Thoughts For Consideration
Greetings again my Brethren. This month we shall look at one of the most troubling emotions of God, His hate. Now many Christians do not believe God hates, well to believe this you have denied a part of God’s attributes and ability to work in our lives. I will be honest I am amazed at those Christians who ignore those Scriptures in the Bible that talk of God hating. Not agreeing with God or His word is yet another way of exposing one’s rebellion and disobedience and yes when we say God does not hate we try to make God out to be a liar. Yes God is love (we will see this next month), but there is a holy side to God to where He hates evil, man’s foolishness arrogance, pride, his religious traditions and rituals, and so much more. When we look at God hating it always revolves around man’s character. Did you know God is more concerned about our character than our ability to do things for Him or our service and dedication to Him? God’s number one focus in our lives is HOW we do things not WHAT we do. I wonder why we think God is more concerned about what we can do for Him than what we can become in Him? I think it is because working for Him is much easier than becoming something in Him becoming like His nature and character. And if we think God does not hate we will never allow God to change those things in us that needs to be changed so that we can look like Him and be as His children.
In Amos we read, “I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. 22Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. 23Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols.” (Amos 5:21-23) God not only hates, but He despises our religious ways and rituals, those things that we use to try to get us to His heart, like cerebral knowledge of God, self-seeking music where we are the center, service for gain, giving to get, all of those things that leave us short of His heart and His glory. In the Psalms God goes after our character, “The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.” (Psalms 5:5) God calls us a fool and says He hates those who work iniquity or lawlessness; working outside the framework of the way God has ordained things to be done. God hates those people who do things (even for Him) outside the format and process God has put in place. And who could forget the Seven deadly sins: “These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: 17A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, 19A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” (Proverbs 6:16-19) All seven are character issues. Remember at the heart of every issue is always an issue of our and I will add our heart character. Again in Proverbs something like the deadly sins we read where God hates evil, “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” (Proverbs 8:13) It is the “fear of the LORD” that keeps us from committing these sins. Now my friend when the Bible says “fear” it means just that “fear” where we tremble and cower before the LORD because we are in great danger of being smitten by Him. I think we need to get back to fearing God, but today we see God as our friend (most often from the music we sing) and not a holy God who means what He says. We today (me too at times) like to play fast and loose with God, well this only leads to our over familiarity with God and that only breeds contempt. The thought that God is only a loving old man with a white beard that lives upstairs, instead of a holy God that has established divine spiritual principles for us to strictly follow and be accountable for our actions and words. Does God hate? Yes He does my friend.