Yep, they're as believable as "the universe was created by a pink unicorn" that I made up earlier in this thread.

Mods, anyone who posts after me should be banned. Why? Because they would be either flaming Atheists or Theists.

The big bang didn't result from a single atom going supernova... -__-

You are looking at what they did and not at why they did. Not just that, you are treating God like He was equal to you or you equal to Him. Believer or not, i don`t think that`s a fair position.

God is Jesus. How could they have different behaviours?
You should read the Bible instead of quotes here and there, because you really are missing the big picture.
There a few differences between the OT and the NT, but those exist because of Jesus, like the case of the divorce (actually tha moment basically explains why some things took their time to change).
In what concerns mercy and punishment, God always showed mercy before the punishments (with Amalekites, God showed mercy for decades, before putting an end to them) and those even ocorred during Jesus' life:

"Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ² Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? ³ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. ⁴ Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? ⁵ I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” - Luke 13

God was always merciful during the OT, the problem was that there was too much evil and wickedness aswell. The NT doesn`t focus so much on the history of the jewish people but more on Jesus and the apostles life after Jesus.

I gave you that NT quote to show you that, in regards to Justice, it still existed in the new NT aswell. Nothing changed and nothing has changed to this day.

Ultimatums? I don`t think you realize what Jesus was actually doing. When Jesus said those things, He said as a warning or in a form of foretelling what would happen. It`s the truth and not a threat or something like that.
Who do you think all the things that God or God in Jesus did help?

I`m sorry, but i`m not discussing this Testament or that Testament. I`m talking about God.
The Amalekites story already showed that if Saul had done what God told him to do, the Jews would be safe from them, but seeing as he went and decided by himself, he put the Jews in danger if extermination.

"In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

² Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ³ “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴ Before Isaiah had left the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: ⁵ “Go back and tell Hezekiah, the ruler of my people, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you. On the third day from now you will go up to the temple of the Lord. ⁶ I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city for my sake and for the sake of my servant David.’”

All punishment and no mercy, right?
There are other passages where people asked for forgiveness and it was given. Read how Lot appealed to God`s mercy and the number of people worthy of salvation kept going down.
Also, the passage of the bronze snake (or Jesus in the OT):  Numbers 21:4-9

Look closely and you will see that the OT is also filled with passages of forgiveness.

"What you're saying here is that might makes right."
No, that`s not what i was saying. The mistake you made, with all due respect, is that you made yourself the center of what is right and wrong, despite not beeing the creator of morality or even anything that exists. That applies not just to you but to everyone, every single human, btw.
By doing that you are making yourself equal to God or treating and thinking of Him as another human like you.
We are not equal to God.
Actually, that`s exactly what the serpent wanted from Adam and Eve.

When people kill in self defense or to save other, people accept that because there was no evil behind those actions. So you see, there might just be reasons that you don`t know of, despite what they might seem to be.
If there was even an ounce of evil in God there wouldn`t even be a Bible and everything that is written on it, would never had happened. Jesus death included.

Amen

It`s not a ultimatum. When you get warned that things you can or might do will lead away from God, then, although it is indeed God that delivers His justice, it`s also true that you are the one who ignored His ways and set yourself for said punishment. You reap what you saw.
How is this an ultimatum.

Trial?
You serve who you decide to serve and you call that a trial? As i said above, God does judge you but for the things you chose for yourself. You are free to do what you want, so He will give you exactly what you wanted.

Exodus 21:15
Some versions use the word smite. Although the very purpose seems to reinforce the dignity and authority of the parent or parents. Not to mention the evil behind those intentions.

Exodus 21:15
Basically, don`t desecrate that which is holy. There´s no mixing of purity and impurity, as it brings "death" to the one who does that.

Exodus 22:24
This is the context: ""If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; 24and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless."

Exodus 20:13
God created man and woman. Gave them life and the power to create life. Life that is gone when two of the same sex try to become one.
Man and woman create life, 2 man or 2 woman don`t create life, they end it.

"If someone tried to follow the Old Testament to a letter, they'd be in jail right now. This is because we have a higher moral standard than the people who created this God."
No we don`t. Unless someone else created morality or goodness, for that matter, no we don`t.
The things you find in the OT were there for a reason. When Jesus came, some things changed and here`s why:

"Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” ⁴ “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’^{[a] 5} and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’^[b]? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” ⁷ “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” ⁸ Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. ⁹ I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

See those highlighted quotes above?
God put us above Himself for our salvation without us even asking for it. He allowed things that He didn`t like because the way people were at that time, not because He didn`t care.
All those laws, rules you think are immoral were meant to not let impurity take the best of them, until they were ready for change.

I`ll say it again then. Saul`s mistakes put the Jewish people in danger of extermination. Your idea of mercy would also have put them in danger of exermination.
God had already that they would meet such fate, He gave time and then He remembered the Israelits of the consequences of such actions.
That`s the whole story, not just a specific quote that doesn`t show the whole thing.
But here`s the full quote: "Remember what Amalek did to you along the way when you came out from Egypt, 18how he met you along the way and attacked among you all the stragglers at your rear when you were faint and weary; and he did not fear God" - Don`t ignore this part as it remembers His people another mistake Amalek made.
It was a message for everyone to listen to. And i mean everyone.

