Though God had earlier told Abram not to fear because He was a shield to him (Genesis 15:1), later in the encounter terror and darkness fell upon him. On the day that God made a covenant with Abram, Abram fell into a deep sleep. Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked so I hid myself.”” (Genesis 3:8-10) (See Genesis 3:1-24 for context) “ They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. The presence that they had previously enjoyed was now fearful. Guilt, shame, and fear were likely all a part of the reason. Terror and fear associated with GodĪfter Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord. And of course that is not the whole story, so this article also touches on the hope that we have in Christ who is the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10), a hope that manifests with a proper fear of God. It is also to highlight the appropriateness of fearing Him. The following verses are presented to bring together references about these things for the purpose of glorifying God and for helping us remember or learn that it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31). By God’s grace, coming to grips with that truth can bring one to ruin – a ruin that can lead to salvation.
#The wrath of the gods full
(Hebrews 12:23) We are finite, created beings and wretched sinners who deserve the full measure of His wrath. Though God is frequently described with terms that are immensely comforting like merciful, forgiving, and loving He is also the all-powerful Judge of all. (Psalms 103:14) Apart from Him allowing it by tempering the sight of His glory or by special grace (one such example: Exodus 24:9-11), how could anyone be before Him and not quake, if not die? He is the Almighty God, holy and righteous. It is not hard to imagine that such things would happen. From the Garden of Eden in the book of Genesis to the Day of Wrath in the book of Revelation, there are numerous examples of people rightly responding to God’s presence or majesty with fear or terror.