The Seven Evils That God Hates
[Proverbs 6:16-19]
Have you ever heard of the “Seven Deadly Sins”? When I think of the "Seven Deadly Sins," I immediately think of the 1995 film Se7en. In that movie, famous actors like Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Spacey starred, and the plot revolved around a series of murders based on the seven deadly sins. The theme of the movie was to show that no matter how hard humanity struggles, it cannot escape the consequences of the seven deadly sins (Internet). The seven sins are: Lust (color, desire for physical pleasure), Gluttony (overindulgence in food), Greed (materialism and desire for wealth), Sloth (laziness), Wrath (anger), Envy (resentment of others’ possessions), and Pride (excessive self-importance). These seven sins were classified by Catholic Pope Gregory I and can be explained as follows (Internet):
-
Pride: Having a sense of superiority beyond what one truly possesses.
-
Greed: An attachment and excessive desire for material things.
-
Lust: A disordered desire for physical pleasure.
-
Gluttony: Disordered consumption of food, which dulls the mind, weakens rational control, and lowers human dignity.
-
Envy: Criticizing others for their possessions.
-
Wrath: Hatred toward others, which can harm both others and oneself.
-
Sloth: Rejecting one’s given purpose and failing to use one’s talents.
The Catholic Church bases the idea of these Seven Deadly Sins on Proverbs 6:16-19. However, the writer of Proverbs, King Solomon, does not describe the seven evils that God hates in the same way as the Catholic Church. In other words, the Seven Deadly Sins referred to in Catholicism, based on this passage, are different from those mentioned in the Bible. What, then, does the Bible actually say about the seven evils that God hates, according to this passage? Let us meditate on this passage together and receive the lesson God is giving us today.
First, let’s look at Proverbs 6:16:
“These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven are an abomination to Him.”
Here, King Solomon says that there are six things that God hates, and the seventh thing is something He abominates. Isn't that a bit confusing? Are the evils that God hates and abominates six or seven? Why does Solomon use both “six” and “seven” in this context? What is the meaning behind this? Commentators offer two interpretations:
-
First Interpretation: The purpose of using "six and seven" is not to give us a complete list of evils, but to emphasize that the seventh sin is the product or culmination of the six sins listed earlier (Walvoord). If we follow this interpretation, the seventh sin, “one who sows discord among brothers” (v. 19), would be the result or culmination of the previous six: “haughty eyes,” “a lying tongue,” “hands that shed innocent blood” (v. 17), “a heart that devises wicked plans,” “feet that make haste to run to evil” (v. 18), and “a false witness who speaks lies” (v. 19).
-
Second Interpretation: The numbers "six" and "seven" are used to describe the entirety of the evils and to capture our attention. These numbers are not meant to be taken literally, but as a way to focus our attention on the totality of the sins (MacArthur). An example of this interpretation can be found in Job 5:19:
“He will deliver you from six troubles, and in seven no evil shall touch you.”
Between these two interpretations, I believe the second one is more appropriate. One reason for this is that if we follow the first interpretation, we would have to see “the one who sows discord among brothers” as the culmination of the six previous sins, which doesn't seem entirely correct to me. The reason is that, in my view, the culmination of the seven sins listed by King Solomon seems to be “the heart that devises wicked plans” rather than “the one who sows discord among brothers,” especially when applying the chiasmus (crossed parallelism) structure of Hebrew grammar. The second interpretation is more persuasive to me, especially because of the example in Job 5:19. I believe the use of the numbers “six” and “seven” together serves to describe the totality of the evils and to capture our focus, rather than as a literal count of specific sins.
So, what are the seven evils that God hates according to Proverbs 6:16-19?
The first evil is “haughty eyes”.
Let’s look at the first half of Proverbs 6:17:
“... haughty eyes, and ...” When we think about “eyes,” we might recall the “winks” of the wicked and evil person from Proverbs 6:13, which we have already meditated on. When wicked people conspire with others to harm someone, they often use a wink, fearing that the other person might notice. In the same way, a person with haughty eyes can also harm others and, as we see in Proverbs 6:19, can sow discord between brothers. I present the verse Psalm 101:5 as evidence:
“Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; the one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, him I will not endure.”
This verse shows that God does not tolerate those with a proud heart, describing them as having haughty eyes. Such people will slander their neighbors in subtle ways. Thus, those with haughty eyes, driven by pride, can indeed sow discord between brothers. The Bible speaks clearly about God’s hatred of pride in Proverbs 8:13, and in today’s passage, Proverbs 6:17, it also mentions that God hates “haughty eyes.”
The "haughty eyes" mentioned here refer to “lofty eyes” in Proverbs 30:13. God will surely humble such eyes, as stated in Psalm 18:27. What should we do? We must lower our proud eyes. We should have humble eyes. Who is the one who has humble eyes? It is the one who “considers others better than themselves” (Philippians 2:3). To the humble, God grants grace (Proverbs 3:34) and makes them “bear with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2). In other words, those with humble eyes bring peace between brothers, but those with haughty eyes sow discord.
