Jack the Ripper, Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot etc would not have been born either. In various places in the Bible it is clear that after a certain time various groups of people in this sin polluted world start having children who have gone beyond the point of no return so that the whole population is in a pathological condition. Jericho had Rahab along with her family, but no one else.
This condition would eventually spread to the entire population so that at some point there would be no one God could save.
That is the terrible tragedy of sin. God can’t force a person to do the right thing. Everyone has oportunities and choices to make affecting where they end up. All the pain and terror etc is not God’s fault. God tries to hold out for as long as He can, but there comes a point where He has to make the next step.
I keep reading Matthew 24:36-49 and you are right. It is not deep theology as it clearly says, “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son but only the Father.” Not even Jesus Himself knows it.
Imagine that…
Whether man has fulfilled God’s requirements or not; ready or not (1844 believers had all been ready!), Jesus would have come, or will come in His own time. We have have to be ready every moment of our lives.
What was she thinking when she wrote this passage?
A week ago I noticed a video on one of the YouTube channels I subscribe too, “Does the Bible command social justice?” I thought seeing as it’s only 1 min, 41 sec, I might take a peek to see how Dr. Frank Turek answers the question. First a little on Frank Turek:
A Christian apologist, has a Master of Public Administration degree from George Washington University; a Doctor of Ministry in Apologetics degree from Southern Evangelical Seminary. He’s also debated Christopher Hitchens on 2 occasions, and co-authored two books with Norman Geisler. And has over 218 thousand subscribers on his YT channel.
So what I’m trying to say there is, he’s no small fish. He has a big influence in the (Protestant) Christian community.
Just as that 1 min video ends he says something that really threw me back. Something I never thought I would have heard come out of his mouth. Something about the government and the gospel. I’ll let you watch it for yourself.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, this was said by someone in a time of relative peace, imagine if huge numbers of people are fearing for their lives, and at how quickly they’ll be willing to give up their freedoms for safety. I recall reading an article many years ago, at how after 9/11 the churches in NY were full. Though be it, full for only 2 weeks or so, but full nonetheless, and this in one of the more secular cities.
Those who are now keeping the commandments of God need to bestir themselves that they may obtain the special help which God alone can give them. They should work more earnestly to delay as long as possible the threatened calamity.—The Review and Herald, December 18, 1888.
Articles like this, make that statement from Ellen White lose its power. Regardless if it’s someone pushing for a Sunday law, be it from the left or right. Or someone making statements that the government should be involved (somehow) with the preaching of the gospel, we should take that seriously.
Being God and knowing the past, present and future He should have known before he even created human beings how much trouble they would find themselves in. But He made them anyway and you are affirming here that “all the pain and terror etc is not God’s fault”, yes it is. On the premises of His Omniscience there is no plausible explanation of why a loving Father would want the world He created to be filled with so much horror not only directed at the ones He created but also Himself by becoming subject to a sadomasochist death on the cross. Yes it is His fault, He let it happen and gave humanity all the toys to be that evil by giving them free choice. What do you think?
Note God, not EGW’s imagination, told EGW of times in the PAST that Jesus could have come. Jesus was referring to the time that He would come in the FUTURE. It seems that you scorn EGW so much that you see problems with her where there isn’t any, a common tendency. Can you imagine that?
That fellow wants to delay the second coming of Jesus for as long as possible! He doesn’t want to hasten the time when God remakes our planet where there is no pain and no tears. I can see in the Bible why Satan is not keen on Jesus coming, but can’t see Christians would be like that.
The Bible and EGW are the opposite to this fellow.
I’ve watched Frank Turek’s stuff for many years now. I wouldn’t say he wants to delay the Lords coming. On the contrary, he wants to speed it up.
I just happen to think he’s playing with fire when he promotes the idea of the government having anything to do with the preaching of the gospel. Dangerous stuff.
Lucifer, the fallen angels and Adam and Eve made CHOICES. You can’t blame God for their choices. They all knew God well enough to know that He was good. God didn’t make robots or goons like what what tyrants and big heads in this world have.
That’s true, He could have returned soon in the 1st Century. Actually, it appears obvious that the disciples were expecting Him to return durint their life time.
Yes, I agree with this. Before EGW people had the Bible, that contained ALL information needed for one to be saved. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is completely described in the holy writ. I only wonder what new information was added by the inspired writings of EGW, to broaden the info that each individual needs in the EGW era.
Maybe it was too late into the night, the lighting was poor, and she just copied it inadvertently without processing the thought? 
God is working to His own plan so that when He finally ends the existence of sin that sin will not sure a second time. God is making sure that there will be no doubt at all forever that He has always been and always will be a loving and just God. Love can only exist between free will minds. Try living in China and see how you like it. Very difficult I assure you.
The problem has always been that God’s people tend to lose the plot and focus on convenient traditions. God sends prophets along to stir up His people and focus them on the Bible. This is exactly what EGW did. She lived a long worthy life and her circumstances were such that much of what she written has been preserved.
I find it so sad and puzzling that people mock her and scorn her and make up these pathetic claims of wrong doing by her. I have been reading her writings since 1973 and have nothing to complain about or doubt her.
Now you are turning from EGW to @elmer_cupino . Hey, he is not the subject of discussion, but rather she and her writings are.
I would never imagine that you would do such a thing.
I believe that this stream is about Sunday laws etc, not racism.
In related news… Adventist Church leadership is writing an anonymous petition to Vatican, chastising them for their lax efforts and dropping the ball on Sunday laws. They demand a public statement of progress from pope every Friday afternoon, and dedication of October to be the global Sunday laws necessity awareness month for every Catholic.
- Was it a mistake to create angels that were imperfect and made bad choices?
- Seeing the result of creating imperfect angels, why did God procede and created imperfect human beings after that anyway?
I wonder why in response to my “wondering” you replied with this comment,
Not to be understood as if I am “mocking and scorning” her, my simple question is, After so many years reading her, have you found in her writings anything new that was not already in the Bible before her?
Have you been reading the latest streams on Spectrum? There have been way too many articles about racism, and many of us are tired it, especially due to the toxicity injected by one certain commenter. This is the background that you probably missed and appear to have misunderstood my post.