Have you ever heard that the God of the Old Testament is a harsh, brutal God? Well, keeping in mind that the God of the Old Testament is also the God of the New, let’s examine that claim.

To highlight God’s supposed harshness skeptics point to the account of the Flood, or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, or the defeat of the Canaanites.

But in each of these examples people were sinning grievously against both God and other people. They weren’t innocent—they were guilty. God always judges sin; he has to, or he wouldn’t be a just God. But in his judgment he always offers mercy. Sadly, most people will reject that mercy.