A way back

2 Samuel
Sometimes, it seems like the people in the Old Testament would have misunderstood God, just because the stories seem so harsh and judgmental.  Lots of people dying, and not a lot of grace.  But in 2 Samuel 14:14, we see that they did actually understood what God was after.  A wise woman said to King David "But God does not take away life; instead, he devises ways so that a banished person may not remain estranged from him."
God is always trying to get us to come back to Him.  His Son, Jesus, is the ultimate example of how far God was willing to go to reconcile us to Himself.  We just have to accept that He loves us that much!