Why Does the Bible Say God Hates Seven Things?

Where in the Bible Are 6 (or 7) Things God Hates?

Proverbs 6:16 says that there are six things the Lord hates—no, seven things he detests. So, the passage goes on to list seven things that God hates. This doesn’t mean that there are six things he hates and another that he really hates. It’s simply a manner of speaking that was used in the days when the bible was written.

There are other places in the bible that use this same emphatic language (Proverbs 30:15, Proverbs 30:18, Proverbs 30:29, and Job 5:19). It seems to be a way of underscoring the context of a list without giving prominence to the number of items.

The seven things that God hates are: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who sows discord in a family. So what are ‘the things God hates?’

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Things God Hates

1. Haughtiness is when you look at another person with contempt. In other words, you’re looking down on them.

2. Lying is purposefully deceiving someone, usually to protect yourself in some way. Truth is very precious to God. Jesus even called himself the truth (John 14:6).

3. Killing the innocent is the epitome of cruelty. In a boxing match, similarly skilled opponents are put together to see who comes out on top. Picture one opponent bound and gagged and the other opponent using both arms freely. This would be an illustration of killing the innocent—someone who cannot defend themselves.

4. Plotting evil is worse than doing something wrong in the spur of the moment. Both are wrong, but plotting wrongdoing involves in-depth thought on how to hurt others.

5. Racing to do wrong is similar to plotting evil. You are so hell-bent on revenge that you feel like what you’re doing is right.

6. A false witness tells others about another’s character while knowing they are indeed speaking lies.

7. Sowing discord within a group of people is like fanning the flames of a fire. With that same energy, you could have eased tensions but instead, you kept it roaring. God is a God of peace, not discord.

Each item in this list has one thing in common—treating other people wrong. God hates it when we don’t love our neighbor as ourselves. When we do these things, we are thinking solely of ourselves.

Acting selfishly is the reason we step into all kinds of sin. We want what we want, when we want it. And the further we step into that way of thinking, the more likely we are to go even deeper into the things that we once thought of as unthinkable.

There must be a reason, though, why the account of a loving God includes what He hates.

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Why Proverbs 6 Addresses What God Hates

King Solomon wrote Proverbs 6 from 970 to 930 B.C. He also wrote Proverbs 1 which gives us nine reasons why he wrote most of the book of Proverbs.

He wrote to:

1. Know wisdom/instruction

2. Perceive the words of understanding

3. Receive the instruction of wisdom

4. Promote justice, judgment, and equity

5. Give prudence to the simple

6. Gain knowledge and discretion

7. Hear and increase learning

8. Understand a proverb and an enigma

9. Understand the wise and their riddles

He wanted to share all of this because he knew that: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7). So where else can we learn more about what God hates?

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Other Things That God Hates

The 10 commandments also speak of what God hates (Exodus 20:1-17). Read them and discover that God hates:

1. Bowing to any god other than Him

2. Holding any graven image or idea in the place of God

3. Misusing His name

4. Forgetting Sabbath

5. Dishonoring your father or mother

6. Murder

7. Adultery

8. Stealing

9. Lying to malign another’s reputation

10. Coveting

Again, these are all about loving beyond ourselves...loving God first, and loving others, as we should.

When we don’t respect God or care for our neighbors, we contribute to strife in the world. That is another thing that God hates—strife. Even believers have a tendency to bicker and fight with one another. Where there is strife, there is more murder, adultery, stealing, lying, and jealousy.

That begs the question, is there a price for all these things?

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The Seriousness of Sin and the Necessary Price

Sin and selfishness don’t serve anyone. In fact, they bring out the worst in all humankind. God is grieved by the way we so easily turn from the spring of living water, to our own man-made cisterns that cannot hold water (Jeremiah 2:13).

We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We love to look at another and think, we’re not that bad. But all sin taints us. No one is free from its guilty marks.

We all, like sheep without a shepherd, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way. But God sent His Son to take all of our iniquity onto Himself. He chose to carry the pain and suffering that our deliberate sins cost us.

We couldn’t bear the weight, so He did it. He was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. He did this to bring us peace and healing. (Isaiah 53:4-6)

How can believers respond to love like this?

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How to Respond to Jesus’ Love

Jesus prayed in John 17:20-26 for everyone who will ever believe in Him.

First, I should believe in Jesus and thank Him for what He willingly did for me on that cross. He did it for me and you personally, not just the world in general.

Next, I should stand with other believers and seek every opportunity to live in unity with them. The unbelievers in the world can be attracted to this unity and we can seek to welcome them to His love. This is how the Father’s love can be better depicted in you and me just as it was shown clearly in Jesus.

Then, I can also try to turn from all the little ways in which the ‘things God hates’ begin. The act of stealing from someone begins with covetous thoughts. So, hating what is evil begins with my own thought life.

As Ephesians 4:31-32 says, I can get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, and every other form of malice and then I can replace those things with kindness and compassion toward others.

I can repent before those thoughts grow into action and then also forgive others, just as Christ forgave me.

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A Prayer to Avoid the Things God Hates

I pray along with the Apostle John in 1 John 1:5-10:

Father in Heaven, I have heard the message that Jesus proclaimed. God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If I claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, I lie and do not live out the truth. But if I walk in the light, as He is in the light, I have fellowship with other people as well, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies me from all sin.

If I claim to be without sin, I deceive myself and the truth is not in me. If I confess my sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive me of my sins and purify me from all unrighteousness.

If I claim I have not sinned, I make Him out to be a liar and His word is not in me. Lord, I believe. Help me to live out my faith and shine Your light to the world. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Finally, God hates sin because it separates His children from Him. He created all of us so that we could live with Him, learn from Him, and love Him forevermore. But after we received the precious gift of life, we turned away from Him. Every aspect of life became about us and what we wanted. There was no room for God in our lives.

But when we eventually realize this error of our ways and return to Him, He welcomes us back with wide-open arms. Yes, God hates sin, but He loves all repentant sinners.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16

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