Does God hate?
Some think that because God is love that He does not and cannot hate.
Some don’t think so, perhaps because God is love personified
Some think you can’t have love without hate and that hate is a necessary evil
What is the truth?
God does indeed hate
Proverbs 6
Proverbs 6:16 These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
Proverbs 6:17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,
Proverbs 6:18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil,
Proverbs 6:19 A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.
When Solomon starts this section he uses a numerical ladder
This is a literary device
it is used several times in the Bible, extensively in Proverbs and even places like Amos
Hate: hate (personally): – enemy, foe, (be) hate (-ful, -r), odious, utterly.
Abomination: properly something disgusting (morally), an abhorrence;
Actually seven things here that He hates AND finds abominable.
They are all to be supposed to be hateful and abominable to the Lord and it used to get your attention.
Today I would like to go through and have a brief look at these seven things that God hates
1: A proud look
Haughty eyes, high eyes, lofty look
In short – pride
Why: Pride is when we think we are something very special in and of ourselves. That we can achieve the great things in life by our own power.
Example of Nebuchadnezzar
Daniel 2:37 You, O king, are a king of kings. For the God of heaven has given you a kingdom, power, strength, and glory;
Dan 2:38 and wherever the children of men dwell, or the beasts of the field and the birds of the heaven, He has given them into your hand, and has made you ruler over them all—you are this head of gold.
Nebuchadnezzar knew where the kingdom came from and even acknowledged this:
Daniel 2:47 The king answered Daniel, and said, “Truly your God is the God of gods, the Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, since you could reveal this secret.”
But notice what happened in:
Daniel 4:30 The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?”
Daniel 4:31 While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you!
Daniel 4:32 And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven times shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.”
Daniel 4:33 That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws.
Daniel 4:34 And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever: For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom is from generation to generation.
Daniel 4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, “What have You done?”
Daniel 4:36 At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added to me.
Daniel 4:37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.
Pride is the misguided belief that we are something that we are NOT; more specifically it is the fact that we believe that we are solely responsible for what we think we are and bear no fault for what we really are.
We think that we are something that we are not and that we are responsible for who and what we are (talent, character, righteousness)
Pride is a reliance on and looking to self and leaving God out of the picture.
Proverbs 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
This is what Lucifer did and we cannot afford to fall into the same trap.
By Contrast: Humility
As a Christian how are we to be?
1 Peter 5:5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “GOD RESISTS THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.”
1 Peter 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
1 Peter 5:7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
Contrast Jesus’ Beatitude: “Blessed are the poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3).
What do we really have to be proud of? When we realize all that God gives us so that we can be like Him calling, repentance, faith, forgiveness, justification and even the gift of salvation. Notice who He gives this to:
Psalm 18:27 For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty looks.
How can we really think that we are anything beyond what we really are
If we do not humble ourselves, then God will
Psalm 18:27 For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty looks.
Say No to Pride and Yes to Humility
2: A lying tongue
Why: A relationship cannot be built on a foundation of lies. The 10 Commandments govern our relationships. That is what they are ALL ABOUT. And a lying tongue is contrary to it.
It hurts our neighbor
Psalm 18:27 For You will save the humble people, But will bring down haughty looks.
Say No to Pride and Yes to Humility
Proverbs 26:28 A lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it, And a flattering mouth works ruin.
It is the opposite of what we are supposed to be doing which is showing love. In fact this is how we will be identified as people of God – by our love towards one another John 13:34-35
When we lie it shows hate towards others and injures them. It is really no wonder that displeases God to this great degree as we see in:
Psalm 5:5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity.
Psalm 5:6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
Do you see the company that we are keeping in these verses?
This is what God is looking for in each and everyone of us. What does He think when He finds a lie instead?
No one can make up a lie and say they are honoring God properly
God will not allow those that do this to be a part of His kingdom. Turn to Revelation 21 and we see the extent to which God is committed to going if a person is unwilling to repent of his lies:
Revelation 21:8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Revelation 21:27 But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
Revelation 22:15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.
Satan is the father of lies.
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
We have twochoices, this one or the opposite
By Contrast: Truth
We should follow His Example:
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Psalm 31:5 Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD God of truth.
Do we follow our Father or father?
Are we of our former father the devil?
Or are we of our present and future Father – God?
Our goal is to follow Christ in all aspects of the Truth
1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
1 John 3:19 And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.
This is what we are to be about.
3: Hands that shed innocent blood
Why: This should be obvious as most of these should be to us – it is one of the 10 Commandments. As a Christian, it is not within our purview nor is it our prerogative to take someone’s life, much less someone that is innocent.
Job 1:21 And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.”
And God did take all the children of Job. God knew their hearts and His plans for them. God is the only one with that authority. To do this is to do the work of Satan. To aid him, to help him try to accomplish his futile goal…which is AGAINST God.
John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning….
