Not long ago I was attending Wednesday night Bible study when the speaker said something along the line of God is different in the New Testament than He was in the Old Testament. I had to completely disagree with that assessment. Some people see God as very wrathful and laying His vengeance down on those who are recorded in the OT text. Then they see a God of love in the New Testament. The important thing to remember is:

1) God is judgment and wrath. He shows that in the OT and NT.

2) God is love. He shows that in the OT and NT.

3) God does not change.

Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

1 Samuel 15:29 says, “He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.”

Malachi 3:6a, “I the LORD do not change.”

So God is the same everyday. He does not change His mind, nor does He change in any way. He is the Lord. In the very beginning, God made a plan of how He would interact with men through linear time. He is outside time, so there can be no change in Him. We perceive change as happening in time, since God is outside of time He does not change. His plan has been the same from beginning to end. He determined before the world began for certain things to happen at certain times along the time line. That does not mean He changes.

Since a lot of people focus on wrath in the OT, here are some examples of God’s wrath in the NT.

Matthew 23:34-36

“Therefore I am sending you prophets and wise men and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, all this will come upon this generation.”

Luke 19:43-45

“‘The days will come upon you [Jerusalem] when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.’ Then he [Jesus] entered the temple area and began driving out those who were selling.”

Acts 5:1-11

“Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. Then Peter said, ‘Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.’ When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened… About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, ‘Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?’ ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘that is the price.’ Peter said to her, ‘How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.’ At that moment she fell down at his feet and died… Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.”

Acts 12:23

“Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.”

I’d point to the book of Revelation as well as an example of God’s wrath in the NT. The tribulation that will come upon those who dwell on the earth at the time of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ will be worse than at any other time in history. God will be pleased to pour out the cup of His wrath on all of those who have rejected Him and scorned His salvation in Christ. The tribulation will be so great that unless God had chosen to shorten those days no one on the earth would survive (Matthew 24:22).

God is the same today, yesterday, and forever. Glory to His name.

Peace.