The Things that God Hates 2: Arrogant Eyes

Proverbs 6:16-17; Psalm 18:27; Proverbs 18:12; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Psalm 62:9-12; Psalm 131; 1 Peter 5:5-7.

This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 15, 2021.

Today, we will look at the first thing that is hated by God, arrogant eyes.  Arrogance is usually obvious to us when we see it in others.  However, there are times when it becomes infectious, or endemic, to a group of people, a nation, or even a whole world.

When the Titanic set out on her maiden voyage back in 1912, the world touted it as unsinkable.  Of course, they would not think they were being arrogant because they felt that they were just following the science.  The Titanic never finished that voyage and still lies at the bottom of the Atlantic to this day.  An iceberg flow that they were warned about became their date with destiny, a place where pride runs into reality and is cast down.

Since Proverbs 6 only lists the things that God hates, we will be looking at a number of other passages, but let’s start in Proverbs 6.

God hates arrogant eyes

The NKJV describes this first thing as “a proud look.”  Other versions use the word “haughty,” or “arrogant.”  The word that is being translated is a verb that would literally mean “exalting,” or “rising up.”  Secondly, it is literally talking about our eyes.  God hates exalting eyes, or eyes that are rising up.  It is understandable that the English translation has chosen understanding over being literal.  Of course, to have arrogant, or haughty eyes, one first has a pride problem that is going on inside their heart.  Before we get too deep into talking about pride and arrogance, there is one more aspect of this list of hated things that we should recognize.

The list involves parts of the body that are used in our sin.  It begins with the eyes and works down the body to the feet for the first five.  Things six and seven then point to things that actively extend from us towards others.  This will make more sense when we get there, but it involves the things we speak and the things we sow among others.

We could just treat this as a device to enable memorizing, or simply an artistic flourish of the writer, but we must not overlook the truth that God hates it when we use the body that He has given us for sinful things.  Our pride doesn’t stay in the heart.  If it is not humbled by us, then it will worm its way to the surface, and it will show itself on our face, and in our countenance.

Let’s look at some other passages on this issue.

“For You will save the humble people, but will bring down haughty looks.”  Psalm 18:27

“Before destruction the heart of a man is haughty, and before honor is humility.” Proverbs 18:12

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”  Proverbs 16:18

In these verses, the arrogance of the proud is brought down and destroyed in contrast to the salvation and honor of those who are humble.  Of course, many proud people seem to avoid destruction in this life, and the humble often seem to know nothing, but it.  It is not always evident in life that God hates pride and will judge it.

Yet, if you were to look into the life of a proud person in the way that God can see, you would see countless ways that God has been rebuking their pride.  Like warning signs on a road, or messages about icebergs ahead, they double down on their pride and cruise on past it.  Proverbs pictures pride as an essential element to the destruction of anyone.  You can be poor and have nothing, and yet, still be proud.  Ultimately, all of us will face God one day after our death.  Remember, He hates arrogant eyes.  Many proud and pompous people will stand before God after their death.  It will not go well for them in that day.  You do not want to go into eternity as a person who rejected the rebukes of God concerning their pride.

Now, let’s look at 2 Timothy 3:1-5.  Here, we are warned that pride and arrogance will be prevalent in the last days.  Most of these phrases either list an aspect of pride, or something that is dripping with it: Lovers of themselves, boasters, proud, blasphemers, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, headstrong, haughty.  Wow, what a list!

These are the battlegrounds of our hearts today.  They are also part of what makes these last days so perilous and difficult.  We are a generation that loves to talk of love, but in our heart and actions, there is all manner of pride and arrogance against one another.  It is too little to say that God is not pleased.  Can we hear the Scripture warning us that God hates these things, and that our judgment is even now piling up, higher and higher?  It will reach heaven one day, and God will say, “Enough!”  He will send judgment upon this arrogant world, and many will be caught in the trap of destruction.

O friend, don’t be enamored and idolize the proud.  Don’t work to be like them.  Rather, choose to pick up your cross and become like the lowly Jesus, who is loved of God.  Such a person may suffer peril on this earth, but they will receive the wonderful welcome of God, His salvation and Life Eternal!

If God hates pride, then we should take some time to focus on what He loves, humility.

God loves humility

The flip side of all of these hated things, is that there are things that God loves, and the flipside of pride is humility.  Psalm 62:9-12 counsels us to put our trust in God and not in the things of this world.  It reminds us that God has mercy in quantities and in quality that this world can never understand, or give.

We can spend our whole life trying “to be something,” to the detriment of our own soul.  What do I mean?  Our psalm makes it clear that God only saves the lowly.  He does not save the proud; He brings them down in judgment.  Yet, the lowly receive His mercy.

