There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers. Proverbs 6:16-19
What does God hate? This is a good question to ask - because the Lord actually lists for us 7 different things that He hates. Some think that God doesn't hate anything because He is love. But when you realize that whereas He loves righteousness and holiness - it means that by nature He must hate the opposite - and that is sin. This is a good list to remember because it reminds us of at least 7 things we absolutely need to steer clear of in life. We do this because we do not want to incur God's wrath for loving something He hates. #1 - God hates Haughty Eyes . . . The proud look is something the Lord really despises. The eyes, according to Scripture, are the windows of the soul. When the eyes are filled with a haughty look it is a sure thing that the heart is filled with that same haughtiness or pride. We remember from the book of James that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. It is no stretch then to say that in hating haughty eyes God truly despises those whose look communicates an arrogance and pride that shows that they have no respect for God and His ways - just an utter disdain of them. #2 - God hates a Lying Tongue . . . One of the 10 commandments is not to bear false witness. That means lying is out with God. He is a God of truth, and He wants us to speak the truth. When a tongue is a lying tongue, God hates the lies that come from it. Truth opposes lies at every turn - and we can be assured that God opposes the liar whose lying tongue promotes just the opposite of what God loves and is. #3 - God hates Hands that Shed Innocent Blood . . . Here is one that we need to remember. Innocent blood is murder. God hates murder. Once again we find that one of the things God hates is listed in the 10 commandments. You shall not murder is commandment number five. Jesus goes further in Matthew chapter 5 when He tells us that even the thoughts and words that are at the core of a murdering heart - God hates. There is an application of this we also need to remember. The false god Molech required that his worshippers have their children pass through the fire as a child sacrifice to him. God hated this worship - and made it clear that the innocent blood shed in this practice would pay dearly for their sin. I believe we have a similar worship today in the practice of abortion. This practice is an abomination to God. We have decided that children (usually conceived due to sexual immorality) are too much of an inconvenience. Therefore we've devised the most heinous ways of disposing of them. We burn them alive through saline abortions or puree them within their mother's womb. And if this is not enough, when we wait too long to decide to dispose of one's conceived immorally, we just birth them partially and kill them in a way that we would NEVER consider for a convicted murderer. How God hates this shedding of innocent blood. #4 - God Hates a Heart that Devises Wicked Plans . . . There are hearts that are thinking of evil - and who begin to plan to do evil. This is true even of us when we set our hearts on sin and want to do our best to keep it hidden. But there are those whose plans involve far more than just one man wanting to sin without being caught. These are those who devise a wicked plan either in business or in the government. These plans will harm thousands - and possibly millions. They do not consider that their wicked plans will do this - because they are consumed either by the acquisition of wealth or power. God hates these people because of how their thinking harms others. #5 - God Hates Feet that Run Rapidly to Evil . . . Here we have someone who is just itching to run to evil things. There is no restraint in this one - because when he or she sees evil - they want to run "rapidly" to it. When a society turns from God - there is a growing stupidity and spiritual deadness that causes them to become insensitive to the warnings of Scripture. Thus they start to run to evil - rather than stop and think about the harm it will do to them and to others. When people run rapidly to evil it is also a sign that self is so completely dominant in their thinking that they are deaf to any other voice except the one that is urging them to do what they want. God hates this because it reveals that a conscience is dead to Him and dead to the warnings of both the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. #6 - God Hates A False Witness Who Utters Lies . . . Here we have what seems to be a second time that lying is mentioned. This second time though it is mentioned in the context of someone who is a false witness on a matter. This first time is was just a lying tongue. The false witness could be someone who speaks lies in a courtroom where the role of perjury comes into play. This would mean a perversion of justice and God loves justice and righteousness. It can also mean a false prophet or someone who lies about religious matters - thus causing some to put their faith in a god who is not God at all. Either way God hates it when someone who lies as a witness on a matter. They encourage people to make decisions based upon deception and lies. No wonder He hates these things - because the very first sin was due to the work of the devil as he was a false witness to Eve about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That lie, that deceit - when believed was the impetus that led to the fall of all of humanity into sin and rebellion against God. #7 - God Hates One who Spreads Strife Among Brothers . . . The final thing in this list of seven is a person who is causing problems - actually who is spreading strife among the brethren. This person is one who either learns of strife - or is causing it. He is not content though we knowing it himself. He becomes the ultimate evangelist for strife among the brethren. He wants to see as many people upset and involved in this strife as possible. It should be no small wonder to us then that God does not say, "Blessed are the strife-makers." He says just the opposite. It is the peacemakers who will be called the sons of God. When God could have magnified the ultimate strife of the universe in sin - He did not. He chose to make peace through the blood of the cross of Jesus Christ. Therefore it really should be no shock to us that He also hates those who go the opposite way - and spread strife rather than spread peace among the brothers. We might need to remember this the next time we have a choice to continue a situation of strife and conflict - when we have an opportunity to bring peace instead. Seven things God hates . . . it is a very sobering list. There are some things like murder and wicked plans that we would fully expect to be on this list. But other things that we tend to minimize tend to shock us here. Some call lying just telling a little fib - or a white lie. Others might not see spreading strife by gossipping to be something that is not the best - but certainly something that everyone does. The fact is that when God calls these things the seven things He hates - we need to remember them - and then learn to hate them in our own lives as well. That, my dear saints - is wisdom.
