ET'er says "God is dangerous!"

[Tom]

"Fear is not in love, but perfect love is casting out fear, for fear has chastening. Now he who is fearing is not perfected in love." (1 John 4:18)

[jbertonbounds]

My conclusion is that God is not one to be trifled with, for certain. But if you do reach out to "pet him" I believe his reaction would be a warm embrace. If for some reason you did so, and God did not like it, he would send word beforehand, probably by way of multiple prophets, to advise you.

:thumbsup:

Personally I find the comparison between God and a dumb, feral animal to be outrageous, given God's clear statements about his long suffering nature.

:iagree:
Yes, my friend's statement degrades Yah to the level of a dumb, feral animal - absolutely blasphemous!

[jbertonbounds]

Yes. God is RIGHTEOUS and MERCIFUL.

Man is self-righteous and cruel.

I would want to receive from the hand of God rather than man as well. But God can still be scary/dangerous. His judgment fearsome. His wrath can be terrible. 

Do you remember how the earth opened up and swallowed Korah and his whole family for questioning Moses authority.

Do you remember how Miriam was struck with leprosy for the same thing?

Moses pleaded for her healing and YHWH said, essentially, "OK, but she will bear it for a week, outside the camp, so she doesnt forget not too get too lifted up".

How about Aarons sons. Just a little replacement spice and BOOM, burned up in the fire.


Let's look at Sodom and Gomorah.- Mercy will triumph over judgment and PRAISE GOD FOR IT!....but the judgment was terrible just the same.

Giving someone over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, for instance, is a fearsome judgment. The consequences of extreme sin demanding an extreme response- definitely for the purpose of SALVATION IN THE DAY- but nevertheless fearsome.


Mercy triumphs over judgment- but judgment often OPENS THE WAY for MERCY...... God has shut up all under disobedience that He might have mercy on all, but the consequences of that disobedience can be terrible.


Any Egyptian could tell you that the day after ALL THEIR FIRST BORN were killed. Sometimes we read these like they were stories that didnt really happen to ACTUAL PEOPLE.



Jesus said, better to enter the kingdom of heaven maimed than to enter gehenna whole. Scary enough to pluck out an eye-

God can be scary and dangerous..... but His mercy will triumph over all and those who are HIs already know the awesome love of God.

Outside are there are sorcerers, murderers, deceivers, sexual predators, religious power mongers and oppressors- and some of them need the wrath of God, to pass through the "winepress", in order to be broken so that they may be healed.

I agree with what you are saying. :iagree:
However, you must remember what an ET'er means when he says, "God is dangerous."
From his perspective, God is gonna ROAST YOU ALIVE ETERNALLY WITHOUT RELIEF and WITHOUT MERCY FOREVER if you mess up.
From the truth perspective, God will use judgment when necessary, scarey as that may be, to bring us to himself.
We need not ever under-estimate the judgment he will use to reconcile all humanity.
But I'd rather err by giving God credit for having more love, grace, and mercy than he really has, than to blaspheme His character by over-estimating his judgments.

[jbertonbounds]

I agree that he can be scary and severe, but it don't agree that if we reach out for him, we lose an arm. I think the man who said that did so without understanding what God says about a himself. He is long suffering before his brings severity.

Some of this has to do with the perspective we have when we read the scripture. When Jesus said to cut out and eye rather than have our whole bodies burned, I believe Jesus was warning them to sever their connections to their sinful flesh before their sin overtakes their whole being. What looks like a scary passage, to me is a warning to them about themselves and where their own sin can take them.

I believe the worst judgment God beings upon man is to let his own sin destroy him, and that can be a fate worse than death, since the dead know nothing. I believe we ought to fear our own desire to sin and be watchful for that rather than comparing God to a mindless animal which is what I think the example in the OP is doing.

:thumbsup: :iagree:

[jbertonbounds]

...not to mention wiping out everybody on the planet with a flood except for eight souls or the coming indignation. I think we should have a healthy fear of God, but that's different than the irrational fear of torture in fire forever that is a lie.

Absolutely! :iagree:

[dajomaco]

1 What father among you, if his son[l] asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give[m] the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

God helps us let go of that, that does not profit us,so we can have more of his Spirit .
This is called correction.
The correction of God can be a beautiful thing (once the dust settles and the storm is over.)

[jbertonbounds]

1 What father among you, if his son[l] asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give[m] the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?"

God helps us let go of that, that does not profit us,so we can have more of his Spirit .
This is called correction.
The correction of God can be a beautiful thing (once the dust settles and the storm is over.)

*LIKE*

[RonnyTX]

A friend says to me, " Hey, listen. God is dangerous. That is the way the Bible portrays him. You don't have to like it. You can deny his existence. You can pet him if you like—just don't expect your arm back. I'm done trying to explain God's dangerous qualities away, because some of it isn't explainable, and because at some level we must simply accept the way he has chosen to reveal himself."

I reply, "Hmmm. Scarry! I don't know that god. Yahweh is my god. Jesus is my savior. His Spirit is my helper, my encourager. He promised to be the savior of all humanity – especially of those who believe (1 Timothy 4:10). My God is LOVE. I don't have to worry whether I am in the right religion, nor about mistranslations in bibles, for he reveals himself to me, apart from religious doctrines. I don't have to worry about my loved ones who may reject his grace. They will eventually be drawn to him (John 12:32) and purified too. I don't have to feel sorrow for those who never have a chance to hear of Jesus. He loves them too, and he will take care of them. I do not look forward to seeing, nor hope to see, evil-doers like Adolf Hitler being burned alive. There are no limits to the love and grace of my father, Yahweh. For he is good, and there are no limits to his mercy. I sing his praises because he is worthy of them – and so much more. "

Ronny:
As one song puts it,Amen,amen,amen,amen,amen! :-)