As far as the question, I think the answer is simple! People fail to read the OT over and over, to see what God was preparing for his people, and how.
Sparkman has another thread about the meta narrative of the dwelling place of God. Certainly the metanarrative of Jesus coming, prophecied in the OT, and the love of God to save us, is also woven as a metanarrative from Genesis to Revelation. Jesus is the same today, yesterday and forever. That includes the OT!
God loved his people so much. But, they disobeyed and went astray. He called them back, with the prophets, and still they did not serve God with their whole hearts. When Jesus came, the Pharisees went to extraordinary lengths to kill him. And he is coming again soon.
God's love permeates the entire OT. From the provision he makes for Adam and Eve in Genesis, through to preserving Israel and taking them to a land of milk and honey. God is always the same. But the sad part is that people are also the same. They are sheep gone astray, rebellious and headstrong. So, if there are issues in the OT, it is because people did not obey God's loving commands, and he had to actually take Judah captive to Babylon, in 583 BC. (Israel was lost to Assyria in 722 BC - they were forced to intermarry, and were never pure in spirit or body again!)
My suggestion is when people say the God of the OT is different, encourage them to read the OT. I know they will find the same God as the one in the NT. And it is usually the people who have not read the OT who say that he is a different God!
Sparkman has another thread about the meta narrative of the dwelling place of God. Certainly the metanarrative of Jesus coming, prophecied in the OT, and the love of God to save us, is also woven as a metanarrative from Genesis to Revelation. Jesus is the same today, yesterday and forever. That includes the OT!
God loved his people so much. But, they disobeyed and went astray. He called them back, with the prophets, and still they did not serve God with their whole hearts. When Jesus came, the Pharisees went to extraordinary lengths to kill him. And he is coming again soon.
God's love permeates the entire OT. From the provision he makes for Adam and Eve in Genesis, through to preserving Israel and taking them to a land of milk and honey. God is always the same. But the sad part is that people are also the same. They are sheep gone astray, rebellious and headstrong. So, if there are issues in the OT, it is because people did not obey God's loving commands, and he had to actually take Judah captive to Babylon, in 583 BC. (Israel was lost to Assyria in 722 BC - they were forced to intermarry, and were never pure in spirit or body again!)
My suggestion is when people say the God of the OT is different, encourage them to read the OT. I know they will find the same God as the one in the NT. And it is usually the people who have not read the OT who say that he is a different God!