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Are We Kinder Than God?

Sabbath School Net Posted on by avatar

Mount SinaiDo you avoid the Old Testament because of the  violence which you cannot explain? I mean, the penalties for breaking the laws are really harsh! 

So, dear readers, what do you think? Could we be kinder than God and come up with better results? I am purposely asking questions, rather than providing answers. Let’s think about this together. 

Early in the history of this world, right after the Great Flood that wiped out all of humanity except for a family of eight, God decreed, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” (Gen. 9:6) That’s a mandatory death penalty for murder. Most modern Western countries have decided that that is an unusually cruel punishment, opting instead to imprison the killer for a median time of 15 years in the US. However, many murder cases are plea-bargained to lesser offenses, often resulting in sentences less than a third of the median time. Then the offenders are let back out on the street to re-offend a frightening percentage of the time. That’s a good example of being “kinder than  God.” Or is it?

Statistics show that 1% of the population with 3+ convictions) account for 63% of violent crime convictions in Sweden (1973–2004), a pattern echoed in U.S. studies. How is this even possible? That means that each person let back out on the street after committing a violent crime, including murder, commits more crimes and leaves more victims. 

Let’s stop a moment to correlate those statistics with being “kind.”

  • The violent offenders appear to be receiving the “kindness.”
  • The terrified woman who was raped experiences little kindness.
  • The children left fatherless experience little kindness.
  • The hard-working factory employee who could afford only liability insurance on his stolen car experiences little kindness.
  • The single mother whose husband was murdered experiences little kindness.
  • The family whose house was broken into, with the interior vandalized and valuables stolen, experiences little kindness.
  • The family whose corner store was fire-bombed experiences little kindness.
  • The reporter who was seriously injured and almost killed by a mob experiences little kindness.
  • The mother who weeps over the body of her daughter, who died of an accidental drug overdose, experiences little kindness. 

Due to modern “kindness” towards violent offenders, it seems that they generally spend less than three years in prison. Most violent offenders (95 percent) are plea-bargained (i.e., aggravated assault charges become disorderly conduct convictions, leading to them being quickly released back onto the street. 

Compare that to the laws during the time Israel was directly ruled by God as a “theocracy.”

  • There were no prisons. Instead, the following penalties applied:
  • Murder: Death, with a provision to flee to a City of Refuge if it was involuntary manslaughter. Gen. 9:6; Ex. 21:12. 
  • Assault causing injury: Restitution for damages (e.g., medical costs, lost wages) if the victim survives; death penalty if the injury leads to death.
    Ex. 21:18-19.
  • Kidnapping (to sell as a slave): Death Ex. 21:16; Deut. 24:7.
  • Striking or cursing parents: Death. Ex. 21:15, 17; Lev. 20:9. 
  • Rape: Death if the victim is engaged or married. Deut. 22:25-27; 
    A fine, if the victim was unmarried, and the man must marry the woman and could never divorce her. Deut. 22:28, 29. 
  • Adultery: Death for both partners. Deut. 22:22.
  • False witness: The false witness received the punishment the victim would have received. Deut. 19:16-19

Yes, the penalties above look “harsh” to modern eyes, and that’s why modern Christians may prefer to read the New Testament with the “meek and mild Jesus,” forgetting that the Jehovah/Yahweh of the Old Testament was the pre-incarnate Son of God Himself. (Compare John 8:58-59 with Exodus 3:13-15)

But what about the innocent victims of crime committed by repeat offenders? Are they not treated harshly when they have not committed any crime?

So, what do you think? Are our modern man-made laws kinder than the laws God gave to Israel? 

Why do you think that the laws God gave to Israel were so “harsh”?

What factors should we consider in making  a comparison?

Abbreviated Bibliography:

Note: These are relatively old statistics. As most readers can observe, violence has increased dramatically during the last 10 years or so, and more contemporary statistics might look worse. 

“Recidivism Among Federal Violent Offenders,” United States Sentencing Commission. Accessed October 26, 2025.

“The 1% of the population accountable for 63% of all violent crime convictions,”  PubMed, October 31, 2012. Accessed October 26, 2025.

“Violent Offenders Drive Crime and Incarceration,” Crime in America, February 4, 2019. Accessed October 26, 2025.

“When few do great harm,” Patterns in Humanity, April 23, 2023, Accessed October 26, 2025.

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Comments

Are We Kinder Than God? — 14 Comments

  1. Inge, I like your article! It definitely puts the issue in perspective however, you forgot to mention that countries that are tough on criminal offenders generally have less crime. In the United States and other Western nations it seems that the justice system is favoring the criminals rights over and above the victims rights. Therefore victims become twice victimized, once by the criminal, and the second time by the justice system's response. That makes the contrast between God's justice and American "justice" even starker!

