Skip to content ↓

Terrifying Scripture Texts

Articles Collection cover image

I wrote last week about a passage of the Bible that I find terrifying. I showed that Satan has a legitimate claim on my life and yours. Thankfully, because of the work of Christ, He also has a claim on our souls and His claim trumps that of Satan!

I began to think about other passages that I find terrifying and remembered something I had written exactly a year ago about another passage. Because today has been a crazy day, I thought I’d repost it! I had just spent a good bit of time reading through some of my old journal entries. Sadly my journalling has tailed off as my blogging has increased. This is sad because journalling was an important spiritual discipline for me. While I often wrote about the same things I write about on this site, journalling was an opportunity to be more personal – to write things that I suppose only God and I will ever know. It is often interesting to go back and read entries from two, three, five or more years ago. In one old notebook I even found the rough notes I made for my wedding speech. And flipping back a few pages, I found some things I had written almost ten years ago now, when I was well, ten years younger! Some of these things make me wonder at my own youthful wisdom, and some make me laugh out loud at my youthful folly. One thing I know for sure is that we should all be glad that I gave up on writing poetry. My wife should be particularly grateful!

I can see that many of the journal entries I wrote eventually turned into articles on this site. There was one in particular that jumped out at me. In my journal I had written about a study we were doing in our small group Bible study about the prophet Daniel. We were looking at him as an example of one who stood strong in his convictions. When commanded to cease worshipping God, he never considered disobeying God. Instead, he pressed on with his routine of praying three times each day. He knew there would be fearsome consequences, yet trusted that obeying God was preferable to any punishment he could face at the hands of men. You can read the story, known to children around the world as “Daniel in the Lion’s Den” in Daniel chapter 5.

Studying Daniel made me think of another section of the Bible that had been on my mind recently. Romans 2:24 reads, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” This passage refers to behavior among the Jewish people of Rome during Paul’s days. These people had turned their backs on God and sunk into every type of ungodly behavior. I found it a sobering thought that people who do not know God can blaspheme His name because of my behavior. What a responsibility it is to be a light to the world and to live in a way that is consistent with the Scriptures.

This brought me back about 650 years to Daniel. Had Daniel backed down and ceased worshipping God, or even if he had partially backed down and made his worship private, the name of God would have been blasphemed by the Persians. They would have seen Daniel as a man who was afraid to stand for his convictions. But Daniel did not back down. He stood firm and rather than being blasphemed, the name of God was exalted by the Gentiles. In Daniel 5:26 – 27 we read the proclamation of the Persian king:

“For He is the living God and enduring forever,
And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed,
And His dominion will be forever.
He delivers and rescues and performs signs and wonders
In heaven and on earth,
Who has also delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.”

Here was a man, a Gentile and an unbeliever, who praised God for His greatness. He was driven to this proclamation because of the wondrous work God performed in rescuing Daniel. It goes without saying that had Daniel allowed himself to be intimidated and had he refused to stand strong for his convictions, the king would never have praised God. Rather His holy name would have been blasphemed.

In Romans, Paul provides the solution to those who cause others to blaspheme God’s name. “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.” We could as easily say today that “A Christian is one inwardly.” A man who has a television program and a ministry and reads from the Bible a lot, may not be a Christian inwardly and may not have the Spirit within.

What an honor and what a great responsibility it is to call ourselves by the name of our Savior and to be His ambassadors on earth! As Christians we bear the name of Christ. Through our example – through our lives – God’s name can be praised and God’s name can be blasphemed. What a fearful thing it must be one who not only blasphemes God’s name, but through evil and careless words and actions, causes other people to blaspheme His holy name! The judgment facing those who cause others to blaspheme God’s name must be fearsome. “‘Vengeance is mine; I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:30-31) So we must live a life that consistently brings praise and glory to our Lord, that His name may be honored in and through us.


  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (November 5)

    A La Carte: Why women use pornography / I want God’s wrath on my enemy / Looking at photos with my mum / 10 things you should know about your conscience / I love being a pastor / and more.

  • A Beautiful 40-day Illustrated Devotional of Classic Literature

    This week the blog is sponsored by P&R Publishing. In the newest release by Leland Ryken, A Treasury of Nature, he joins great works of poetry, hymnody, prose, and art with accessible literary analysis. As Ryken says in the Introduction to his book: “The overall goal of this anthology is to enable nature to be…

  • Four Years After Our Hardest Day

    Four Years After Our Hardest Day

    Yesterday marked four years since Nick went to heaven. I find myself calling him “Nicky” more often now—a name I hadn’t used for him since he was a child. I wonder if it reflects that in some ways he is becoming dearer to my heart and younger to my mind. After all, I keep aging…

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    A La Carte (November 4)

    A La Carte: A reassured heart / Alistair Begg with biblical wisdom for voting / Unveiling the true nature of grumbling / Kevin DeYoung on double predestination / Kindle deals / and more.

  • Educated, Free, Wealthy, and Privileged

    We are an educated people with high standards of literacy. We are a free people who enjoy religious liberty. We are a wealthy people with unlimited access to a nearly infinite quantity of Bibles. We are a privileged people who may not realize how blessed we are.

  • A La Carte Collection cover image

    Weekend A La Carte (November 2)

    A La Carte: Coldplay’s prayer in Melbourne / Zombies, Heath Lambert, and gatekeeping biblical counseling / Keep the Feast (a new song) / Stop playing the numbers game / Squandering security / and more.