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Re: plagues
[Re: Mountain Man]
#115477
07/05/09 01:06 AM
07/05/09 01:06 AM
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SDA Charter Member Active Member 2019
20000+ Member
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 22,256
Southwest USA
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Teresaq, would you mind spelling out how you see the plagues playing out at the end of time. Tom seems to think your view is right.
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Re: plagues
[Re: Tom]
#115478
07/05/09 01:07 AM
07/05/09 01:07 AM
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Active Member 2012
14500+ Member
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 14,795
Lawrence, Kansas
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Ok, liane, I'm glad you've agreed with me in the points I addressed to your first post. It looks like you are agreeing with the points I made, backing off from what you said, and making new points (if I've misunderstood you here, please let me know.) Regarding the new points, we've discussed this at length in other threads. But as this thread seems to be covering everything under the sun, perhaps a few words are in order. Here's a description of the death of the wicked from the SOP: This is not an act of arbitrary power on the part of God. The rejecters of His mercy reap that which they have sown. God is the fountain of life; and when one chooses the service of sin, he separates from God, and thus cuts himself off from life. He is "alienated from the life of God." Christ says, "All they that hate Me love death." Eph. 4:18; Prov. 8:36. God gives them existence for a time that they may develop their character and reveal their principles. This accomplished, they receive the results of their own choice. By a life of rebellion, Satan and all who unite with him place themselves so out of harmony with God that His very presence is to them a consuming fire. The glory of Him who is love will destroy them. (DA 764) Let's take special note of the the last two sentences. 1.By a life of rebellion (the wicked) place themselves so out of harmony with God that His very presence is to them a consuming fire. 2.The glory of Him who is love will destroy them. From the description above we see that the wicked to do die because they (or anyone else) cast themselves into a literal lake of fire. They die because they have formed characters which are not in harmony with God's. God would keep them alive if He could, because He loves them, but He can't. For them to live would be misery. GC 541-543 goes into detail about this. It is the "glory of God" that will destroy them. Unless we think that the "glory of God" is literal fire, we can see that it is not literal fire that causes their death, any more than a literal sword causes the death of those of whom we were speaking in the previous post. Please keep in mind that Revelation is a symbolic book.
Those who wait for the Bridegroom's coming are to say to the people, "Behold your God." The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love.
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Re: plagues
[Re: Mountain Man]
#115480
07/05/09 01:11 AM
07/05/09 01:11 AM
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Active Member 2012
14500+ Member
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 14,795
Lawrence, Kansas
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Tom, do you have SOP statements to verify Teresaq's view of the plagues? She provided quotes. Also, I'm happy to hear you believe the OT is just as clear as the NT regarding the character of God. However, you have yet to prove from the Pentateuch that Moses clearly and plainly said the Son of God would one day come and give His life as a ransom for the souls of men. This was proved in the thread you started. GC did a very good job with this, by the way. I've also suggested the book "The Everlasting Covenant" for you to study. This has several hundred pages doing the very thing you are asking for -- explaining the Gospel from the books of Moses.
Those who wait for the Bridegroom's coming are to say to the people, "Behold your God." The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love.
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Re: plagues
[Re: Tom]
#115481
07/05/09 01:12 AM
07/05/09 01:12 AM
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Active Member 2012
14500+ Member
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Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 14,795
Lawrence, Kansas
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Teresaq, would you mind spelling out how you see the plagues playing out at the end of time. Tom seems to think your view is right. I didn't say her "view is right," but that I agreed with the things she has been saying. If you read through the thread, you can see what she said.
Those who wait for the Bridegroom's coming are to say to the people, "Behold your God." The last rays of merciful light, the last message of mercy to be given to the world, is a revelation of His character of love.
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Re: plagues
[Re: liane]
#115482
07/05/09 01:14 AM
07/05/09 01:14 AM
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OP
SDA Active Member 2024
Very Dedicated Member
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,984
CA, USA
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Hi Teresa:
I am not question what you are say, though you seem to think that I am doing so.
My point is that in the OT the people were given an image of God that was really far different than who He really was. Once people open the OT they see the same God as they see in the NT. The both sides of God's character to create is revealed as HIs ability to destroy as well, after all He is God.
The details of what, when and how can be picked at as much as everyone wants to do so, but the bottom line for me which is very simple is that God is God and it is within His power to create and destroy according to His own will.
