A lot of people who read the Bible have trouble combining the war-like tendencies of the Old Testament God with the softer New Testament teachings. The God of the Old Testament kills millions of people (the global flood, the firstborn of Egypt, inhabitants of Canaan, etc).
What if you didn’t have the New Testament? What if your version of God was described by just the Old Testament? Why, you might even believe it was your mission to eliminate the non-Jews from the land of Israel – the land given by God to the Jews, a land where genocide was God’s command for accomplishing that goal. This recent video from the BBC talks about how Israel’s military is becoming increasingly controlled by religious zealots who believe they are accomplishing God’s mission by eliminating the Palestinians. They see their mission as an extension of Joshua‘s work.
Tiny Frog 