    Repeat offenders should not be allowed back into society. Many of them are sociopathic and have no remorse for their crimes or victims. Case in point the person who stabbed that young girl in the neck on the mass transit system in Charlotte, N.C., and she bled to death while others around her did nothing. He had been a repeat offender over 50 times. His own family said that he was a menace to society and should be kept off the streets.

    A reprobate society doesn't want accountability or justice. They want to do what they want to do and consequences be damned. "Poor Johnny, he came from a broken family!" There are plenty of "broken families that have turned out upstanding citizens because their parent or parents weren't afraid to discipline them in their formative years.

    To the question, "Can we be kinder than God?", I must say, we are only fooling ourselves if we think so. God is not mocked, whatever a person, or country sows they shall reap. The pagans and secular humanists don't realize this principle is true. For too long we (humanity) have sown the wind. Now we are reaping the whirlwind.

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    • So it seems your answer to the question in my title is, "No."

      You nudged me to remember what a missionary couple shared almost 50 years ago. They had spent time in Singapore, which then had extremely strict laws, not far removed from the biblical laws I mentioned. From the news I had received a very bad impression of Singapore - as though it were a very primitive aka unsafe country. But they loved Singapore! They said it was the cleanest and safest city they had ever been in. You could leave a purse sitting on a park bench in the afternoon and pick it up the next day, untouched. (Public caning was the penalty for theft, as well as imprisonment and restitution.) They said that the city was nearly crime-free. At that time, it was probably #1 in the world for low crime rate.

      In the meantime, Singapore laws may have relaxed a little, and I now see it is #2 for exceptionally low crime, after Tokyo (efficient law enforcement), with Singapore listed with the comment, "Strict laws yield near-zero tolerance; excels in personal safety." Some lists put Taipei, Taiwan at the top, with "low petty crime."

      The bottom line appears to be that fewer people suffer with strict laws for crime and the country enjoys a more peaceful and friendly atmosphere.

      Contrast that with the atmosphere of fear and violence that was, until recently, the situation in the US capital. I understand that, after a renewed implementation of strict law enforcement, the capital city is again as I remember it from more than 50 years ago -- a beautiful city where tourists can stroll unmolested.

      If trying to be kinder than God doesn't work today, perhaps it should help us understand why and God dealt strictly with rebellions people groups in the past.

      Does anyone else have experiences to share?

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      • I am from Ghana, west Africa.
        When my parents and their parents were children,there were laws. One of them I wish to touch on is the law on sexual immorality.
        When a person impregnated a teenager, they were cast off from society. There were rituals they performed to bid them farewell from the village,town or city into an unknown destination. This was done amidst hooting and shaming the individuals.
        Then as time progressed,from the days I was a child to now,the society gradually became accepting of teenage pregnancy, and now it is one of the prevalent menaces that our country has to deal with.
        Question is, if the laws had been enforced from my parents time to now, will teenage pregnancy be a menace to our country? No!

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        • Thank you for sharing.

          God actually provided an example of what happens when crimes go unpunished: He allowed the first murderer to live, and that resulted in the world becoming populated with an evil and depraved race that threatened the existence of the few faithful believers left on this planet. So God finally had to wipe out the whole population.

          Your description of practices regarding teenage pregnancy has me wondering. You mention someone "who impregnated a teenager." Were the males actually held responsible? To me that indicate a very strong sense of morals, because in most societies only the pregnant girls were ostracized.

          Contemplating such treatment makes us shudder. However, you are right, if the culture had remained strong in condemning pregnancy outside of marriage, it would not happen very often even now. And that would mean that children would grow up in the security of having both a mother and a father in the home.

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  2. I don't think we should or can be kinder than God. That being said, I get a little uncomfortable when people try to hold up the judicial system of the Old Testament as the ideal. There are a few things that we do need to keep in mind
    1. As a theocracy with the high priest who wore the urim and thummin, Israel had a direct line to God. If there was a complicated case, God could be consulted. Hence there was no chance of a miscarriage of justice.
    2. It was absolutely crucial as a nation that Israel be pure as they were to be a light that drew people to truth and ultimately the Messiah. I feel that's why there were so many sentences of death for so many crimes. God could not allow evil to root itself in the nation and harsh measures were needed. That is why I would not support the death penalty for say, homosexuality or adultery today. There is no theocracy now and thus those penalties do not apply. Paul seems to agree as he only urges the Corinthians to expel the immoral brother of I Corinthians 5. He never urges him to be killed. (Of course, the Corinthians would not likely have been able to do that anyway, but neither does he appeal for urging the Romans to make their laws more like Israel). We also have the example of Jesus' treatment of the woman caught in adultery which was certainly a sham trial as the man was not there, but Jesus never said, go get the man and stone them both.
    3. Many of the laws do reflect the values of the world that Israel was a part of. Slavery is a key example. I don't believe it was ever God's will but He regulated it through laws. There are other examples I could mention. For example, a woman who was found to not be a virgin was to be put to death. There is no equivalent punishment for men. Is that because God only cares whether women are sexually pure? I doubt it. I feel to some extent it reflects societal standards of the times.