8 Comments
He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination. Proverbs 28:9
So, how does God view the prayers of those of us who are actively disobeying His Word? That is what we learn today in the proverb of the day. This is going to be a proverb that confronts those who think God hears their prayers - when they are actively disboeying a command of the Word of God. It is also going to be a time when we realize that God sees issues of obedience to His Word in stark black and white - not in a plethora of grey. When we disobey the Word - we are in effect turning our ears away from listening to it. Here in Christian America, we think that having heard the word with the ear alone is akin to having obeyed it. The most rebellious places in America are not the bars or the strip joints. The most rebellious places in America are the parking lots of her churches. This is where far too many saints of God go after hearing the truth preached by their pastors - and justify letting it go into one ear and out the other. They hear the Word - but it never penetrates their hearts. Some will even justify their present disobedience - while praising what was said by the preacher. Thus the American practice of thinking we've obeyed, when we have only heard something - is continued weekly. When we do not obey - we are turning our ear from listening to the truth. The term here for turn away means that we go away from the Word - we desert it - we quit the Word, meaning that we hear, but do not DO it. We turn aside from it and do not allow it to do a work in our hearts. When we do not obey the Word - God considers our prayers and abomination. Whoa now! Did we read that right! God considers prayers uttered by the disobedient to be an abomination. We thought that word was just reserved for homosexuals - didn't we. But God is holy - not just anti-homosexual. He is pro-holiness all the way. Thus, when we are not pro-holiness (read here pro-obedience, pro-godly, pro-doing what God says when He says it) - we are in effect, anti-God. He is shocked and appalled by our lack of listening and obeying. He is horrified that we would actually turn a deaf ear to what He has said. He considers such things an abomination! There were a group of people that Jesus was hardest upon in the gospel accounts. To the shock of most people, this group was not the classic sinners. He was not hardest on the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the scum of society, or the usually suspects we consider when we wonder who a "hell-fire-and-brimstone" preacher would single out in his preaching. Jesus was hardest on religious hypocrites. He reserved His most scathing comments for those who practiced religion outwardly, but inwardly ignored the Word. By the way - this is where the pray-er, but not obey-er would be put by our Lord. The one who turns his ear from listening to the Law, by not obeying it - IS the hypocrite. And contrary to our popular habit of thinking that the hypocrite is anyone other than us - it IS us. Whenever we engage in pious prayers - without having obeyed the Word that God has spoken to us recently - we are an abomination. Wisdom tells us that we are to hear and heed the Word of God. This will give our prayers wings that will fly them to the very throne of God. May we always watch our hearts to make sure that we are hearing, obeying - then praying. This is the proper order of things. The way of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But He loves one who pursues righteousness. Proverbs 15:9
We need to seriously sit down from time to time and ask ourselves two very pointed questions. The first is this, "What way am I going?" That describes the path that we are walking. There is a way that we are going - a series of choices that is slowly but surely making a way for us. Another way to put it is where is my "lifestyle" going. A choice yields a consequence - a series of choices leads to a habit - and a way of choosing will lead to a lifestyle. Where are our choices leading us? We read here that the way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. God looks at the consistent choices of the wicked - and He hates it. He considers it an abomination to Him. The word used here for wicked means the guilty or the transgressor. This is the man who looks at God's law - God's Word - and just walks over it on his way to doing whatever he wants. He is a transgressor - one who steps over the line - who ignores the rules - at least the rules of God. We learn from this proverb that God considers this way of living an abomination. It is a little comforting to see that God says it is the way of the wicked that is an abomination - not the wicked person himself. But God is not at all shy in saying how much He hates the wicked way - the wicked lifestyle. The word abomination means that God sees the lifestyle choices of the wicked and finds them disgusting, abhorent, and abominable. This is something I think we've had a tendency to shy away from in recent years. We don't call sin what it is - an abomination. Sin absolutely disgusts God. He abhors it! There is wrath that is being stored up for the wicked - and we need to see this because too often