It sounds to me that you are saying God does less than pleasant things. That God does unpleasant things.

Am I understanding that correctly?

M: True, the word "compromise" can mean something negative. But obviously I'm using it in a negative way. My wife and I make compromises all the time in the interest of peace and harmony. There is nothing sinful about compromising if it serves a higher purpose. For example, God compromised and appointed a king. However, it is clear He did not compromise when He commanded people to stone, scorch, and smite sinners to death. He was acting in perfect harmony with His law and character. You seem to disagree. Why?

T: God isn't violent.

M: True, God is not violent. However, He can do what we cannot, namely, execute infinite justice. Ellen wrote, “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} On the other hand, King Saul displeased God because he did not obey Him and hack Agag to pieces. Do you agree?

----

T: Jesus was articulating a principle.

M: True, He was pointing out a principle. However, you didn't address my comments and questions. Do you agree with me that God didn't permit the Jews to stone, scorch, and smite sinners to death, that instead He commanded them to do so? And, do you see yourself being like Saul or Samuel? Would you have obeyed God and hacked Agag to pieces?

T: Because of the hardness of people's hearts, God permitted certain things to be done. God is not violent. Jesus revealed God's character.

M: Okay. But you didn’t answer my questions. 1) Do you agree with me that God didn't permit the Jews to stone, scorch, and smite sinners to death, that instead He commanded them to do so? 2) And, do you see yourself being like Saul or Samuel, that is, would you have obeyed God and hacked Agag to pieces?

----

M: "The same angel who had come from the royal courts to rescue Peter, had been the messenger of wrath and judgment to Herod." Ellen wrote something similar is the following passage:

"A single angel destroyed all the first-born of the Egyptians and filled the land with mourning. When David offended against God by numbering the people, one angel caused that terrible destruction by which his sin was punished. The same destructive power exercised by holy angels when God commands, will be exercised by evil angels when He permits. There are forces now ready, and only waiting the divine permission, to spread desolation everywhere. {GC 614.2}

M: Of course, Tom cites this passage to prove holy angels have never punished or destroyed sinners in obedience to God's command. He interprets "the same destructive power exercised by holy angels when God commands" to mean holy angels are commanded to permit evil angels to punish and destroy selected sinners.

T: Pardon me? Please, MM, if you're going to write something like this, quote something to substantiate what you're saying! I've never cited this passage as you're stating. You've done this a number of times in this thread. Please be more careful!

M: Tom, I am surprised to learn you vehemently oppose the interpretation I described above and ascribed to you. If you do not believe it means what I described, does it mean you agree with me? In other words, do you believe it means holy angels obeyed God's command to punish and destroy sinners? Or, do you believe it means they withdrew their protection and permitted the forces of nature or evil men or evil angels to cause death and destruction? For example, do you believe a holy angel killed the first born of Egypt? Or, do you believe he permitted it to happen without actually doing it himself?

T: What I'm objecting to is you wrote: “Of course, Tom cites this passage to prove holy angels have never punished or destroyed sinners in obedience to God's command.” This is a false statement! I've never cited this passage as you've described! You said something that isn't the case, claiming I did something I didn't do, so I took issue with that.

M: Maybe you haven’t cited it to prove holy angels exercise destructive power by permitting evil angels to kill selected sinners, but you have responded accordingly whenever I’ve quoted it to prove holy angels have obeyed the command of God to kill selected sinners. Also, you didn’t answer my questions. Do you believe it means holy angels obeyed God's command to punish and destroy sinners? Or, do you believe it means they withdrew their protection and permitted the forces of nature or evil men or evil angels to cause death and destruction? For example, do you believe a holy angel killed the first born of Egypt? Or, do you believe he permitted it to happen without actually doing it himself?

T: MM, I entered this thread to correct a misstatement in regards to what I had said. I'll continue to comment on misstatements. Regarding the rest, we've discussed this before. The issue is that you asserted something which is entirely false. I've never quoted the text you mentioned in the manner you cited. There's no "maybe" about it. It's out of line for you to make assertions like this with no basis in fact.

Your unwillingness to discuss this important topic doesn’t speak well of your opposing view. It implies a weakness in your argument, one that you seem to be avoiding. If so, why?

Tom, of those hundreds of posts, not once did you give a clear answer. You've never once explained why you think God commanded people to stone, scorch, and smite sinners to death. Saying He ran a risk of being misunderstood as approving of such things does not answer the question. The humane hunter story does not answer the question.

The Hebrews lived in a time where there was a lot of slow torcher and long painful ways to die. Since they would probably have a death penalty anyway, then God would limit them to the quickest lest painful of the choices availble in that day.

I disagree. I think the humane hunter story answers the question very well.

Where in the Bible or the SOP does it say God commanded laws requiring capital punishment for reasons similar to those articulated in the humane hunter story?

Also, where in the Bible or the SOP does it say capital punishment was required until such time Jesus could wean the Jews from them?

Kevin, do you think Jesus compromised and commanded laws requiring capital punishment for specific transgressions?