    I have commented before about capital punishment which I do oppose, not so much in principle but because it is vulnerable to errors and miscarriages in justice, especially in regard to racial minorities and the poor. I won't rehash some of my ideas here, but I know that some people believe in it because of the Old Testament system.

    However, I would remind all of us that in Israel's system, 2 or 3 witnesses were necessary to convict for a crime. One was not enough and obviously circumstantial evidence was also not enough. Many people in the US have been sentenced to death on a lower standard than that and that's especially the case for those in the groups I mentioned above.

    I personally am glad that the death penalty has been eliminated in my country, Canada, and many others. I don't think it's about being kinder than God, but in our imperfect world, it is very risky to kill people for crimes. Innocent people have been executed and will continue to be. Now that doesn't mean murderers should be released in 15 years. I don't agree with that. There should be some balance.

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    • Thank you, Christina, for providing more context. It demonstrates further how really just God's laws were.

      I suspect that the Urim and Thummin did not often need to be consulted in cases such as murder, because of the requirement of at least two witnesses. Would the miscarriage of justice in modern times, which you reference, happen if the same criteria were applied?

      Yes, some of the laws reflected the culture of the time, and God ensured that the standards of His people were more humane. Slaves were protected in that if they were injured by their owners, they were automatically set free. They were also able to earn their freedom, and they were included in the blessings of the Sabbath. They were treated as people.

      It also seems clear that the laws applied to the nation, directly ruled by God. In New Testament times, we are told that God sets up rulers to govern society - hopefully through just laws.

      That said, are there principles we can abstract for guiding our families and our churches?

      You mention

      It was absolutely crucial as a nation that Israel be pure as they were to be a light that drew people to truth and ultimately the Messiah

      Is that any different than the commission given to us?

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      • I think if only people who were seen to commit a murder by 2 or more people were executed, I would be a lot more comfortable with the death penalty. It should ensure that only the most certain crimes received that penalty. Even then, it would depend on a nation being righteous. After all, Jezebel used that standard to ensure that Naboth died. The fact that black people are much more likely to be sentenced to death than white people in the US leads me to believe that there is at least some level of bias going on there. It may be a "Christian" nation, but practice doesn't always match profession.

        I would agree that as Christians our commission is no different from Israel. This is why Paul urged the Corinthians to expel the immoral brother. The church needs to be pure. But it isn't up to the government to enforce that purity and it doesn't seem like the New Testament ever encourages us to put to death anyone. As the church and state were never to be joined again, I assume that is why.

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        • Hi Christina
          From your comments I perceive that you are Canadian. I am an American citizen. In this country, the percentage of blacks committing crimes in relationship to the percentage of blacks in this country is higher than most ethnic groups. So, please do not talk about bias. I am a black woman and my son is in law enforcement. I have observed the leniency of the system in regards to black crime. It has not prevented crime but encouraged it.

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          • You are probably correct about the percentages being higher, though I wonder if income levels were also taken into account if the numbers would show differently.

            It's certainly not my intention to critique another country that is not my own, but I have read enough stories about the death penalty in the deep south to have a sense that slavery transitioned to lynching which transitioned to a high level of capital punishment for African Americans. The reality is that a white person is very rarely executed for killing a black person, but when a black person kills a white person, the death penalty is used much more. I think there is bias in that. There are some pretty awful cases in history - two that come to my mind are 14 year old George Stinney who was executed after a 2 hour trial where the evidence was very circumstantial and Johnny McMillian, who was sentenced to death by a judicial override and was later cleared. Was there racism involved in these cases? I am sure there was. And there are many others.

            In a human world, there is always bias. The rich will escape punishment more than the poor too and God was against that. That's why we need to be so careful in our judgments.

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        • Thank you for your feedback, Christina. It adds valuable context to my questions.

          Just to be clear: In my post I was not advocating for bringing back Sinaitic "judgments" as laws in a modern secular setting.

          Instead, I wanted us to consider the impact on society of attempting to improve upon God's laws. Secularists and even Christians appear to believe that the Old Testament God was harsh and cruel. Yet, I think that the record demonstrates that laws that are "kinder" to offenders have the net result of causing a great deal more death and suffering to the rest of the population.

          Just yesterday, I again heard the claim from a government official that 1% of the US population commits 90% of the crimes. That makes me think that eliminating the possibility of the 1% re-offending would make the US a much safer place for all citizens.

          But most of all, I would like us to recognize that God's judgments are not opposed to His love. In fact, His judgment on evil demonstrates His desire to have a happy, holy and healthy people.

