The Living God

               For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:30-31)

                This passage can be confusing. Throughout Scripture, we’re told how loving God is. Jesus came and died to save us. He commanded us to love one another. If God is nasty, it’s the Old Testament God, and Jesus basically made Him irrelevant, didn’t He? The answer to that is “No,” but within that line of thinking, why would it be dreadful to fall into His hands?

What does it even mean to “fall into the hands of” someone? We might think in terms of falling into someone’s arms, which involves an embrace. That’s not the same as falling into someone’s hands. Generally speaking, falling into someone’s hands means that one is in the grasp and control of someone one doesn’t want to be. And putting magic aside, if that is the case, it is dreadful, whether they mean you harm or well.  Think how dreadful it was to be a kid who fell into the hands of their parents. The parents may have meant well, but the kid didn’t get to do what they wanted or faced consequences for doing something unpermitted. The same kid “fell into the hands” of schools and possibly of the local law enforcement. Dreadful is simply the nature of a “falling into the hands of” situation.

                Falling into the hands of a living God, then, would be dreadful because the person doing the falling doesn’t want to be there. They wouldn't want to be there because falling into the hands of a living God means they aren’t in charge.  They don’t get to make the rules or impose their judgments. If the person wants to be there, they aren’t falling into the hands of a living God; they’re falling into His arms.