Charles Munroe writes:
Tell me how you reconcile a God that kills little children and the compassionate Jesus who never killed anyone.
A couple of ways:
Jesus will kill according to Revelation 2:22-23
God ordered the killing of children by Joshua's army and killed children Himself in the plagues of Egypt.
But my personal favorite explanation is that they are stories to keep a group of like-minded believers assured that they are correct in their beliefs....so...they don't have to be consistent.
Oh yeah...and the usual: God is merciful and loving but He is also perfectly Just, so..blah-blah.