          I agree 100% that the purity of God's people is not the business of the government.

          Thank you for the conversation!

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  3. Many struggle with the apparent harshness of God’s judgments in the Old Testament, yet as Ellen G. White reminds us, the difference lies not in God’s character, but in our perception.

    “The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament. The one is not a God of mercy, and the other a God of justice. God is one and the same at all times.”
    — Ellen G. White, Signs of the Times, May 2, 1895

    The same Jesus who said, “Love your enemies,” was the One who gave Israel laws to protect holiness and life. His judgments were never acts of cruelty, but expressions of divine mercy mingled with justice to restrain evil, protect the innocent, and preserve righteousness among His people.

    Our modern sense of “kindness” often spares the guilty while wounding the innocent. God’s “harsh” laws, when viewed through spiritual eyes, reveal a deeper kindness a love that refuses to let sin destroy humanity.

    “It is the spirit of the age to excuse sin, to make light of evil; but the Lord requires His people to stand in defense of truth and righteousness.”
    — Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 417

    The problem is not that God has changed, but that our eyes have lost spiritual clarity. Christ counsels us to “anoint our eyes with eyesalve, that we may see” (Revelation 3:18). When we view the Old Testament through the lens of Calvary, we realize that the same love that died on the cross also spoke from Sinai.
    God’s justice and mercy are not opposites they are two sides of the same holy love.

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    • Thank you very much, Hillary, for expressing my point possibly more clearly than I did!

      I believe that discussions like this help us to gain clarity on the character of God and the damage caused by sin.

      Beverly Joseph also added context to this discussion in his comment on Friday's lesson.

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      • Romans 1:20 (TEV) — “Ever since God created the world, His invisible qualities both His eternal power and His divine nature have been clearly seen; they are perceived in the things that God has made. So those people have no excuse at all.”

        From the beginning, God’s purpose in creation was to reveal His character, power, and love. His signature is written upon every leaf of the forest, every stone of the mountain, and every shining star. The heavens and the earth proclaim His wisdom and glory. The order and harmony in nature gave Adam and Eve continual evidence of God’s infinite power and divine care.

        In nature, they were to find not only beauty but also lessons of character, medicine for the body, and food for their physical and spiritual strength all designed to draw their hearts in gratitude and praise to the Creator.

        By studying the created world, humanity was to recognize God’s divine order and learn valuable lessons from His works:

        From the ants and bees, the power of unity and cooperation.

        From the sheep, the spirit of humility and trust.

        From the sun and moon, the faithfulness of service to others and loyalty to divine purpose.

        In the first five days of creation, God prepared the earth as a perfect home so that when man was created, he would immediately see that all life depends on God alone. The sun and moon were made for light and service, not for worship. Thus God established a clear distinction between the Creator and His creation, warning humanity against idolatry (Romans 1:25; Exodus 20:4).

        All the laws of nature operated in perfect harmony. Every creature obeyed the divine order, setting an example for Adam and Eve, who were also called to live in obedience. As David declared, “Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord” (Psalm 150:6).

        God’s purpose was for humanity to live joyfully in a world of peace in harmony with creation and in obedience to their Creator. When man was finally formed in God’s image on the sixth day, everything was ready for him to experience divine fellowship. Then came the Sabbath a day of rest, blessing, and communion between God and man.

        The Sabbath was to be a continual reminder of the Creator’s love and the unity that bound heaven and earth together. Yet the violation of this unity through disobedience would bring disastrous consequences. Sadly, Eve young in experience forgot the significance of remaining close to the Creator, especially on the Sabbath. Wandering from His presence, she fell within Satan’s reach and was deceived.

        This shows that true Sabbath blessings are experienced only when we abide in Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath. Without His presence in our hearts, the Sabbath becomes merely a form without power. But when Christ dwells within, every Sabbath and every day becomes a living testimony of God’s creative and redemptive power.

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  4. "I mean, the penalties for breaking the laws[of God] are really harsh!"

    This is only "asking questions"? Looks like a declaration to me.;-) Our only need is to understand the Old Testament in the light of Revelation 15:2-4, which will be sung by those who know God best, the "pure in heart"(Matthew 5:8).

    Yes, I'm more familiar with your understanding of this topic, but how we "set the table" for public discussion has the ability to create bias if we are not careful.

    I have no further thoughts on this topic of discussion, which comes with God's will clearly expressed, vs fallen mankind's "better ideas". God was offering to lead a nation, but we have no record of any nation following Him. This gives rise to speculations and human reasoning, while the Will of the LORD from His own mouth remains for us to consider. Not being a Theocracy in a fallen world changes the circumstances doesn't it? You also have nations ruled by corrupt leaders. What does the Word of God advise believers in such cases? This is our reality(Daniel 12:10)!

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