I read an op-ed in the newspaper not long ago, allegedly written by a Christian. This person wrote in opposition to a billboard placed by a local Church. The billboard listed seven things that God hates. The op-ed writer said he was a Christian. He said that the Church should not have placed such a billboard because his God was a God of love and “his God did not hate.” Well I wondered what god he worshiped.
Does the LORD really hate? The best way to find out about someone is to go directly to that person and heed that very person’s own words. Let us go directly to the Words of God and see what God Himself says about our question.
Proverbs 6:16-19 “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: {17} A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, {18} An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, {19} A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.”
The word rendered “hate” is Strong’s 8130, שׂנא, sane, sah-nay‘. It means to personally hate. This verse, which is God’s Own Word, says that God hates six things and that seven are abhorrent to Him. The word translated “abomination” can also mean something abhorrent. To abhor means to loathe or to hate. So there are seven things listed here that God hates. They are:
- A proud look
- A lying tongue
- Hands that shed innocent blood
- A heart that devises wicked imaginations
- Feet that are swift to spread mischief
- A false witness that speaks lies
- One who sheds discord among the brethren
Note that each of these seven items is an attribute of men. This hatred of God is directed at men who do these abominations. Let us see if we can clarify these items. The seven things God hates are:
- A Prideful Person
- A Liar
- A Murderer
- One Who Always Makes Criminal Plans
- A Mischief Maker
- A Slanderer
- A Troublemaker In the Church
God does have hatred toward something. He hates all evil, but these seven things are especially repugnant to Him. Not only does He hate evil; it is anathema to Him. That is why a sinner cannot come into His presence. Because of His holiness, He cannot allow evil in His presence because it destroys His holiness. So, yes, the LORD does hate. He hates all evil.
It is obvious that too many Christians do not know the Word. I read a statistic the other day that stated that 98% of all professing Christians had never read the Bible through. Even more telling, the same source said that 90% of all Christian pastors had never read the Bible through. I am in the 2% and have read through the Bible several times; additionally I systematically read and study God’s Word daily.
The op-ed writer apparently fell somewhere within the 98% of Christians that have never read the Bible through. His pastor may also have fallen in the 90% group of pastors that have never read the Bible through. He obviously does not know His God very well or he would have known about the things God hates.
Such thinking leads to the problem we have today that we are to tolerate everything no matter how abhorrent it may be. If there is nothing God hates, then there is nothing for us, God’s creation, to be opposed to. Such thinking leads to all forms of perverse behavior and to the thought that anything is acceptable without limit.
When a person makes a statement like, “my God is a God of love and He does not hate,” that person does not believe in the God of Scripture. He or she believes in a god of is or her own making. That is creating a god in one’s own image, which is a violation of the Second Commandment, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth” (Ex 20:4).
Yes, God is a God of love (1 Corinthians 13:1-13, 1 John 4:7-8), but the love that God has for us is opposed to evil. Evil negates God’s love. To say that God only loves necessarily leads to the conclusion that everything is permissible to Him. This is just not so. The cross is proof of that. God hates evil so much, that He allowed His own Son to be killed as a sacrifice to save men from the sin He hates. God hates evil. That makes His love very special.
