And God spoke all these words:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 “
You shall have no other gods before[a] me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Well, if were going out of the realm of physical facts, then I can give you a bible lesson.
God doesn't want people to worship him. In these scriptures he is specifically talking about what is right and what is wrong. though the scriptures say he is commanding his people to do these things, he is not commanding them in a way to force them but commanding them as to lead them on the right path righteousness.
Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land. 16 Do not put the Lord your God to the test as you did at Massah. 17 Be sure to keep the commands of the Lord your God and the stipulations and decrees he has given you. 18 Do what is right and good in the Lord’s sight, so that it may go well with you and you may go in and take over the good land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors, 19 thrusting out all your enemies before you, as the Lord said.
Those are the words of someone who only wants love?
When Christians talk about fearing the Lord, we don't talk about fear in a sense of fear, like people normally portray fear, rather we fear him, as to respect him.
Christians believe that God is perfect, and the type of anger and jealousy that he portrays, is not the bad kind. He only is angered, because he created us, and we look to other material things to worship, even though his soul purpose of creating us, was to love and to have fellowship with us.
Now when it says that gods anger will burn against you, it doesn't mean that he will put his anger out on us, no he loves us too much to do that. Instead, this scripture represents, that God will not use his power, or take your free will away, just to make you love him. Instead, he will let you go down the path of destruction and face the eternity that you have chosen, because true love is not true, unless that person choses to love and is not forced to love.
God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell
This instance where God cast the angels to hell, was not him physically forcing them to be there, rather, the angels had sinned, as well as lucifer, who Jesus loved dearly, and they could no longer be in the presence of God with sin in their hearts.
hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
Rather, he has the power, and the will, to not save you from eternal doom.
And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them
You are looking at the wording wrong. The lord himself did not harden his heart, instead this scripture means the idea of the lord, or another god, hardened the heart of pharaoh.
Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?
This scripture represents, that no one can change the will of God, and no one can change sin into a good thing. For instance:
No one can make lies right, if God himself has proclaimed them to be evil.
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
This scripture means, he has made us loving and caring, not forcing us to do so.
And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
Living an eternal life, is not something that he has forced us to do, rather, it is a gift he has given us. Now how to spend that eternal life is up to us.
For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So, God isn't allowed to have free will? He never said I will kill who I will hate etc.
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Yes, God shows mercy, because if he really wanted to, then he could not show mercy, but that would be against his own scripture and laws. He won't so he will show mercy.
Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
This scripture demonstrates that God is not looking for us to do good deed to enter into his kingdom, rather, he is looking for people that follow his laws on purpose and grace, which was given to us by him. If anything, this scripture proves free will rather than argues against it.
And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Well, if you looked earlier at the scripture, you would see that is says this:
"The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie, 10 and all the way that wickedness deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness."
God only send them those delusions through earthly things, because sin has to exist in a world full of sinful people, therefore God is playing into the sinner's desires, to show them the path of destruction.
But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
Yes, he chose us, and gave us free will to choose salvation or not.
All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.
The Lamb's book of life, is described as a book, in which God keeps all of his followers in. This scripture takes place in the last book of the bible, explaining the end times. So yes, at the end, when he comes back, he will have that book, to show all of the sinners' sins, and the righteous good doings, and vice versa.
Then why should I take any of it literally?
You should, and you shouldn't. That is one of the jobs of people who study the bible. They look at the bible and using context clues determine which scriptures have literal value. And which scriptures have metaphorical value. But all scriptures have both in some quantity.