Many people struggle with certain Old Testament commands that appear harsh or brutal.

Does this contradict the character of God revealed in 1 John 4:8 — “God is love”?

God’s severe commands were not contradictions of love, but expressions of justice, mercy, and protection for humanity.

I. GOD’S CHARACTER IS LOVE — ALWAYS

Key Text: 1 John 4:8
• The foundation: God is love in essence, character, motive, and action.
• All His commands flow from love—even when they are severe.

EGW:

“In every act of God toward His people, His love was expressed.”
— Steps to Christ, p. 21

Transition: If God is love, then why do we see commands that look harsh?

II. GOD’S JUDGMENTS COME ONLY AFTER LONG MERCY

Key Texts:
• Genesis 15:16 — “The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.”
• 2 Chronicles 36:15–16 — They mocked the prophets “till there was no remedy.”

Points
1. God waited over 400 years before judging Canaan.
2. God sent prophet after prophet.
3. Judgment came only when mercy was exhausted.

EGW:

“The patience of God had long been abused and His mercy despised.”
— Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 492

Illustration:
A judge is patient, but when someone refuses mercy, the final decision is not cruelty but justice.

III. SEVERE COMMANDS WERE ACTS OF PROTECTION

Key Text: Deuteronomy 20:18
To prevent Israel from learning the abominations of Canaan.

Points
1. The Canaanites practiced child sacrifice, violence, sorcery, and moral corruption.
2. If Israel absorbed their ways, the whole plan of salvation would collapse.
3. God was preserving a covenant people through whom Christ would come.

EGW:

“It was necessary that the land be cleared of those whose continued presence would imperil the salvation of the world.”
— Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 492

Illustration:
A surgeon removes diseased tissue to save the whole body. The act may seem harsh, but it is done out of love.

IV. GOD WORKED WITH A FALLEN WORLD, NOT HIS IDEAL WORLD

Key Text: Matthew 19:8
“Because of the hardness of your hearts…”

Points
1. Some OT commands were not God’s ideal but accommodations to human hardness.
2. God leads people step by step toward His ultimate design.
3. This includes warfare laws, slavery regulations, and certain punishments.

EGW:

“God had to deal with men as they were, not as He desired them to be.”
— Signs of the Times, Aug 25, 1887

Illustration:
A teacher adjusts her methods to the level of the students. Not every accommodation reflects her ideal, but it leads them there.

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V. GOD’S “HARSH COMMANDS” POINT TO A GOD WHO IS JUST AND MERCIFUL

Key Texts:
• Ezekiel 33:11 — God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked.
• Isaiah 28:21 — Judgment is God’s “strange act.”

Points
1. God’s first desire is always to save, not destroy.
2. When destruction comes, it is foreign to His heart.
3. Judgment is an act of mercy to stop the spread of evil.

EGW:

“His strange work is to destroy.”
— Maranatha, p. 62

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VI. JESUS REVEALS THAT GOD’S HEART HAS ALWAYS BEEN LOVE

Key Texts:
• John 14:9 — “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.”
• Hebrews 1:3 — Jesus is the “express image” of God.

Points
1. Jesus shows that the Father is gentle, forgiving, patient, and merciful.
2. Whatever is not like Jesus was not God’s ideal—it was God working within humanity’s brokenness.
3. The Old Testament judgments were temporary measures in a fallen world.

EGW:

“Christ came to reveal God as a God of love.”
— Steps to Christ, p. 11

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CONCLUSION: NO CONTRADICTION — ONLY A DEEPER REVELATION OF LOVE

Summary:
• God’s harsh commands did not come from cruelty but from:
1. Delayed justice after long mercy.
2. Protection of His people and the plan of salvation.
3. Accommodation to human hardness, not God’s ideal.
4. A desire to limit evil, not promote violence.

Appeal
• When you don’t understand God’s actions, trust His heart.
• The same God who judged sin is the God who died for sinners.
• Jesus is the ultimate proof that God’s love never contradicts His justice.