The Things a Loving God Hates: "Hands That Shed Innocent Blood"

The Things a Loving God Hates Introduction:

1 John 4:7–8 (NASB)

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and...

8 ... God is love.

John 3:16 (NASB)

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

Romans 5:8 (NASB)

8 ...God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Psalm 45:7 (ESV)

7 ...you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness...

Psalm 97:10 (ESV)

10 O you who love the Lord, hate evil! ...

Proverbs 8:13 (NASB)

13 “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil...

Amos 5:15 (NASB)

15 Hate evil, love good...

Ecclesiastes 3:8 (NASB)

8 A time to love and a time to hate...

God is love but God hates sin. He hates all sin. But there are some sins He hates even more than others.

Proverbs 6:16–19 (NASB)

16 There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.

Haughty eyes

A lying tongue

Hands that shed innocent blood

A heart that devises wicked schemes

Feet that run rapidly to evil

A false witness who utters lies

One who spreads strife among brothers

The question is, why?

Why does God hates these particular sins so much?

We are going to examine each one of the seven things listed in Proverbs 6:17-19 and define exactly what they are and discover why God hates them so much.

If we claim to love God, we are going to hate these same things too and desire repentance and rescue from the things our loving God hates.

That means that we are going to hate these things in our own lives FIRST and hate the pain and suffering they cause us and those we love.

It also means we are going to hate what God hates in in our world and desire to respond to it the way God wants us to according to His word.

The last two weeks we looked at “Haughty Eyes” and then talked about “Lying Tongues”. Today we are going to examine...

“Hands That Shed Innocent Blood”

[Pray]

“Hands that shed innocent blood” means murder.

Exodus 20:13 (NASB)

13 “You shall not murder.

Exodus 20:13 (KJV 1900)

13 Thou shalt not kill.

Webster’s 1828 Dictionary:

MUR'DER, noun [Latin mors.]

1. The act of unlawfully killing a human being with premeditated malice, by a person of sound mind. To constitute murder in law, the person killing another must be of sound mind or in possession of his reason, and the act must be done with malice prepense, aforethought or premeditated; but malice may be implied, as well as express.

Four forms of killing that would NOT be, “hands that shed innocent blood”:

Accidental /Unintentional

Numbers 35:10–12 (NASB)

10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your cities of refuge, that the manslayer who has killed any person unintentionally may flee there. 12 ‘The cities shall be to you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands before the congregation for trial.

Deuteronomy 19:4–5 (NASB)

4 “Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live: when he kills his friend unintentionally, not hating him previously— 5 as when a man goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips off the handle and strikes his friend so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live;

We differentiate in law. Murder vs. Manslaughter.

Killing in Self Defense

Exodus 22:2–3 (NASB)

2 “If the thief is caught while breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no bloodguiltiness on his account. 3 “But if the sun has risen on him, there will be bloodguiltiness on his account.

Romans 13:3–4 (NASB)

3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.

Killing in Combat/War

Psalm 144:1 (NASB)

1 Blessed be the Lord, my rock, Who trains my hands for war, And my fingers for battle;

Luke 3:14 (NASB)

14 Some soldiers were questioning him, saying, “And what about us, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages.”

Romans 13:3–4 (NASB)

3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.

Killing in Capital Punishment

Exodus 21:12–14 (ESV)

12 “Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. 13 But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. 14 But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.

Romans 13:3–4 (NASB)

3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.

What does “hands that shed innocent blood” mean?

Murder

FBI Crime Statistics (2019):

- 16,425 murders in the US

- 9,881 were killed with guns (about 2/3 of those were w/ pistols)

- 2,625 were killed with people’s bare hands or feet.

- 2,043 were bludgeoned to death with random blunt objects

- 1,876 were stabbed to death with knives or other sharpe objects.

Abortion

You won’t find any more “innocent blood” than that of the unborn babies in the womb.

CDC Abortion Surveillance Statistics (Tracking data since 1969):

- In 2020 there were 620,327 “legal” abortions in the U.S.

- 93% of those were performed in the first trimester.

- 43,000+ of abortions in 2020 were in the 2nd or 3rd trimesters

- Since 1973 there have been over 64 million abortions in the U.S.

- Roe V. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, making abortion a state matter, but states like MN pride themselves on keeping the barbaric practice legal.

Why does God hate “hands that shed innocent blood”?

Hands that shed innocent blood DISRESPECT the LORD.

Genesis 1:26–27 (NASB)

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 9:6 (NASB)

6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.

Leviticus 20:3 (NASB)

3 ‘I will also set My face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given some of his offspring to Molech, so as to defile My sanctuary and to profane My holy name.

John 8:44 (NASB)

44 “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

1 Corinthians 3:16–17 (NASB)

16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If any man destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him, for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.

Psalm 127:3 (NASB)

3 Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward.

John 14:6 (NASB)

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Hands that shed innocent blood DEVALUE human LIFE.

Psalm 139:13–16 (NASB)

13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.

Ephesians 2:10 (NASB)

10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus...

“workmanship” is the Greek word poiema, it is where we get our word “poem”. It means something beautifully or artistically made. The NLT does a pretty good job by translating the word as “masterpiece”. Look at how God made made differently...

Genesis 2:7 (NASB)

7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

Matthew 5:21–22 (NASB)

21 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not commit murder’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ 22 “But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

Matthew 6:26 (NASB)

26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

Matthew 10:29–31 (NASB)

29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. 30 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 “So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

Matthew 16:26 (NASB)

26 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Hands that shed innocent blood DESTROY LIVES Jesus desires to save.

John 10:10 (NASB)

10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

John 3:16 (NASB)

16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

1 Timothy 2:3–4 (NASB)

3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Ezekiel 33:11 (NASB)

11 “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’

2 Peter 3:9 (NASB)

9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

In contrast, we are to love God and love others

Matthew 22:37–39 (NASB)

37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 “This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Proverbs 31:8-9 (NASB)

8 Open your mouth for the mute, For the rights of all the unfortunate. 9 Open your mouth, judge righteously, And defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.

There is good news...

King David had Uriah killed. David’s hands shed innocent blood.

The Apostle Paul had Christians killed for their faith. He was a man who rejoiced when hands shed innocent blood.

In a sense, all our hands have shed innocent blood because Jesus was innocent, He never sinned, but out sins were violence against Him, being the reason He went to the cross.

Romans 5:8 (NASB)

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 1:9 (NASB)

9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Isaiah 1:18 (NASB)

18 “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, They will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They will be like wool.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NASB)

17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

In closing…

Numbers 35:10–12 (NASB)

10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your cities of refuge, that the manslayer who has killed any person unintentionally may flee there. 12 ‘The cities shall be to you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands before the congregation for trial.

Jesus is our “City of Refuge”

Proverbs 18:10 (NASB)

10 The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe.

Run to Jesus today!

Memory Verse of the Week:

Proverbs 31:9 (NASB)

9 Open your mouth, judge righteously, And defend the rights of the afflicted and needy.