God's Harsh Punishments on People in the Bible

In the Bible, God punished those who disobeyed Him. He punished individuals, their families, and even entire nations, especially in the Old Testament.

There aren't many punishments in the New Testament, aside from those in the book of Acts about Ananias and Sapphira and Herod.

Adam and Eve

In Genesis, the very first book of the Bible, we see how the first couple was punished for disobeying God by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In Genesis 3, the woman was beguiled by the serpent. She ate, then gave the forbidden fruit to Adam to eat.

Their punishment included being banned from the Garden of Eden. God first punished the serpent by having him crawl on his belly for the rest of his life. Before then, the serpent stood upright.

Then the man was punished by having to till the soil and work by the sweat of his brow. Before the punishment, the man had the privilege of staying in the Garden of Eden. The woman was punished by having labor pains while giving birth.

Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah

There was a lot of evil in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The cities were full of rape and other things that were against God. In order to get rid of the bad things that were going on there, God punished both cities by destroying them with fire and a rain of burning sulfur.

Lot's Wife

Lot and his family were allowed to escape when Sodom and Gomorrah were being destroyed. God told them not to look back. Lot and his children did not look back. However, Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt, according to Genesis 19:26. The taste of salt is still in that spot today.

Some might think that was an awful punishment for such a simple act, but people must understand that any act of disobedience against God is not just a simple act.

Moses' Harsh Punishment

Moses was not allowed to go into the promised land because of a single act of disobedience, according to Numbers 20:1-13.

Surely, after all the things Moses had done to lead the people out of bondage and through the wilderness, he wanted to go into the promised land with them. Instead, he was punished. Many people thought the punishment was rather harsh.

Moses was told to stand on top of Mount Nebo. There he saw the promised land, but he was not allowed to go into it.

Egyptian Army

The entire Egyptian army was punished for pursuing the Israelites when they were leaving Egypt. As they were going through the Red Sea, the Egyptian army followed them.

God had opened the water so His people could go through on dry land. God allowed the army to drown when the water returned to its original state, according to Exodus 14:28.

Aaron's Sons

Aaron's son, Nadab and Abihu, were burned to death because they disobeyed God, according to Leviticus 10:1-3.

They offered a sacrifice with strange fire before the Lord, disobeying His instructions, and were immediately consumed by God’s fire.

Korah's Harsh Punishment

Korah disrespected Moses while they were traveling in the wilderness. Korah claimed to be as holy as Moses and Aaron. Because of what Korah had done, God opened up the earth, and Korah and his whole family were swallowed up, according to Numbers 16:27-32.

David's Harsh Punishments

David was a man after God's own heart. However, he was punished more than once.

David counted his men, and God punished him, as recorded in 2 Samuel 24:1-17. God gave David three choices, and he had to choose his own punishment.

• three years of famine in the land
• to flee from enemies for three months
• plague in the land for three days

David chose not to fall into human hands. Therefore, he chose for God to send a plague on the land where 70,000 men died.

Another time David was punished was when he wanted to build a temple for God. According to 1 Chronicles 22:8, David was not allowed to build God's temple because he had shed much blood and had fought many wars.

David’s background of shedding blood in times of war was God’s reason for choosing Solomon, David’s son, to build the temple. God wanted a man of peace to construct the temple, not a man of war.

Ananias and Sapphira's Harsh Punishments

According to Acts 5:1-10, a husband and wife cheated God and lied to the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they died as a result. They tried to do what Barnabas did and sold some land as he did. Barnabas was anointed to do so. Ananias and Sapphira tried to do the same thing. They ended up secretly withholding some of the money rather than giving it all for the Lord's work.

After Ananias was struck dead, his wife had a chance to save herself. However, she lied as well. She, too, was struck dead.

Herod's Harsh Punishment

God's punishments on His people are not always the same. He issues out punishments as He likes.

According to Acts 12:23, Herod failed to praise God. He was struck by an angel and eaten by worms.