Joshua 7:15, 25 KJB
In this story about Achan, God directed His fiery wrath against one of His own people who had committed a deliberate and willful sin against God. Achan had stolen gold and silver that belonged to God. God commanded that he, and all that he had, to be burned with fire. But God actually had him, and his family, stoned to death before their bodies were burned. Being stoned to death is certainly not a pleasant way to die, but it is much better than being burned alive.
God's war is with the Devil and all evil, not with any of His living humans that He creates and loves. Genesis 1:26-27; Genesis 1:31; Genesis 3:15; Genesis 3:20 (KJB). God intends to make a short work on the earth in order to cause as little suffering to the human race as possible. Romans 9:28 (KJB). The Devil desires to burn all living humans alive forever. God can never lose anything He has ever created and loves. Ecclesiastes 3:14; I Corinthians 13:8 (KJB). God will never lose a single, living human to the Devil's desire. I Corinthians 13:8; John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14; Revelation 20:5 (KJB).
In Israel's past, when most of them had been rebellious against God, God threatened to destroy the whole nation and through Moses raise up a new people to serve Him. But God had Moses to plead for his people and defend them, and so God forgave them. Numbers 14:11-20 (KJB). If God had actually destroyed His people and had raised up a new people to serve Him, then even more doubt about God's power would have spread through the world, and God's final triumph over the Devil and all evil would have taken a much longer history of humanity. That longer history would have caused much more suffering for much more people. God had to allow the Devil to do his worst to humans to prove that he can never finally break the faith that God puts into every human that He creates in His image. Job 1:6-12; Job 2:1-10 (KJB). But God will make that suffering that the Devil causes to be as short as possible. All humans sin, including Job, but God considers His image that He puts into every human to be perfect. Job 1:1 (KJB). Just as God allowed the Devil to do his worst to Job, God will allow him to do his worst to the whole human race. But just as God did not allow the Devil to take Job's life, so God will not allow the Devil to take a single life of any living human that God ever creates. God knows exactly how to return all of His living humans created in His image to faith in Him in this life or in the end of the world when He makes His final judgment. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14; II Timothy 4:1 (KJB).
God had to have Achan and is family put to death and burned with fire to put fear of Him into the hearts of His people to prevent them from any possible future rebellion against Him. God had to have Achan's family put to death because they would have defended Achan. God had to prevent any future rebellion among His people because He might have to destroy them all and raise up a new people to serve Him. But such an event would have meant a much longer period of suffering in human history, and God intends to make a short history to cause as little suffering as possible. Romans 9:28 (KJB).
One may object that since God is Almighty, He could just summarily ban Satan and all evil from all of His creations. But that would just leave doubt in God's creations about the power of His Love which from time to time would have caused rebellion against God. But God could intervene into human history and become human so that He could prove that His Love is all-powerful and everlasting by allowing Himself to be nailed to a cruel cross and suffer all of the sins, evil, and eternal deaths of all humans in their place, and He could rise from the dead with complete victory over the Devil and all evil. Having thus proved that His Love can never fail, He could present that fact to all of His living humans and return them all to faith in Him as their Savior while in this life or in the end of the world. I Corinthians 13:8; John 20:24-29; John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14; II Timothy 1:10; I Timothy 4:10; I John 3:8; Revelation 21:1-5 (KJB).
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