Isaiah 9:7
Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

Jeremiah 23:5
Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

Jude 1:14-15
King James Version (KJV)
14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.


Revelation 16:7
And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.

Here are a few texts on the theme of "justice."



From these I gather that "justice" is nearly synonymous with "judgment." We see these two words used in conjunction repeatedly in the Bible.

The word "justice" itself is associated with truth, equity, holiness, righteousness, and judgment.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

I don't believe anyone here is calling God the destroyer. Certainly I am not. Satan is the destroyer. Satan is also the accuser of the brethren.

But just because Satan is the primary one involved, does God never destroy nor accuse?

Consider that on the day of His coming, Jesus will accuse the wicked of not having obeyed His law. "Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust." (John 5:45) He basically is saying the law itself (God's character) accuses the wicked.

The Bible speaks multiple times of "false accusations." Jesus instructed the soldiers not to falsely accuse anyone. It is interesting that He did not tell them never to accuse anyone, just not to do so falsely.



Now, just because Jesus at times accuses does not make Him "the accuser of the brethren," does it? The same is true of His "strange act" in which He destroys. He is not the destroyer just because at times He must execute justice and judgment. As the King of the Universe, it is ultimately His duty to solve the sin problem and to put an end to it. When He does finally do so, the watching universe will say Amen, for they have seen how just and fair God is in executing judgment.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

The reason the Spirit of Prophecy says "God destroys no man" is in the strictest sense; if anyone forsakes salvation and the grace God offers, it is their fault not God's that they are destroyed in the lake of fire.

It was not God's fault that Satan rebelled and men fell.

It is the fault of all who neglected so great an opportunity that they end up in the flames. So no it is not God fault, but it is His execution of Justice that punishes them for their rejection of mercy.

The billion dollars is in the bank and all you got to do is cash the check scenario.

So which is it? If God destroys, is He not then a destroyer?

Here are some quotes on Justice:

Zechariah 7:9 "This is what the LORD Almighty said: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.

Isaiah 1:16-17 Wash yourselves clean. Stop all this evil that I see you doing. Yes, stop doing evil 17 and learn to do right. See that justice is done---help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows."

Jeremiah 21:12 This is what the LORD says to you, house of David: "'Administer justice every morning; rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed, or my wrath will break out and burn like fire because of the evil you have done-- burn with no one to quench it.

Isaiah 30:18 The LORD is waiting to be kind to you. He rises to have compassion on you. The LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all those who wait for him.

Ezekiel 45:9 NLT "For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Enough, you princes of Israel! Stop your violence and oppression and do what is just and right. Quit robbing and cheating My people out of their land. Stop expelling them from their homes, says the Sovereign LORD.

Ezekiel 45:9 NKJV 'Thus says the Lord GOD: "Enough, O princes of Israel! Remove violence and plundering, execute justice and righteousness, and stop dispossessing My people," says the Lord GOD.

Proverbs 2:8-9 He guards the paths of justice, And preserves the way of His saints. 9 Then you will understand righteousness and justice, Equity and every good path.

Micah 6:6-8 What should I bring when I come into the LORD'S presence, when I bow in front of the God of heaven? Should I bring him year-old calves as burnt offerings? 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams or with endless streams of olive oil? Should I give him my firstborn child because of my rebellious acts? Should I give him my young child for my sin? 8 You mortals, the LORD has told you what is good. This is what the LORD requires from you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to live humbly with your God.

Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

And quoting friend of mine, this about the cross:

Who exhibited violence and injustice at the Cross? In Acts, chapter 8, we read:

“He was like a sheep that is taken to be slaughtered, like a lamb that makes no sound when its wool is cut off. He did not say a word. He was humiliated, and justice was denied him. No one will be able to tell about his descendants, because his life on earth has come to an end.” (Acts 8:32-33)

At the Cross, we see no violence, no punishment coming directly from the hand of God. Who was it that exhibited violence at the Cross? What we see at the Cross is humanity, represented by a mob of religious yet violent murderers who tortured to death the Son of God. Who deserved to be punished at the Cross? By our understanding of justice, would not the innocent Jesus have been justified to call down fire from heaven on the guilty people who brought him to a sham trial and then cruelly mocked him?

