The quotes you have given show the results of sin: the flood came in response to sin, Sodom was destroyed as a result of sin. Satan tempts humans to sin; therefore, he and those who choose to continue in sin, bear ultimate responsibility. "The wages of sin is death." This is the Law, God cannot break His own Law. Satan knows this; and so, his goal is to lead us into sin in order to destroy us.



The mechanism for disaster where sin is not the sole cause is clearly enunciated in the book of Job.

"...the book of Job, which would be read with the deepest interest by the people of God until the close of time."

THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES
February 19, 1880




The remaining evils are the result of sin. In many cases, such as famine, war, etc., these sins are not necessarily individual, rather they are corporate. This world, together with all of its diverse populations, and finely balanced systems, began to die the moment Adam sinned.

"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities."

Revelation 18:4-5

Let us not make the mistake of blaming the Lord of Love and Light for the consequences of our own sin!

I don't see where you answered my question (although, I suspect you believe, yes, all quotes must be interpreted to mean Jesus permits evil angels to cause death, disease, and destruction). Here is how I answered your question:


How do I reconcile the quotes which clearly, plainly say:

1) Jesus Himself causes death, disease, and destruction. "Since the Flood, fire as well as water has been God's agent to destroy very wicked cities." {PP 109.1}
2) Jesus commands holy angels to cause death, disease, and destruction. "The same destructive power exercised by holy angels when God commands, will be exercised by evil angels when He permits." {GC 614.2}
3) Jesus permits evil angels to cause death, disease, and destruction. "In accidents and calamities by sea and by land, in great conflagrations, in fierce tornadoes and terrific hailstorms, in tempests, floods, cyclones, tidal waves, and earthquakes, in every place and in a thousand forms, Satan is exercising his power." {GC 589.3}

It's really rather quite simple, isn't it. All three sets of quotes are true and right. They do not contradict one another. "The plea may be made that a loving Father would not see His children suffering the punishment of God by fire while He had the power to relieve them. But God would, for the good of His subjects and for their safety, punish the transgressor. God does not work on the plan of man. He can do infinite justice that man has no right to do before his fellow man. Noah would have displeased God to have drowned one of the scoffers and mockers that harassed him, but God drowned the vast world. Lot would have had no right to inflict punishment on his sons-in-law, but God would do it in strict justice. {LDE 241.2}

ProdigalOne - that is the problem, many look at sin as not having intrinsic consequences, but that they must be extrinsically applied. It is a judicial problem, a legal problem. You break the rules, you will then have punishment meted out to you. But the punishment that comes from sin is intrinsic, the wages of sin is death, not execution. Christ demonstrated the consequences of sin in Gethsemane and on the cross.

What mess? Human-caused pollution? Auto emissions? Industrial waste? Our contribution to the problem is minute compared to mother nature's contribution. One volcanic eruption, one forest fire does more to cause global warming than years of human waste and pollution.

So, the question remains - Who is responsible for all the natural disasters devastating our planet and disrupting weather patterns? There is a precedence. The Great Deluge. Was the Flood man-made or God-made? How we answer this question impacts how we view global warming.

I believe the Bible and the SOP make it painfully and abundantly clear Jesus employed the forces of nature to cause the Flood, to cause global death and destruction. Jesus did not command holy angels to do it. He did not permit evil angels to do it. He did it Himself.

Others believe Jesus simply withdrew His protection and permitted either nature or evil angels to cause the Flood and the death and destruction of the entire world. This view assumes nature is self-acting. Which is not true. It also assumes Jesus gave evil angels permission to employ the forces of nature to cause the Flood. Which is also not true.

Global warming, natural disasters, weird weather patterns, etc are more than likely the cause of Jesus doing three fundamental things - 1) employing the forces of nature Himself to cause death, disease, and destruction, 2) commanding holy angels to employ the forces of nature to cause death, disease, and destruction, and 3) permitting evil angels to employ the forces to cause death, disease, and destruction. So, again, it is very possible that global warming and its effects are the cause of Jesus doing all of the above, all three of these things.

Sin did not cause the Flood. Jesus employed the forces of nature to drown the vast world. ". . . God drowned the vast world." There was nothing intrinsic or cause-and-effect about it. The wages of sinning is second death - not a global flood. The Antediluvians did not cause the Flood by violating natural laws.

