Its common to hear people talk about the love of God. People
often quote John 3:16. And this has led to an impression among most
that God is a sort of teddy bear; that He's there to just be loving and
nice. Its unfortunate because this perception of God is contrary to
what Scripture says.
God does not let sin go unpunished. A
story I'm sure you'll remember is Noah and his ark. Its a pleasant
warm-fuzzy kind of story, a big boat and all kinds of animals, until you
get to the part about God killing almost all the people on earth. The
world population at that time had grown incredibly sinful. The Bible
says that God even regretted making man (Genesis 6:6). That has to be
one of the saddest verses in the Bible, if not the saddest.
When
God was giving the Israelites regulations during the exodus, on
sacrificing and worshiping, it was a very serious business. God Himself
was there at the Tabernacle. And at one time the sons of Aaron, Nadab
and Abihu, were caught up in excitement and offered unauthorized
incense. Fire immediately came from the presence of God and destroyed
them. Not only that, but Aaron did not mourn for his sons because of
the fear of God. To be frank, the regulations concerning Tabernacle
offerings were more important than Nadab and Abihu. The commands were
holy; they came directly from God. The sons of Aaron broke the command
directly in front of God. You can read it in Leviticus chapter ten.
On
another occasion during the exodus a Levite, Korah, led a rebellion
against God's authority, that is, Moses. God had established Moses as
an authority over Israel; to rebel against Moses was to rebel against
God. Read it in Numbers chapter sixteen. You can even see a sense of
panic in Moses when he finds out that Korah and his followers are
rebelling, because he knows what God will do to them. Moses even begs
the LORD to spare the followers. But as for Korah and those who
remained with him, the earth literally opened up and swallowed them. If
not for Moses begging for God's mercy, even more people would have been
destroyed.
I could go through example after example,
particularly in the Old Testament, but even in the New Testament too, of
God's wrath and judgement. There is a very good reason Jesus tells us
to fear God (Luke 12:5).
We find in Jesus the perfect
manifestation of God. Jesus tells us, "Whoever has seen me has seen the
Father" (John 14:9). And we can see that Jesus has a hard side. Read
Matthew 23, and that should give you an idea. Consider Jesus driving
the traders out of the temple; the Scripture says of Him, "Zeal for your
house will consume me." The traders who were driven out by a whip
probably felt some of that zeal.
People need to read the
Bible. God is not there to serve man; man is here to serve God, even
though He needs nothing from us. God's job is not to make sure your
life is easy or pleasant or any of that. God is God, simply put. He
does not tolerate disobedience. And why should He? He made everything
there is, including every person that ever lived. That's why He has
total dominion over all life. So when He makes a law or establishes a
certain order, it is the fool that rebels against Him. And the
rebellious soul is destroyed. That's why we read it over and over
again, "fear God."
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