This is a simple question: Do God's commands represent His will? Let us know your view in the following poll.

Do God's commands represent His will? single choice
	Yes, always.
	No, not necessarily.
Votes accepted starting: 02/14/14 03:54 AM You must vote before you can view the results of this poll.

It is clear that God's commands on divorce, polygamy, etc. do not represent His will. They accommodate the hardness of the hearts of people, like Jesus said.

Mark 10:5
And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.

God didn't command divorce or polygamy. He permitted it.

Mat 19:8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so (KJV).

Mat 19:8 Jesus9 said to them, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because of your hard hearts,10 but from the beginning it was not this way (NET Bible).

Mat 19:8 He said to them, Because of your hard-heartedness Moses allowed you to put away your wives; but from the beginning it was not so (MKJV).

So you would conclude God's permission did not represent His will.



I thought I had posted this, but maybe it was during the blank posts issue.

Ex 21:24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

Le 24:20 Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again.

De 19:21 And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Commands, right?

Mt 5:38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Not His will, right?

Rosangela: "God didn't command divorce or polygamy. He permitted it."

Did God give commands on how to manage divorce? Yep. And that is the point. God says, if you are going to divorce, which I hate and never wanted and is not my will, then you have to do it like this... God says, if you are going to fight and not follow my methods, then you have to do it like this... This is god PERMISSIVE will.

God will never command anything contrary to His will. Otherwise He would be commanding disobedience.

An eye for an eye wasn't the will of God, and He didn't command it; He permitted it and made provision to avoid excesses.

Speaking of the cities of refuge, EGW says:

"The avenger might pursue the criminal anywhere and put him to death wherever he should be found. The Lord did not see fit to abolish this custom at that time, but He made provision to ensure the safety of those who should take life unintentionally" (PP 515).

Did God "command" the people to spy out the land before entering?

Numbers 13:1-3 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Send you men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I give to the children of Israel: of every tribe of their fathers shall you send a man, every one a ruler among them. 3 And Moses by the commandment of the LORD sent them from the wilderness of Paran: all those men were heads of the children of Israel.

But - was this God plan?

Deuteronomy 1:21-22 Behold, the LORD your God has set the land before you: go up and possess it, as the LORD God of your fathers has said to you; fear not, neither be discouraged. 22 And you came near to me every one of you, and said, We will send men before us, and they shall search us out the land, and bring us word again by what way we must go up, and into what cities we shall come.

Did God "command" them to send in spies? YES. Was it His plan for them to send in spies? NO. Since the people were not going to follow God's plan, did God give specific commands in how to carry out THEIR plans? YES. God does this repeatedly, and still the people rebel and do not follow through even when doing it their own way and not God's.

The commands on how to manage divorce were provisions to avoid excesses, as I said above.
But there were other reasons why God commanded things which were less than ideal. It is not "since you wish it, you will have to do it my way." God doesn't have to comply with the wishes of human beings. Look at the EGW quote I posted above: "The Lord did not see fit to abolish this custom at that time, but He made provision to ensure the safety of those who should take life unintentionally."

As to the death penalty, for instance, the reason was different:

The Lord said of the children of Israel, "Because they had not executed my judgments, but had despised my statutes, and had polluted my Sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols, wherefore I gave them also statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they should not live." Because of continual disobedience, the Lord annexed penalties to the transgression of his law, which were not good for the transgressor, or whereby he should not live in his rebellion. {1SP 265.2}

By transgressing the law which God had given in such majesty, and amid glory which was unapproachable, the people showed open contempt of the great Lawgiver, and death was the penalty. {1SP 265.3}

"Moreover also, I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them. But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they despised my judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly polluted. Then I said, I would pour out my fury upon them in the wilderness, to consume them." {1SP 265.4}

The statutes and judgments given of God were good for the obedient. "They should live in them." But they were not good for the transgressor; for in the civil law given to Moses, punishment was to be inflicted on the transgressor, that others should be restrained by fear. {1SP 266.1}