Green, you have spoken of more than once claiming that APL is only accepting some verses. So, what about you?

What do you do with the verses which say that God is not the destroyer?

For example, BOTH Jesus and Satan are represented as a lion. APL focuses on Jesus' other representation, a lamb. I have yet to hear APL speak much about Jesus as a lion. Why? If APL sees "lion" he will gravitate toward thinking "Satan."

There are times when the Bible speaks of God similarly to references to Satan. For example, "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him...." (And you know the story.) Was God truly "tempting" Abraham? What about that text which says "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man"? Do we have a contradiction? Apparently, yes. For those who see things in black and white, like APL prefers, one of these statements (the former, obviously, is the natural choice) must be re-interpreted. Either Satan tempted Abraham instead of God, or God was not tempting but doing something else.

My own level of mature thinking sees no contradiction between the verses as worded. I am able to comprehend the two under separate contexts, and understand the principle behind each one, as opposed to the surface value of the words themselves. 

Much of this discussion has revolved around similar word matters--semantics, really. But the semantics of APL have warped things in his mind from their true standing to that of an opinion that can no longer stand on the terra firma of Scripture.

God is not the destroyer, even though He sometimes destroys.

God destroys no man. {COL 84.4}

Again, my level of understanding is able to comprehend this apparent incongruity because the words simply convey a principle, and it is this principle of the matter that a mature, scholarly student of the Word of God must come to understand in order to reach truth.

LIONS!!! Thanks! Is Jesus like Satan? Are they both lions? "Christ revealed a character the opposite of the character of Satan. {DA 25.1}" Are the characters of Satan and Jesus alike? NO. They are opposite. Yes, God has been represented as a lion. As Heb_1:1-3 says, if you want to know what God is like look to Jesus. Joh_14:9, Jesus is exactly like the Father. Revelation speaking about the seals: Rev_5:5-6 And one of the elders said to me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. 6 And I beheld, and, see, in the middle of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the middle of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

As John does repeatedly in the book of revelation, he presents a violent picture, then flips it around. John HEARD "Lion of the tribe of Judah", the "Root of David", but then he looked and what did he see? "A Lamb as it had been slain". All through the Old Testament, the sactuary service has as its focus, a LAMB. God is a LAMB, not a LION. Exo_34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. Is that a description of a LION?

"The very attributes that belonged to the character of Satan, the evil one represented as belonging to the character of God. Jesus came to teach men of the Father, to correctly represent him before the fallen children of earth. {ST, January 20, 1890 par. 6}" IF you really want to know what God is like look to Jesus. "All that man needs to know or can know of God has been revealed in the life and character of His Son. {8T 286.1}" IF you picture of God does not fit what you see in Jesus, then your picture of God is wrong.

So a MATURE person would understand that both God and Satan tempts us? Jas_1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man:, Of course this passage continues to say that SIN causes death, but I guess a MATURE way of thinking is that God is the one that causes death, just like Satan. But then God has attributes of Satan? NOPE. Does God tempt? The pagans believed that the gods tempted humans. The SDABC puts it this way, "The idea that the gods were responsible for man’s temptations and ensuing sins was especially prevalent among the Greeks of James’s day and apparently, in some degree, permeated the thinking of Christians also." Also Adam blamed God because He gave him Eve, "it was the woman you gave me".

2Sa_24:1 And again the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah.

My Bible says it, I believe it, that settles it. Or does it?

1Ch_21:1 And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.

OK - which is it? God or Satan? Obviously it is Satan. But why did the previous statement say it was the Lord? Are there other passages which claim on thing, but in reality it is just the opposite? YEP. This is why one needs to take all of scripture to the the whole story. God tempts no one. Full Stop. That is the reality.

What about Abraham? Did God "tempt" Abraham? The word translated tempt in the KJV is the same word translated as "prove" such as 1Ki_10:1, The queen of Sheba came to Solomon “to prove him with hard questions” designed to reveal whether his wisdom was as great as it was reputed to be. I guess Green sees God tempting the children of Israel in the desert by giving them manna, Exo_16:4. God NEVER tempts anyone. I guess my view is not MATURE enough?
I use the Bible to explain the difficult passages.
God destroys no man, even though sometimes He does?
It is clear, my level of understanding is not the same as Green's.

Temptations will pour in upon us; for by them we are to be tried during our probation. This is the proving of God, the revelation of our own hearts. There is no sin in having temptation; but sin comes in when temptation is yielded to. {ST, May 27, 1897 par. 3}

kland,

I agree with them. They are able to fit into my view. My view encompasses two sides. APL sees only one of those sides.
...

God is not the destroyer, even though He sometimes destroys. Similarly, Satan is not the "Truth-teller," even though he sometimes speaks the truth.

Were those who destroyed the twin towers, destroyers?

In stooping to take upon Himself humanity, Christ revealed a character the opposite of the character of Satan. {DA 25.1}

Sickness, suffering, and death are work of an antagonistic power. Satan is the destroyer; God is the Restorer. {MM 11.2}

God destroys no man. {COL 84.4}

Zechariah 4:6 Then he answered and spoke to me, saying, This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, said the LORD of hosts.

When God destroys, it is His "strange act."