The Most Frightening Verse in the Bible

The Bible teaches that our fundamental purpose in life is to “fear God and keep His commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). This fear of God, coupled with obedience, is necessary for one to be accepted by Him. Peter told the household of Cornelius, “I most certainly understand now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the man who fears Him and does what is right is welcome to Him” (Acts 10:34-35).

Besides just telling us that we need to fear God, the Bible provides us with enough information for us to appreciate the fact that “it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31). Notice just a few examples:

“Then the flood came upon the earth… All flesh that moved on the earth perished…and all mankind; of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of life, died” (Genesis 7:17-22).
“Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground” (Genesis 19:24-25).
“The earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished in the midst of the assembly” (Numbers 16:32-33).
“In his days of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up… The Lord sent against [Jehoiakim] bands of Chaldeans, bands of Arameans, bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. So He sent them against Judah to destroy it” (2 Kings 24:1-2).
“Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” (Revelation 6:15-16).

These are just a few of the passages that give us reasons to fear God. But what would be the most frightening verse in the Bible? I realize that the answer to this question may be a bit subjective. There are a number of verses that could be suggested that demonstrate the importance of serving the Lord in godly fear and the consequences for failing to do so. However, let me submit the following passage from the letter to the saints in Rome:

“Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to His deeds” (Romans 2:4-6).

There are many examples recorded in the Scriptures of God’s wrath being poured out against the wicked. Yet Paul described this wrath continually building and building against those who refuse to obey the Lord (Romans 2:5). This is truly a frightening thought! If you could take every example recorded in the Bible of divine punishment in this life and have them all compound upon one another, the eternal punishment in hell would still be far worse! It is a place of “eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). But even though it has been prepared for them, hell will also be the eternal dwelling place for all those who are lost (Matthew 25:41, 46; 2 Thessalonians 1:9; Revelation 20:15).

However, God, in “His kindness and tolerance and patience” (Romans 2:4), has given us a way to escape His wrath. That way is through the sacrifice of Christ.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having how been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him” (Romans 5:8-9).

Through Christ we can be forgiven of sins and saved from the wrath of God. As Paul pointed out, the sacrifice of Christ on the cross was necessary to make salvation possible. But in order to take advantage of this salvation, we must meet the conditions that have been revealed in the gospel (cf. Mark 16:15-16). Jesus is “to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation” (Hebrews 5:9). We must be “obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you were committed” (Romans 6:17). Paul explained what that teaching includes:

“Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:3-4).

Those who “do not obey the gospel” (2 Thessalonians 1:8) stand to receive God’s wrath in the end. Those who have obeyed the gospel in the past, but fall back into the world, are “those who shrink back to destruction” (Hebrews 10:38-39). Because God is patient, those in these conditions have time now to make correction (cf. 2 Peter 3:9). But at the same time, the wrath of God is being stored up against those who refuse to follow the Lord.

If your life is not right with God, take advantage of the time you have now to make things right so that you do not have to experience the full force of God’s wrath against you. If you are following God, continue to do so that you may not lose your reward.