Proverbs 10:24 declares, “The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him. . .” This fear, which differs from the fear of the Lord—the fear which is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10) and by which men depart from evil (Prov. 16:6)--is a terror or horror. The root word for fear in Proverbs 10:24 is elsewhere translated terror (Jer. 20:4; Lam. 2:22). Thus, the fear of the wicked is not a reverential fear of the Lord which motivates him to depart from his evil ways but a terror or horror of God's judgment he expects to come upon him.

This fact gives perspective to the beliefs and practices of the wicked. As the wicked become more bold in practicing their evil deeds openly, they become more fearful of impending doom, believing that modern man's technology rather than their sin, will be the cause of their ruin. Here is where they are deceived. When men lived without technological amenities, civilizations were destroyed either by God directly—as the world by the flood and Sodom and Gomorrah by fire and brimstone—or indirectly by nations which overthrew other nations. In either case, the destruction was the result of the wickedness of those destroyed.

Those who fear ecological ruin more than anyone are the wicked. Thus, they seek to impose costly and unnecessary restrictions upon society under the guise of laws to protect the environment on account of their fears. If they would repent of their sins and turn from their wicked ways, those fears would go away. Because they refuse to turn from their evil, the Lord will bring upon the earth the very doom they have feared when He sends plagues upon the earth and all of nature. Revelation 8 and 16 describe these ecological judgments. Despite such devastation, the wicked will still refuse to repent of their sins (Rev. 9:20, 21).