The second evil is “a lying tongue”.
Now, let’s look at the middle part of Proverbs 6:17:
“... a lying tongue, and ...” We have already meditated on Proverbs 6:12, where the wicked and evil person “speaks corrupt things.” This means that the wicked person speaks with a crooked mouth. In other words, they use their twisted words to deceive and lie. Especially in business, those who speak with crooked tongues and deceive others are described in Proverbs 21:6 as “gathering treasures by lying tongues.” While they may appear prosperous at first, Proverbs 21:6 clearly states that it is “a pursuit of death; it is a fleeting vapor.”
A lying tongue also leads to “hatred” in relationships. Look at Proverbs 26:28:
“A lying tongue hates those who are afflicted by it, and a flattering mouth works ruin.”
What does this mean? It means that those who lie, with their deceitful tongue, hate the person they harm with their lies. Because of this hatred, the liar uses lies to hurt the person they despise. This is why Proverbs 6:19 mentions the “false witness who speaks lies.” A false witness, unafraid to lie to hurt someone they hate, can bring that person into trouble.
Friends, God hates lying lips (Proverbs 12:22). And a lying tongue will not last. Look at Proverbs 12:19:
“Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.”
The Bible says that a lying tongue will last only for a moment, but truthful lips endure forever. We must have truthful lips, and with them, we must speak the truth (Job 33:3). When we do so, we will please God (Proverbs 12:22).
The third sin is "hands that shed innocent blood."
Look at the second half of Proverbs 6:17:
“… hands that shed innocent blood.” When you hear the phrase “hands that shed innocent blood,” who comes to mind? I think of Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab, from 1 Kings 21 in the Old Testament. The reason is that she shed the blood of Naboth, an innocent man. In many ways, I believe the sins we have already meditated upon that God hates—such as “proud eyes,” “a lying tongue,” and “hands that shed innocent blood”—all apply to Queen Jezebel. She wanted to take Naboth’s vineyard, which was near her husband King Ahab’s palace, but since God forbade Naboth from selling it, he said, “I cannot give you the inheritance of my ancestors,” which caused great distress and frustration in her heart. Seeing this, Jezebel wrote a letter with a lying tongue (1 Kings 21:1-4) and ordered the elders and nobles of the city to accuse Naboth falsely. She had him killed (12-13) and took his vineyard to give it to her husband Ahab (16). In the end, the wicked Queen Jezebel caused the innocent Naboth, who was a trustworthy neighbor and obedient to God, to be stoned to death.
When I think of the New Testament, I remember the Jewish people who, without any fault, crucified the innocent Jesus, causing Him to shed His blood on the cross. With their proud eyes, they did not recognize Jesus, the Son of God, and with their lying tongues, they accused Him and shouted, “Crucify Him!” (John 19:6). I am reminded of the hymn 144, verse 2:
“Who could have sinned by carrying the cross? Those ignorant people killed the Messiah.”
Thinking of the ignorant Jews, who did not know that Jesus was their Savior, and who nailed the innocent Jesus to the cursed tree of the cross, I also remember the hands of Jesus nailed to the cross. I also think of His feet nailed to the cross. Perhaps this is because the hands that shed innocent blood, which God abhors, are connected to the “feet that run swiftly to evil” mentioned in the second half of Proverbs 6:18. When I think of the hands and feet of the wicked, I also think of the hands and feet of Jesus, who was crucified without sin and died on the cross for us.
Friends, we must never shed the blood of the innocent with our hands. Instead, like the Israelites in the time of Nehemiah, we should dedicate our hands to God to build the body of the Church, which is the body of Christ. Though Satan and our adversaries may try to make us afraid and weary, so that we stop doing the work of the Lord, we must pray, like Nehemiah, “Now strengthen my hands” (Nehemiah 6:9) and dedicate our hands to the work of the Lord.
The fourth sin is “a heart that devises wicked plans.”
Look at the first half of Proverbs 6:18:
“A heart that devises wicked plans…”
As we have already meditated in Proverbs 6:14, the Bible says that the wicked “have perversity in their heart.” In other words, the wicked speak with a crooked heart, uttering perverse things (Proverbs 6:12), and they always plot evil, causing strife (6:14). The cause of this is that Satan, who always plots evil, distorts God’s truth and twists the hearts of the wicked. In other words, the reason the hearts of the wicked are perverse is because of Satan’s wicked schemes. Satan is evil, and he only devises wicked plans. He also has plans to twist the hearts of those of us who believe in Jesus. In carrying out these plans, Satan adds to or subtracts from the Word of God, mixing truth with lies. Therefore, Satan deceives us and twists our hearts first. This means that Satan stirs up all the “evil thoughts” (Mark 7:21) that come from our hearts, bringing them out and allowing them to dominate us, eventually leading us to sin against God.
What are these evil thoughts? In Mark 7:21-22, Jesus says:
“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts: adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness.”
