Have you ever wondered why so many biblical passages seem to paint a God of love as the author of floods, plagues, and even the destruction of entire nations?
In our most recent podcast, Who Really Killed Jesus?, we discovered that Scripture consistently points to human (and even satanic) responsibility for Christ’s death, rather than a bloodthirsty God demanding it. This raises a profound tension for Bible students: Once we come to understand that God didn’t kill Jesus, how do then we reconcile those Old Testament accounts that credit God with massive acts of violence against His own creation?
Before we dive into our upcoming podcast episode, How the Cross Defeated Sin and Death, next week, let’s explore an important question that could help unlock our understanding of God’s character. Namely, could much of the Old Testament’s violence directed towards humanity have been misattributed to God while Satan stayed quietly in the background? By the end of this article, I hope you’ll see how this perspective bridges what we learned about who killed Jesus and paves the way for understanding Christ’s ultimate victory over evil.
Why Is Satan Missing in Much of the Old Testament?
When we open the Old Testament, it often seems like God is the direct cause of every event, whether blessing or catastrophe. That’s because ancient Israelites had a largely monistic worldview, where everything was attributed to one (“monos”) hand, that is, God’s hand. Ancient Judaism admittedly lacked the clear concept of an evil spiritual being actively working against them and thwarting their efforts behind the scenes. In other words, there was no well-developed understanding of Satan’s role, which obviously allowed many destructive acts to be credited to God by default. (For more, check out the Jewish Encyclopedia’s entry on “Satan” here. It is definitely worth a read if you are interested in this topic.)
However, if you look closely, you’ll find just a handful of Old Testament passages that explicitly name Satan: Job 1–2, Zechariah 3:1-2, and 1 Chronicles 21:1. Yet, these are anomalies in an otherwise monistic narrative that spans much of the Old Testament. It is not a stretch to suggest that ancient Israel lacked clarity about spiritual warfare, let alone the true intentions of Satan, that Jesus later revealed so clearly.
Remember what we discovered in last week’s podcast epsiode: humans, not God, were ultimately responsible for crucifying Jesus. This begs the question: Could something similar be happening in the Old Testament where nearly all of the violence is pinned on God, yet the actual force behind it is something darker, something the ancient writers weren’t equipped to see?
This idea will naturally lead us into next week’s discussion on How the Cross Defeated Sin and Death. Because if Satan really is the hidden destroyer in Scripture (just as Jesus so clearly unveils), it makes perfect sense that the cross is where God most decisively exposed and overcame him. I believe this perspective has the power to revolutionize how we see the entire biblical narrative, from Genesis to Revelation.
Jesus Reveals the True Destroyer
When we turn to the life and teachings of Jesus, we see an obvious, yet rather shocking, shift from the Old Testament’s tendency to attribute all events (both good and evil) to God. By contrast, Jesus explicitly identifies someone else as the true destroyer. In John 10:10, He contrasts His own mission of bringing life with that of a malevolent enemy, saying, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life.” Notice that Jesus doesn’t say God steals or kills. Instead, He says that it is the work of the thief.
Then we read in Hebrews 2:14 that the power of death belongs to the devil, not God. This idea is reinforced in Luke 13:16, where Jesus heals a woman and directly states that it was Satan who had bound her, not God punishing her.
Clearly, this is very different from those Old Testament narratives where violence is pinned squarely on the Lord. Jesus flips that script, unveiling Satan as the ultimate thief and destroyer of life.
Reading the Old Testament Through the Lens of the Cross
One of the most empowering ways for a Christian to reconcile the Old Testament’s violent portrayals of God is through what theologians call the Christus Victor, or spiritual warfare, view of atonement. Put simply, it means rather than blaming God for human evil, we recognize that at the cross, God absorbs humanity’s violence and evil deeds and overcomes them through self-giving love. In this view, the real culprit behind destruction and death isn’t God. Rather it’s sin, satanic forces, and the brokenness of creation.
NOTE: I strongly recommend Gustaf Aulen’s book, Christus Victor, for those who want to go deeper into this topic.