we tend to want to mollify how God feels about sin. But the cross should solve for us once and for all that God hates sin. If this is how He had to punish His Son for becoming sin - believe the Scriptures when they say that God hates sin! But before this proverb becomes just about how God considers sin an abomination - we need to see the second half of this proverb. It holds great promise and hope for the one who pursues what is right. The Lord loves the one who pursues righteousness. What a great promise this is for us. Note does not say that the Lord only loves the one who achieves righteousness. It says pursue! Thus, we may not always live as righteous as we want - we may not always be the perfect example of godliness and holiness - but when we pursue it (or pursue Him) - God loves it! The word "pursues" here means to chase after or to chase down. This is not just a casual pursuit of righteousness, it is a dedicated and passionate pursuit. God absolutely loves it when we pursue righteousness. He delights in one who says that he wants God's ways - not wicked ways. Since we are talking about a true understanding of righteousness - we also must include that he chases after righteousness the right way. He does not seek it by works - but realizes that faith-based righteousness that is found only in the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to become righteous. As he embraces this righteousness he also wants to learn how to cooperate with the Holy Spirit as the fruit of the Spirit is produced within him. He cooperates by dying to self and living only to please God in what he does. There are two ways presented before us in this proverb. There is the way of wickedness that rejects God and rejects His holiness and truth - and there is the passionate pursuit of righteousness. This is not a pursuit of our own righteousness obtained by the Law - but a pursuit which is by faith from first to last. This pursuit is eventually set upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We pursue Him - a relationship with Him and a passion to serve and to love Him with all our hearts. "For my mouth will utter truth; And wickedness is an abomination to my lips. Proverbs 8:7
Wisdom is calling to us to come and learn wisdom from her. Her call is to all places where we walk and live. Her comes everywhere - and if we will listen we will be blessed throughout every day. Wisdom wants to assure us what we will receive when we heed the Spirit's desire to teach and instruct us. Wisdom will utter truth to us. The word "mutter" here is very instructive in how wisdom works in our lives. This word means "to growl, groan, sigh, or mutter." It means figuratively to meditate or to ponder. When wisdom speaks to us - it will often be as we take the time to meditate upon and ponder what God's Word says to us. Psalm 1 and Joshua 1:8 promise blessing and prosperity to those who meditate upon the Word of God. A wise man is one who meditates upon the things of the Lord - who meditate on the Word of God. The Spirit of God will speak to us when we meditate - and He will guide us into wisdom and understanding when He does. Want wisdom? Then learn to ponder and think about the Word when making decisions about your future and decisions. Wisdom also assures us what we WON'T hear when God speaks to our hearts by His Holy Spirit. We are told that wickedness is an abomination to the lips of wisdom. When we listen to the Lord as He teaches us the Word, we can be assured that we will NOT hear anything wicked. This actually will help us to know when the Spirit of God is speaking and when He is NOT speaking. If we hear something wicked - it is NOT the Spirit of God offering His wisdom to us. Too often people make really ignorant decisions when they think they've heard God. But if they are counselled to do something ungodly - something wicked - something unscriptural - it is NOT God speaking. But if we hear truth - and realize the ramifications of what His wisdom would have us do - then we are hearing the Spirit of God. Once again the Word "mutter" is so helpful to us in understanding God's ways here. We will much more likely be receiving God's wisdom when we are taking the time to think and ponder God's Word than in doing any other activity we can do. It is the mouth of God who is speaking truth to us as we mutter to ourselves concerning what the Word of God says. God is wanting to speak truth to us - to lead us in His way. But to hear Him we need to take the time to ponder and seriously think about what the Word of God says to us. When we do - we will enter into the counsel of God as He speaks to us about what is right in God's eyes. Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished. Proverbs 16:5
