Joe Kovacs is trying really hard to bring the shock factor in this chapter. He reveals that the biggest killer in the Bible is—God. He points out that God wiped out the earth’s entire population with the flood, save Noah and his family.

Several places in this chapter, however, Kovacs made some unfounded and unbiblical claims. For example, he wrote on page 125-126, “When Israelite men began having sex with the pagan Moabite women and adopted heathen practices such as bowing down and sacrificing to false gods, God became angry enough to slay some twenty-four thousand of His own people, most of whom were executed by hanging.” He then references Numbers 25:4, 9. What is ridiculous about this claim is not that God slew 24,000 Israelites, but that Kovacs stated he did so by hanging. Nowhere in that passage does it reference hanging. It references a plague and that a certain Israelite man and his “Midianite woman” were impaled with a spear. I understand why he would make this claim. It is because the King James and a few other translations use the word “hang” in Numbers 25:4. However, the Hebrew word does not indicate hanging as we would think of the word—hanging to death. There is another Hebrew word that indicates that. God did not hang any Israelites, nor did he command Moses to do so. What is more likely, is that those who committed the sin described in 25:1-3 were impaled with spears and then displayed before the entire community as the man and his “Midianite woman” were in 25:8.

The next amazing statement Kovacs made came on page 130. He wrote, “One thing is certain: if we refuse to change our lives and live according to God’s instructions, we shall also be killed by the Creator. Jesus said so Himself, twice. ‘Except ye repent, ye shall likewise perish’ (Luke 13:3, 5).” Wow! Sounds like Joe Kovacs is saying that if someone doesn’t repent of their sin that God is gonna get them. First, I want to say that God doesn’t go around looking for people who refuse to repent so that he can smite them from the face of the earth. In fact, 2 Peter 3:9 makes it clear that God desire to see everyone come to repentance and that he patiently waits for them to do so. Furthermore, the quote Kovacs used from Luke 13 is not supporting his point. Jesus wasn’t threatening that if you refused to repent, then he would kill you. He followed the statement with a parable that spoke about God’s judgment. In fact, the parable made it clear that God gave another chance to repent before executing judgment. God has made it clear that by refusing to repent and believe in Jesus Christ that individual will find themselves in hell, but in no way does the Bible suggest that you have to repent this minute or risk being killed by the Creator. And as if making this claim one time wasn’t enough, Kovacs closes this entire chapter with the statement, “Remember, it was Jesus Christ who said unless we all repent and follow God, we will all likewise perish.”