There are some things in life I really hate. I hate traffic (mainly because I hate waiting). I hate the dentist. I hate going to the doctor for a physical. I hate the government and their agenda to take away our freedom.
Did you know that God also has a hate list?
Text: Proverbs 6:16-19.
1. A proud look (pride)
We all know what a proud look is. You stick your nose up in the air, or you look down on others. God hates this look and attitude.
Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.”
Proverbs 29:23: “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit.”
Why does God hate pride? For the answer, we must look at one of the most proud men in history, and what God did to humble him. Turn to Daniel 4. (Explain Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and how Daniel interprets it, then read verses 29-34.)
God had to teach Nebuchadnezzar that He was sovereign over his kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar’s pride stole God’s glory and attempted to give it to someone who was undeserving. God hates pride because it steals the glory which He deserves. Pride is also a sin which often hinders one from submitting to the Lord. Pride was the sin of Lucifer, who considered himself greater than God Himself.
Notice how Nebuchadnezzar finishes his doxology—verse 37. He found out the hard way that God can humble the proud. God desires to get all the glory from your life, and therefore He hates pride.
2. A lying tongue (lies)
Proverbs 12:22: “Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight.”
Why does God hate lying? Lying is an attack against the truth, and God is concerned with all truth. If you lie about something, even something small, God takes offense against it because you have chosen to oppose the truth.
Satan is called the father of lies. Lying is his main weapon which he uses to cause men, women, boys, and girls to fall into sin. Satan subtly comes to you and whispers a lie into your ear, trying to get you to turn against God or to fall into sin. And that is exactly why God hates lying so much! When we lie, we are acting just like the devil!
Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
God hates lying.
3. Hands that shed innocent blood (murder)
God looks down in disgust when one man murders another. No man should ever decide who should live and who should die. That decision is up to God, the giver of all life.
Why does God hate murder? Because we are made in the image of God, therefore God takes personal offense when a life is taken. For this reason God established capital punishment.
Genesis 9:6: “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.”
God is a just God. He wants to see justice against those who have wronged others. We see this time and time again in the Old Testament, when God avenges Israel by bringing judgment on the surrounding heathen nations for the way they have mistreated His people.
God hates it when a man murders an innocent person and is not given the death sentence. God established capital punishment, and He expects it to be carried out. God hates abortion, which is murder concealed in the disguise of “a woman’s right to choose.” The child being aborted is innocent, and is often killed because of the mother’s sin! God hates it.
4. A heart that devises wicked imaginations (sinful thoughts)
Ezekiel 8:11-12: “And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up. Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, The LORD seethe us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.”
Man, in his state of sinfulness, has conceived many wicked vices due to sinful thoughts. Pornography, gambling, prostitution, child predators, thievery—these were all conceived by sinful thoughts, which were then put into practice. Sinful thoughts are what fuel these industries.
Judges 21:25: “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.”
Why does God hate sinful thoughts? They are a blatant attack against the righteousness of God. Man conceives these things and is driven by his lust, whether that is for sex, money, or fulfillment. No thought is given about God. Instead the world says to do whatever makes you happy. Because of this, homosexuality is seen as okay, despite the fact that it is an obvious unnatural relationship. God hates it. God hates wicked imaginations.
5. Feet that are swift in running to mischief (troublemakers)
Psalm 28:3: “Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts.”
If a child is a troublemaker at a young age, getting into trouble in small ways, it will only grow as he gets older. Prison is full of troublemakers who went unchecked as children. They were drawn to mischief.
The Bible tells us what will happen to the troublemaker:
Psalm 7:16: “His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.”
The troublemaker will find exactly what he is looking for: trouble. He will get caught. He will suffer. He will experience his own kind of trouble. He will get a taste of his own medicine.
Two troublemakers: Hophni and Phinehas (I Sam. 2:12-17)
Why does God hate troublemakers? God hates the fact that their hearts are bent on mischief because that desire will lead to sin. Troublemakers are involved in every kind of vice. Perhaps they started out just curious about it, but they fell headlong into it. This is why troublemakers need help and counsel. God hates it.
6. A false witness that speaks lies (false accusations or testimonies)
We already know that God hates lying. This simply takes it a step further. God hates those who claim to be telling the truth, but are not. He hates anything that is false.
False prophets—Jeremiah 14:14: “Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.”
False teachers—II Peter 2:1: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”
II Timothy 4:3-4: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”
God hates false prophets and false teachers, those who claim to be spreading the truth even in God’s name. False prophets, such as Mohammed and Joseph Smith, are responsible for many of today’s cults. False teachers abound in the world, preaching such heresy that everyone will go to heaven because God’s love would not allow anyone to suffer in hell. God hates it.
Jesus was condemned by false witnesses:
Mark 14:55-56: “And the chief priests and all the council sought for witness against Jesus to put him to death; and found none. For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together.”
Why does God hate false accusations and testimonies? God hates them because they are once again opposed to the truth, which is an attack against God Himself. God especially takes great offense against those who lie about His holy Word, and destruction is promised on these false prophets and teachers. God hates it.
7. He that sows discord among brethren (disunity)
Any kind of disunity is displeasing to God, but especially when God’s people are not unified. This is a sign of carnality.
I Corinthians 3:3: “For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?”
Disunity leads to confusion.
James 3:16: “For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.”
Illustration: There was once a small church in the mountains called the Mountain Valley Baptist Church. One day a small group of church members came to the pastor to complain about something ridiculous. The pastor told them he appreciated them telling him, but that the problem was so small and ridiculous that he wasn’t going to do anything about it. Furious, this small group left the church and went across the street, where they started their own church, the Greater Mountain Valley Baptist Church.
Many times the book of Acts tells us that the Early Church was in “one accord.” They were unified, and therefore they were powerful. Imagine if they argued over ridiculous problems! If there had been strife and division, the power would have been gone.
Why does God hate disunity? God hates disunity because it quickly tears down what we have worked so hard to build up. Strife in any business or relationship destroys, and it is the same with Christians. God wants us to be united in one mind and purpose. Many churches have been destroyed over church splits, sometimes over something ridiculous. God hates it.
CONCLUSION
God has plainly told us what He hates, and we should hate what He hates.
Proverbs 8:13: “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.”
Do you hate evil?
Read Psalm 139:19-22. This seems awfully harsh, but I John 3:13 tells us that we shouldn’t be surprised that the world hates us. If you say you’re a Christian, the world hates you. How sad when Christians fall in love with the very thing which hates them! We need to hate what God hates and love what God loves.