If you even wondered how God feels about pride, this should be enough to cure you of ever wanting to be "proud in heart." Let's take a look at this thing called "pride" and see if we can avoid its pitfalls. Pride here is the Hebrew word "gaboah" and it means a high, exalted, and proud demeanor. This particular proverb speaks of how dangerous it is to be "proud in heart." How dangerous is this particular heart condition? God says He finds it an abomination to be in this condition. It is not just dangerous - it is eternally deadly! Pride is having an exalted attitude of self - and a very pitiful mindset toward God. This is the condition of fallen man. Man is fallen - and he has falllen into this sin of pride. At the core of this sin is the idea that we are able to handle things ourselves and that we do not need God. It is an attitude of independence from God and dependence upon self. When man chose to disobey God in the garden - he chose to live by the knowledge of good and evil rather than by the spiritual life that God would have provided by his grace and free gift. Man decided he wanted to be like God by his own efforts. He wanted to decide what was good and evil on his own. He wanted to trust in himself - rely upon himself - live for himself - and make his own destiny. Oh, one last thing - all these things he would be doing for himself - he would also be doing them for his own glory, honor, and praise. Here is the crux of the human condition of arrogance and pride that is at the very core of sin. This pride began with Lucifer himself - who in Isaiah made the comment that He would raise his own throne above that of God and He would have the honor that he was created to give to God. Oh, how this arrogance reeks before a holy God. What is interesting to most folks is that often they don't get this whole "pride" thing. In fact - many - when they hear that God wants man to give Him the glory - accuse God of pride. Here is where the greatest disconnect from the fall is manifest in the hearts of wicked men. They are so blinded by their own arrogance that they don't see God for Who He is. This is why God has to reveal Himself to us through the Scriptures - because we are utterly blind to Him in creation and in our own beings. Scripture says that the heavens are declaring the glory of God. Man . . . he invents a theory that says that we are a cosmic accident - a happenstance that just eventually had ridiculous levels of order and design. So man denies the existance of God. Scripture tells us that when we consider the human body we should come away with the thought that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Man . . . again decides that we are what the primordial slim just accidentally belched forth over billions and billions of years. Man will negate God every way that he can - because man will not tolerate a God greater than Himself. In the rare instances when he does - he wants that god to have all of his problems and idiosycracies. At least that way he can continue to exalt himself in his fallenness. In the rare instances where we see a human being accosted by the glory and majesty of God - the human suddenly hits the deck - falling on his face. He trembles and fears for his life. Even godly men, when experiencing the power and glory of God - are so struck with awe and wonder - that they struggle to breathe. Man faces the truth - there is One greater than himself - there is One to Whom he is accountable - there is One Who is responsible for his very existance - and - there is One who is grieved and angered by his unbending arrogance. That is why this proverb tells us in no certain terms that this arrogant, prideful heart is an abomination to God. That the one who has such a heart will be punished for it. We are told bluntly in proverbs 16:5, "Assuredly, he will not be unpunished!" There it is for mankind - put as bluntly and as clearly as anyone can put it. A prideful heart is a horrific condition - one that is dangerous and deadly - and one that reminds us that God has every reason to bring punishment upon man to the fullest measure. Yet - the astounding reality shown to us in the Scriptures is that God, Who has every right to condemn us and punish us - chose instead to reveal His glory the brightest by having His own Son face the ultimate cost for our wickedness and pride. His glory shines with full force in the grace He has made available through the crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of His Son. Truly - He is a God of inestimable mercies! There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Proverbs 6:16
God hates things? This seems so strange to some people who do not know God's holiness and justice. Their view of God is of a loving, tolerant, indulgent father who would never do anything mean - and certainly does not hate anyone or anything - except maybe what they hate. The Bible teaches differently than this. Note here that Jehovah speaks of six "things" which He hates. The word for hate here is "sane" which means to hate, detest, to dislike or be hostile to something or someone - to loathe. Wow, that's a strong word isn't it. The thought that God actually hates and loathes something may be new to you - but let's go on to see just what it is that He loathes and hates. Next we read that there are not just six - but seven things which are an abomination to Him. Abomination is "toebah" and means something patently offensive - something which God loathes and dislikes to the extreme. In the Old Testament this word applies to such things like idolatry, child sacrifice, intermarriage by Israel with the wicked nations around them, the false religious