Most of the world even recognizes that it is wrong to kill innocent people. But interestingly enough they fail to recognize this right completely.
Abortions!
God does not hear the prayers of those that do these things or the ones that allow this to happen.
Isaiah 1:15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.
Contrast: To Love One Another
Obviously we are not to kill, but our Christian duty goes beyond that.
This defines us as being who we say and think we are:
John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
John 13:35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
This is one of the main ways that we are defined as a Christian. So, it is definitely something that we are to be doing
Romans 13:8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Romans 13:9 For the commandments, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY,” “YOU SHALL NOT MURDER,” “YOU SHALL NOT STEAL,” “YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS,” “YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
We have this “debt” to love that is always before us. We are now indebted to show them the same love that we have been shown -to act like a Christian towards them. When we do these things we are fulfilling the intent of the law; we are accomplishing the purpose of the law – that is to show love to all others thereby paying what we owe.
4: A heart that devises wicked plans
Why: Our thoughts lead to our actions and our actions define us.
Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he….
Therefore wicked plans come from a wicked person
and this type of evil can only lead to one thing, let’s have a look at what it led to in the past:
Genesis 6:5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Genesis 6:6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. [We know the end of this story]
This the way that it ended then and the way it will be in the future
Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.
This is the heart of man and why I cringe every time I hear someone say, …but my Johnny has a good heart
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
This is our heart, the heart of men without God in it.
By Contrast: Think on Good Things
What are we to dwell on and think about?
Jeremiah 17:10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.
Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Philippians 4:9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.
5: Feet that are swift in running to evil
Why: Tied closely to #4 which was the improper internal process, this is the improper external course to take. It shows a lack of self-control.
Of course this is really what the whole walk of Christianity is about – either moving the right direction or the wrong (that is running towards evil)
2 Timothy 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 Timothy 3:2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2 Timothy 3:3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
2 Timothy 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
We are not to have these type of people in our lives and we are not be this way!
Instead we are to exhibit
By Contrast: Self-Control
This is part of the solution to avoiding having “Feet that are swift in running to evil”
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Galatians 5:23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. [Why at the end? Not because it’s less important]
Galatians 5:24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Secondly: We find in Ephesians 6 what we can and should be doing with our feet:
Ephesians 6:15 and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
Run towards righteousness
John 8:31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
Luke 9:23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
Titus 2:12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
Proverbs 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
6: A false witness who speaks lies
These last two are kind of book ends to the first two
This is similar to number 2 and therefore should make us sit up and pay a little more attention
Why: More specifically we have the 9th commandment which addresses lying and our neighbor and the points that we mentioned before in the section on the “lying tongue”. There is also the aspect that this is an affront to God and His system of justice.
Deuteronomy 19:15 “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.
Deuteronomy 19:16 If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing,
Deuteronomy 19:17 then both men in the controversy shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days.
Deuteronomy 19:18 And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother,
Deuteronomy 19:19 then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you.
Deuteronomy 19:20 And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you.
God was very serious about this. Bearing false witness has the connotation of spreading the lies. It does encapsulate lying, but it takes it another step further. We can perhaps lie to ourselves or lie to someone else when we are confronted, but this is going above and beyond that and disseminating the false hoods and tearing someone down – even to an extent undoing the good that someone has worked to do.
By Contrast: Esteem Others Better
Not only are we to declare righteousness by telling the truth [Proverbs 12:17], we are not to tear down our fellow man, but rather we should be building him up.
Philippians 2:3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself.
This ties in with Point #1 and Pride. It is thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to. The 10 Commandments are about our relationship to God and our relationship to man, nothing there about looking out for #1…God knew that wouldn’t be a problem.
Romans 12:3 For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another;
7: one who sows discord among brethren
Why: Because God has a plan that He is working out through His church and through the brethren. It is an awesome plan that allows everyone the opportunity for salvation. It points to time in the future when the troubles and problems and hate of this world and this physical life will no longer exist.
Like number 6 sought to undo what someone has done, this one seeks to undo what God has done.
And sometimes it does not take much
So therefore it is “A perverse man sows strife, And a whisperer separates the best of friends.” Proverbs 16:28
By Contrast: Peace and Unity
God’s plan for mankind looks forward to peace and harmony. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God.
It is our duty then to sow unity among the brethren
Psalm 133:1 A Song of Ascents. Of David. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!
Psalm 133:2 It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments.
Psalm 133:3 It is like the dew of Hermon, Descending upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing— Life forevermore.
Conclusion
The Bible talks about many more things that God hates and are an abomination.
It should be obvious why God hates sin so much. It goes against every fiber of His being. It is the opposite of Him and everything that He stands for. It does not fit into His Plan AT ALL!
Sin leads to misery, sorrow and death. God’s ways lead to unspeakable joy, harmony and LIFE
We are to hate what God hates
By not doing those things
By loving what God does
By doing good works
Passover will be here before you know it
There are two ways
One leads to life and one to death
choose life