You’ve heard it before. “The God of the Old Testament was a God of wrath. Things have changed now.” “The Pentateuch is all law. The NT is all grace.”

Cliches like this may be convenient for easily-categorized thought, but are they true? It is a misconception to say that the NT is all grace and OT all law. “Grace” and “Pentateuch” are not oil and water.

If we take a tad closer look at the Pentateuch, we will see that it contains five books filled with God’s grace.

Though many Christians might be familiar with the pentateuchal stories and events, many have missed the sovereign grace of God therein. You need not travel far to find grace. The Seed-Savior promise is a promise of grace (Gen. 3:15). That Adam and Eve don’t perish immediately is grace (cf. Gen. 2:17). God’s handling of Cain is grace (Gen. 4:15). Genesis 5 features grace (e.g. Gen. 5:24). Noah’s cruise is an act of grace. God’s promise to Noah, and the world is grace (Gen. 9:12-16). Being able to eat meat is certainly grace (Gen. 9:3). God’s promise of land, people, and world-blessing is, and would span out to be, grace par excellence (Gen. 12:1-3). God’s grace builds like a tidal-wave throughout Genesis. For the sake of tenrighteous people, God would spare sin-saturated cities like Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18:32).

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