Update - 1/15/2020

www.the-character-of-God.com
www.4adventists.com
www.the-character-of-God.com/light_on_the_dark_side_of_god.html



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• A reader says that Ty Gibson's The Sonship of Christ is available from Kindle at

        https://www.amazon.ca/Sonship-Christ-Exploring-Covenant-Identity-ebook/dp/B07HQWD5Z6/ref=sr_1_1?                             keywords=the+sonship+of+christ&qid=1573525326&sr=8-1

• Our inspiration for the day is from The Messenger of the Covenant by Eliot Douglin, M. D.:
  "Another fantastic dimension of the mystery is how GOD BRINGS GOOD OUT OF EVIL. It is the nature of the infinite reality that ANYTHING DONE AGAINST GOD TURNS OUT TO BE FOR HIM! These principles are not arbitrary, they are grounded in the fundamental principle of self-sacrificing love. THE GREATER THE CHALLENGE TO GOD'S GOVERNMENT, THE GREATER THE APPLICATION OF SELF-SACRIFICING LOVE. The result is that GREATER GOOD RESULTS FROM THE CHALLENGE THAN IF THE CHALLENGE HAD NEVER OCCURRED! This is because Agapé Love never fails. 'For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.' 2 Corinthians 13:8.”

 

• Scripture says there was a rebellion at the Red Sea. (Psalm 108:6.) Where? When? My reading of the event in Exodus says nothing of a rebellion. God assumed complete responsibility for defending the Israelites as they left Egypt and journeyed toward the Red Sea. A small protest occurred when they feared for their lives, with pharaoh's army closing in and before the sea lane opened ahead, but that was understandable and didn't rise to the level of a rebellion. Is it possible that they had a rebellion and neglected to record it for history? When they left the Red Sea, they were responsible for their own defense. How do we know? We know this because the first time they were threatened by hostile forces (the Amalekites), they had weapons (which they did not have up to now) and went to war. Yet it was clear to them that God was responsible for all their victories. Aaron and Hur sat Moses on a rock and held up his arms until the enemy was vanquished. Where in the Torah does it tell us when this change occurred, from God completely defending them to where they were responsible for their own defense? Here we have evidence because of what we don't read in Scripture. Lack of evidence is evidence in itself. Something that should be in Scripture, isn't. Why? Why doesn't Scripture record where their defense changed and where they got their weapons?

• At Last—A Consultant

I am pleased to announce that at last God has sent someone who can help us (PTL!). Michael is an experienced person who knows his way around computers. I am now exploring ways to increase my income so that he can become more involved with the project and I can pay him for his invaluable service, but in the meantime he has been so helpful. I want to announce at this time a Facebook page dedicated to the book, Light on the Dark Side of God, and the message it bears, largely due to Michael's involvement. Now maybe we can get something done! This will depend to a great extent on you and how thoroughly you are willing to get involved.

I thought as our first assignment a spinoff of a review by Jeremy Myers of “Redeeming God Ministries.” He said among other things, “Truly, this is an insightful idea. I only wish that the author had spelled this idea out in more detail and had explained more of the tough texts of Scripture in light of her position.” I thought I had written enough that those desiring to work out other instances of God's appearing to violate everything He has told us about Himself could do so. But perhaps not. And perhaps some need more “fill in” to really come to a solid belief that our God is only beneficent. Are you willing to take on the challenge? With this as our directive, perhaps some will wish to write on the Facebook page about one event in sacred history that has escaped our notice, and I am well aware that many on this email list have the intellectual capacity to explain it thoroughly and well. Those of you who might wish to take another direction are most welcome to do so. Here are a few of the “tough texts” that the reviewer might have had in mind:

1. “And fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them [Nadab and Abihu], and they died before the Lord”(Lev. 10:1). Many places in Scripture fire is said to come out from the Lord and consume something or someone(s). Anyone care to take this on?
   
   Israel loses the Ark of the Covenant to the Philistines, and what God does to the Philistines to get it back is quite a shock. A plague of tumors breaks out among the people; their main god, Dagon, falls down in the night and shatters; a panic breaks out among the terrified people and mice ravage their land. (1 Sam. 4-6) Perhaps it is understandable what God did to Dagon, but what about the tumors and the mice? God put tumors on these people, ravaged the land with mice? Terrified and panicked them?
2. When the Ark returns on a cart drawn by two unbroken milk cows, “he [presumably God] smote the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter” (1 Sam. 6:19). Some
   translations say seventy men were killed. Can someone explain the Lord's actions in this matter so as to support our thesis that He is only good and, consequently, does only good?
   
   
3. Many times in Scripture a prophet of God kills with his own hands. Examples are Samuel hewing Agag and Elijah killing the prophets of Baal at the Kidron Brook. A prophet would be expected to know the Lords opinion regarding killing. If this doesn't prove righteous killing, or God putting His stamp of approval on killing, what does?
4. King David was a “man after God's own heart” (Acts 13:22). Yet he was also a man of blood (1 Chron. 28:3), a warrior, and killed many men in battle. What was the interplay of motives that prevented David from building God's house?

 

1. “Now the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him” (1 Sam. 16:14). Can you explain this text and others like it? What was going on here?
   
   
2. The death of Ananias and Saphira.

 

1. The death of Herod Agrippa. (Ray Foucher has done some great work explaining this one. Could we coax him to share it with us?)

 

1. Then there are the biggies: Noah's flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, the Exodus. What if my opinion is wrong? What is your opinion? Maybe you agree that my opinion is correct but you have a little bit of a slant on it. Don't be bashful. Share it!
   
   

1. Other Biblical events that you are interested in that reveal something good about the Father.

       11. You may think of something I haven't recorded here. Feel free to share it.

Remember, Jesus is the measure, the standard, the full revelation of the Father. That is the one point on which I think we can all agree!

Lastly, and this is the most important part. The whole point of this Facebook page is to get the message out. Michael has convinced me not to give the book away. People are accustomed to paying for something they want, and the price of the book, especially the condensed version, is not outside the pocketbook of most people. Sharing the postings on the Facebook site will be enormous. So share, share, share. When you read something that slants differently from the way it is generally seen, share it with your other social media friends. I can't emphasize this too much.

While I finally see my way clear to get this message out to a wider audience by implementing the strategy described herein, I am open to other suggestions that may enable us to find an even wider audience. In closing let me refer you to our fathers and the ancestors who have gone before us. Some of them knew this message; we have their letters and other documents to prove it. But they had no way to make the message “go big.” People, do you realize what a blessing the Internet is to getting this message out? They didn't have it; we do! As God is for us, and we have the Internet, we certainly can expect great things from our time here on the earth. Let's not waste it!

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