The Lord Hates Evil

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The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.

In the Hebrew, fear is a noun and Lord is a noun and they are placed together, side by side, one following the other. This sentence structure is significant for in the Hebrew, when this sequence of nouns are used then the first noun belongs to the second. Below are examples of phrases using two nouns, the first belonging to the second.

Usually when the phrase the “fear of the Lord” is used we tend to understand it to mean our fear of the Lord. But this is not the meaning. When used in this sentence structure the meaning is that the fear belongs to God.

The root meaning of the Hebrew word “fear” is “to flow from the gut”. It means to have a visceral or gut reaction, or, to feel deeply. What is being said is that the Lord has a visceral, a passionate hated of evil. He is not at all indifferent to wickedness but passionately hates it; that flowing from the Lord’s gut is the hatred of evil.

To Depart From Evil is Understanding
Job 28:28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
It is indeed foolish to practice what God hates. God is going to destroy evil and all who practices evil. He makes a way of escape but the foolish have no interest in escape. Their only interest is to practice the desires of their heart; their appetites drive them. The Lord says “their foot shall slide in due time.” Deut. 32:35

Fools Mock at Sin
It is difficult to understand, but there are those who actually mock the suggestion of their own sinfulness, The very concept of sin is so distasteful they deny its existence. To the fool, sin is sport and they delight in it. If you warn a fool of his sin he will not listen, he will not thank you, he will not repent, and he will not consider the possibility of his inevitable destruction.

Fools Rejoice to do Evil
Pro 2:14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked;
What ungodliness, that a man who is created to love and enjoy the Lord, instead, loves and enjoys evil. And, not only does he rejoice in evil, but delights in the wickedness of others who also love and enjoy evil; The wicked have no shame but rejoice in the love of their wickedness.

Pride, Arrogancy, the Evil Way, and the Froward Mouth
The Lord specifically names these character traits and says He hates them. A wise person will search himself and come into agreement with God by learning to hate what God hates.

Pride - Pride enables one to ignore God, pride looks at God then looks the other way. Pride, not God, has the last word. The person who is given to pride will eventually put their opinions, their choices, and their desires above the Word of God; they are ruled by their fleshly mind. Their life is not about what God thinks but about what they think.They can appear to possess a certain humility, but at the end of the day, they always choose their own way.

Arrogancy - Arrogancy is pride on steroids. An arrogant person is full of himself, drunk on his own self-worth; he not only loves himself but thinks God wants him just the way he is. He sees no need of inward change, no need of a new heart. He puts himself above repentance, above godliness, and above the Word of God. He cannot relate to the hatred of evil for he is blinded by his arrogance. Frank Sinatra describes the spirit of the arrogant with his hit song “I Did it My Way”.

The Evil Way – The evil way is a well-travelled, road of wickedness; a life of habitual sinning with no thought for the right way; a mind not willing to do the good but comfortable in its godlessness. A evil way dishonors God who leads in righteousness. A man given to the evil way is far from God and will surely perish.The Lord hates an evil way.

The Froward Mouth – The froward mouth is a perverse, fault finding mouth. A froward mouth is willing to hurt others; a froward mouth whispers words that separate friends. A froward mouth is a destroyer, an accuser, a bitter mouth speaking words tipped with poison. A man’s mouth was created to speak words of life but a froward mouth has left its calling and now speaks words from a self-serving and sinful heart.

God is merciful and will forgive even the most wicked. If we will acknowledge our sin, and seek Him, and His forgiveness, He will forgive our sins and deliver us from wickedness to righteousness. This is the message of the Gospel and the promise of God to all who will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Rom 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Rom 10:11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

God Bless You,

Jim

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