activities of the wicked, and homosexuality. God is holy and is completely separate from sin and wickedness. We must grasp His essential nature of holiness or such passages as these will not make any sense to us. More than this they will tend to offend us - if we do not grasp the truth of God's nature and that things sinful are offensive to Him. Wisdom is realizing that though God is love - He is also a holy God who hates sin. Those who fail to consider God's holiness and hold fast only to a nature of love wind up justifying and accepting sin in the end. I know that it is difficult to consider and think of God in this way - as a God Who is angry - to the point of hate and considering things an abomination. Yet doing this can be very helpful to us. It will help us in the area of seeing sin as utterly sinful - and seeing outright rebellion and perversion of what God desires as very dangerous. Remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It is a good thing to look at certain sins and just simply be scared of committing them - because we know our holy God hates them intensely. A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, But a just weight is His delight. Proverbs 11:1
Here is a proverb that has ramifications both in the practical world of everyday business as well as for living with other people. In the business world this has to do with weighing things properly. A false balance would be used in the market to weigh various food items - but would be set so that it would overweigh everything. Thus the crooked businessman would make people pay more for less. This is nothing more than cheating in a business. Unfortunately this happens more often than we would like for it to happen. But Yahweh wanted to let Israel know that when this was the case - He considers it an abomination. We don't use the word abomination much in our society - but it means to be highly offensive. When God considers things to be an abomination - He also judges these things and brings His wrath upon those who practice such abominations. When God calls something an abomination - our best wisdom is to steer very clear of such things - because these things will get you judged quickly - and the discipline will come hard. Isn't it interesting to see that God is interested in the business world and the practices within it. Religion only affects a man when he is in the context of church - or some other accepted religious setting. But Yahweh is saying here that He is not just a "religious" figure. He is deeply interested in all that happens - even in the world of business - even to the point of someone tipping a scale slightly in their favor. He abhors such things. If we want God's blessing in our lives - that will include setting our business practices according to the principles found in His Word. The "just weight" delights the Lord! He is pleased when a businessman chooses to act in his business according to what God sets as acceptible standards. His standard is honesty. He desires that we be honest and truthful in our business dealings. He wants us to practice godly buisness practices. When we do - He tells us that such things delight Him. And what God delights in . . . God blesses. The old addage, "Honesty is the best policy" definitely carries weight in the eyes of God. He will bless us if we will deal honestly and forthrightly with our business associates and with our customers. Here is a proverb that will help you in your everyday life. This proverb also has something to say to us spiritually in regard to our lives as well. A false balance tries to weigh something falsely. This is often the case with the lost man too. He wants to be weighed according to the world's standards. He looks at other men and wants to be weighed as to what is right in their eyes. Such a false balance is despised by the Lord. The truth is that we are all judged by God's Law - by His standard. If we do not measure up to what He calls us to be - and to do - we just don't measure up. Too many men think they are fine because they are not as bad as other men. They compare themselves among themselves - but in doing so they deceive themselves. The false balance here is the lies of false religion and a man-oriented, works-oriented gospel. God hates this because His standard never changes. It has always been perfection in keeping His law. If we do not measure up to that standard, we lose. From time to time you might want to check your balances and scales in life. You do this to make sure that God is the One who is setting the standards in your life. When you don't do this - you have that fallen tendency to fix your scales in a way that is abominable to God. May God give us grace to view His Word as the arbiter of all weights and standards - both in the business world - and in how we stand before Him. |
Proverb a DayEach day, we'll take a look at a verse from the chapter of Proverbs for the day. Our hope is to gain wisdom each day - and from that wisdom - to have understanding to make godly decisions in the throes of everyday life. Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend. Thank you!
Archives
August 2018
Copyright 2024 Calvary Chapel Jonesboro | all rights reserved |