To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Proverbs 8:13

Most of us are correctly convinced that hating one another is wrong. But does that mean that hatred is always wrong? You may be surprised to hear that sometimes hatred is an appropriate response. The Bible tells of a number of things that God hates.

Isaiah 61:8 says, “For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing.” In the Bible book of Amos, God said He hated the religious feasts of the Israelites (Amos 5:21).  That wasn’t because God hates parties, but because the Israelites were ignoring and defiling their covenant with God in the very spaces designated for worshiping God. Their false piety was so horrible to God that it became a hated display. God also hates child sacrifice (Deuteronomy 12:31) and hearts that devise wicked schemes, and lying lips, among other things (Proverbs 6:16-19, 12:22).

Then, we read in Proverbs that “to fear the Lord is to hate evil” (Proverbs 8:13). Fearing God isn’t necessarily a matter of being scared of upsetting God. God is merciful and forgiving, even toward those who have done what God hates. To fear God means to obey out of love. Part of loving our God is to resist the evil that God hates. It is absolutely appropriate that we hate child sacrifice, for example. To be indifferent about what God calls evil demonstrates that our love for God is casual. We must discern carefully, but there are times in which hatred is an appropriate reaction from those who love God.

 

Resource reading: Proverbs 6:16-19