Everything from the Old Covenant needs to be interpreted through the New Covenant. In the New Covenant we have 1 Corinthians 13 (Love keeps no record of wrongs, never fails, etc), 1 John 4:7-8 “…Love is of God and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” And the words of Jesus leading up to the cross, “Love your enemies” Luke 6:31.
The New Covenant didn’t change the nature of God, but it did shift how He deals with mankind. “Now, in Christ, we who were afar off have been brought near by His blood” Eph 2:13. The blood of the New Covenant abolished the old covenant (detailed in Ephesians 2) and brought us into adoption as heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ.
We now revisit the old simply to celebrate what the cross and resurrection accomplished. We don’t throw away that glorious New to re-embrace the blind fearful foreboding of the old. I don’t view Old Testament verses on hate as elevated above the New Covenant verses on love. Ephesians 2. The Old Covenant was nailed to the cross. Romans 8. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ has set us free from the law of sin and death. I don’t know what was happening back then to cause them to interpret what they were getting as the hatred of God towards man, but in Christ we get a different picture. If He commands us to love our enemies, what do you think He does with His?
Hebrews 1:3 says Jesus is the exact representation of the Father’s nature. So anything I find in the old covenant that I can’t substantiate in the life of Jesus Christ, we have reason to question. The Old Covenant was one big question to which Jesus is the answer. John 5:35. So I’ll never exalt an old perspective of God over the clear representation of Christ. When you have a contrast between the old and the new you don’t have to try to reinterpret the old, rather simply align with the new and thank Him for it.
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