(ASV-American Standard Version) It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
(ISV- International Standard Version) It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God!
(KJV- King James Version) It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Fearful-
G5398
phoberos
Thayer Definition:
1) inspiring fear, terrible, formidable
2) affected with fear, timid
Part of Speech: adjectiv
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When a person is given into the hands of someone throughout the Bible in mainly signifies they are going into something unpleasant, look at these examples--
Jdg 2:14 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he delivered them into the hands of spoilers that spoiled them, and he sold them into the hands of their enemies round about, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies.
2Sa 21:9 And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest.
Eze 7:21 And I will give it into the hands of the strangers for a prey, and to the wicked of the earth for a spoil; and they shall pollute it.
Mat 17:22 And while they abode in Galilee, Jesus said unto them, The Son of man shall be betrayed into the hands of men
Mar 9:31 For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.
Act 28:17 And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.
Do you see what I mean? So what does this mean- 'It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.'
I'll tell you exactly what it means- just what it says in plain language. Yes, it is FEARFUL to fall into the hands of the living God. We don't like to think about that though. We want to stress the God is love part, not the God is exacting part. We don't want to read of God's wrath, only His love. Thinking about the wrath of God isn't pleasant and it's not meant to be pleasant.
Let's look at a few more verses--
Psa 78:31 The wrath of God came upon them, and slew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen men of Israel.
Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.
Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness
Eph 5:6 Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
Rev 14:19 And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God.
Rev 15:1 And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.
Rev 15:7 And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth for ever and ever.
Rev 16:1 And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to the seven angels, Go your ways, and pour out the vials of the wrath of God upon the earth.
Falling into the hands of the living God, that isn't saying lovingly being cradled in the hands of God. Remember this VITAL piece of information-- God does NOT force us to Him! Those who ultimately choose NOT to be on God's side will fall into His hands for punishment. They won't be left alone to do as they please. A time will come and is FAST approaching when the fate of everyone is decided. This world the way it is will NOT go on forever.
Tonight at our Bible Study we listened to a lecture on Bible prophecy. People are very caught up in things of a physic nature and have been for a long, long time. If you had a person come up to you and tell you that next year your life will change and then proceed to tell you what would change, things totally beyond your control, and then the next year those things come to pass, you would be shocked and awed wanting to see that person again. They told you the future and it happened, really happened. God did the same thing. Hundreds of years before things happened God foretold them and they ALL came true. God also predicted other things along with those things that came to pass- things we now call history. Those other things predicted WILL come to pass just as all before them came to pass. There were no empty prophecies, no false prophecies, no faltering prophecies they all came true and if they ALL came true NOTHING will stop the rest of the prophecies from coming true. This is one prophecy--
Dan 2:32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass,
Dan 2:33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay.
Dan 2:34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces.
Dan 2:35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.
Dan 2:37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory.
Dan 2:38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold.
Dan 2:39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth.
Dan 2:40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise.
Dan 2:41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay.
Dan 2:42 And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken.
Dan 2:43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.
Dan 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
Dan 2:45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.
Babylon Head of Gold
Medo-Persia Chest/arms of Silver
Greece Belly/thighs of Brass
Rome Legs of Iron
Europe divided Toes of Iron and Clay
Kingdom of God Stone cut without hand
Is Europe still divided into many different countries? Undisputedly - YES.
Europe will remain divided until the Kingdom of God destroys the old world and brings in the new.
These are truths! These are facts. Did Babylon exist? Yes, without any doubt. Did Medo-Persia exist? Yes, without any doubt. Did Greece once have control over the empire? Read this--
Alexander III of Macedon (20/21 July 356 – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great (Greek: Μέγας Ἀλέξανδρος, Mégas Aléxandros), was a Greeki[›] king of Macedon. He is the most celebrated member of the Argead Dynasty and the creator of one of the largest empires in ancient history.
Pasted from
A Greek king- one of the LARGEST empires in ancient history!
Yes, Greece as a ruling empire existed! And Rome? Was Rome a great empire? Beyond any doubt!
After Rome has there ever been another empire like it or any of the preceding empires? No, simply….no. The lands of the Middle East, the lands of Europe have never had another great empire in control but rather several smaller empires (countries). Has there been any ambition to unite Europe? To have another GREAT empire that does away with all the little ones by absorbing them. Yes, all you have to do is consider the World Wars we've had to know that fact is very true. A war is inherently a decider of land/people control. Someone wants to control the way you are running things, and wants you to run them their way. They want your land to be known as their land, or land greatly influenced by you because you've conquered the land. You can't have a war without two or more opposing sides.
So the answer is yes, people have wanted to conquer the world but it hasn't happened and it won't happen! God has told us prophetically that it will not happen and we need to believe Him. History proves God if you can't simple go by faith look at your own world history!
The wrath of God is REAL! Falling into God's hands for punishment is REAL. There should be a fear, a terrifying fear in us that we could come under the wrath of God.
Let's read these two verses together--
Heb 10:30 For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people.
Heb 10:31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
God's vengeance should be fearful. Don't shake your head, don't turn away, don't let yourself be deceived! Are these scare tactics? So what if they are? Seriously! Scare tactics used on people often have good results. And often parents use scare tactics to impress upon their children the seriousness of a situation. Is it possible to abuse scare tactics- for humans, yes, certainly. Satan loves when we abuse situations that could otherwise be used for good if they were done in moderation. If you go overboard when you shouldn't then no, putting the fear of something into someone isn't a good thing. Has God gone overboard with scare tactics? Ask yourself this- what exactly is at stake?
Eternal life.
With eternal life at stake is it possible for the true FEAR, terrifying fear of God's wrath to ever be too much to bear? Can our gentle natures be too weak to comprehend the magnitude of God's wrath? Would we much rather just dwell on the loving, kindness of God? We are told that there is a wrath of God for ALL who are not God's. We are told this so we wake up and realize that our LOVING FATHER is warning us out of LOVE because He WANTS US WITH HIM in HIS LOVE! HE WANTS US!!!! HE DOESN'T WANT TO LOSE A SINGLE ONE OF US!!!! Will He have to lose a lot of us? Yes, but not for want of His trying to bring us into His love.
So when we read about it being fearful, of it being terrifying to fall into the hands of the living God it really, truly is. There will be a punishment the greatest part of that punishment will be eternal non-existence, missing out on the eternal love of our God, the eternal love of life as God would have it be for us in a world that will never again have sin in it, no lovers of sin will be there, not a single one.
May the knowledge of God's wrath, of God's exacting vengeance, of the true fear- terrifying fear of God be ours so that we know that God wills that we all be with Him in His love, not in His wrath. May God's will be done in our lives no matter what circumstances arise- trying to interfere with God's ultimate will- that we be His and He be ours.
By the mercy and grace of our Lord, of our Savior!
Amen.
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