As well as bestowing kindness to his followers he is equally just and punishes his enemies severely. Showing no compassion for his enemies improves his position of being good to his people and therefore giving them someone to have faith in. When God says ‘worship no other God but me’ it shows God offering him to be a role model for them.
The goodness of God is seen in all of the natural pleasures, which he has provided for his creatures. He could have satisfied our hunger for example without giving us the pleasure of taste.
All of these factors support the idea that God has many good traits to his character; on the other hand does he have any bad traits. Many people have the common view that God is loving, kind and benevolent and does not have any negative qualities. This may not be the case.
We know that God is omnipotent and has immeasurable power so it is possible that he could use it against the common good and possess a threat to mankind. In Exodus God set out the guidelines by which all men should follow, yet in the same chapter as the ten commandments he contradicts himself by saying ‘I, the Lord am a jealous God’ .God tells us not to covet. If we were to covet a neighbour’s property it would be seen as jealousy.
There are many other places where he contradicts his own rules such as ‘…the Lord struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of cattle.’ This clearly defies the commandment not to kill. There is another idea that God thinks himself too powerful to be interacted with on a personal level by a person ‘ if God speaks to us then we shall die’.
God offers goodness to all people, however if his generosity goes unnoticed he can become angered. Praying to him and living according to his will creates a relationship between both parties and this covenant shows the nature of God to be fair as he offers them something that no money can buy.
On the whole there are many implications suggesting that God has both bad and good qualities. He cannot be described as perfect or infallible as he is changing and his manifestation appears different to many different people, Christians, Jews and many others. The Old Testament does differ in its interpretation of the goodness of God but the underlying message is the same. If one was to consider God’s goodness in the form of Jesus on Earth, similarities will start to occur in that Jesus defied the standard practices of the time and did many unconventional things, such as healing on the Sabbath, all in the interests of serving God and living by the ten commandments. Much in the same way as God contradicting himself for our own well-being.
