“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.

2 Corinthians 11:14 – “No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”

We as Christian’s don’t take our enemy, Satan, as seriously as we should.  Sometimes we don’t even see or feel Satan in our lives.  Lets first throw out of our minds the image we have of Satan.  We see images of Satan as some red skinned looking being with a pitch fork, hoofs and a pointy tail.  This is what he wants us to think of him as, like some cute cartoon character.  To me if I saw that image coming down the road I would be like “oh snap! That’s the devil!  Be prepared!”.

Unfortunately he is not like that at all, he is a deceiver.  We are told in 2 Corinthians “No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”  In the context of that verse, which is extremely important, Paul is warning the Corinthians against false prophets.  This is how Satan works and gets to us in our lives.  He reveals himself as an angel of light!  That gift you received that you call a blessing from God could actually be from Satan.  Sure it may look good but what is the end result going to be?

Many Christians fall into things like that, claiming everything that is good from the Lord when in reality it can be from Satan.  That council you received, even though it’s from a loved one, could genuinely be from Satan.  Sure they tickled your ear but that tough decision you were going to make, how does it affect others?  How will it make other people feel?  How will it look to others?  How will it bring blessing in a non-selfish manner?  Will it bring good to you and to others in the end?  What good fruits will it bring to everyone around you and not just yourself?

Beloved, we must test the spirits and discern what is of God and of Satan!  In 1 John 4:1 we are commanded to test the spirits, like I have stated.  1 John 4:1 says ” Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”  The devil is looking to trip us up, he is the best at what he does, he doesn’t foolishly think out a plan.  He waits for an opportune moment and when he sees it he pounces on it.  He knows what you are feeling and what you want to see, don’t get handed something claiming it was from the Lord but it was from Satan, even though it may look good and feel good.  They say Satan is the only one who wants things to go well in your life and I find it to be true.  God does bless and God does provide, don’t get me wrong but  God works us and sanctifies us through our problems and trials.  If we don’t have something pressing us and bringing us closer to God then it is human nature to remain in the same place we are.  As sad as it sounds, we only seek God when we are in the valley, we never go after God when we are on the mountain tops.  Again, we never learn lessons or we never have our hearts changed unless we are brought to our knees, crying out for our Savior.  Watch out people!  Be warned!  Discern and test the things you receive!

-Scott