God’s Hatred

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. (Proverbs 8:13)

Did you know there are things that God hates? The Bible lists several things that God utterly detests. Each of these four things listed in Proverbs 8:13 are evil. Evil in Hebrew is the word ra and means anything wicked, wretched, bad, and is an adversity. God is against these four things.

The first listed is pride. Pride is such a dangerous sin that God warns against it throughout His Word. Pride thinks only about self-interest and is not concerned about God’s interests.

Pride is entirely self-focused. In fact, all of the things listed in this verse that God hates are connected with pride.

The second is arrogance. The word in Hebrew for arrogance is gaown and many times is translated through the Old Testament simply as pride. Specifically, it is a swelling or puffed up attitude about one’s own importance.

The third is the evil way. As earlier noted, evil is the word ra in Hebrew, and way is baderek. It is usually translated as journey, way, course, or conduct. God hates it when we yield to the direction that the enemy presents because He knows the consequences that will follow when we go evil’s way. God plans to prosper you and lead you to good, not evil, and to bring you to His expected end. Follow God, not pride!

The last thing listed that God hates is a froward mouth. Froward is the Hebrew word tahpukot and means perversity or fraud. A froward mouth speaks things that don’t agree with God’s Word.

Practical Application – God is love, but He hates pride and all of the behaviors that spring from pride. Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up!