MM says they were executed. Yeah, better fear that god!

APL, the inspired passages posted above speak for themselves. They do not require interpretation. ". . . God drowned the vast world". Inspiration cannot say it more clearly. Interpreting this insight to mean Jesus withdrew His protection and permitted evil angels to drown the vast world undermines the truth.

Also, saying sin caused the Flood in some natural, intrinsic, cause and consequence way undermines the truth. The Antediluvians didn't do anything that caused the water above and below the earth to drown the vast world.

The same thing is true of the recent rash of natural disasters currently upsetting the balance of nature. The sins of mankind are not causing volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, lightning forest fires, etc.

MM, "the wages of sin are death", death in all of its forms. Not only the "second death". If Adam had never sinned, there would be no first death, no second death, no Flood, no Global Warming. These all occurred as a consequence of sin.

Are you familiar with the judicial concept of "mandatory sentencing". Here in Canada, the Conservative government has been bringing it in over the last couple of years. Basically, mandatory sentencing means that if an accused criminal is found guilty of a crime, there is a fixed sentence. The judge has no discretion to impose a different punishment.

If someone is found guilty of burglary and the mandatory sentence is five years, the judge has no choice, he or she, must impose a five year sentence.

Adam was given dominion over the Earth. He chose to surrender that dominion to Satan. The mandatory sentence for Adam's sin was death. Since Adam willingly surrendered the Earth to death, God had no choice but to execute the sentence. Adam was the one who had a choice, God did not.

At various times, the Earth has become so infected by the disease of sin that God has been forced to disinfect it or risk losing all of humanity. So, He sent the Flood, so, He destroyed Sodom, because sin is contagious, not because He wanted to, He did it because of His great Love for humanity.

Sin is, like a disease, progressive. In a single human life it grows from the lesser sins of childhood, white lies and stealing candy, become adultery and violence. In the human race, it grows from the single sin of Adam, to seven billion souls lying and cheating, starving and inventing more and more efficient ways of murdering each other. But, the effects are also physical: before the Flood, humans lived lives spanning many centuries; they were larger of stature, stronger, and smarter. As sin progressed, we became smaller, our lives were shortened, etc.

The same is true of the Earth. As you yourself posted: there were huge forests filled with gigantic, awe inspiring trees, nature was strong and vital in all of it's forms. After the Flood, as the lives of humans were shortened, so nature became stunted, a mere shadow of its former glory. Along with humanity, the planet showed the signs of sin: weakness and death.

The progression of the disease of sin has not ceased. Species after species falls to extinction, the oceans become less able to support life, the air darkens and warms, crops fail, the very crust of the Earth becomes weak. The wages of sin are manifest in the steadily degrading World. The fruit of the Deceiver is shown in all of it's deathly stark reality.

If not for sin, none of this would be...

Prodigal One, I believe the reason the wages of sin includes the first death is because Jesus paid our sin debt of death "from the foundation of the world". In so doing He made it possible for mankind to live a long, lingering first death eventually ending in sleep followed by a resurrection, judgment, and sentencing (either eternal life or eternal death).

A&E would have died the second death the day they disobeyed had Jesus not intervened. "In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Also, "death, instead of being immediately visited upon the transgressor, should be transferred to a victim" (1SM 230). What would have caused them to die "immediately" that "day"? Punishment. Not natural causes. There was nothing toxic about ingesting the forbidden fruit.

Jesus had to bar access to the tree of life after A&E sinned. Otherwise, sinners would have eaten and lived "forever". And therein lies the reason humans suffer a long, lingering first death. That is, they gradually, eventually die because Jesus denies them access to the tree of life (not because sinning in and of itself causes sinners to die). Otherwise, regularly eating from the tree of life could not empower them to live "forever".

Yes, it does seem off topic. However, MM is suggesting something atheists make fun of creationists with. They ridicule them about fossils or other things saying they say that God put them there. That is, any unexplained things means: God did it.

He's saying it's not what the "result" is, but what the "cause" is. What MM is suggesting is that if there is global warming, God did it. If life in the sea is being killed off, God did it.

Some say El Nino causes bad weather.
Some say La Nina causes bad weather.
Some say being between El Nino and La Nina causes bad weather.
But MM says God does it.