Rosagela, here's the context of PP 392:


Initially Jesus ordered them to take Canaan but the Jews disobeyed. Consequently He ordered them to retreat. But they disobeyed again and attempted to take Canaan without Him. He did not order them to take Canaan. To cite this reference as proof Jesus never ordered the Jews to take Canaan by force is an unfortunate misrepresentation of the facts.

God does not stand toward the sinner as an executioner of the sentence against transgression; but He leaves the rejecters of His mercy to themselves, to reap that which they have sown" {GC 36.1}.


Clarification:

1. When "the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment upon all," He will also "convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds." Jude 14, 15. Every sinner will be brought to see and acknowledge the justice of his condemnation. {PP 393.1}

2. The forbearance that God has exercised toward the wicked, emboldens men in transgression; but their punishment will be none the less certain and terrible for being long delayed. . . . While He does not delight in vengeance, He will execute judgment upon the transgressors of His law. He is forced to do this, to preserve the inhabitants of the earth from utter depravity and ruin. In order to save some He must cut off those who become hardened in sin. . . . And the very fact of His reluctance to execute justice testifies to the enormity of the sins that call forth His judgments and to the severity of the retribution awaiting the transgressor. {CC 155.4}

3. Ringing in his ears was the divine promise: "I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds. . . . Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." Jeremiah 23:3-6. {PK 426.1}

4. Grace and mercy will then descend from the throne, and justice will take their place. He for whom his people have looked will assume his right,--the office of Supreme Judge. "The Father . . . hath committed all judgment unto the Son. . . . And he hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man." It was he, says Peter, who was ordained to "judge the quick [the living] and the dead." "He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained." {RH, January 1, 1889 par. 1}

5. Like the men before the Flood, the Canaanites lived only to blaspheme Heaven and defile the earth. And both love and justice demanded the prompt execution of these rebels against God and foes to man. {PP 492.2}

6. The transgression of God's law in a single instance, in the smallest particular, is sin. And the non-execution of the penalty of that sin would be a crime in the divine administration. God is a judge, the avenger of justice, which is the habitation and foundation of His throne. He cannot dispense with His law, He cannot do away with its smallest item in order to meet and pardon sin. The rectitude and justice and moral excellence of the law must be maintained and vindicated before the heavenly universe and the worlds unfallen. {21MR 194.3}

7. God executes justice upon the wicked, for the good of the universe, and even for the good of those upon whom His judgments are visited. {GC 541.4}

8. God's judgments will be visited upon those who are seeking to oppress and destroy His people. His long forbearance with the wicked emboldens men in transgression, but their punishment is nonetheless certain and terrible because it is long delayed. "The Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim, He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, His strange work; and bring to pass His act, His strange act." Isaiah 28:21. To our merciful God the act of punishment is a strange act. "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked." Ezekiel 33:11. The Lord is "merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, . . . forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin." Yet He will "by no means clear the guilty." "The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked." Exodus 34:6, 7; Nahum 1:3. By terrible things in righteousness He will vindicate the authority of His downtrodden law. The severity of the retribution awaiting the transgressor may be judged by the Lord's reluctance to execute justice. The nation with which He bears long, and which He will not smite until it has filled up the measure of its iniquity in God's account, will finally drink the cup of wrath unmixed with mercy. {GC 627.2}

You are focusing on the words, but not asking the meaning of them in how they are used. Retribution - Punishment - execute Justice. You need to put ALL the quotes on the topic together to get the meaning. Read GC page 36 very carefully!!!

Their sufferings are often represented as a punishment visited upon them by the direct decree of God. It is thus that the great deceiver seeks to conceal his own work. By stubborn rejection of divine love and mercy, the Jews had caused the protection of God to be withdrawn from them, and Satan was permitted to rule them according to his will. The horrible cruelties enacted in the destruction of Jerusalem are a demonstration of Satan's vindictive power over those who yield to his control. {GC 35.3}

We cannot know how much we owe to Christ for the peace and protection which we enjoy. It is the restraining power of God that prevents mankind from passing fully under the control of Satan. The disobedient and unthankful have great reason for gratitude for God's mercy and long-suffering in holding in check the cruel, malignant power of the evil one. But when men pass the limits of divine forbearance, that restraint is removed. God does not stand toward the sinner as an executioner of the sentence against transgression; but He leaves the rejectors of His mercy to themselves, to reap that which they have sown. Every ray of light rejected, every warning despised or unheeded, every passion indulged, every transgression of the law of God, is a seed sown which yields its unfailing harvest. The Spirit of God, persistently resisted, is at last withdrawn from the sinner, and then there is left no power to control the evil passions of the soul, and no protection from the malice and enmity of Satan. The destruction of Jerusalem is a fearful and solemn warning to all who are trifling with the offers of divine grace and resisting the pleadings of divine mercy. Never was there given a more decisive testimony to God's hatred of sin and to the certain punishment that will fall upon the guilty. {GC 36.1}

Now reread your quotes and INCLUDE this one. What does it mean to "execute justice". It means to allow the sinner to reap that which they have sown.

When God commanded that they take the land, WHERE does it say to take it by force? It does not. The truth is that the land was giving to them by God as a GIFT. All they needed to do was TAKE IT. Not fight for it. God had given it to them. They did not believe it. It mattered not how many men they had, what weapons they had, they needed NO weapons, God was giving them the land. There was no reason for ANY loss of life on the part of the children or Israel. Joshua 1:6-8 "Joshua, you must be strong and brave! You must lead these people so that they can take their land. I promised their fathers that I would give them this land. 7 But you must be strong and brave about obeying the commands my servant Moses gave you. If you follow his teachings exactly, you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Always remember what is written in that book of law. Speak about that book and study it day and night. Then you can be sure to obey what is written there. If you do this, you will be wise and successful in everything you do.

