[God is the same]}

...yesterday, today, and forever.

I've heard it all my life, but I'm not sure I've ever truly believed it. After all, how could the God of the Old Testament who had whole groups of people slaughtered be the same as the God of the New Testamet whose Son decreed "turn the other cheek???" I think I truly believed that the Israelites were God's favorites, so He only let them into Heaven (with possible rare exceptions), then finally decided that He was being unfair and well, fine, He would send His son and let whoever wanted to, to come to Heaven.

I still don't yet understand why God slaughtered whole groups of people, however, through one small portion of a verse, I'm beginning to get it. God is so good to provide wisdom at just the right time.

In Exodus 19:6a, I read: "and you [the nation of Israel] shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."

Finally, when I read this, it made sense: God's plan was for Israel to be "set apart" ["holy" from verse 6] to do the work of God. Abraham had been a righteous man and I believe God was like, "Yes, Abraham! You GET it! Because you get it, I will multiply you [your descendants] and use them to further my kingdom!" The problem came when the nation of Israel began to act like bratty children. They refused to obey God and got so wrapped up in legalism (such as having to make sacrifices) that they thought they were doing everything God wanted. Basically, they were trying to do as little as they could to get by and so they missed the big picture: being a shining example to the world like their forefather, Abraham--the reason God chose them!

So, each time Israel rebelled, God disciplined them in order to persuade them to change their course back to the originally intended direction. Finally, God heeded their grumblings and sent a Savior who took away their distractions (sacrifices, legalism, the law), not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. Jesus was the perfect, shining example showing God's people what God asks of us. Then, Jesus, the only son of God, died for us, for all people, to be the one living sacrifice that would atone for all our sins, freeing us from having to atone for each and every sin ourselves (through sacrifices). Once our sin, guilt, and shame were cleaned white as snow, we, God's people, were (more) free to do God's will, to tell others about God, to follow Jesus' example, and to be an example ourselves.

So really, God was the same, is the same, and will continue to be the same. It's simply that the Israelites rebelled and did not follow God's plan.

So this, of course, begs the question: "Am I following God's plan? Am I following Jesus' example so that in turn I might be an example to those who see me? What am I doing to help others know God and to choose Him?"