“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” (Matthew 23:23)

Normally Christians only teach mercy and love in the NT, when Jesus was around. But in the verse above, Jesus criticizes the Pharisees for ignoring the old law and the good spiritual practices that came with it. We often hear of God punishing entire cities and populations, and people (especially atheists) get upset and say God was wicked and cruel and that the OT is not valid for practicing good things. And even the extreme religious people today use the OT to justify cruel behavior towards defenseless people, whether it’s war or something else.

What did the OT say about mercy and other good practices in relation? Was God really not the same as Jesus in the OT? Let’s find out together; you might be surprised to see just how similar both are.

God was consistently referenced as someone who was merciful by all prophets. There is plenty of evidence of God showing these attributes. Moses, the one who wrote the commands on the stone tablets themselves, witnesses the LORD saying something Jesus himself has said similarly.

”And the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7)

Judgment is something God does to all people, but mercy is introduced before judgment. God even says that he does not desire to slay even the wicked men and women on the earth, but that they repent and turn from their ways, therefore showing more mercy.

”Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” (Ezekiel 33:11)

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) Both verses complement each other; the Lord is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

”The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The LORD is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.” (Psalms 145:8-9)

”That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45)

The Lord’s mercy extends to all creation, including his enemy’s, for our Lord Jesus has said the same thing, and that is that they both care for the wicked and the good and help both. God and the Christ desire that no man should perish but turn around and repent or change.

”Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:18)

”And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:31)

And finally, “But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.” (Matthew 5:22)

Most people would think when reading Leviticus 19:18 that it only applies to the immediate neighboring Israelites being treated with love; it is only a half-truth; later we read that God meant it to be for their enemies as well in multiple verses. Personal revenge and grudges also were commanded by God to not be practiced even towards the Israelite’s enemies. Revenge was only instructed by God to the Israelites through a prophet.

”And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye shall not vex him. But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:33-34)

All vexing means is to bring trouble, distress, or agitation to the person visiting; it can be described as bringing anger and hate too. A stranger could be any neighboring person at that time for Israel, including proclaimed enemies. The only time Israel was allowed to attack their enemies was if they were instructed by God or were provoked by their enemies. Israel had lived by their enemy’s in many instances without direct battles or engagement. For example, the Canaanites. Because the Israelites emerged alongside indigenous Canaanite populations, they initially lived side-by-side with them, which caused immense religious and cultural friction. But many times there was no direct war.

Also, the Gibeonites made a peace treaty with Joshua (even though it was deceptive what they did); the Israelites kept their end of the treaty and were peaceful. The Phoenicians, David and Solomon being kings in their times, also had highly successful and long-standing peace treaties with Hiram, the king of Tyre (Phoenicia), who supplied cedars and builders for the Temple.

There was no open engagement unless commanded by God. Later we read in the OT that God commands that even their enemies be treated personally with love and respect.

”If thou meet thine enemy’s ox or his ass going astray, thou shalt surely bring it back to him again. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lying under his burden, and wouldest forbear to help him, thou shalt surely help with him. {and…: or, wilt thou cease to help him? or, and wouldest cease to leave thy business for him: thou shalt surely leave it to join with him}” (Exodus 23:4-6)

The Israelite was instructed to assist his enemy, even if it wasn’t his business. The Lord asks his servant, the Israelite, if he will just leave him to his problems. The answer is no. Even if your enemy hates you, you help him in love anyway, a rare command commented on in the OT by churchgoers.

”Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the LORD see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.” (Proverbs 24:17-18)

Celebrating the fall of your enemy’s and all they have is something God despised, something the people of Israel do today. Jesus, on the other hand, has told us to love our neighbors and our enemies. Remember when I said when people read Leviticus 19:18, they only see the immediate context of loving their fellow Israelite neighbor? Well, the verses prior give a deeper meaning behind Leviticus 19:18. With these other verses supporting the fact that our neighbor is our enemy and any other person for that matter. Even in Proverbs 25:21-22, it’s quoted from the wise Solomon at the time that we should feed our enemies. And later by Paul, as he saw the pattern of the Lord Jesus in it. (Romans 12:20)

”If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.”

Jesus himself gave a fuller context for a supposed master of the Torah when asked, “Who was his neighbor?” in the next paragraph mentioned.

”But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour? And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.” (Luke 10:29)

Notice a priest of the Old Law abandoned a helpless man on a road beaten half to death, who, as we just mentioned, was his duty according to the Torah to assist him as it’s his neighbor. This wasn’t his enemy, but even if it was, his obligation would still be left unsaid. A member of the tribe of the Levites also ignored this man and left him for dead. But then Jesus mentions a Samaritan, who by the Jews in that time was shunned because of ethnic purity, like marrying others outside their groups, and that they only believed the first five books of the Torah.

This Samaritan helps his neighbor as the Old Testament taught and as Jesus taught and reinforced too and expanded on. He obeys the Lord thy God as a real Israelite should. Jesus then says to behave in actions as this Samaritan. Clearly God had the same qualities there were in Jesus time as in the older times when there were prophets wandering around. One other OT verse on loving strangers and taking care of them, if you were interested, is Deuteronomy 10:18-19.

“If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.” (Exodus 22:25) God forbids taking advantage of the poor through interest. Something the Pharisees did themselves was abuse the poor widows for personal gain. Jesus condemns them.

”And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, And the chief seats in the synagogues, and the uppermost rooms at feasts: Which devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayers: these shall receive greater damnation.” (Mark 12:38-40)

Christ stood up for the underrepresented and the poor as God commands too in the OT.

“Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.” “But the seventh year thou shalt let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat…” (Exodus 23:6, 11)

The poor were to receive justice and even benefit from the Sabbath year. As Christ himself also said, “And he lifted his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.” (Luke 6:20) Jesus has also mentioned that the poor have all of a Christian’s material wealth given to them in Luke 11:41, 12:33, and 14:33.

A few other verses from the Old Testament on the poor are Leviticus 19:9-10, Leviticus 23:22, Deuteronomy 15:7-11, Deuteronomy 10:18-19, Deuteronomy 14:28-29, Deuteronomy 24:19-22, and Deuteronomy 27:19. All of these were commands from the Lord to support the poor; it was very consistent. Jesus himself was also very consistent on the promotion of helping the poor. I feel I do not need to promote the verses on the poor any further. It is clear the Lord in the OT and the NT were the same.

A final verse to close this spiritual application is from Zechariah 7:9-10. “Execute true judgment, and shew mercy and compassions every man to his brother: And oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor.”

God in the OT and the NT desires the same things, that we as Christians practice true judgment, mercy, and help the poor in all areas. And that we don’t just talk about what God has told us, either in the New or Old Testament, but that we do these things in actions. The evidence provided shows us all that God in the OT and the NT had the same objectives and demands. They were the same being. As John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.” The Word (Jesus) was with God in the very beginning, but at the same time he was God also.

As David in spirit says, “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” (Psalms 110:1)

If David, guided by the Holy Spirit, calls his own descendant “Lord,” then the Messiah must be greater than David, and if David addressed him as Lord, then the LORD of the OT must be the same in the NT. I hope this has helped your understanding of the character of both Lords. Thanks for reading; God be with you in spirit and truth.