Sinners in the Hand of an Angry God?

Instead of assuming the common mentality of the God of the Hebrew Bible as an angry, punitive God, one might instead ask, Why did Israel engage in idolatry and other serious sins for so long? Contrary to being angry and punitive, the God of the Hebrew Bible is more merciful than not. When Israel strays into idolatry, it is usually an extremely long time before God punishes. No parent would ever be so patient with a child who has been doing serious wrong for so long. However, as the Bible shows, God is slow to anger and always accepts repentance.  But after long periods, with no repentance forthcoming, especially from leaders who should know better, God did react with punitive anger. He or others acting for him killed, enslaved, conquered, starved, or inflicted diseases on many of the Hebrews. The message for us today is to repent and follow Jesus.