By Pr Isaiah White
Proverbs is one of the wisdom writings in the Bible. Wisdom writings are Bible books whose contents include how to live with one another in our communities and how to become better as an individual.
In Proverbs, we see a list of seven things that God finds offensive. “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren (Proverbs 6:16-19).
Wisdom writings of the Bible concern the fabric of our societies. The quality of the people in any given society determine the state of that society.
What God hates
We were taught that God is not just loving, but He is love. There is not much that God hates in the Bible, except the few that we know of.
In Malachi, we learn that God hates divorce. There is this old adage: God hates sin, but loves sinners. The other things we are told God hates are these seven things in Proverbs 6:16-19.
The Hebrew word translated as “hate” is “sane” (transliteration). It means irreconcilable differences.
However, God’s hate is not a mere disagreement, dislike or emotion. When God hates, it is the state of something.
Whatever God hates cannot be reconciled to Him. So, we know that God hates sin, but loves sinners.
Sinners can be reconciled to God, but not sin. It is for that reason that sinners have a provision of repentance to be restored to God, but there is no forgiveness for sin.
God hates the sin that leads to failure and evil. God will not reconcile with us if we choose our sin over His righteousness.
For humanity to insist on their sin and sinning is to directly and indirectly subject themselves to God’s hatred.
Categories of sinners
There are categories of criminals in legal courts, and normally judges make a ruling based not just on the magnitude of what has been done, but on the state of the culprit at the point of the offense.
While the Bible does not have a list of sinners, we understand that there are three categories of sinners in the Bible:
1- The weak: These ones know what is wrong and hate, but occasionally do that which they do not like (Romans 7:15). These are always before God, pleading for forgiveness and strength to overcome sin.
2-The ignorant: These are sinners who do not know and cannot tell right from wrong. They are the ones who have been deceived by the devil and their minds have been darkened. They assume they are serving God in what they do (Acts 17:30), yet they are not.
3-The wicked: These are the sinners who know what is right and wrong, what God’s Will is, but willingly choose rebellion against God. These are not just intentional sinners, but committed ones (Genesis 6:5). Before God, sin is sin, and there is no greater sin than the other.
However, human beings are free-will beings. God holds free-will beings accountable based on their choices and will.
While we have always been taught that God does not categorize sinners and all sinners are subject to His unconditional forgiveness, we should also understand that the utilization of our volitional abilities attracts specific attitudes from God.
Proud look
The seven sinners mentioned in Proverbs 6:16-19 are not just intentional, but committed sinners.
Those who look proud are the first sinners God hates because God hates pride. Pride is a preferred form of sin that stems from the success God has blessed one with.
Pride is an abomination to God because it takes credit of what God has done, making a person to choose such as a blessing to belittle others.
In other translations, the Hebrew word Yahir is translated as “haughty”. There are sinners with haughty eyes. This denotes arrogance.
A spirit of superiority
A superior person that treats others as natural inferiors and puts them down is evil in that, he/she assumes a worship position that exclusively belongs to God. God hates such.
Families, organizations, societies and nations have fallen due to such arrogance.
The writer is a life coach and pastor.
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