Instead, what we see at the Cross is the innocent Son of God, saying to guilty humanity: “Father, forgive them.” This returning of love and kindness in the face of our hatred is the radical restorative justice of God.   At the Cross, our desire for punishment, our violence, and our hatred, is replaced by God’s forgiveness, God’s non-violence, and God’s love.

“God’s justice is restorative and healing, not retributive. While retributive justice seeks to fit the punishment to the crime, attempting to control wrongdoing through punishment, restorative justice forgives the crime and seeks to redeem wrongdoing through a repairing of the relationship. At the Cross we see God turning away the opportunity to exact retributive justice and the demand for retribution, and instead God would choose to forgive. At the Cross we come face to face with the shameful depravity of our own sin by coming face to face with the One who has the right and the power to punish but who instead loves and forgives.” (Stricken by God?)

In the face of human hatred and hardness of heart, God still managed to redeem. Returning violence and hatred with forgiveness and love does not often fit into our paradigm of justice, but thankfully our God is much bigger and much better than we can possibly imagine him to be.

You know what, I tend to believe what the Bible says, do you? The Bible says God will destroy.



Isn't that interesting that God emphasizes that He will destroy? "I, even I, ...destroy all flesh...."

Remember the conversation that Abraham and the Lord had regarding Sodom and Gomorrah? They bartered about how many righteous must be there to prevent God from destroying the place. There weren't even 10 righteous, so God was free of His oath to Abraham. His angels were sent to accomplish the destruction of Sodom. "For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it," they said. "And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law."

Exodus 23:27 tells us that God promised to "destroy all the people to whom thou shalt come" in giving the children of Israel the inheritance of Canaan.

There are many, many more texts which inform the wise as to God's acts of mercy and justice. I believe them.

Do you believe the Bible, APL? Perhaps you believe Mrs. White's writings.



Jesus said that the last days would be as the days of Noah. Those who say that God will not destroy help to fulfill His prophecy, for that is exactly what the antediluvians were saying.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

God is not THE destroyer, because He only destroys that which is already destroyed. THE destroyer is the one who removed the image of God from His creation to the point where it was no longer redeemable and must be destroyed by its Creator.

That is the way I see it. This is why Mrs. White can legitimately say, of the same breath as it were, that God destroys no man, yet that God destroys. We are looking at two separate aspects.

Sin destroys first. Sin destroys the creation. God destroys next. God destroys the sin. Because the sinner is inextricably joined to his or her sin, God must destroy the sinner with it. But all of the blame for this destruction rightfully belongs to the Father of Sin, i.e. Satan.

If a farmer has a flock of animals in which a few contract a deadly, contagious virus, the wise farmer must destroy the affected individuals for the preservation of the rest, and for the ultimate peace and happiness of his entire farm. This is God's situation. Drastic circumstances call for drastic measures. God does not enjoy destroying His creations any more than the farmer would enjoy culling his animals. But the responsibility to act is His. Even the suffering creatures would rather be put out of their misery. God's act of destruction is at once justice and mercy. They are one and the same.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

OH - Now that's clear... WAIT - God has to destroy that which is already destroyed. RIGHT.

AH - So God IS the Destroyer. I get it. God is not a destroyer, but He IS a destroyer. Sin really does not kill sinners, GOD kills sinners. RIGHT. Thanks for clearing this up.

And why exactly did God not do this in the beginning? I get it! Because people would have thought that it was God that was doing the destruction, not sin. But wait!!! God is doing the destruction. Whoa. This is amazing stuff. Good News indeed! </sarcasm>

"God’s judgments will be visited upon those who are seeking to oppress and destroy His people. His long forbearance with the wicked emboldens men in transgression, but their punishment is nonetheless certain and terrible because it is long delayed. “The Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim, He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, His strange work; and bring to pass His act, His strange act.” Isaiah 28:21. To our merciful God the act of punishment is a strange act. “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” Ezekiel 33:11. The Lord is “merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, ... forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” Yet He will “by no means clear the guilty.” “The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked.” Exodus 34:6, 7; Nahum 1:3. By terrible things in righteousness He will vindicate the authority of His downtrodden law. The severity of the retribution awaiting the transgressor may be judged by the Lord’s reluctance to execute justice. The nation with which He bears long, and which He will not smite until it has filled up the measure of its iniquity in God’s account, will finally drink the cup of wrath unmixed with mercy.... {DD 43.4}