A List of Stuff God Hates by David Wilson
Proverbs 6:16-6:19
A Checklist that God Hates
Proverbs 6:16-19
There are six things the LORD hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.
When we see lists today we see them in base 10 math. For example, David Letterman puts out his lists in groups of ten. Often, an oldies radio station presents its list of top one hundred. These lists are thought to be the most important and most complete.
In ancient Jewish thinking the number SEVEN was used instead of ten. This is because seven was the number of fullness and completion. A list of seven would have been considered to be complete. God created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested in seven days, thereby completing the cycle.
Also, notice that this list is a list of things that God HATEs. We don’t think often of God hating. God hates our sin. He loves us and wants to redeem us. He hates our sinfulness. He hates our wickedness. This list is a list of things that God especially hates.
The King James uses the word abomination which is a bit stronger than the New International Version’s “detestable” An abomination is something that is utterly and absolutely morally repugnant. It is something that goes against what ought to be. Therefore, the items on this list should have no place in the believer’s life. Since God is offended by such things, we as believers should be offended by them.
Did you ever reach into your refrigerator and discover that ground beef had gone bad? It is sticky, it smells bad, and has lost its red color. It is detestable and you should be repulsed by it. You should not even consider cooking with spoiled meat much less make a big, fat juicy burger from it.
In the same way, we must make certain that we avoid the items on this list.
HAUGHTY EYES/ A PROUD LOOK
A person with a proud look is making a public demonstration of his attitude that he is better than someone else. This is the look your teenager gives you when they don¡¦t understand or agree with your rules and they roll their eyes and look at you with disgust. This is that “I’m better than you¨ look.
There are a lot of people who think that they are better than someone else, but never act or demonstrate that belief. A person with a proud look has moved beyond FEELING superior and feels comfortable DEMONSTRATING that attitude. In other words, they have allowed this sinful pride to infect their lives to the point that they are now finding it difficult to hide their pride and the contempt that they have with others.
Pride is a destructive attitude that leads us to believe that which is not true. God made each one of us and none of us are created greater than others. Pride leads us to take chances in our demonstration of that pride in our lives.
During the American Civil War, a general was walking on the parapets giving his men orders. General Sedgewick was warned several times that he should take cover. His famous last words were that the enemy couldn’t hit an elephant at that distance. His own pride led him to expose himself to danger.
Our pride exposes us to danger.
It was pride which led to Satan’s fall. It was pride that led Adam and Eve to consume the forbidden fruit in the garden.
A LYING TONGUE
God hates it when truth is distorted.
One writer said, “Those who practice telling little white lies soon find themselves becoming color blind.”
James Dobson points out that if a person always tells the truth he can always be believed. On the other hand if a person tells the truth half of the time he can NEVER be believed. I go a stop further than Dr. Dobson and state that you only lie 1% of the time you can NEVER be believed.
Why do we distort truth? Why do people lie?
1) To make themselves seem better than they are
2) To conceal or minimize their own wrongdoing
Sometime back, Steve Jobs of Apple Computer held a press conference to address problems with the latest I-Phone. Instead of simply taking responsibility for a minor design defect (gripping the case in a certain manner causes a loss of signal, dropped calls, etc.), Jobs blamed the media for exaggerating the defect. Jobs had to admit that the phone gave a false representation of signal strength. Very few users felt the issue was so bad that they returned the phones. However, Jobs sought to minimize the problem.
God desires truth in our inmost being (Psalm 51). We cannot be right with God and live our lives in the darkness of dishonesty.
In the Garden of Eden, the fall of man began with the distortion of truth by the serpent. God¡¦s people need to be people who do not distort truth.
HANDS THAT SHED INNOCENT BLOOD
I am sickened by the violence we see in our society today, especially crimes that are committed against the innocent. In northern California, a former Sunday School teacher committed some form of sexual act against a young girl, then murdered her and stuffed her body in a suitcase.
Jesus stated that it would better for a person to have a millstone placed about their neck and to be thrown into the sea than to suffer God¡¦s judgment for harming a child.
The younger generations today are more ready to fight than ever. Mere words seem to provoke combat. This combat frequently ends in bloodshed.
Shedding innocent blood is participating in pointless violence. It is violence for the sake of violence because the innocent have done nothing to deserve that violence. I am not one who believes that God expects us never to defend ourselves or our families, but I am also not one of those gun nuts who would shoot a person to save his television set or his car. I love my Mustang, but it is not worth another person¡¦s life. However, I would probably shoot to kill those who would seek to harm my family. Shocking isn¡¦t it?
A HEART THAT DEVISES WICKED SCHEMES
I wonder who thought up the Nigerian email scam. You know which one I mean. A former official of the Nigerian (or North Korean, or Iranian) government needs your help in getting money out of his country. If you will provide him with your banking account information he will put 30 million dollars in your bank account and the next day draw out 27 million, leaving you with ten percent. Of course, he drains your bank account completely if you provide such information. Who makes up this stuff?
Do you devise wicked schemes? Do you try to change that F on your report card into a big, fat A? Do you have a secret hiding place where you hide things you don¡¦t want others in your home to know you have? Do you plan out verbal attacks on your enemies as you drive down the street rehearsing your hateful speech? Do you have clever plans to get away with wickedness?
God’s people need to be involved in planning to do RIGHT, not wrong. If you are going to be committed to God and His church it will take planning.
However, God hates it when people plan wickedness because it shows where their heart is?
FEET THAT RUSH TO DO EVIL
God hates it when people follow their impulse and jump into sin. People rush into sin when they should be turning the other way. Why? They follow their impulses.
Do you shop by impulse? One popular shopping hint suggests that you should never enter a supermarket when you are hungry because you will buy more.
We cannot live by our impulses. If we follow our impulses regarding food we will overeat. If we follow our impulses regarding sexual behavior we will act like animals. If we follow our impulses towards anger we will destroy those around us. If we follow our impulse towards gossip we will find ourselves harming others with our juicy tidbits.
We cannot live by our feelings. God has given them to us for a purpose, but the purpose is not to act on our feelings.
A person who lives by impulse will rush into evil.
We need to recognize that we need to turn away from evil rather than following our impulses. Joseph fled from his master¡¦s wife rather than accepting her sexual advances. Paul told Timothy (II Timothy 2:2) that he should FLEE (run from) his own youthful lusts and desires. There are some things we need to run from in order to avoid getting into sin.
A FALSE WITNESS
Why is there a distinction made regarding a false witness as opposed to a lying tongue? A false witness is not just a person who will tell a lie, but will tell it in an official capacity. It is the type of person who isn’t just telling stories, but is doing so for the purpose of intentionally destroying someone.
While God hates falsehood, he really hates it when a person tells something with the express purpose of bringing judgment on someone. A false witness is more than a liar, but the type of person who would file a false police report to see someone persecuted falsely. A false witness is someone who would lie under oath. He would like when it counts most and would do the most damage.
THOSE WHO PROVOKE DISSENSION
A person who stirs up dissension is a troublemaker. God’s people are supposed to be the sort who bring peace and forgiveness.
Do you remember the tattle-tale you knew as a kid? (Maybe you didn’t know one, maybe you WERE one).. What does a tattle-tale seek to do? Is he truly interested in justice? Is he truly interested in correcting wrong? Nope! He is seeking to stir up trouble against others. As children it is done for selfish purposes in order to get their way.
As adults, those who provoke dissension are also acting in selfishness.
This is a list of things God hates. We, as God’s people have a moral responsibility before God to put them FAR from us!!
