God's wrath, again.....

[Robert]

 

[Robert]

 What is God's wrath, Biblically speaking? It is the reluctant departure of His Divinity, which is love, from those who persistently reject Him. The result? Bad things. I get this concept from Deuteronomy 31:17, NKJV:

"Then My anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured. And many evils and troubles shall befall them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’"

[Robert]

Because God is sovereign He assumes the blame for "the evils" that take place in His absence. There are many, many examples of this in the Bible. The best one is found in Isaish 45:7

"I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things."

Does God actually create evil? No, rather because He is sovereign He assumes the blame for all evils that ensue as if He did these terrible things Himself.

[Robert]

More proof: Did God the Father murder His own Son on a cross? Did God have Christ whipped until His flesh was bleeding and lacerated? Many Christians would said "yes" and they get this from the following:

"We ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted" (Is 53:4).

Well, first of all, this is from the human perspective, i.e., "we...esteemed Him". In other words from our point of view it looks like God was a bloodthirsty thug who wanted to torment His Son and make an example of Him in case we thought about getting out of line. But this is not the case. How do I know?

We need to examine two verses: Matthew 27:46 and Luke 22:52,53.

1] About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?

Notice that God has forsaken Christ, i.e., He is not around. Therefore He is not doing these terrible atrocities to Christ. Then who is?

2] "While I was with you (see verse 52) daily in the temple, you did not lay hands on Me; but this hour and the power of darkness are yours."

So it was Satan inspired, not God inspired. Yet it is because God created Lucifer (see Ezekiel 28:14,15) turned Satan, the originator of evil, that God assumed the blame for Christ's death as if He did it Himself.

[Robert]

The same is true of Sodom and Gomorrah: Two verses.

The first one is where God assumes the blame:

Gen 19:24 "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven."

The 2nd one is how it happened:

But first 4, not just 2, cities perished that day. See Deut 29:23. The other two cities were Admah and Zeboiim. Now, how were these 4 cities destroyed?

God speaking: “Oh, how can I give you up, my Ephraim? How can I let you go? How can I forsake you like Admah and Zeboiim? My heart cries out within me; how I long to help you!" (Hosea 11:8)

Notice, again, God abandoned these cities because He was persistently and ultimately rejected. Therefore when He forsook these cities His protection went with Him. Hence God destroys no men. Men destroy themselves by rejecting the Life Giver. God is not at fault.

 

[Robert]

Does EGW agree?

God destroys no man. Everyone who is destroyed will have destroyed himself. Everyone who stifles the admonitions of conscience is sowing the seeds of unbelief, and these will produce a sure harvest. By rejecting the first warning from God, Pharaoh of old sowed the seeds of obstinacy, and he reaped obstinacy. God did not compel him to disbelieve. The seed of unbelief which he sowed produced a harvest of its kind. Thus his resistance continued, until he looked upon his devastated land, upon the cold, dead form of his first-born, and the first-born of all in his house and of all the families in his kingdom, until the waters of the sea closed over his horses and his chariots and his men of war. His history is a fearful illustration of the truth of the words that “whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Gal. 6:7. Did men but realize this, they would be careful what seed they sow. {COL 84-5} 

We cannot know how much we owe to Christ for the peace and protection which we enjoy. It is the restraining power of God that prevents mankind from passing fully under the control of Satan. The disobedient and unthankful have great reason for gratitude for God's mercy and long-suffering in holding in check the cruel, malignant power of the evil one. But when men pass the limits of divine forbearance, that restraint is removed. God does not stand toward the sinner as an executioner of the sentence against transgression; but He leaves the rejectors of His mercy to themselves, to reap that which they have sown . Every ray of light rejected, every warning despised or unheeded, every passion indulged, every transgression of the law of God, is a seed sown which yields its unfailing harvest. The Spirit of God, persistently resisted, is at last withdrawn from the sinner, and then there is left no power to control the evil passions of the soul, and no protection from the malice and enmity of Satan. The destruction of Jerusalem is a fearful and solemn warning to all who are trifling with the offers of divine grace and resisting the pleadings of divine mercy. Never was there given a more decisive testimony to God's hatred of sin and to the certain punishment that will fall upon the guilty. {GC 36.1}