Jump Start # 1532

Proverbs 6:16 “There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him”

  Our passage today is a familiar one to many students of the Bible. It is one of many places in Proverbs where we find lists. We tend to like lists. We have them all over the place. This weekend, being Super Bowl weekend, there will be the list of the “top ten Super bowl commercials.” There will be a list of the top Super Bowl games. At the end of each year there is a list of top preforming stocks and mutual funds. Hollywood has it’s lists of greatest movies. The music industry has a list of top selling albums. We have daily lists, sometimes called “to do” lists. We have grocery lists, lists of things to get done at work and our children write out Christmas lists. Our world is full of lists. It shouldn’t surprise us that God has a list as well.

One of the first things we notice about the list found in our passage is that it is negative. It is a list of things that God hates. This thought doesn’t sit well with some. If they had their way, they would reshape the list into “Seven things God likes.” Some would even go so far as to say that “God doesn’t hate anything.” Well, He does. He’s at least seven things that He hates. Let God speak for Himself in the way that He wants to be expressed. Don’t color God, nor polish Him into a nice image that we want. The verse tells us that God hates some things. He does.

The list includes:

• Haughty eyes: pride
• Lying tongue: dishonesty
• Hands that shed innocent blood: murder
• A heart that devises wicked plans: evil
• Feet that run rapidly to evil: desire to do wrong
• False witness who utters lies: lying
• Spreading strife among brothers: trouble maker

You’ll notice in this list of seven that some are attitudes, such as haughtiness and devising wickedness. Others on this list involve our relationship toward others: killing the innocent, spreading strife, lying. You’ll also notice that lying appears twice, “lying tongue,” and “false witness who utters lies.”

These seven are core characteristics of a person’s heart. What God hates is someone who from the inside out is thoughtless, evil, selfish and hurtful to others. At the core, they lack God. From the inside out, they do not manifest compassion, love or godliness. This list is opposite of the second greatest command, “to love your neighbor as yourself.” One cannot do that and be guilty of these things on this list at the same time. To love your neighbor as your self is to be honest with him. To love your neighbor as yourself is to be compassionate and caring towards him.

This list must be dealt with from the inside out. Planning wickedness, spreading strife, a heart that devises evil, feet that run rapidly to evil all seem to be connected and run together. One leads to another. It’s hard to be guilty of just one of these and not all of them. This is a picture of someone who is empty of God. This is what their world looks like. This is a picture of a diseased spiritual heart. We hear things on the nightly news and wonder how could a person do such things? The answer is found right here. A person that lives without God becomes dark, from the inside out.

As you and I scan the list, we would easily rank shedding innocent blood as being much worse than haughty eyes or a lying tongue. God puts them on the same list. The consequences may be greater and more permanent, but He still hates them both.

The list reminds us that what catches the eye of God is our character and our heart. When Samuel was on the search for the next king of Israel, God reminded the prophet that the search would be found in someone who had the right heart. Someone can look “kingly” but his heart would stand in the way of true leadership.

What should you and I take away from this list?

1. Being the right person is far more important than looking right or saying the right things. A person can wash their car and make it look nice on the outside, but if the car won’t start, it won’t start. The inside is what matters. Peter told his readers to “Be holy” as He is holy. Be. Be is not the same as simply doing holy things. Going to worship is a great thing to do, but if we go and leave and continue with a gossipy heart or an indifferent spirit then what good has worship done to us? Becoming, that’s the key. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world.” We must shape our hearts like Jesus. We must open our eyes to see what Jesus would see. We must get over worrying about what others might say, and just do the right things. Be the right person.

2. It is easier to judge others than it is to look at yourself. It’s not hard to pull out the “shedding of innocent blood” and immediately think of Isis or the abortion doctors and paint a really dark picture of them while we may walk through life with our nose in the air or be busy stirring up trouble trying to push our own agendas through the church. I do not think this was intended to be a list that one carried in their pocket as they went to the market place. This was not a list to put people in categories. This was not a checkoff list to use for your daughter’s boyfriend. The list is for the individual. It is to show that the choices in life can lead me away from God. This was to be used for a personal audit. They were to look at how they were treating others and see where they were with God.

3. Some of the things on this list are hard to overcome. Pride is tough. Lying is hard, especially once someone has gotten used to it. One defeats these things as he fills his heart with God, is taught the ways of God and thinks about the great and noble things of life. Paul gave the Philippians a list of things to think about. Set your mind on these things: true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, good repute. The mind that is busy thinking of good things to do, will not be devising wicked plans. Many have grown up in an environment where people were talked about in a negative way, where lying was as normal as breathing and where evil was viewed as the best choice in life. Movies don’t help us with our thinking. It takes work. It takes a willingness to please God.

4. The outcome of a life that stays clear of these seven things will be peace at home and in the heart. The very things on this list causes turmoil. Some live there. This is everyday for them. Shouting, accusing, being aggressive are just as normal as the sunshine. But what a life. Upsetting people. Not being trusted. One battle to the next. Those with the heart of God find a peace, first from guilt and shame and then with others as they manifest truthfulness, compassion and grace.

God hates. We need to love what God loves and hate what God hates.

Seven things…they sure cause a lot of trouble. The only remover of these seven is a heart set on God.

Roger