This week we are turning our Bibles to the prophet Zephaniah, and we are turning our gaze toward one of the most difficult themes in all the prophetic books: the violence of God.

Despite many denials to the contrary, the violence of the Old Testament God really is at odds with the self-sacrificing, enemy-loving Christ of the New Testament. Today we explore why that is, and why Yahweh sometimes looks more like a Canaanite warrior god (or Kratos from God of War) than he does Jesus.

We'll learn just why it is so important to read the Bible as a unified story, not as disconnected books, and how books like Zephaniah, once we learn to read them well, communicate a beautiful message that ultimately looks to the cross of Christ.