In one of Jesus’ parables he describes a servant responding to his master, just as some people respond to God:
He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ (Matthew 25:24–25)
Some years ago, J. B. Philips wrote a book entitled, “Your God is too Small”. It was about how our preconceptions of God woefully underestimate who God really is. I think we could add a chapter to that entitled, “Your God is too Mean, Harsh, and Demanding.” But the sad part is that though that is not the God of the scriptures, we have a tendency to think of Him that way. . . . especially since ignorant, ill-informed people have been teaching folks that God was that way in the Old Testament, but Jesus changed all of that.
Listen to God’s very first description of Himself:
Yahweh passed before him and proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yahweh, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6–7
Where does your mind gravitate when you read that? Many many times over the years, I have heard people refer to the “visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children. . .” , but in my fifty-two years as a Christian I have never, ever heard anyone quote from the first two thirds of the statement that describes how good God is!
We think of the wilderness wandering as the punishment of the rebellion of His people, and so it is. They wandered in a dry and weary land infested with scorpions and snakes. But for forty years, God provided manna which they simply went out and gathered . . . no sowing, no weeding, no cultivating, just go out and gather what you need every day. He miraculously provides water. He gave them a pillar of cloud in the day time which provided shade. And He provided a pillar of fire by night which gave them light and a degree of protection from nocturnal predators. (Psa. 105:39-41) Their clothes didn’t wear out and their feet did not swell (Deut. 8:4). All this while He was “punishing” them!
For nearly a thousand years they rebelled, He brought calamity on them, they repented, and He received them back. Century after century He warned them through His prophets (whom they persecute and execute), and still He accepted them back each time they repented.
The “harsh, mean, demanding, judgmental God of the Old Testament” is a modern-day myth! The actual God of the Old Testament is embarrassingly merciful to His faithless rebellious nation.
And Jesus reflects that same character of God in His parable of the talents:
And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ Matthew 25:20–21
Stop and picture God saying that to you. What do you think of such a God?
When a non-Jewish woman persisted in her request for the deliverance of her daughter, Jesus commended her:
Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. Matthew 15:28
Stop and picture saying that to you. “Great is your faith! Be it done to you as you desire.” What do you think of a God like that?
Jesus tenderly commended the woman who had had a twenty-year flow of blood:
47And when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling, and falling down before him declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched him, and how she had been immediately healed. 48And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.” Luke 8:47–48
Jesus commended the Roman centurion who believed Jesus could heal his servant with a simple word of command:
When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. Matthew 8:10
“Okay, I get it. God is extravagantly good in both the Old Testament and in the New, but what does that mean to me?” So read Proverbs 12:22:
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,
but those who act faithfully are his delight.
(Proverbs 12:22)
Which phrase in the verse jumps out at you? “An abomination to the Yahweh” or “His delight”? Has it ever occurred to you that when you do the right thing, this extravagantly good God is “delighted” in you? Read it again: “Those who act faithfully are His delight.” Now read it again and let it soak in. This is the God who in Jesus’ parable says, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
Imagine that you’re facing some challenge, some temptation, some situation in which you know what is right but you are afraid of the personal cost or consequences. Now imagine that you go ahead and do the right thing. How do you picture God? Do you picture Him standing there with arms crossed, scowl on His face and saying, “It’s about time! Why was it such a struggle for you to do what was right?” Or do you see Him standing there with His face lit up with delight like a proud father, saying, “Way to go! Good job! I’m so proud of you!”?
Which God do you serve? The good God of the scriptures, or the hard, demanding God of human misconception?
