When dealing with the subject of whether it is God or Satan who is lying, maiming, and/or destroying, a couple of questions came to my mind. Before posing them, I will assert that there are two possible ways of seeing things.

1)It is Satan who lies, maims and destroys. When inspiration presents God as lying, maiming and/or destroying, it is because God has permitted Satan to do these things.
2)It is sometimes Satan who lies, maims and destroys, and sometimes God. It depends on the circumstance.

Let's say 2) is true. Then a couple of questions come to mind. First of all, if God sometimes lies, maims and destroys, then this would seem to indicate the following:
a)Whether an act is evil, does not depend on the act, but on who is doing it.
b)God can transgress His own law.
c)The ends justify the means.

Secondly, if it is sometimes God who lies/maims/destroys and sometimes Satan, how do we know when it's one or the other? As a specific example, let's take the final plagues. In Revelation we read:

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5 And after that I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened: 6 And the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. 7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever. 8 And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled. (Rev. 15:5-8 - www dot bible dot org

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This seems to say that God is responsible for these plagues.

Here's a commentary from on line:

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Note that this smoke continues until the plagues are finished, until God’s holy character is satisfied and God deals with sin. This teaches us that God will so completely turn to anger and justice in these final moments that all else seems to cease. Absolute and undiluted wrath will be the business of these final days. It will be as the Psalmist says in Psalm 76:7, “You, even You are to be feared; and who may stand in Your presence when once You are angry.”

This chapter has prepared the way for the judgments to follow as cause and effect or root to fruit. The judgments of chapter 16 stem from the ineffable holiness of God. “It is an ominous sign of impending doom for those who persist in their blasphemous disregard of the sovereignty and holiness of God.”

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I would venture to say that every Commentary, with the possible exception of ours (SDA Bible Commentary) would say the same thing. (If there's any Commentary that suggests something different, I'd certainly be interested in knowing).

Now if all we had which dealt with this statement was the Bible, then we would be constrained to think that it was God who was causing these final terrible plagues to fall upon the wicked.

Now let's consider the Spirit of Prophesy:

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The world is soon to be left by the angel of mercy, and the seven last plagues are to be poured out. Sin, shame, sorrow, and darkness are on every side; but God still holds out to the souls of men the precious privilege of exchanging darkness for light, error for truth, sin for righteousness. But God's patience and mercy will not always wait. Let not one soul think that he can hide from God's wrath behind a lie, for God will strip from the soul the refuge of lies. The bolts of God's wrath are soon to fall, and when He shall begin to punish the transgressors, there will be no period of respite until the end. The storm of God's wrath is gathering, and those only will stand who are sanctified through the truth in the love of God. They shall be hid with Christ in God till the desolation shall be overpast. He shall come forth to punish the inhabitants of the world for their iniquity, and "the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." (Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Works 182, 183)

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This really sounds like it's God who is doing this, doesn't it?

Here's another one:

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The Lord God of Israel is to execute judgment upon the gods of this world as upon the gods of Egypt. With fire and flood, plagues and earthquakes, He will spoil the whole land. Then His redeemed people will exalt His name and make it glorious in the earth. Shall not those who are living in the last remnant of this earth's history become intelligent in regard to God's lessons?--10MR 240, 241 (1899)

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So this looks like it is God who does this. If all the information we had were the above, surely we would come to this conclusion, correct?

Now consider the following:

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I was shown that the judgments of God would not come directly out from the Lord upon them, but in this way: They place themselves beyond His protection. He warns, corrects, reproves, and points out the only path of safety; then if those who have been the objects of His special care will follow their own course independent of the Spirit of God, after repeated warnings, if they choose their own way, then He does not commission His angels to prevent Satan's decided attacks upon them. It is Satan's power that is at work at sea and on land, bringing calamity and distress, and sweeping off multitudes to make sure of his prey. And storm and tempest both by sea and land will be, for Satan has come down in great wrath. He is at work. He knows his time is short and, if he is not restrained, we shall see more terrible manifestations of his power than we have ever dreamed of. (14MR 3)

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This was an interesting quote to post. So zealous were the editors that the wrong idea not be conveyed that it really wasn't God who was doing this, they put in their own comments to suggest that it really was God. So I had to cut that out (their words in the middle) to display an inspired statement saying it wasn't!

