“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.

In 1 Kings 11:31-32, Ahijah prophesied to Jeroboam that God will divide Israel into two kingdoms: Judah (southern) and Israel (northern).  Jeroboam was to receive the ten northern tribes but for the sake of David, God spared one tribe, Judah, for the southern division.  Please see All Israel will be Saved Pt. 2 for a detailed look on the consequences and prophetic implications of this division.

“Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes.  But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe.” 1 Kings 11:31-32

Jeroboam was one of Solomon’s officials that was put in charge of the whole labor force of the house of Joseph.  After this prophecy, Jeroboam rebelled against Solomon, who later tried to kill Jeroboam.  Jeroboam fled to Egypt and remained there until Solomon died.

After Solomon’s death his son Rehoboam was going to be crowned as king of Israel (the division had not yet occurred).  When word got back to Jeroboam, who was in Egypt, that Rehoboam was to be crowned, Jeroboam returned from Egypt.  There, Jeroboam and all of Israel demanded that Rehoboam lighten the yoke that was placed on Israel.  Rehoboam told the people to return in three days, when he would pronounce his decision.

During these three days, Rehoboam made a fatal mistake (although from God – 2 Chronicles 10:15)  by failing to seek godly counsel.  2 Chronicles 10:8 shows the two reasons why Rehoboam’s counsel was ungodly:

1) He rejected the advice of elders

2) Consulted those that he grew up with and were serving him.

Through this, Rehoboam followed flawed counsel and threatened to make Israel’s yoke even heavier.  From that day on, Israel has been in rebellion against the house of Judah.  Rehoboam remained king of Judah while Jeroboam inherited the ten tribes of Israel.

Why is not seeking the advice of elders ungoldy?  Titus 1:6-9 describes the qualities of an elder:

Blameless, husband of one wife, a man whose children believe and are not disobedient or wild, not overbearing, not quick tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain, hospitable, loves what is good, self-controlled, upright, holy, disciplined, and encouraging yet refuting when needed.

1 Peter 5:1-3 also describes an elder:

Shepherds, overseers, not greedy for money, eager to serve, ordained by God, and an example to the flock.

Clearly, an elder should be a man of God – as shown through his lifestyle, works, and fruit.  Who in their right mind would reject the advice of such a man?  Moreover, we know an elder comes through age.  For example, Timothy was a man of God that was prophesied for priesthood, but Paul did not consider him an elder yet.  Dating estimates that Timothy was in his early 30s at the time of Paul’s first letter to him.

What is wrong about seeking the advice of those that you grew up with and are serving you (friends)?  The answer may be obvious:  there is a possibility that the misalignment of incentives causes the servants (or friends) to give faulty advice because their livelihood depends on you or they may want to please you for the sake of the friendship.  Furthermore, those that grew up with you know your heart and your ways.  Counsel from those that know you becomes biased.  This is why we are to be seeking counsel only from elders:  An elder does not show favoritism.

Check out this logic: If an elder is involved in your life, he should be involved in others’ lives so that he isn’t blamed as showing favoritism.  Since it is not possible for elders to know each heart within a large congregation, in theory he must not know the heart of a single individual if he does not know the hearts of his entire congregation in order to be blameless.  Therefore, an elder’s counsel becomes unbiased if he is upholding the lifestyle of an elder because he does not know your heart.

Some argue that it is best to seek the advice of those that know your heart, because they know your heart and can understand the matter more accurately.  However, according to the bible this is false and there is no account of this as being permissible.

To end more clearly, we as Christians that are striving to live sanctified lives should never reject the advice of elders and never hear counsel from those that no your heart.  Who is a godly elder among you?  “Good deeds are obvious and even those that are not cannot be hidden” – 1 Timothy 5:25.  Therefore, the qualities of an elder listed in Titus 1:6-9 and 1 Peter 5:1-3 should be obvious or at the least, cannot be hidden.  Do not make the same mistake as Rehoboam by following the counsel of your friends and those that know your heart.

-Mark

“As a deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God.”

Psalm 42:1

How is your life going?  Did you obtain all your dreams and still feel something is missing?  Did you search out all the pleasures of this world and still feel an emptiness?  This void in our hearts can be filled only by Christ.  You can chase after all the things of this world and in this world but there is nothing that can satisfy your soul than an intimate, sanctified relationship with God.

Have you ever been really thirsty at one point and know that the only thing that can quench it is a glass of cold water.  Milk won’t do it, soda or some type of juice won’t do it either.  Water is the only thing that hits the spot, and boy does it hit the spot.  We are designed and made for the presence of God to dwell in our souls, filling that emptiness we feel inside throughout our life.  You can have fun and try to fill it with other things like relationships, materialism, and just plain sin but there is nothing that can compare to the water that is of the Lord.

Jesus states in John 4:14 “But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst, but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”  The filling that Jesus gives to us as we come to Him is beyond anything we can ever imagine.  We will no longer look for another thing to fill us up, He is all we need.  So make that step.  Maybe you never tasted the water or maybe you have and slipped away for a period of time.  This is your moment to come back to it, this is your time to taste it like you never had before.  Come to Him who calls us and draws us in.