The contrast I was showing is that the image of a lamb creature shown to us in the NT and symbolic in the OT reflect a contrast to the image of that same Lamb that has wrath and makes war. i thought that was what i was understanding you to say. so where am i missing you? or are you saying that the texts and quotes presented do not match the picture you have of what will happen?
Psa 64:5 ...an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?
Psa 7:14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. 15 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. 16 His mischief (and his violent dealing) shall return upon his own head.
Psa 7:17 I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.
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Re: plagues
[Re: teresaq]
#115484
07/05/09 01:25 AM
07/05/09 01:25 AM
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Deceased Member (July 2009)
Full Member
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 302
Bishop, CA
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Hi Teresa:
Let me re-read your posts again in the morning when I am less tired and it is quiet here at the ranch.
I think from what I am finding is that some of what you quote is mixed up in my mind of when something is to happen. I think that some of what you are quoting is being used as before the 1,000 years instead of after the 1,000 in my mind.
So I will respond more tomorrow when it is better for me.
Thanks for sharing and I am sure with the help of the Holy Spirit as faithful servants of God we will come together in our understanding of the truth of God's Words.
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Re: plagues
[Re: liane]
#115485
07/05/09 01:41 AM
07/05/09 01:41 AM
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OP
SDA Active Member 2024
Very Dedicated Member
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 1,984
CA, USA
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Hi Tom:
I guess I am coming from the issue of two events. The one that takes place before the thousand years in which yes the people will die the way described by you. Christ will come in all his glory and justice and mercy follows Him. There will be no action by Christ regarding the wicked. The natural order of things will end their lives by the destruction that goes on around them.
Only those that look upon their Redeemer and are counted worthy of the Lamb will rise up to be with Him for a thousand years. The rest die where they stand to await the coming of God after the books have been opened and the records have been seen.
Before that though is the plagues brought on by the wrath of God upon those that had rejected His mercy and love and truth. They will be counted as wanting and sealed their fates by taking the mark of the beast. Since there will be only two groups left then all those that are not sealed by the mark of God by obedience will have been sealed by the mark of the beast. hello, my sister. can you tell me when the plagues actually start killing anyone, if any do? I do not see all these wicked people willing to jump into the lake of fire of their own accord. Clearly the word "cast" means something to me. we do not read the pioneers like we should but it does not seem that they believed the way we do now. our pioneers were loathe to believe in an eternally burning hell where God tortured people for eons. they appear to be just as loathe to believe that God would torture for a short period of time, also. where did we go astray?
Psa 64:5 ...an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?
Psa 7:14 Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. 15 He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. 16 His mischief (and his violent dealing) shall return upon his own head.
Psa 7:17 I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.
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Re: plagues
[Re: teresaq]
#115486
07/05/09 01:50 AM
07/05/09 01:50 AM
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5500+ Member
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,154
Brazil
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R: This includes, for instance, the driving of the moneychangers from the temple, which shows that God sometimes manifests His wrath actively (not just passively, "abandoning" the sinner). T: but notice how He does it. Feeling pity for the sinner, but also manifesting indignation for sin. But my point was that God’s wrath against sin here is not portrayed as abandoning the sinner to reap what he has sown, but is manifested actively by making the sinner feel the gravity of his sin. why did these remain behind, why didnt they run, also? Because they weren't comitting the sins Christ was condemning, otherwise they would have fled, too.
