I can’t figure out where people get the idea that God could be both the Creator and the destroyer. It seems they are saying He has a split personality, or character. Satan is the destroyer, God is the Creator. Is my understanding correct?
A study of the Old Testament shows God can be both Creator and Destroyer. In fact you could argue that as our Creator He is the only one who has the right to destroy us. Remember, God destroyed the world in the Great Flood. In Genesis 6:7 He said, “I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth –men and animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground–for I am grieved that I have made them.”
He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24-25), He brought the plagues on Egypt (Exodus 7:1-5) , and He gave the Israelites supernatural power to destroy the Canaanites when they conquered the promised land (Joshua 1:1-9). In fact He was upset with them for not completing the job (Judges 2:1-5).
During the Church Age God has been at peace with the world, due to the cross (Colossians 1:19-20). But after the Church is gone He will once again destroy the world in preparation for the establishment of His coming Kingdom (Jeremiah 30:11, Matt. 24:21-22). And at the end of the Millennium he will destroy the world one final time to prepare it for eternity (Rev. 20:7-10).