Psalm 62 tells us something that we either don’t know, or too easily forget.  There is no difference between a person of low degree (as judged by this world) and a person of high degree (according to the world).  It tells us that the lowly person is just a vapor, here today, gone tomorrow.  When it says that the highborn are a lie, it is emphasizing that they are no different than the lowly person.  They too are but a vapor, here today, gone tomorrow.  So then, why be so proud over and against the lowly?  Or worse, why try to be one of the high and mighty?

The truth is that every human being on earth is lowly, and it is the most logical thing for us to be humble.  However, we use our minds and hearts to rationalize that we are better, smarter, more valuable than others.  Remember that God renders to each one according to his work.  If you have spent your whole life in arrogant judgment against others, rejecting God’s rebukes all along the way, then prepare for such from God when you get there.  He only saves the lowly.

Psalm 131 is a short psalm that I like to think of as the prayer of humility.  The humble person recognizes that there are things in life that are too great and difficult for us to solve, or figure out.  In such cases, we are faced with a choice.  Will I let arrogance and pride push me further into things that I am ill-equipped to face without God?  Or, will I remain humble and trust that God will help me through it even though I don’t understand it all?

The picture of trust in this passage is that of a weaned child.  The weaned child has grown up enough that it has learned to depend upon the mother’s care.  The weaned child is no longer dependent upon the mother as it once was.  As an infant, it screamed and cried until she nursed it, but now it has learned that it doesn’t have to scream and cry in order to get food.  Mom has been faithful in looking out for it.  The weaned child is still a child.  It cannot face life alone, but it doesn’t have to, and it knows it.  Such a child can face a big world, and big problems, with a calm and quieted soul, peace.  Peace like a gently flowing river can flood our souls when we learn to put our hope and trust in God.  I would say that this is a great prayer to pray each day, as we wake up to face the day.  Even better is to do what it says; trust Him!

Our last passage will be 1 Peter 5:5-7.  If you want the grace of God, then humble yourself in the sight of God, and the people around you.  Peter explains that part of the grace of God for the lowly is that He has a proper time of exaltation for them.  Of course, for us, the best time for exaltation is now!

We all have some measure of exaltation in this life, even if it is just maturing into an adult with abilities that no infant can have.  However, the true “proper time” of our exaltation is after we have shed these mortal bodies at the Resurrection.  Our mortal, and sinful flesh, is really bad at handling exaltation, which is proven every day.  As it is said, “Power corrupts, and absolute power absolutely corrupts.”  Can I live this life trusting God knows the amount of exaltation that I can handle without losing my soul?  And, can I trust that He holds in reserve for me an exaltation that I cannot begin to fathom?

Let me close by warning us of the trap of the proud.  Not all exaltation is duly deserved, and it is always a test of our character and choices.  When you are exalted in any way, you must work even harder to remain humble.  I am reminded of the warning that James gives to those who want to be teachers.  You will have a stricter judgment.  So, let us hear the warning to those who desire exaltation.  You will have a harder time wrestling with pride, and thus facing a tougher judgment.  Of course, someone has to lead, but let them not rejoice in that day.  The proud think that they are being exalted because that is their proper place (over the lesser others), but in truth, they are being exalted, like Pharaoh of old, so that God can make an example out of them.  The higher they rise the greater the fall. 

The end times will fall with a great crash as Jesus returns.  God help us to be a people who are feeding upon the humility and lowliness of Jesus, instead of the arrogance and pride of the spirit of this world.

Arrogant Eyes audio

The Things That God Hates 1: Introduction

Proverbs 6:16; 1 John 4:7-8.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 8, 2021.

We are starting a series on the things that God hates using the seven things listed in Proverbs 6.  In order to do justice to the gravity of the subject, we will take a week on each item, with this week introducing the concept of God hating something. 

Some use this idea of God hating to charge the Bible with inconsistency, and error.  In short, they use it to defame the character of God.  However, if we think more deeply on these things, we will find that this is not so.

Let’s look at our first passage. 

How can God hate?

Proverbs 6:16 clearly states that there are things that God hates.  The knee-jerk reaction of some is to ask, “How can God hate?”  Now the word that is translated “hate” here is the same word we have talked about in prior sermons.  This Hebrew word has a much larger range of meaning than our English word “hate.”  You have to look at the context in order to determine whether it speaks of something that is merely loved less than another thing. 

We saw this in Genesis 29:31. Many translations will say that God saw Leah was unloved, but it is actually the Hebrew word that in some cases can mean a disdainful hatred towards someone.  It is clear from that passage that Jacob does not “hate” Leah in the English sense.  Rather, when it comes to choosing between Leah and Rachel, he would reject her and choose Rachel.  Rachel was loved by Jacob, but Leah was not.

