The Old Testament is filled with many examples that demonstrate how God has always been loving to sinners and how he has always saved them by grace and not by any other means. God dealt particularly with Israel and Judah as his chosen people; however in the Old Testament we see that the behavior of this God with Israel and Judah was not a preferential act but rather a referential one. God is also exhibited in the Old Testament honoring the repentant gentiles who humbled themselves and turned in worship to him.
The book of Jonah gives an account of God’s judgment against the Assyrians and of their repentance upon hearing God’s warning through Jonah. Seeing their repentance, God deferred the execution of His judgment. “So the people of Nineveh [the capital of Assyria] believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
“And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, ‘Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn everyone from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands.
“‘Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from His fierce anger that we perish not?’ And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that He had said that He would do unto them, and He did it not” (Jonah 3:5-10).
Yes, the Lord God of the Old Testament, Who later became Jesus Christ of the New Testament, was a God of mercy and loving kindness. He extended grace and forgiveness to all those who repented, whether Israelite, Jew or Gentile. This account in the book of Jonah is most significant because it shows that God has always required all nations; not only Israel and Judah to keep His commandments. The character of God NEVER changes!
He is still a loving and gracious God who wants all sinners to repent and be saved even in their dying moments like the thief at the cross. It is never too late for any sinner to be saved if that sinner still has his breathe and conscience. As we have seen in the Old Testament examples; God extended his love and grace freely to both individuals and nations. Individuals and nations who earnestly and humbly sought his face and favor.
God granted His grace to Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the children of Israel, the Ninevites, David, and even kings Ahab and Manasseh when they repented of their wickedness.
The Scriptures also record God’s grace and blessings to those women who sought His favor, including Abraham’s wife Sarah, Genesis 21:6-7, Hebrews 11:11, Ruth the Moabitess Ruth 1:16; 2:12, and Hannah, the mother of Samuel 1Samuel 1:10-19. The entire Old Testament is a demonstration of God’s gracious kindness and mercy.
However, the grace and mercy which God granted during Old Testament times was in most cases limited to physical deliverance and material blessings. The Scriptures reveal that only a few in Old Testament times received God’s Holy Spirit and were granted the grace of God unto eternal salvation. Nevertheless, God’s blessing and grace was extended bountifully in the physical realm for those who loved God and kept His commandments. And mercy and forgiveness was extended to all who repented from the heart.
The Old Testament is a history of those who sought God with all their hearts, and received God’s grace and blessing, as opposed to those who rejected God’s grace and blessing, and heaped to themselves punishment and wrath for their grievous sins.
iTiS Well of Worship Fellowship (John 4:24) 