Moses formulated his own image of God (in violation of the very essence of Exodus 20:4) thus believed God is like humans who feel love is ‘you must do what I want’ [rather than giving others the space in which ‘they can do what they want and still I love them’] and conveyed into the readers this weak image of God who takes revenge/laments for not being loved. Thus OT image of God is someone who is actively involved in the responses of people on earth.
However, Jesus conveyed the truth about God when he said God makes provisions for life’s enjoyment equally for all types of people alike (Mathew 5:44-47) as He wishes good for all people [benevolence for its own sake] and renews the same in case they are depleted/destroyed (Mathew 19:28) with no intervention whatsoever in between. Thus Jesus presented an image of God who is not actively involved in the responses of people on earth because there is a guiding mechanism already in place—externally and internally.
- External: People can easily choose their course of action looking at the results available in plenty because anyone can see the chain of action in anyone’s case: destiny is the result of habit, and habit is the result of tendency, and tendency is the result of repeated action, and action is the result of thinking and thinking is the result of belief system, and belief system is the result of family, religion, country … into which one is born. That means there is a starting point and an end point for anything that happens—small or big. What is true of individual is also true of nations (individuals collective). Anyone can change for good or bad and reap accordingly.
- Internal: Researchers from the universities of Coventry and Radboud, through 18 studies — featuring 846 participants over 11 years—found that relaxation activities as improving “physical health by causing observable molecular changes in the form of differential gene expression.” (http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fimmu.2017.00670/full) Simply put, stress [which is one’s choice] causes molecular reactions in DNA bringing ill-effects, and relaxation activities [which are one’s choice] reverse molecular reactions in DNA bringing good-effects. One can choose the type of thinking that either nourishes his body and mind or contaminates/weakens them.
Nine benedictions Jesus spoke in the sermon on the mount are something anyone can attain if he chooses to do so. No wonder Bible says “put off new personality” as something that can be done as easily as one changes his cloths. Thus OT concept of God is of no use as Jesus spoke truth about God and about us.