God is love. So states 1John 4:8
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
The spirit of prophecy agrees:
God is love; God is in Himself, in His essence, love.
– Ellen White, 7LtMs, Manuscript 39, 1891, paragraph 3
Many have found it difficult to reconcile this statement with many of the stories in the Bible, where God apparently commands the death of not only soldiers, but women and children. There are people and nations today who still subscribe to this view, thinking they are doing God service. The Bible reveals as much about our own character, as it does about God.
51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, 52 And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. 53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. 54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? 55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
– Luke 9:51-56
Let’s take another look at this statement from the spirit of prophecy:
We are not to regard God as waiting to punish the sinner for his sin. The sinner brings the punishment upon himself. His own actions start a train of circumstances that bring the sure result. Every act of transgression reacts upon the sinner, works in him a change of character, and makes it more easy for him to transgress again. By choosing to sin, men separate themselves from God, cut themselves off from the channel of blessing, and the sure result is ruin and death.
– E. G. White, 1 Selected Messages, p. 235
Perhaps a short example will suffice.
And again:
Clearly, God brought the flood, correct? Let’s look at another example.
There have been people in tall buildings that have taken drugs, and thought they could fly (i.e, without being in an airplane). In all cases I have found, they died. What killed them? One possible answer is gravity. Who created gravity? Well, God did, of course. Gravity is one of His natural laws. God did not see fit to suspend the law of gravity in the case of someone who believes they can fly. In fact, He cannot. God respects our choices, even our foolish choices. No one made these people take drugs, and their foolish choice had a sure consequence. God is sovereign; not a sparrow falls from the sky without Him knowing about it. Matthew 10:29. That is, God takes responsibility for everything that happens – in fact, God is the one who is on trial. Revelation 14:6; Romans 3:4. See also Isaiah 45:7. In the end, He will be absolved of all the evil in the world; even the wicked will bend the knee, and confess. Romans 14:11. Look again at the quote by E.G. White. The wicked brought the flood upon themselves, just as the law of gravity kills those who think to defy it. God provided a way out for them, the boat He had Noah build. All people had to do was enter the ark, and they would have been saved. If more people had entered the ark than there was room for them, the flood would not have happened, or, at least, would have been delayed (see the story of Jonah).
I know this is a difficult concept for people to wrap their minds around; for greater insight, see Agape, by Adrian Ebens: