One of the things I pray often for the leadership of our church and for our church members and for the wider body of Christ is that we would hate the things God hates and love the things God loves. In Christ we can experience and walk in the very emotions, passions and values of God since He has infused His life into us by His blood and His Spirit. But that is not automatic; and sadly as with the people of Israel, the church is sometimes found to have more of the emotions, passions and values of the people around them (the world) rather than that of its Master and Savior.
So for us to hate the things He hates, we must know what He hates. In seeking to understand this, I’ve traced some of the words that best portray how He feels like the words, “abhor”, “abomination”, “detest”, “hate” and “loathe”.
Why don’t we start alphabetically with the word “abhor”, which Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines as, “To hate extremely, or with contempt; to lothe, detest or abominate.” I will also seek to walk us through the Scriptures chronologically. Let’s start with God’s warning to Israel in Leviticus 26:30, “I then will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and heap your remains on the remains of your idols, for My soul shall abhor you.” This warning is one of many in the latter half of Leviticus chapter 26. Preceding this passage was God’s promised blessings for Israel if they will seek and obey Him and shun idolatry. It is always His heart to bless His people. But if they refuse and rebel and pursue the lusts of their flesh and worship other gods and invite into their families and culture all the demonic devastation that comes from that, then God promises to discipline and punish them and even says His “….soul shall abhor you.” As awful as that warning is, God always extends the hope of mercy when Israel finally comes to their senses and repents of all their wickedness, “If they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their forefathers, in their unfaithfulness which they committed against Me, and also in their acting with hostility against Me…..then I will remember My covenant with Jacob, and I will remember also My covenant with Isaac, and My covenant with Abraham…” vs. 40-42.
So while God will abhor them when they are in full on rebellion against Him, He will not forever reject them – if they repent of their sins (and the sins of their forefathers). This is further emphasized in vs. 44, 'Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them, nor will I so abhor them as to destroy them, breaking My covenant with them; for I am the LORD their God.” He has always been a covenant keeping God and always will be. All the more why He abhors His people who at various times in their history choose to ignore His lovingkindness and goodness and pursue instead lifeless idols who cannot speak, hear, think, act, feel, heal, save, etc.
Another way God communicates to us how strongly He feels about the evil things we do is by using the word, “abomination”. Noah Webster defines this concept as, “Extreme hatred; detestation”. And the first thing God tells us that He has extreme hatred of or that He detests is that of homosexual sex, “ 'You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination.” Leviticus 18:22. Homosexual sex has been around for milleniums and God has always hated it, whether men with men or women with women. Please note He does not say homosexuals are an abomination. Rather that the act of homosexual sex is. There are many reasons why God feels this way. If you struggle to understand this He will gladly give you understanding if you ask with a heart to obey Him.
What about the things He detests? Well there is only one reference in scripture to what God detests and that is found in Amos 6:8, “The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself, the LORD God of hosts has declared: "I loathe the arrogance of Jacob, And detest his citadels; Therefore I will deliver up the city and all it contains." Citadels are another word for fortresses. Jacob had sadly put their hope not in God, but in their man made fortresses. God has always hated self reliance and pride in man’s accomplishments and men putting their security in their buildings and fortresses instead of Him as their fortress and defender.
The next word in our lineup is that of hating. There are a number of references to what God hates. We will look at the first three of them. First in Psalm 5, David, inspired by the Holy Spirit says, *The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity.” Psalm 5:5 “all who do iniquity”?? Wouldn’t that be all of us? How should we reconcile this statement? Well if you look at the context in vs. 4-6, you will see David is clearly referring to the “boastful”, those who “do iniquity” (as a lifestyle), those “who speak falsehood” (as a lifestyle) and those who commit “bloodshed and deceit” (as a lifestyle). Such people wreak havoc on the earth, destroy families and create an environment of lawlessness, and thus God hates them.
The next thing God clearly says He hates is found in Isaiah, "I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them”. Isaiah 1:14. To appreciate this statement it is best to read the whole chapter, wherein you will find Israel has developed a religious culture of going through the motions, observing various ceremonies and rituals – all with corrupt hearts and all ridden with hypocrisy and ungodliness. God always looks at the heart and Judah and Jerusalem at this point in their history were found greatly wanting in the inner man.
Finally for today the third thing we see God hates is found in Isaiah 61:8, “For I, the LORD, love justice, I hate robbery in the burnt offering; And I will faithfully give them their recompense And make an everlasting covenant with them.” This is a difficult passage to interpret because the context (vs. 1-9) is clearly one of God promising to fulfill all of His wonderful promises for Israel, and thus the first part of vs. 8 doesn’t seem to fit. Is He speaking of Israel here or her enemies? My take on it is He hates it when people think their corruption and in this specific instance “robbery” can be covered up or overlooked by some religious ritual. He clearly hates robbery of all kinds and no religious observance will cause Him to feel differently.
The last word we want to consider is that of “loathing” or “loathe”. Webster defines it as, “To hate; to look on with hatred or abhorrence;”. There is only one reference in Scripture to what God loathes, and it is the one we just looked at, “The Lord GOD has sworn by Himself, the LORD God of hosts has declared: "I loathe the arrogance of Jacob, And detest his citadels; Therefore I will deliver up the city and all it contains." - Amo 6:8
God has always hated or loathed the arrogance and pride of man. It may very well be what He hates worse than anything else based on how many times and in how many ways He communicates this in Scripture.
Well I hope this introduction to what God abhors, abominates, detests, hates and loathes is helpful. I hope to explore the many references to “abomination” and “hate” in the coming days. And the things He loves and delights in eventually.
Your prayers are always appreciated for me and Kingdomstreams as I have very little time to devote to it. And please pray for our nation in these days as our need for revival and awakening have never been greater.
God bless each of you and may you ever more hate all of the things He hates for His glory and pleasure in Jesus’s name. Amen.
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