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Re: plagues
[Re: Tom]
#115487
07/05/09 01:53 AM
07/05/09 01:53 AM
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5500+ Member
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 6,154
Brazil
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R: But you have to consider the whole picture. T: Considering Christ is the whole picture. Yes, considering all that Christ did and taught. R: This includes, for instance, the driving of the moneychangers from the temple, which shows that God sometimes manifests His wrath actively (not just passively, "abandoning" the sinner). T: "For instance"? That's an odd way of putting it. As if there are so many examples of Christ's acting violently, that one could easily pick one at random. Leaving aside the use of “for instance”, which has to do with the use of language, I didn’t give an example of “Christ’s acting violently,” but of Christ manifesting His wrath actively. As I’ve already pointed out, I don’t believe God ever acts violently, because to me the main aspect in an act of violence is the motivation of the person who performs it. R: As I said once, "God is love" is not the same as "God is nice" ("Deus é bonzinho"). T: Love is kind. ("chresteuomai" in the Greek; 1 Cor. 13:4). I didn’t use “nice” as a synonym for “kind.” I mentioned the Portuguese word for you to be sure as to what I meant. Are you aware of the light-years difference between “Deus é bom” and “Deus é bonzinho”? Someone who is “bonzinho” will do everything that you wish, or will never do anything which may displease you. Sin is not something trivial because its inevitable result is death. God has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He certainly doesn't cause it. Tom, how can you say that? If on the Day of Judgment the glory of God “slays the wicked”, obviously God slays them. Sin is the reason why sinners are destroyed; God’s glory is the agent through which they are destroyed. They are so out of harmony with Him that His glory is to them a consuming fire. It's not sin that consumes them, but God’s glory is what consumes sin and, therefore, consumes them. So, at least in one occasion God has at least 50% of the responsibility for the death of sinners, since what kills them is a combination of sin + the sin-consuming glory of God. If one understands that sin is destructive, it is not necessary for one to attribute to God the necessity to cut short the lives of those who practice it. This is simply not recognizing all that God does to protect us from the power of sin. ... It is simply not necessary for God to act violently or to use force in order to kill or punish those who choose to sin. As I said in previous discussions, I don’t see how God’s act of removing His protection would be any better than directly removing life. Using also previous examples, in which way is opening the floodgates of a dam worse than removing the reinforcement system of the dam, causing it to break? Or how would you exempt from all responsibility the person who removes the net from bellow someone who jumps from a building because the person who jumped wished to die and asked that the net be removed? You can say that the person who removes the net is not violent, but would someone believe that that person is not cruel?
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Re: plagues
[Re: Tom]
#115490
07/05/09 02:45 AM
07/05/09 02:45 AM
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SDA Active Member 2021
5500+ Member
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Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 7,003
The Orient
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Ellen White believed the OT revealed the character of God just as clearly as the NT. She "The Saviour is revealed in the Old Testament as clearly as in the New." This insight seems to refute what Tom is saying about the NT. Seem that way to me too. My point has never been that the revelation of God comes only from Christ's life and character, but only exactly what the quote actually says, which is that all that man can know of God was revealed in the life and character of His Son.
Now what is the logical consequence of this? If all that can be known of God was revealed by the life and character of His Son, then nothing can be known of God which was not revealed by the life and character of His Son. This follows as surely as 2 + 2 = 4.
So what I've said is that if we *think* we know something of God which was not revealed in the life and character of His Son, we must be in error. This is simple logic.
Tom, I have a very analytical mind (probably too much so). Your logic here doesn't add up for me. What should I do? You have an apparent logical contradiction between these two concepts: 1) "all that man can know of God was revealed in the life and character of His Son" 2) "nothing can be known of God which was not revealed by the life and character of His Son" ...and this concept: 3) "Other things may also reveal what Christ revealed" Basically, (and I know you are not meaning to do this) you are speaking out of two sides of your mouth, first saying that it is impossible to learn of God outside of Jesus' life and character, and then claiming that it is possible. I understand that you mean that it is not possible to learn more than what Jesus revealed during His life, but that is not what you are saying. This is what creates confusion here, and it appears very easy for someone to misunderstand what you are trying to say. It would be very easy, based on your post here, for me to believe that you feel only Jesus' life can show God to us, nothing more, nothing less. This is why MM and some of the others of us have questioned you as to whether you believe only the Gospels, or whether or not we have any chance at knowing God, since we are not living during Jesus' lifetime. Yet, at the same time, you seem reticent to accept that Jesus was as fully revealed to Moses as during His earthly ministry. So, it does seem that you are trying to twist this to make it say what was not meant. This unequal application of Mrs. White's statement has become, then, the basis for (at least my own) misunderstanding of what you believe, and it would appear that you have a very narrow view of things (which I do not now believe) due to your application of the quote. Blessings, Green Cochoa.
We can receive of heaven's light only as we are willing to be emptied of self. We can discern the character of God, and accept Christ by faith, only as we consent to the bringing into captivity of every thought to the obedience of Christ. And to all who do this, the Holy Spirit is given without measure. In Christ "dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him." [Colossians 2:9, 10.] {GW 57.1} -- Ellen White.
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