Sorry to jump in on ya'lls conversation but I can't help but comment here.

@fronttowardenemy, You say Christ already forgave you, but by what authority do you think He is capable of doing that? I mean, if He's just some "revolutionary man" who sacrificed himself for "the betterment of society" then in what sense does that work? I mean, if He's just some guy, how is the betterment of society achieved by His sacrifice, and in what sense is His death even a sacrifice?

I think part of your problem is that you've been exposed to too many Christians with a very narrow view of inspiration; the kind of thinking that says, "if the Bible says it, I believe it." Well, the Bible says the Earth is Flat, so should we believe that?

There's actually many different opinions of what "inspired" means, and they don't all require you to believe that the Old Testament is giving literal history. Plus, the ancients had much different standards when writing history as well. Many of the stories in the Old Testament are written as polemic responses to the myths of the other religions in the ancient near east. So, for example the flood: there are flood narratives in almost every ancient culture and some predate the Exodus, Moses wrote Genesis so these stories predate the Genesis account. The Eridu Genesis and the Epic of Gilgamesh were popular myths at the time, and the Hebrew writers were countering the theological statements made in those myths by explaining that it was YHWH, not Marduk or any of the other "gods" of the time/area.

You also need to take into account the very idea of what a "god" was to the ancient world was a being that destroyed your enemies and protected your people, brought rain, punished evil, etc. When these ancient people wrote about their conquests, they often ascribed the violence to their gods. The ancient Hebrews would have been very much like their Sumerian, Canaanite, Babylonian, Egyptian counterparts. Thus, when the Israelites conquered some ancient people, they would ascribe the violence to YHWH, their God. The degree to which they ascribed violence to YHWH is really a reflection of how violent these ancient people were.

I know full well that some of what I said is controversial, even in Christian circles, but it doesn't put me outside the realm of orthodoxy. I'm just trying to make sense of the data we have.

The New Testament tells us that God's character is perfectly represented in Jesus. Hebrews 1:3 says

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

This means that Jesus perfectly represents God's character. It means that when God's Glory is shining, the "shinyness" is Jesus.

Jesus Himself tells us the He is the same as God:

John 14:9 - Jesus replied, “Have I been with you for so long, and you have not known me, Philip? The person who has seen me has seen the Father! How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

John 10:30 - I and the Father are one."

What I'm suggesting here is that you look at the Old Testament through the lens of the cross. God showed His love for us by laying down His life for us. john 3:16. We know what love means by His example 1 john 3:16. Try to keep Jesus in mind when reading the Old Testament, because He is the revelation given to us:

Hebrews 1:1-2 - Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.