What is Satan’s wicked scheme? Is it not to make us break God’s commandments and sin? If we look at Genesis 3, we see that Satan used a lying tongue to make Adam and Eve’s eyes prideful, which ultimately led them to eat from the forbidden tree. And their son Cain shed the innocent blood of his brother Abel (Genesis 4).
Therefore, we must listen to God’s Word, as King Solomon says in Proverbs 4:23:
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.”
And, as the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 2:5, we should have the mind of Christ Jesus. We must have humble hearts, sincere hearts, serving hearts, and hearts that love our neighbors.
The fifth sin is "feet that run swiftly to evil."
Look at the second half of Proverbs 6:18:
“… feet that run swiftly to evil.” When we look at Proverbs 6:13, which we have already meditated on, the Bible says that the wicked and evil person not only winks with his eyes but also “signals with his feet.” How an evil person uses their feet to signal and plot evil is not entirely clear, but what is certain is that their feet are used as instruments to carry out evil. When thinking about these feet used to commit evil, Proverbs 1:15 comes to mind. In that verse, King Solomon tells us not to walk on the path with the wicked (verse 10) and to keep our feet from following the way of the evil ones. Why? Because their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed blood (verse 16). The wicked, with hearts full of evil plans, not only have hands that shed innocent blood (6:17) but also feet that run quickly to do evil (6:18). In short, the hands and feet of the wicked are swift in doing evil.
However, our prayer of dedication should be like the second verse of hymn 348:
“I lift my hands and feet; Lord, accept them,
And make them swift to do Your work.”
Especially when thinking of our feet, Romans 10:15 comes to mind:
“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!”
The feet that are beautiful in God’s sight are the feet of those who spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Therefore, our feet should be swift to carry the gospel of Jesus Christ. Even though the feet of the wicked run quickly to do evil, our feet, as those who believe in Jesus and have been declared righteous, must run swiftly to spread the gospel.
The sixth sin is "a false witness who speaks lies."
Look at the first half of Proverbs 6:19:
“A false witness who speaks lies.”
The second sin that God hates and detests, which we learned in Proverbs 6:17, is the “lying tongue.” And here in Proverbs 6:19, King Solomon tells us that God also hates and detests the sixth sin: the false witness who speaks lies. In Proverbs 6:12, we have already meditated on the verse where Solomon says that the wicked and evil person “spreads deceitful speech.” In other words, useless people who cause trouble speak lies and deceit with twisted words. And here in Proverbs 6:19, Solomon points out that God hates the false witness who speaks lies with a lying tongue. One reason for this is that the false witness strikes and accuses his neighbor “without cause” (24:28) and falsely slanders him (Deuteronomy 19:18). Why? Because in the heart of the false witness, there is “hatred” that they are concealing. Solomon refers to such a person in Proverbs 10:18 as “the one who hides hatred with lying lips.” As a result, the false witness, through their deceit, can sow discord between brothers (6:19). Moses also warned the Israelites during the Exodus not to spread false rumors and not to become malicious witnesses who join with the wicked and bear false witness (Exodus 23:1).
If a false witness continues to speak lies, the Bible says in Proverbs 19:9:
“A false witness will not go unpunished,
And he who speaks lies shall perish.”
Friends, we must be truthful witnesses. We must never become false witnesses who speak lies. Why? Because, as Proverbs 14:25 says, “A truthful witness saves lives,
But a false witness speaks lies.”
We are witnesses of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8). Therefore, we must testify about Jesus Christ. And when we testify, we must do so truthfully and faithfully, as witnesses of the truth.
The seventh and final sin is "the one who sows discord among brothers."
Look at the second half of Proverbs 6:19:
“… the one who sows discord among brothers.”
If we revisit Proverbs 6:14, which we have already reflected on, the Bible says that the wicked and evil person “always plots evil and stirs up strife.” In God’s eyes, those who are useless and cause problems are the ones who provoke conflicts. In Proverbs 6:19, Solomon tells us that the sin God hates and abhors is the one who sows discord among brothers. In other words, God hates and abhors those who cause disputes and conflicts among brothers. What is the connection between this one who sows discord among brothers and the first sin God hates, “haughty eyes” (Proverbs 6:17)? Look at Proverbs 13:10:
“By pride comes nothing but strife,
But with the well-advised is wisdom.”
The proud do not listen to advice. Moreover, the proud subtly slanders their neighbor (Psalm 101:5). Therefore, the proud person causes division among brothers and distances them from one another. However, the humble person plays a role as a bridge among brothers, promoting peace and never breaking it. Thus, the humble person, to whom God grants grace, obeys God’s word and faithfully maintains the unity of the church.
I want to conclude today’s reflection. We have learned about the seven sins that God hates and abhors. These seven sins are: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift to run to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and the one who sows discord among brothers. While reflecting on these seven sins that God detests, we have also learned what kind of eyes, tongue, hands, heart, and feet we should have. These are, in fact, humble eyes, a truthful tongue, hands dedicated to the Lord's work, a heart filled with the mind of Christ, beautiful feet that carry the gospel, truthful witnesses, and those who reconcile brothers. May you and I be God’s people who possess these seven virtues that God loves.