DOES GOD HATE?






You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. Deuteronomy 12:31
What the heck is this doing in here?! Hate is a bad word isn’t it? After all, God is love, right? So how can God hate? Is love and hatred incompatible? It almost seems antithetical. And yet, all throughout scripture we see that God has hatred. He even tells us to hate. The idea seems to both contradict our feelings about God and life as well as authenticate the sense that hating some things just seems the right thing to do.

Rank this as one of the embarrassing things about God that Christians are often afraid to talk about. Somehow this notion of a God who hates appears to be nothing but a leftover belief of an antiquated tribal deity. It certainly doesn’t fit the “Don’t offend me” culture in which we live. Yet it is certainly a comforting aspect of who God is. He hates the things we rightly hate.  

Hatred is the good and proper response to evil and wrong paths. It means to have an extreme aversion; to have feelings of open hostility. (Leviticus 20:23 describes His hatred, “I am filled with disgust.”) One cannot have an affection for love, righteousness and goodness without a hatred of that which destroys them - wickedness. True love also means having hatred. 

God’s hate is not a defect in Himself but rather a rightful extension of all that He is - His love, holiness, righteousness, grace, glory, justice, etc. To be perfect in all these ways is to also be perfect in hatred, for evil is a violation of all that He is. Love opposes, rather than embraces, that which stands against it. (Lev. 20:23; Hosea 9:15; Mal. 1:3). 

What does God hate? Anything that violates that which is right, pure, and holy. Anything that hurts those He loves. Anything that attempts to steal His place as the Sovereign Lord. The Lord is very descriptive as to what He despises - Proverbs 6:16-19; Malachi 2:16; Deuteronomy 16:22; Isaiah 1:13-15, 61:8; Revelations 2:6.

Now the tricky and controversial question, 
Does God hate people? 
We've always been taught that God loves everyone and that He just hates sin, not the sinner. But God is not only a hater of that which is evil but also the doers of evil. He continually speaks of having enemies/foes. View carefully His revelation of Himself - 
The arrogant cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all who do wrong. Psalm 5:5  
 The Lord examines the righteous, but the wicked and those who love violence His soul hates. Psalm 11:5 
Are we supposed to hate?
The Lord exhorts us to hate evil as well. We are to hate evil actions, beginning with our own.   
Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for He guards the lives of His faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked. Psalm 97:10
What does hating look like? You can read more on this post - 

Throughout your day go with the eyes and perspective of God, asking yourself, “What does God hate?” We don’t do things that our loved ones hate. It shows a lack of love and disrespect for them. May we have an aversion in our own lives for the things He hates. 

More Scriptures 

But you choose from the people capable men, God-fearing, men of truth, those who hate bribes, and put them over the people as rulers …Exodus 18:21

I hate those who serve worthless idols, but I trust in the Lord. Psalm 31:6

You love justice and hate evil. For this reason God, your God has anointed you with the oil of joy, elevating you above your companions. Psalm 45:7

O Lord, do I not hate those who hate you, and despise those who oppose you? 22 I absolutely hate them, they have become my enemies! Psalm 139:21–22

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; I hate arrogant pride and the evil way and perverse utterances. Proverbs 8:13

Love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good. Romans 12:9

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