Here's another one:

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When He leaves the sanctuary, darkness covers the inhabitants of the earth. In that fearful time the righteous must live in the sight of a holy God without an intercessor. The restraint which has been upon the wicked is removed, and Satan has entire control of the finally impenitent. God's long-suffering has ended. The world has rejected His mercy, despised His love, and trampled upon His law. The wicked have passed the boundary of their probation; the Spirit of God, persistently resisted, has been at last withdrawn. Unsheltered by divine grace, they have no protection from the wicked one. Satan will then plunge the inhabitants of the earth into one great, final trouble. As the angels of God cease to hold in check the fierce winds of human passion, all the elements of strife will be let loose. The whole world will be involved in ruin more terrible than that which came upon Jerusalem of old. (GC 614)

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So what we have is this. If all we had were the Bible, then we would say it was God who was doing this. If all we had were the Bible and the first two statements from the Spirit of Prophesy, we would still say it was God. But the last two bring out that it's not actually God, but Satan! who is doing this. It's God only in the sense that He permits Satan to do this destructive work.

So we assume that the second option above applies, which is: "2)It is sometimes Satan who lies, maims and destroys, and sometimes God. It depends on the circumstance." then what principle do we use to decide if it is God doing something or Satan?

The only principle I can think of is this:
1)If the Bible says God did something, assume it's God:
2)Unless the Spirit of Prophesy says it's not really God, but Satan.
3)However, if the Spirit of Prophesy agrees with the Bible that it's God, then it really is God.
4)Unless the Bible says it's not really, God, in which case it's still not God.

Here's a simplified version:
1)If inspriation says God is lying,maiming or destroying, then He is;
2)Unless inspiration says somewhere else that He isn't.

This seems to me to be a problematic hermaneutic to follow, but it's the only one I can think of.

Comments?

How did people ever understand the bible before they had EWs books to guide them?

/Thomas

Doesn't it say in the Bible somewhere that God is truth, that God consequently never lies?

It also says here that the devil is the father of lies:

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John 8:44 - Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

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The question posed is based on what seems to be a distraction in itself i.e. Does God maim, lie, and destroy.
We know and have read in the Bible that God cannot lie. He has punished people for disobeying like one of the kings in the book of Isaiah who thought he could play the role of high priest and ended up with leprosy. We know for a fact that the wrath of God will be poured out as we read in Revelation.
God Bless,
Will

In the conversation with MM, he thought that God lied as well as maiming and destroying. If in this thread nobody thinks God lies, we can leave that out and stick with maiming and destroying.

You mentioned Revelation, which is the same one I was considering. In the Bible, it does give the impression that God is maiming and destroying, but the Spirit of Prophesy makes it clear that this was not God, but actually Satan. This is spelled out in the last two quotes I provided.

My question is, if we believe that God maims and destroy, and Satan does too, what principle do we use to determine when it's God and when it's Satan? The only plausible suggestion I could think of is:

If inspiration says God did it (maim or destroy), then He did, unless some other inspiration says He didn't.

This seems problamatic to me.

It is a tough one to imagine, but the Bible is very clear about these things.
God has given satan limited power i.e. prince of the air or something along those lines, and we also see his demons performing miracles and signs and wonders in the last days which shall increase, and we cant forget about what happened to Job.
Its not problematic for me to know that God will pour out His wrath on the wicked in full strength, this cannot be confused as being satans wrath because God and satan are not working together. Satan will end up being destroyed by God also, and this isnt satans pwer either.
If I see any contradiction between the Bible and SOP I lean towards the Bible, and also it depends on how he quotes are used. God's had enough, His Son was killed because of our sins, and He is alive today, His name has been profaned among the people and all osrts of things for thousand of years. God doesnt sit back inactive or passively waiting for things to happen. he is very much active and when the time is right will send His Son, and those who are ready will live, and those who are not will die.
God Bless,
Will

I'm having trouble understind your post, Will. In the quotes I provided by the Spirit of Prophesy, it is clear that God pours out His wrath in the seven last plagues by withdrawing His Spirit and giving Satan control over those who have rejected Him. So God does pour out His wrath, and the way He does it is by withdrawing His presense.

Does the Spirit of Prophesy contradict the Bible here? So you lean towards it instead? Is this what you are saying?

Yes Tom. You are correct that I prefer the Bible over the SOP for my standard of faith. Its not satans wrath, but God's wrath that is poured out in full strength. I believe this is where the SOP cotradicts scripture or the high chance that the SOP is being used\abused.
God Bless,
Will

I wanted to clarify my above post. Seeing that Sister White was inspired by God to write what God had shown her leads me to think that all inspired statements must be read as a whole if I got that right. Many people think that when Sister White mentioned things such as wigs and bikes being bad that anone who reads what she has written is a crackpot, but in fact if you spend your time and money and place God below tose things, then those things (wigs and bikes) have become your idol.
ANyways wanted to clear that up.
God Bless,
Will