In Proverbs 6:16, the verse has another word that is clearly meant to be synonymous, or parallel with the earlier word “hate,” and it is the word “abomination.”  In Hebrew, this word has an extremely thin range of meaning.  It pretty much means something that is loathed and detested.  Although it can be used of humans, it is mostly used of God.  Some of these abominations that God hates are perversions of the Mosaic sacrificial system, but most of them are immoral activities that God has gone on record as stating that he detests them.

So, we can be assured that contextually the word “hate” here is on the other end of the spectrum from Genesis 29:31.  It means to hate, as we English speakers would think.  These are things that God has a strong aversion to, and detests.

Now, let’s look at the passage in 1 John.  This passage categorically defines love as an essential part of God.  “God is love.”  In other words, God can’t quit being love any more than we can quit being human.  Yet, we should note that, even though the Bible speaks of God hating things, it never states that God is hate.

It is here that we should understand that, for us, hating something is generally rooted in something that is wrong in my heart.  With God this is different.  Just as we find it impossible to be angry and righteous at the same time, so we find it impossible to hate and be loving at the same time.  In the Bible, we see that because God loves His creation so much, especially humans whom He made in His image, that He hates anything that threatens to destroy it, us.  He can do this perfect, not in spite of His love, but directly flowing out of His love.  If God is perfect love, then he must hate that which threatens to destroy the object of His love.  Like I said, it is impossible for humans to do this perfectly, which is why Scripture tells us, “The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”  James 1:20.

This brings us to two important understandings.  One, sin, as defined by God, is that which destroys us, others, and the world around us.  Second, God’s wrath, His active hatred for sinful things that destroy what He loves, is for the purpose of setting things right, producing righteousness.

There is a common statement that has surfaced over the years.  “God hates the sin, but loves the sinner.”  Is this true though?  My answer would be, yes, and no.  If this statement is used to remind people that God always desires the salvation of the sinner, even in the midst of their judgment, then it is true.  God is not willing that anyone should go into eternity lost.  However, He will not force anyone to put their faith and love in Him.

How is this statement wrong?  If we use this statement to justify not repenting of our sin, not repenting of destroying ourselves and others around us, if we use it to coddle and excuse rebellion, then we are treading on thin ice.  The sinner who refuses to hear God’s call for them to turn from sin, and to embrace His righteousness, will find out that God’s love for them will not cancel out their choice.

In John 3:17-19, we are told that the condemnation of God, His hatred for sin, is even now looming over the sinner.  That person is a destroyer of God’s good things, both within himself, and others around him.  Yet, God’s love constrains Him to make a way for that sinner to be saved from his fate.

With the cross, God wants us to see at least two things.  First, it shows how greatly He hates sin, and how serious He is about destroying it completely.  Second, it shows how greatly He loves us and is willing to move heaven and earth in order to save us from this fate.  He takes our sin upon Himself in order to make room for repentance, but the room is finite.  Yes, He loves you and has made a way for you to see the error of your way and believe on Him, but He can’t wait forever for your decision because He loves everyone else too.

Do not be deceived.  The person who goes into eternity refusing to repent of their sinful destruction of God’s things will not find the love of God.  Why?  They will not find it because they have rejected it at every turn, over and over again on earth.  To repent is to embrace the love of God.  That person will find God’s love on the other side of mortal death.

Thus, we see the picture at the end of Revelation 21.  The creation is melted down, and recreated as a new heaven and new earth.  An eternal city, built by God, comes down out of the heavens.  It is symbolic of the righteous, but it is also real.  We hear these words about it.

Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there).  And, they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it.  But, there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

At the cross, Jesus dealt with my sin, your sin, and took the judgment of our wickedness, our sinful destructions, upon himself.  However, I must choose to turn from my sin, quit loving wickedness, and start loving Jesus, the One who died for me.  The day will come when there will be no more room to choose for me, and for you, for your neighbor, your friend, even your enemy.  The day will come when there will be no more choice for this world because God’s plan is to bring us to a place where there will be no more wickedness forever, amen!

It is not His plan to bring us to a place where there is only wickedness.  However, for those who reject His plan, and embrace wickedness, He allows them to enter into the fruit of their choice, a place of only wickedness, and none of the goodness of God.  This is a repulsive thought, but it is even more so to the God who loves us and does not want this for us.  Why will you choose death?  Choose life and live!

Things God Hates 1 audio

Lessons from the Underground Church 13: True Identity

This is a 13 week series that will not be posted on our website.  If you would like an audio of the sermon or a written article on the sermon contents then please contact the church at AbundantLifeEverett@frontier.com.  You can also leave a message at 425.438.1500.  Thank you for your interest.

Lessons from the Underground Church 13: True Identity

This is a 13 week series that will not be posted on our website.  If you would like an audio of the sermon or a written article on the sermon contents then please contact the church at AbundantLifeEverett@frontier.com.  You can also leave a message at 425.438.1500.  Thank you for your interest.