God of Love???

So here recently it seems that in today's time a lot of people in a post modern world are focusing on the idea of basically if God is a God of love how can he send someone to hell? Or why would God tell the Israelites in the Old Testament to "love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev 19:18) and then a few books later tell those same Israelites to commit genocide? I believe that although on the surface this does seem a little contradictory, but what if God was just using the Israelites to carry out His sense of justice.

I firmly believe that God is a God of love, but we also must look at his other characteristics, and in this case not only is He a God of love, but also of justice. So often we focus on specific aspects of God and we forget that God is more than just one thing but many things. yes God is love, but also just and holy, and merciful. For instance it was a few books later after Leviticus in Deuteronomy God tells the Hebrews that it is not because they have done anything special to receive the land, but because of the wickedness of the inhabitants of the land (Deut 9:4,5). This is the exact same thing that God later did with the Israelites when they became united. All throughout the book of Judges God used the nations around Canaan to test the Hebrews, which started because they did not fully listen to God and drive out all of the other nations (Judges 2:19-22). Furthermore, when they kingdom rebelled God sent the Assyrians and the Persians and the Babylonians after them which eventually sent the Jews into Exile. Then they returned and stayed on the course for a little only to rebel again and then God sent the Romans. This seems to be a recurring theme in Scripture of God using people and nations to show His glory and to bring about various forms of justice.

Although if I may be so bold as to propose that I believe that love in some way drives justice. My example of this is to think of a parent. A parent loves their child very much and wants them to do right and to know right from wrong. A parent goes to extreme measure sometimes to discipline a kid, to punish a kid. What type of parent would one be if they let their kid do whatever they wanted and did not try to teach them right and wrong; in my estimation they would be an unloving parent and an unjust one. But when parents discipline their kids for the most part they aren't called rash or hateful, but still full of love.

Also on a further note to show that sometimes rash things are sometimes just, doesn't our own criminal system in order to uphold justice do extreme things. If a minor commits major crimes, are they not tried as an adult and receiving harsh punishments? And do we not also punish women and in some cases put them on death row? What type of judge would be just if for the sake of "love" and "forgiveness" and "mercy" did not punish a criminal in someway. (I am full aware that this may negate my above statement, that is why I am proposing and just "thinking out loud").

In closing, let me add this. If we think about God in more ways then just love, but add in the fact of God being just and merciful, how much more is the beauty of the cross? That God being a just God could not let our sin go unpunished, but out of his love and mercy allowed a way for us out. That way being through Christ. That Christ, out of love, would be become sin for us and so much that he would die an agonizing death on the cross. Love compelling Justice. God of love, God of justice.