When we talk about God, we have a tendency to inadvertently divide Him into parts. We take the attributes that we like the most and simply focus on them. Many scholars have been guilty of this and have concluded that the God of Scripture is divided. Some have said that the God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath and judgement while the God of the New Testament is a God of love and mercy.
Trying to know the God of Scripture by studying one attribute is like examining one piece of a puzzle to try and understand the entire picture. When we focus on one attribute, whether it be God's grace or His judgement, we tend to read and teach the stories that emphasize it. According to A.W. Tozer, "The harmony of (God's)being is the result not of a perfect balance of parts but of the absence of parts. Between His attributes no contradiction can exist. He need not suspend one to exercise another, for in Him all His attributes are one. All of God does all that God does; He does not divide Himself to perform a work." (Knowledge of the Holy, pp. 15)
Trying to know the God of Scripture by studying one attribute is like examining one piece of a puzzle to try and understand the entire picture. When we focus on one attribute, whether it be God's grace or His judgement, we tend to read and teach the stories that emphasize it. According to A.W. Tozer, "The harmony of (God's)being is the result not of a perfect balance of parts but of the absence of parts. Between His attributes no contradiction can exist. He need not suspend one to exercise another, for in Him all His attributes are one. All of God does all that God does; He does not divide Himself to perform a work." (Knowledge of the Holy, pp. 15)
I have been teaching our children this truth by showing them that redemption is not only displayed at the cross and discussed in the New Testament, but is also revealed in the Old Testament. Yesterday I taught them the story of God's plagues upon Egypt. When many hear of this story they think simply about God's harsh treatment of the Egyptian people. After carefully studying the text, however, I have come to realize that God's wrath and his mercy are working simultaneously throughout this story. Even though God puts division between the Jews and Egyptians (8:23), there is no division in God.
Another interesting aspect of this story is that you not only see God's mercy demonstrated in His treatment of the Jewish people, but also in his dealings with the Egyptians. The Lord told Moses to present himself before Pharaoh and say, "For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth" (9:15-16). When commenting on this passage, R.C. Sproul says, "God's Judgements are tempered by mercy. He withholds total destruction so that the Egyptians might know His power...Further, God's judgments against Pharaoh will cause God's name to be proclaimed to the nations."
If the Lord's wrath and mercy were divided, then one could exist without the other. That is not the case in Scripture. Where one is present the other is there also. This should challenge us to read and teach these difficult stories and focus upon the fact that God is a God who punishes a hardened and unrepentant heart, but also shows mercy toward those who have seen their need of Him and are trusting in Him for their salvation.
