Some Characteristics of God

We learn a lot about God and His nature by studying the Old Testament.  We know from our study of the NT that God brings about His new way in the NT, through Jesus.  But God is still the same God in OT times as in NT times; He doesn't change.

And we learn throughout the Bible that God is love....and forgiveness, and patience, and tolerance...to a point.  But God is also a specific God.  We see that in the NT in the teachings of Jesus.  Jesus made it clear that only those who truly followed Him would enter His kingdom. And in Acts 5, we read of 2 people who lied to God and He killed them.  God has a specific and demanding side; after all, He is God.

In the OT, we read of many examples where God didn't put up with disobedience.  He loved His people and showed that over and over again through His patience and His leadership.  But as an example, Saul in 1 Samuel 15, did not follow God's specific commands and he was removed from being king.  Another case is Naaman in 2 Kings 5, where Naaman was told by God's prophet that all he had to do to be cured of his leprosy was to dip 7 times in the river Jordan.  Naaman was furious about this, thinking this to be a silly request--dip in a dirty river 7 times.  But God is a specific god, and Naaman was not going to be healed until he did exactly what God said. 

We could go on and on with examples of God's expectations of man; how He required that man submit to His way, and His way only.  God has that right, of course; and it is imperative that we understand this key characteristic of Him....and do what He says.  That is not always easy, because we want to do things our way; still we must realize that he is serious about His will being done.

Once again, thanks for reading.  Feel the love.