One of the most thought-provoking challenges I’ve ever gotten as a pastor has been the question of hate. “Hate” is one of those buzzwords today like “absolute” which is to be forbidden except in validating one’s rejection of it. For example the claim, “There are no absolutes in this life” is pretty handily dismissed by pointing out that this statement itself is a universal, an absolute. Logically this is a self-defeating paradox; functionally the hoi peloi seem comfortable with it! “Well, right there are no absolutes except one. The only absolute is that there are no absolutes.” My friend Charles Clough would say that the amoeba of unbelief has successfully reduced the obstacle of logic to accommodate the unreflective and shallow longings of the pagan heart.
What about hate? Hate is only acceptable in today’s pagan culture when you are hating hate itself. Isn’t that handy? Forget about hating sin or its ravages on the broken humans around us. Forget about the kind of hate that is driven by compassion for those victims of self-interested sin. No, the only legitimate hate is to be directed towards haters themselves. And if you find one, it’s open season! You are welcome to hate all day when you think you have the moral support of the surrounding populace to do so! Hate those haters. Does anyone doubt that ideologues who use the noun “hate” as a monolithic enemy to be dispatched always do so by expressing righteous indignation and morally-acceptable hatred of whatever ignorance they are denouncing?
That is the political maneuver out there anyway, and I understand it. However the Bible is more honest about hatred and, unsurprisingly, more reflective of the real world than this fantasy word-smithing of political correctness. Hatred is the wrong response to that which is good and loving, and hatred is right when the object is sin and evil. Let’s try it out: I hate child cancer. I hate rape and murder. I hate the ravages of war. No one really argues with moral rejection of these effects of the fall of man. If you do not experience intellectual and emotional revulsion at these things, you might look into joining the party, the flow of reality which has somehow escaped you.
Let’s explore legitimate hatred a little bit. In Exodus 18:21, hating covetousness (KJV) or “dishonest gain” (NASB) is a prerequisite for those candidates who seek positions of God-honoring leadership:
21“Furthermore, you shall select out of all the people able men who fear God, men of truth, those who hate dishonest gain; and you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties and of tens.”
Look at that list of four summary requirements. Men in command must be 1) able, 2) fearing God, 3) truthful, and 4) haters of dishonest gain. The Hebrew word for “able” (CHAYIL, חַיִל) refers to competence, bravery, and power. It is a great compliment in the Bible for whoever is so described. “Fearing God” is the Old Testament’s summary of a human’s right relationship with the Creator. One who fears the Lord worships Him as he should. “Truthful” speaks of the positive application of that relationship in personal integrity. “Hating dishonest gain” means the leader’s fear of the Lord is applied negatively in rejection of that which opposes honest dealing. The implication seems to be that a man thus equipped would be able to discern right from wrong so that he could reward the former and punish the latter. He would be a good judge.
What if this set of criteria were emphasized in our selection of leaders today? Of course the electorate would have to know about the seductive power of covetousness and the indispensability of honesty, as well as what the fear of the Lord was. This list of qualities is probably beyond the grasp of the casual participant in the American experiment these days. Ouch.
Why does God’s word say that a good leader will hate the sinful tendency to covetousness? I think it has to do with God’s delegation of responsibility. The story of the Bible can be summarized under the motif of man ruling under the authority of the Sovereign Creator. God gave all authority over the animals to Adam and Eve, and ironically they disobeyed Him in order to submit to one of those subordinate animals! Of course the serpent was indwelled and empowered for speech by Satan, and I think the human submission to the serpent was part of Satan’s strategy for maximum injury and insult. What a clever piece of work. That fall brought a curse on the realm which was man’s delegated authority. It will not be right again until the Last Adam, Jesus Christ, rules over all the nations and all the earthly creatures. This theme of man’s reign on earth really sews the Bible together from beginning to end, and the Cross occupies the center of the story.
The delegation of leadership responsibility makes the leader God’s representative on earth. We are His image, and so we bear the responsibility to execute His intent with that which is committed to us. This is why Exodus 18:21 lists the four qualities of ability, fear of God, honesty, and hatred of covetousness. These are God’s qualities, and we are to reflect them as His image. Man is to be a finite picture—image—of God. Thus the list: 1) God is so capable or “able” that He is omnipotent. 2) He does not fear Himself, but He relates perfectly to His creatures as Creator. 3) He is the God of truth, while Satan is the “father of lies.” 4) He hates sin, including covetousness.
The helpful but derided summary, “Love the sinner but hate the sin” really speaks to God’s dealings with the sinful human race. For one example, note Deuteronomy 12:31:
31“You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods.”
Can everyone get behind the legitimate hatred of child sacrifice in the phallic cult of the Canaanite Baal religions? Is the protection of our most helpless not the motivational underpinning that binds our hearts as a nation to the soldiers who rise up from among us to go into harm’s way? I for one see the very patriotic endeavor of serving in the U.S. Armed Forces or in local law enforcement and firefighting as a choice to stand between my family and oppressive tyranny or criminal violence. A righteous hatred of the suffering of our women and children at the hands of invaders or criminals should drive us to arm ourselves, to train, and to vote for those who will share that zero-tolerance attitude. I am for no women or children ravaged by an invading army. Zero tolerance for murder and rape. No infants sacrificed on the altar of self-interest.
It is not hard to show that God hates sin. Deuteronomy 16:22 says He hates phallic cult idolatry, the “sacred pillars” of the Baal-Ashtoreth cult. God hates arrogant sinfulness, according to Psalm 5:5. God’s soul hates the lover of violence in Ps 11:5. Isaiah 1:14 and 61:1 say the LORD hates hypocritical worship. The concordance will show you a lot of righteous hatred from God directed against sin. What about the sinner?
In the concordance we will find places where God is said to hate the person who commits the sin. In these instances the sinner is identified by his sin, but the point that draws the Lord’s wrath is the sinful activity. Just as often, though, you will find that God loves sinners too. He wants to save them from their sins. Romans 5:8 is one such vital statement: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus said as much in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world (of sinners) that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
Don’t forget Ephesians 2:4-7:
4But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”
Hating people is certainly forbidden in Leviticus 19:17*, but hating the abominable acts of people (sin) is exactly what God requires. I will close on today’s “order” from God through the prophet Amos. To an idolatrous Northern Kingdom Amos declared these summary words of instruction and encouragement:
Amos 5:15 (NASB95)
15Hate evil, love good, And establish justice in the gate! Perhaps the Lord God of hosts May be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
*Lev 19:17 next week
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