"The writers didn't see God as evil. Readers clearly can though."
I can also see the exact moment when someone murders another person and jump to the conclusion that the killer is evil. I can even hear about it.
But that`s not enough, is it?
Readers will get it wrong when they don`t try to understand the reasons behind God`s actions, when they think they morally better than God when they didn`t even create morality or don`t care enough for the dangers of impurity and it`s consequences, not to forget that there are consequences for your actions, good or bad.

In human terms, when you brake the law you pay the price for breaking the law. But when Jesus or God say that if you do something that will bring you harm, punishment and even death, those things will indeed come, you see evil in that?
I call it being your friend by letting you know where evil lies and what will happen if you take part in it.

God never reveals Himself?
What do you think you are made of, if not of Him? You know good or bad.
And who told you that He doesn`t reveal Himself? When Jesus was alive and did what He did there were still people who didn`t care or abandoned Him.
Faith comes from the heart not from outside of you.

Unless someone created values out of nothing, they are part of us.
What humans like to do is mess with them and adapt them to their needs or desires. They are far from being subjective.
We are no even close to being more moral than others, be it that time or any other. Until people stop sinning, it`s pointless to try and judge others.

All those passages bring out the evil in people`s actions and worst than that, the desire to kill and overthrown. Things that you ignored.
Putting things in perspective, you are with either God and you get all that which is of God (the good) or you are with the devil, and then you get that which is of him (the bad). There`s no mixing of good and evil, they are separated - which is something the Bible shows from beggining to end.

Read again the Exodus 22:24 passage, because you didn`t read it correctly. He punishes none, but the one that sinned.
The passage of the sacrifice: you can`t serve two gods at the same time. If He is Life, what do you expect when you sacrifice to death, life?
Sacrifice was, and still is, to redeem sins, to consacrate something so that God may be a part of it and bless it. That`s why Jesus died, so that God and men could be one again - the reason for the change in divorce, btw.

"You don't end a life by not giving birth to it"
It`s not what i said. I wasn`t talking about this or that life, but humanity in general. Human life would end, if it rested in the shoulders of homosexuality. Also: “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’^{[a] 5} and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’^[b]? ⁶ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
God is only one truth, not many.

Why do you think they spared them? For the goodness of their hearts, after attacking the weak one when they left egypt, after attacking them again and again?
Don`t forget that they kept on killing because Saul decided to be "merciful". He failed because he didn`t listen to God; he thought he knew better.

"You don't need to have created morality to understand what seems right and wrong, or excessive. Stop asserting that please. What you're calling impurity is also a stretch."
No, you need to be morality, Justice, purity and goodness to know what is right and fair.

You get a life sentence depending on where you live, because in some countries like North Corea, you`d wish for the life sentence.
Not all laws were or implied the same degree of sin, if you will. There were many, many laws but only a few, if i`m not mistaken had a death penalty to it.
You need to keep in mind that the jewish people also wanted and accepted those laws; that despite there being a death penalty to certain sins, no one who repented and ask for forgiveness was ignore by God. But the most important thing is that God knew exactly who would break the laws and for what purpose.

You may say that laws are lighter than they were (human laws that is) and you might say that`s a positive sign, which is, but at the same time, look at the world you have today. It`s only getting worse. I hear my parents and other people speak about their youth days and i look at what we have today and it`s just sad to see.

We don`t know what happened to those who offered people or other things to the gods. Don`t know if they were dead a day after or years after.
If it`s anything like the Amalek people, decades passed before they met there end.

About homosexuality, what i tried to say is that, by definition, it brings the end of life, not it`s perpetuation.
It`s not a matter of if there`s more or less homosexuals, but what homosexuality brings to the table.
I do regret persecution, specially when it comes from people of faith.
If there were people who were punished because of that it was not because they were homosexuals, it`s because of what they did. That`s all that matters. You are what you are.

"Like God couldn't have killed the king or commanded someone else to do it."
Wasn`t that what God told Saul in the first place?

"Surely God can reveal himself to all in modern day times and get things over with regarding faith?"
Who says He didn`t already?
Like in the Bible and evident during Jesus life, God showed himself in ways for everyone to see, but also individually (remember those times where Jesus talked to people saying who He was and even healed and asked for silence on the matter).
But if God is real, then surely He lives and acts even know. And that`s exactly what has been happening even since Jesus death, either by Mary or even Jesus`s apparitions.
There are many, many apparitions on a individual basis, but also to a few or a lot of people with miracles and warnings of things that would come to be.

In that regard you can say, that God`s actions have always been the same: guide people, warn people, forgive people, heal people.

Let me just say that, just because there`s no fuss about it, that nothing happens.

http://www.theholyrosary.org/fatimaapparitions