What God Hates

Proverbs 6:12–23 ESV

A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing. There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

Introduction: “Hate” is a strong word. People sometimes use it flippantly to express their displeasure in things like food and minor inconveniences. Sometimes to teach children the power of words, people tell them not to use the word hate, or that they shouldn’t hate things. Such tactics are rightly motivated but perhaps don’t tell the whole story. There are bad things in the world, things we shouldn’t tolerate, approve of, or moderate our response to. A better approach is one I heard a mother tell her child when the child said something extreme like “I hate carrots.” She responded, “You are only allowed to hate things that God hates. God doesn’t hate carrots so you can’t either. But you are allowed to not like them.” Such an approach reminds us that there are things that are the appropriate focus of our hatred and encourages us to ask the questions whether God hates this thing, and if he doesn’t, neither should I. Some people bristle at the notion of God hating things. We are reminded that God is a God of love and that love is not compatible with hate. However, such thinking is too simplistic because God does hate things. He pours out His wrath on them. But He does so out of His love. Romans 1:18 says “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.” God pours out His wrath on unrighteousness. It might seem like splitting hairs, but the passage says “on the unrighteousness of men” not “on unrighteous men.” God hates sin. He hates sin because of His love for us. He hates sin because of its effects on us. What God hates is the subject of our study today. We are going to look closely at it so we can see the things God hates, see their effects on us, and be reminded that if God hates them, we should too. Learning to see sin for what it is and for what it does to us will go a long way in helping us avoid it.

Why God Hates, vv.12-15 Proverbs 6:12-15

Proverbs 6:12–15 ESV

A worthless person, a wicked man, goes about with crooked speech, winks with his eyes, signals with his feet, points with his finger, with perverted heart devises evil, continually sowing discord; therefore calamity will come upon him suddenly; in a moment he will be broken beyond healing.

The passage starts not by discussing God’s hatred but by showing us a picture of the effects of sin on a life. Verse 12 uses two words to describe a person full of the things God hates: worthless and wicked. God doesn’t make the man these things; sin does. The next few verses list the progression that there is no area of a person’s life free from sin’s corruption.

Sin Corrupts Your Actions (vv.12-13) –

Sin corrupts a person’s actions. First mentioned is a “perverse mouth” from which one can expect lies, rumors, slander, and gossip. The description of “winking” and “pointing” is probably a reference to signaling and conspiring with others and arranging to engage in secretive behavior which would not be approved of by society at large.

Sin Corrupts Your Soul (v.14) –

“with perversity in his heart” Sin doesn’t just effect actions; it corrupts the soul. It gets inside of a person and changes how they approach life. Sin creates in people a perverse heart which in turn causes people to “continually devise evil.”

Sin Corrupts Your Relationships (v.14) –

“who spreads strife” Sometimes people act like their private choices are their personal concern and nobody else’s business. But the truth is that sin corrupts our relationships as well. Sinful souls produce sinful actions. Sinful actions leave damaged relationships in their wake.

Sin Corrupts Your Life (v.15) –

Despite the illusion that evil people escape the consequence of their actions, the truth is that sin corrupts our lives. It will ruin us. As Romans 6:23 says, “the wages of sin is death.” Death is what sin earns, what sin creates. It might give the illusion of bringing joy and life, but the only thing sin does is destroy. That is why God hates it so much. The end result is always and only death.

What God Hates, vv.16-19

The description of the harmful effects of sin on a person’s life proceeds into a list of things God hates. Sometimes we stop short and leave our contemplation about sin’s harmful effects by saying, “God hates sin,” then moving on. But this passage moves on to list specific things that God hates. The literal translation of the last phrase of verse 16 is “seven things that are an abomination to His soul.” It might sound like an odd phrase, but it means that these things are not surface issues or moderately disliked things. His hatred of these things emanates from the deepest, most central part of His being.

“Abomination” is a word that means something that deviates from His plan and order of things. It doesn’t fit or belong. There is no place for it in the world He made. Such words should cause us to take the following list seriously.

Arrogant Eyes

This isn’t about how you look to people. It’s about how you look at people. Arrogance, pride, haughtiness has no place in God’s creation. It will cause people to look down on other people as less important or less valuable than themselves. It will make someone think they deserve special treatment and consideration. In turn, it will make them justify exalting themselves and mistreating others. This sin produces all the other ones. It is the reason why pride was considered by many Christian thinkers as the chief deadly sin. But it is also the hardest for us to spot in ourselves. So to make sure we don’t miss it, the list goes on to show what might be called “other sins produced by pride.”

Lying Tongue

God loves the truth. He is the Truth. People often find reasons not to tell people the truth. Sometimes people do it to spare other people’s feelings or to avoid awkward encounters. But the truth is, often people tell lies to manipulate situations so that they appear how they want to appear and situations turn out the way they want.

Hands that Shed Innocent Blood

God is the protector of the weak and defenseless. He is talking about killing, but the emphasis is on the innocence of the victim. It’s a reminder that we can’t treat people how it is convenient for us. We can’t use them for our pleasure or ruin their lives to make ours easier. We have to treat them like who they are, created in the image of God.

Heart that Plans Wickedness

What people meditate on determines their reality. What people focus their hearts and minds on determines the kinds of things they pursue. Bad thinking will cause bad acting. People might not carry out the full extent of their sinful imaginings, but when they think about harming or using somebody, they are bending their heart in that direction.

Feet that Run to Evil

The direction someones heart is pointed determines the direction their feet run. A heart longing for something will jump at the opportunity to engage in it. Thinking about sin makes people more willing to engage in it.

False Witness

Lying has already been mentioned. It is repeated to reinforce the idea that God cares about the truth. But also it mentions a specific kind of lying. Bearing false witness means telling lies in such a way that another person is harmed. We should speak the truth even when we don’t benefit from it. We shouldn’t withhold the truth if it could benefit another person. We shouldn’t distort the truth even if it might cast us in a bad light or harm our position in some way.

Spreading Strife

Conflict is sometimes necessary. But the goal isn’t conflict. The goal is peace and restoration. Sin causes strife: unnecessary, useless, pointless, selfish conflict. There are some people who are fighting with everyone all the time. Strife and disharmony follow them. Normally it is as a result of their arrogance. We don’t get what we want so we complain. We should strive for harmony and peace more than for getting what we want.

Conclusion Remember what the mother said to her child, “You can only hate what God hates.” God doesn’t hate the world. He made the world and loves it. God doesn’t hate people. We are created in His image. But God does hate the ways sin manifests itself in our world. He hates them because they corrupt our lives and bring death to ourselves and our relationships. He doesn’t just dislike them. He hates them at the very core of his being. They have no place in the world He has made. He wants them gone so that we can find life, joy, peace, and fulfillment. The sooner we learn to see things the way God does, the sooner we will start finding the life He has for us.