When the people crossed the Jordan on the way into the land of Canaan - they exercised faith! The marched right straight to the Jordan river, swollen by the season. They needed to be strong, to march one, to follow God's commands. There was no evidence that they would be able to cross, but they had faith and marched on. When the feet of the priests touched the river, it pilled up, and they marched across on dry land. The people were required to take the land of Canaan the same way, to trust the Lord, and follow His command. They never needed to FIGHT if they had implicitly trusted the Lord, and they would have been in right after leaving Egypt. This they did not do. Just as the Lord did to Pharoah and to all Egypt, so did he promise to do to all the enemies that should set themselves against the progress of the Israelites to the promised land. But the children of Israel did not strike a single blow to effect their deliverance from Egypt and the overthrow of all its armies.

When Moses, forty years before, had attempted to deliver Israel by physical force, he most signally failed, and was obliged to flee in disgrace. It was only when he knew the Gospel as the power of God unto salvation, that he was able to lead the people forth without any fear of the wrath of the king. This is conclusive proof that God did not design that they should fight for the possession of the land; and if they did not fight, of course they could not lose any man in battle.

HOW was God going to give them the land, and they would not need to fight. This is how! Exodus 23:27-30 I will send my terror before thee, and will discomfit all the people to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. 28 And I will send the hornet before thee, which shall drive out the Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite, from before thee. 29 I will not drive them out from before thee in one year; lest the land become desolate, and the beast of the field multiply against thee. 30 By little and little I will drive them out from before thee, until thou be increased, and inherit the land.

I think this fruitless discussion might soon die if APL could not find any answering chord in the rest of us for his provoking posts. He is well established in his mind, and refuses to view the truth from any other perspective than that which fits his present notions.

My trouble is: I hate to see error unanswered. Nevertheless, sometimes silence is golden. Thousands of posts have been spent on this erroneous theology here already. Should it be thousands more?

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.

If it takes a thousand more posts to descover the TRUTH not yet discovered, it might be worth it. I have a notion the Holy Spirit exceeds your patience.

Jesus was speaking of those who take the sword of their own initiative, not of those who do so under the command of God.

Every time God deprived sinners of life (the flood, Sodom, etc.), it was in mercy to others. Sin is infectious and is constantly spreading. Therefore, God removes the incurable offenders so that He can save those who can still be saved. That’s what happened in the past and that’s what will happen in the end.

Take a look at what happened when the people worshiped the golden calf:

A large company, mostly of the mixed multitude that instigated the making of the calf, stubbornly persisted in their rebellion. In the name of "the Lord God of Israel," Moses now commanded those upon his right hand, who had kept themselves clear of idolatry, to gird on their swords and slay all who persisted in rebellion. [Was Moses a rebel, too? Or was he acting in the name of God and according to the will of God?] "And there fell of the people that day about three thousand men." Without regard to position, kindred, or friendship, the ringleaders in wickedness were cut off; but all who repented and humbled themselves were spared.

Those who performed this terrible work of judgment were acting by divine authority, executing the sentence of the King of heaven. Men are to beware how they, in their human blindness, judge and condemn their fellow men; but when God commands them to execute His sentence upon iniquity, He is to be obeyed. Those who performed this painful act, thus manifested their abhorrence of rebellion and idolatry, and consecrated themselves more fully to the service of the true God. The Lord honored their faithfulness by bestowing special distinction upon the tribe of Levi.

Love no less than justice demanded that for this sin judgment should be inflicted. God is the guardian as well as the sovereign of His people. He cuts off those who are determined upon rebellion, that they may not lead others to ruin. ... It was the mercy of God that thousands should suffer, to prevent the necessity of visiting judgments upon millions. In order to save the many, He must punish the few. Furthermore, as the people had cast off their allegiance to God, they had forfeited the divine protection, and, deprived of their defense, the whole nation was exposed to the power of their enemies. Had not the evil been promptly put away, they would soon have fallen a prey to their numerous and powerful foes. It was necessary for the good of Israel, and also as a lesson to all succeeding generations, that crime should be promptly punished. And it was no less a mercy to the sinners themselves that they should be cut short in their evil course. Had their life been spared, the same spirit that led them to rebel against God would have been manifested in hatred and strife among themselves, and they would eventually have destroyed one another. [Notice that God did not simply let sin take its natural course here] It was in love to the world, in love to Israel, and even to the transgressors, that crime was punished with swift and terrible severity. {PP 324, 325}

Green - you just posted A reply with no substance. Podium pounding, but no facts. Did God give the land of Canaan as a GIFT or not? Was God going to take them in to the land as He took them out of Egypt or not? Should we today bear arms and literally fight our brothers or not?

As for the truth, Jeremiah 9:24 "But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD." Does God delight in judgment, in killing? Ezekiel 33:11 Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

God's wrath is when God gives up the sinner, lets him go, hides His face. Read Romans 1! But it is every where in the Bible. Deuteronomy 31:17-18 Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come on us, because our God is not among us? 18 And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have worked, in that they are turned to other gods.

The following Hebrew chiasm also fits: Isaiah 57:17 For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.

[A]For the iniquity of his covetousness [B] was I wroth, [C]and smote him: [C']I hid me, [B']and was wroth, [C']and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart.

How does God smite His enemy? He gives them up, lets them go, hides His face. Job knew this: Job 13:24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?

I would be delighted to see a thousand more posts to discover the truth. But it won't happen. Truth that is once refused is rarely ever accepted again.


Solemn thoughts, but true,

Green Cochoa.

I note that Mrs. White does not say that the people who have rejected truth will again accept it upon the thousandth hearing. She says every appeal made to them will be rejected.

Blessings,

Green Cochoa.