The Infamous Seven Hated Things of God . . . Proverbs 6:16-19

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.