:

My David did; and along with him, most who are unsaved and some Christians. Why? And why has God been depicted this way for hundreds of years? (The above picture dates back to the Renaissance,  Michelangelo's time.)

"The God of the Old Testament" is often thought of this way. It is a voluminous stumbling block to nonbelievers and one that David had been struggling with the past two months. In the Old Testament God seems a spiteful fuming cloud thundering down on the people. However...

This is man's perception. Think back to the Israelites, or even further. Is this image not one that a sinful race would have? Is it not similar to the view of a scolded child?

For instance, David recently shared a story with me about him and his father.

They were preparing to cross the street. David was a child, rambuctious as any other boy, and he ran out into the road ahead of his father, right in front of a car. His father snatched the collar of his shirt and pulled him back just before the car roared past.

David was a little dazed and frightened. His father stearnly scolded him. As David told me this, it was clear that his father had left an impression he never forgot!

"You're the last thing I'd want to lose," his father said afterwards.

Now when David remembered this, he didn't say: "My dad saved my life!"

He remembered, "My dad yelled at me!"

Aren't we the same?

When God rebuked His children throughout history, they failed to see His urge not to lose them. Instead, they resented and feared God's discipline and very often forgot that He'd given them the rules ahead of time and always warned them before He enacted justice.

God may be angry at your sin, but He is not a vengeful perfectionist, waiting for you to slip up so He can burn you to a crisp.

He just wants to save you.

"The LORD is slow to anger and filled with unfailing love, forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion. But he does not excuse the guilty."

Numbers 14:18 (NLT)