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Hate What God Hates

Proverbs 6:16-19 Updated American Standard Version (UASV)

¹⁶There are six things that Jehovah hates,
    seven that are an abomination of his soul:
¹⁷haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
    and hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸a heart that devises wicked plans,
    feet that quickly to run to evil,
¹⁹a false witness who breathes out lies,
    and one who sows discord among brothers.

The arrangement of six things … seven is a Hebrew literary device, which tells us that this is not the entirety of what Jehovah hates or sees as an abomination, just the top seven. The first five of these qualities are body parts, which start with the head and move down to the feet (eyes, tongue, hands, heart, feet). Our final two qualities are a false witness and one who causes trouble for others.

The haughty eyes belong to one who is proud, conceited, possessing qualities such as stubbornness and arrogance. This is a person that sees himself as the pinnacle of everyone, who would not even consider lowering his arrogant gaze before Jehovah himself. The lying tongue belongs to one who continuously deceives others with his misleading, utterly false information, which causes others to arrive at a mistaken belief. This is a person that couldn’t care less about the destruction of his lies in the wake of his deception. The distortion of the truth is this one’s means of making the world mold to his perception of things. He could never accept the moral values of right and wrong set out in Scripture because he has distorted the truth so much that his moral compass is unable to point toward truth. The hands that shed innocent blood belong to a person that has anger issues that could lead to the loss of life one day if the opportunity presented itself. He has no regard for the gift of human life that the Creator so graciously gave humankind. This person is easily enraged over any perceived insult to his person and will not hesitate to do bodily harm.

The heart [mind] that devises wicked plans belongs to a person that looks out for no one but himself. His motive of operation is to come out on top in life, regardless of how many people he must step on to get there. He will live within the rules of society when things are going his way but will not hesitate to go outside of those rules when it is convenient, which makes him extremely dangerous.

The feet that hurry to run to evil belong to a person that looks toward sin with pleasure, having ceased to feel moral pain. He literally sins with greediness, always looking for more ways to feed his pleasure centers. You have the burglar that breaks into the house to steal valuables, and then you have the vandal-burglar that breaks into the house to do damage for the thrill of it and steals something because it came to his attention in the process.

The false witness who breathes lies belongs to a person that lies as easily and quickly as he takes a breath and has no pause in bearing false witness under oath or in life. The one who sends out discord between brothers belongs to a person that takes pleasure in causing trouble with his family and friends. Both of these last two persons cause havoc on society from the friend to the family, the community, and the court of law.