Let’s move on to consider the Exodus plagues. Any straightforward literal reading suggests God Himself was tormenting the Egyptians through homicidal violence of their children, their people, and even their animals. But looked at through a spiritual warfare lens, much of that destruction could stem from demonic or natural forces of chaos, forces the biblical writers didn’t yet know how to name. They simply assumed, by default, that the Lord was behind every disaster.
Or take the story of the Flood. It’s often described as God’s mass extermination of His own creation after an act of repentance (or changed his mind). Yet when you align that with Jesus’ revelation of a loving, rescuing God (not a destroyer), it’s easier to see how the Flood might reflect the catastrophic consequences unleashed by humanity’s own wickedness, which the ancient authors then credited directly to God. In other words, the Old Testament writers lacked the clarity Jesus would later bring: that God’s heart is to save, not destroy. God comes to bring life and to redeem us from the destroyer who seeks our death.
Common Objections & Honest Responses
Q: “Aren’t we undermining the Bible’s authority?”
A: Not at all. In fact, we’re honoring Scripture by reading it in the light of Jesus’ life and teaching, which is something even He encouraged (Luke 24:27). The Old Testament provides a genuine record of humanity’s spiritual journey, but it’s a progressive revelation that culminates in Christ (Hebrews 1:1–2). We’re not discarding any part of Scripture; we’re simply allowing Jesus to be the ultimate interpreter of God’s character.
Q: “Why didn’t God correct this misunderstanding sooner?”
A: God’s been working with flawed, limited human beings for millennia. He accommodates our cultural and theological blind spots, gently guiding us toward deeper truth. Just like a loving parent meets a child at their developmental stage, God patiently brought humanity along until the moment was right for Jesus to appear. The clearest revelation of God’s nature, which always assumes the form of nonviolent, self-giving love, arrived when we were ready to see it.
Q: “If God doesn’t use violence, how will evil be punished?”
A: Great question! The short answer is that God’s way of confronting evil looks radically different from our human instincts of payback or retribution. We’ll explore that next week in How the Cross Defeated Sin and Death, examining how the cross itself reveals a transformative, powerful alternative to violence. Stay tuned!
Practical Takeaways: Moving from Fear to Trust
One of the most liberating aspects of embracing a God who always looks like Jesus is that it removes the terror we sometimes feel when reading violent Old Testament passages. We realize that God has never been split in personality. We no longer see God changing from a vengeful deity in the Old Testament to a suddenly gentle deity in the New. Instead, He’s always been a loving Father, who’s intentions have been misunderstood by a broken humanity. This is true, even if humanity and the biblical writers didn’t fully recognize it yet.
This fresh view of God also transforms the way we read Scripture. Instead of ignoring difficult (read: violent) Old Testament stories or forcing them to align with an angry God, we keep Christ’s character at the forefront at all times. When we encounter a depiction of divine violence that doesn’t seem to match Jesus, we pause, ask questions, and remember that the Old Testament is part of a progressive revelation. In other words, it’s telling the story of how God has patiently guided people’s understanding over time, culminating in Jesus’ definitive display of self-giving love on the cross.
So, take heart! God is not unpredictable, and He’s certainly not out to do harm to His own creation. Instead, His love for you runs deeper than you can imagine.
And if you’re wondering how God ultimately deals with evil without resorting to violent methods, hang tight. In next week’s podcast episode, we’ll delve into How the Cross Defeated Sin and Death, exploring how the cross itself becomes God’s ultimate act of confronting and conquering evil through love and sacrifice, rather than resorting to the methods of the evil one.
Conclusion
The Old Testament’s violent attributions to God may reflect a time before humanity had clarity about spiritual warfare. Jesus, however, reveals the real destroyer to be Satan and shows us the true heart of God: redemption, not destruction. God is love, life, and light, which naturally all triumph over hate, death, and darkness.
If you’ve got lingering questions about Old Testament violence or the notion that Satan might be lurking behind it, please drop a comment below or send us a message on our website. And don’t miss next week’s podcast episode, How the Cross Defeated Sin and Death, where we’ll explore the final triumph of divine, nonviolent love in the face of evil.
Blessings!
Founder – TrueRichesAcademy.com
