Which God Will Save Mr. Black

If you bothered to watch Lewis Black's routine, then you basically know that Biblical creationists are "[bleeping] nuts". So be it. The fairy tale story made for adults called evolution is just plain fact. No dispute. You must cast off any thought and follow his dogma. So I'll skip that portion of the routine. His next part is so commonly repeated by those who do not carefully read either the Old or New Testaments, that I think it needs to be looked at. He says in this clip [be warned, he is vulgar and blasphemous].

Now there is a big difference between the Old Testament and New Testament and that is the New Testament God is really kind of a great guy. He is. Especially when you compare Him to the Old Testament God...

I don't know what happened to God you know over time. How He matured. If He went to an anger management class...

Basically, this is the idea usually put forth by atheists [who originally got it from liberal scholarship] that the God of the Old Testament is a different God from the New Testament. Now there are scholarly reason for thinking this. In fact, there are scholarly reasons for thinking there is a different God portrayed in different parts of the Old Testament. So the unbelieving scholarly views of the number of gods in the Old Testament could possibly never end depending upon the never ending false presuppositions every scholar could evaluate the text by.

In the popular realm, basically what is argued is that the God of the Old Testament is just a meanie. Just look at all of those passages in the Old Testament where God has the Israelites wipe out entire groups of people including every dog and cat they may have possessed. However, the New Testament God is just all-loving and wouldn't hurt a fly.

Now in order to think this way, we must only produce those texts which support our view. We must ignore the vast amount of texts that clearly show the opposite. For instance, in the Old Testament God promises to send mankind a Savior. We have seen this in the protoevangelium.

Gen 3:15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel."

In speaking to Abraham God promises salvation.

Gen 12:2 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing;
Gen 12:3 And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

Perhaps Mr. Black missed Deuteronomy 28 and the blessings promised to those who do what God commands. I have no doubt he is aware of the cursed part. Perhaps he missed all of those passages where the people cry out to God for deliverance in the Exodus and throughout the book of Judges.

What about the passage that speaks of God sending a suffering servant to bear the sins of His people in Isaiah 53?

Isa 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
Isa 53:6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.

Of course, this has no meaning for Mr. Black since he obviously does not realize his own wickedness.

In Psalm 37 God promises to rid the land of the wicked. Wouldn't it be a fantastic world in which evil no longer exists. Unless of course you are a blasphemer like Mr. Black.

God promises to renew the heavens and the earth in Isaiah 65 and bring justice at the end of the age. How terrible He is for doing such great things.

Mr. Black does not seem to realize that God has been very patient with him. Does Mr. Black truly think he is so righteous that he could stand in the Day of Judgment? Of course not. So what is Mr. Black's solution. Let me give you a hint. His atheistic evolutionary view of the world helps him to explain somebody away.

However, Mr. Black's erroneous view doesn't stop there. He also misses chunks of the New Testament. For instance in Peter's second epistle (a Jew by the way), he wrote,

2Pe 3:3 Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts,
2Pe 3:4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation."
2Pe 3:5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,
2Pe 3:6 through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.
2Pe 3:7 But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

I wonder if Mr. Black has ever considered this text. God certainly doesn't sound like someone he could bear hug and give sloppy kisses. Perhaps he would consider the words of Jesus (yikes, another Jew!).

Luk 13:3 "I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Luk 13:4 "Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?
Luk 13:5 "I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

We could sit here all day and produce text after text to demonstrate that the God of the New Testament is a meanie as well. There is something more important, though, than just citing texts. We must understand the contexts of these texts. The destruction of nations in the Old Testament are all shadows of a coming Day of Judgment. All of these texts have as their background that man is a wicked rebellious sinner needing a Savior. It is God who takes the initiative to save man from his true problems, sin and death.

It truly is my hope and prayer that those who think in this worldview as Mr. Black does, would by the grace of God come to recognize their sin and guilt in Adam. That death is approaching. That evolution is not true, and that they will face the wrath of God in the Day of Wrath.

There will be a New Heavens and a New Earth in which only righteousness dwells. There is a Day coming when the Son of God will appear in all His glory and raise the dead, judge the world and make all things new. I will end with Jesus' words.

Joh 5:24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
Joh 5:25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
Joh 5:26 "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;
Joh 5:27 and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
Joh 5:28 "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
Joh 5:29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.