Psalm 78 34 Does God kill people?
Death is one form of punishment by which God signals that violation of His holy commands carries a fearsome penalty. Death entered human experience after the Fall (Genesis 2-3), and occurred thereafter as a judgment for specific sin (Joshua 7:10-12). God, the giver of life, may also take life when purposes higher than human longevity are served.
Pagan deities were believed to hold powers of inflicting early death, so it is important to differentiate between God's judgment and pagan imagination. God is neither vicious nor fickle in life-and-death judgments. God is not merely trying His powers over human life, but moving history toward holy purpose. God does not regard death casually, as if expired people were no more significant than modern video-game villains. God may punish through death to express His holy and loving nature - which puts the issue of divine judgment in a completely different context than pagan retribution.
Finally, God's judgment on Achan and others is a preview of a much more fearsome and terrible judgment referred to in Revelation 20:11-15. This "second death" is to be avoided at all costs, for the Bible offers no remedy once this judgment is passed.
Death is one form of punishment by which God signals that violation of His holy commands carries a fearsome penalty. Death entered human experience after the Fall (Genesis 2-3), and occurred thereafter as a judgment for specific sin (Joshua 7:10-12). God, the giver of life, may also take life when purposes higher than human longevity are served.
Pagan deities were believed to hold powers of inflicting early death, so it is important to differentiate between God's judgment and pagan imagination. God is neither vicious nor fickle in life-and-death judgments. God is not merely trying His powers over human life, but moving history toward holy purpose. God does not regard death casually, as if expired people were no more significant than modern video-game villains. God may punish through death to express His holy and loving nature - which puts the issue of divine judgment in a completely different context than pagan retribution.
Finally, God's judgment on Achan and others is a preview of a much more fearsome and terrible judgment referred to in Revelation 20:11-15. This "second death" is to be avoided at all costs, for the Bible offers no remedy once this judgment is passed.
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