The Seven Things God Hates

The Seven Things God Hates

“There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.” – Proverbs 6:16-19

1. Haughty eyes – “Haughty” in Hebrew can be translated as “to lift up”.  An example of haughty eyes is in Isaiah 10:12, where God punishes Assyria because of the haughty look in its eyes.  Assyria saw the destruction of Israel as an opportunity to bring wealth and power to its kingdom through looting, plundering, and expanding its kingdom.  For us, haughty eyes can be thought of as the opposite of humility.  In Philippians 2:5-11, Paul talks about how Christ did not raise himself high, rather he made himself nothing and became a servant.  When we allow pride to creep in and compare ourselves to others with the mindset that we are greater, this allows us an opportunity to act in a haughty manner. (See Having an Attitude Like Christ Jesus.)
2. Lying tongue – This is pretty self-explanatory.  When we speak deceitfully and do not tell the truth, God hates this.
3. Hands that shed innocent blood – This is self-explanatory as well. Here, “hands”  in Hebrew is translated as an open hand, where openness indicates power, means, direction, etc.  This is not talking about involuntary manslaughter, but the violent act of cold murder.  God hates this.
4. Heart that devises wicked schemes – For someone that has sinful/evil/wicked plans, they usually make these plans in secret.  God hates a heart that devises such plans.
5. Feet that are quick to rush into evil – This is someone that rushes into doing evil.  We are supposed to remain in fervent prayer (Colossians 4:12) and by remaining in prayer (not necessarily on your knees, but even while at work), we can find our strength to overcome evil.  By going through the process of sanctification, we are learning more about God, gaining His wisdom and understanding, and strengthening our spirits.  Through sanctification we can better distinguish God vs. satan since we are learning more about God, and therefore, sin is becoming more apparent.  By not going through this process, we will not be able to afford ourselves the option to be prayerful against sin, because more than half the time, we don’t recognize when we are sinning.  So first comes sanctification to have the wisdom on how to flee from sin and then comes prayer to strengthen our spirits.
6. False witness that pours out lies – This connects to point number 3 – hands that shed innocent blood.  Not necessarily in the sense of murder, but by bearing false witness against someone who really is innocent, can be considered hatred.  Those that hold hatred against someone in their hearts is actually murdering that person, just as the one who lusts commits adultery.  By bearing false witness, you are harming the innocent.
7. A man who stirs up dissension among his brothers – This is not talking about rebuking or correcting those that do wrong.  In 1 Corinthians 5:10, Paul tells us not to separate ourselves from the sin of the world (for then we must take ourselves out of this world – which is impossible), but rather separate yourselves from the sin of an immoral brother (sin within the church).  Therefore, this is talking about the brother/sister who sins, and by their sin, they stirred up dissension and spread strife among other members within the church.  In this case, we are called to correct the sinner.  If they do not acknowledge their sin, then we are called to separate ourselves from that sinner.  When they confess, they are forgiven – when we confess, we are forgiven.  But without repentance, we are considered a sinner and in this case, we are called to do what the Holy Spirit tells us to do do in 1 Corinthians 5:10 – separate yourself from the sin in the church.  God hates the one who sins within their church, where the sin affects others in a negative way.

These seven things represent the complete list of the flaws in man that God hates.  Seven represents fullness – on the seventh day, God’s creation was complete.  The seventh day is the Sabbath and we will enter our eternal sabbath after the resurrection, the completion of God’s plan.  The good news is that if we repent, we are forgiven through Christ!

-Mark

UPDATE: Check out Sin that does not lead to Death.  Many times, we unintentionally commit one of these sins in the above.  God does forgive us.