God's Wrath

Have you ever thought about how many people have been killed by God? How many Old and New Testament characters did something so egregiously sinful that the Almighty deemed it necessary to straightaway cause or allow the penalty of death to be invoked?

Yahweh, our LORD, our God, was and still is the supreme ruler of all the universes. This is true whether or not you believe that. As such, God has been well known to punish humankind directly or use other forces to punish wayward people. He has chastened nations and individuals. To this day, God continues to administer punishment for evil, as He sees fit.

God authored the words that Moses scribed in Deuteronomy 32:35 “Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.” Verse 42 says, I kill ... I wound ... I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and mine sword shall devour flesh. Romans 12:19, of the New Testament (NT) reinforces the same thought; Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

When God placed “Thou shall not kill” within His 10 Commandments, he was speaking directly to us, all of humankind. Not God Himself! God never said, “I will not kill.” The Bible documents His record in that domain with an innumerable number of deaths.

Some people struggle mightily from the very idea that God could or should judge sinful people and apply punishment even unto their earthly demise. According to Scripture, all sin must be judged and every person deserves death and eternal punishment. If we refuse to accept this truth, then we are in grave danger, no pun intended, of spending all eternity in hell because we too rejected God. For sure, both good or evil persons, all angels and even the devil himself will face God's ultimate lasting judgment. We cannot uphold God's law, it is humanly impossible to do so. If we repent of our sins, our stubbornness, and pride by praying to Jesus Christ for mercy, our name will appear in the Book of Life. If we do this, we can rest our salvation in the hands of Christ alone. For it is not what we do here on earth that saves, but God's grace and the evidence of our faith.

Where the Old and New testament reports specific numbers, that total is greater than two-point-eight million. However, quite a few verses do not identify any exact number of deaths. Therefore, biblical scholars have tabulated an approximated number of deaths. Within the Bible's documented occurrences of deaths by the hand of God—a reasonable estimate of the people who suffered their demise by the hand of God would approach twenty-five million. That figure includes the “guesstimated” twenty million who lost their lives because of the great flood.

Steve Wells, author of “Drunk With Blood,” provides a more complete list of the 158 documented occurrences of mass deaths reported in the Bibles of Protestants and Catholics. Steve's computations of death totals appear to be accurate, but as a Christian you might be offended by his overall religious philosophy. Immediately below is a spreadsheet limited to show only the “Top Twenty” tabulations of deaths perpetrated by God.

Killing Bible Deaths Deaths

Event Reference Reported Estimated

Killed for looking into or at the ark of the Lord 1 Sam 6:19 50,070 50,070

Og and everyone in 60 cities Dut 3:6 * 60,000

David commits random acts of genocide 1 Sam 27:8-11 * 60,000

Holy civil war Jg 20:35-37 65,100 65,100

The Lord gave David victory wherever he went 2 Sam 8-10 65,850 66,850

A seven year worldwide famine Gen 41:25-54 * 70,000

The Purim killings: God hath done these things Esther 10:4 75,813 75,813

God slayed Syrians for calling Him god of the hills 1 Kg 20:28 100,000 100,000

Gideons story Jg 7:22 120,000 120,000

God killed 120,000 valiant men for forsaking him 2 Chr 28:6 120,000 120,000

Nicanors army (Catholic Bible) 1 Mac 7, 2 Mac 8 147,002 147,002

An angel killed 185,000 sleeping soldiers 2 Kg 19:34 185,000 185,000

Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel 2 Sam 24:15 70,000 200,000

The Midianite massacre Num 31:1-35 6 200,000

The seventh plague Ex 9:25 * 300,000

God killed Israelite soldiers 2 Chr 13:17 500,000 500,000

Murder of the Firstborn Egyptian Children Ex 12:29-30 * 500,000

God slowly killed the Israelite army Dut 2:14-16 * 500,000

God killed Ethiopians 2 Chr 14:9-14 1,000,000 1,000,000

The Great Flood Gen 7:23 * 20,000,000

* Not Specified Recorded Estimated

Totals 2,448,771 24,269,765

The majority of God's righteous executions occurred in the Old Testament. That probably comes as no surprise to you given the copious amounts of sacrificial blood shed by animals and humans,