Seven evils that God hates
[Proverbs 6:16-19]
Have you ever heard of "SEVEN DEADLY SINS"? When I think about “SEVEN DEADLY SINS” it reminds me a movie "Seven"(1995). The film then featured famous actors such as Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacese, and the plot of the film showed a series of murders with the motif of original sin. The theme of the film is that human cannot escape from the seven original sins such as, lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. These seven sins were classified by the Catholic Pope Gregory I and can be explained as follows (Internet): (1) Pride is having a sense of superiority beyond what one has, (2) Greed is attachment and demand for matter, (3) Lust is a disorderly desire for physical pleasure, (4) Gluttony dulls thinking of the disorderly intake of food, weakens the control of reason and degrades human dignity, (5) Envy criticizes others' possessions, (6) Wrath is a crime that can harm not only others but also yourself by hating others, (7) Sloth is the attitude of refusing the given mission without exerting the given ability. Catholics say that these seven evils are based on Proverbs 6:16-19. However, in today's passage, King Solomon doesn’t speak of the seven evils that God hates like that. In other words, the seven evils that the Catholics say based on today's text is different from what the Bible says. We want to learn the lessons God gives us as we meditate on Proverbs 6:16-19 together to see what the Bible says what the seven evils that God hates are.
Look at Proverbs 6:16 – “There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him.” Here, King Solomon says, 'Six things God hates, seven things that are detestable to God.' Isn't the numbers little confusing? Isn't it little bit confusing whether there are six or seven sins that God hates and detests? Why is King Solomon using both numbers six and seven? What does it mean? There are two interpretations by commentators: (1) The first interpretation is that the purpose of the author's use of the number six and seven is not to give us a complete list of sins, but to emphasize that the seventh sin is a product or culmination of all six sins before (Walvoord). If we follow this interpretation, the seventh sin, that is ‘stirring up dissension among brothers’ (v.19) is the product or culmination of “haughty eyes”, “a lying tongue”, “hands that shed innocent blood” (v. 17), “a heart that devises wicked schemes”, “feet that are quick to rush into evil” (v. 18) and “a false witness who pours out lies” (v. 19). (2) The second interpretation is that these numbers in the sequence of six or seven are numbers used to capture our attention and focus while describing totality (Refs: 30:15, 18; Job 5:19, Am 1:3) (MacArthur). One of the examples can be found in Job 5:19 – “From six troubles He will deliver you, Even in seven evil will not touch you.” Of these two interpretations, I think the second one is more appropriate. One of the reasons is because if we follow the first interpretation, we should see that among the seven sins, ‘stirring up dissension among brothers’ should be the culmination of the six previous sins, but I don't think it is. The reason is because I think that the climax of the seven sins that King Solomon lists is the fourth sin, “a heart that devises wicked schemes” rather than ‘stirring up dissension among brothers’ based on the Hebrew grammar chiasm. Rather, the reason the second interpretation is more persuasive to me is because of Job 5:19. The use of the number six or seven together is thought to be a number used to capture our attention while describing the whole rather than giving the meaning of the number itself. Then, what are the seven evils (seven sins) that God hates and detests that King Solomon talks about in Proverbs 6:16-19?
The first evil that God hates is “haughty eyes”.
Look at Proverbs 6:17 – “haughty eyes ….” When we think of the “eye” we can think of the winks of the worthless and the wicked man already meditated on in 6:13. When the worthless and the wicked man conspire with other wicked people to harm others, he winks with his eyes in fear that the other person might notice (v. 13). The man who has haughty eyes also harms others by stirring up dissension another brothers (v. 19). On that basis, I suggest Psalms 101:5 – “Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.” In this word, it is said that those who are haughty in their hearts that God doesn’t tolerate have haughty eyes and secretly slanders his neighbor. Therefore, the man with haughty eyes and haughty heart can eventually separate his brothers. That’s why God hates “pride” in Proverbs 8:13. And in Proverbs 6:17, the Bible says that God hates and dislikes “haughty eyes”. Those haughty eyes are the ‘lofty eyes’ as Proverbs 30:13 says. Psalms 18:27 says that God surely bring low the haughty eyes. What should we do? We must lower our haughty eyes. We must have humble eyes. Who has humble eyes? He is the one who estimates others better than himself (Phil. 2:3). God shows grace to the humble (Prov. 3:34) to tolerate one another in love” (Eph. 4:2). In other words, the haughty-eyed man separates brothers, but the humble-eyed man reconciles brothers.
The second evil that God hates is a lying tongue.
Look at Proverbs 6:17 – “… a lying tongue ….” Proverbs 6:12 says that the worthless and the wicked man goes about with “a corrupt mouth”, and this means that the worthless and the wicked man walks with the perverse words. That means that the worthless and the wicked man speak lies and deceit with his perverse mouth. Especially in business, a person who speaks lies and deceitful words with the perverse mouth, as Proverbs 21:6 says, makes a fortune by the lying tongue. So at first, even though it may seem prosperous with a lot of wealth, Proverbs 21:6 clearly says, “A fortune made by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a deadly snare.” And the lying tongue has hate involved in human relationships. Look at Proverbs 26:28 – “A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin.” What does it mean? It means that the liar hates the other person who has been hurt by his lying tongue. And because he hates the other person, he tries to hurt the other person because he lied. That is why there is “a false witness who utters lies” (6:19). Because of the false witness, who will not hesitate to lie to harm the other person he hates, the other person is bound to be in trouble. The lying lips are hated by God (12:22). And the false tongue doesn't last long. Look at Proverbs 12:19 – “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.” The Bible says that the lying tongue only exists in the blink of an eye. But it is said that truthful lips are preserved forever. We must have truthful lips. That is why we must speak the truth with our truthful lips (Job 33:3). Then we will please God (Prov. 12:22)
The third evil that God hates is hand that shed innocent blood.
Look at Proverbs 6:17 – “… And hands that shed innocent blood.” Who do you think of when the Bible says “hands that shed innocent blood? I remembered Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab in 1 Kings 21. The reason is that she shed the blood of the innocent Naboth. In a way, I think that all of these things, such as the sins we have already meditated on and hated and detested by God, such as haughty eyes, the lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, all apply to Queen Jezebel. She was worried and frustrated because her husband, King Ahab of Samaria, wanted to have the vineyard of Naboth, an Israelite near King Ahab’s palace, as his field, but Naboth said “The Lord forbid me that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers” (1 Kgs. 21:3). Seeing this, Jezebel saw Naboth with her haughty eyes for Ahab (vv. 1-4), wrote a letter with a lying tongue, and ordered the elders and nobles who lived in the city (v. 11), and eventually killed Naboth (vs. 12-13). And she took Naboth’s vineyard and gave it to her husband, Ahab (v. 16). Eventually, the evil queen Jezebel killed Naboth who was obeying the word of God and an innocent neighbor who was trustworthy. When I thought of the New Testament, I remembered the Jews who crucified the innocent Jesus, who had no sin at all and shed blood to death. They couldn't recognize Jesus Christ, the Son of God with their haughty eyes, and they accused Jesus with their lying tongues and shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” (Jn. 19:6). And finally, when I thought of those Jews who crucified Jesus, I remembered the Korean hymn ‘What sin is the crucifixion? Those ignorant men killed the Messiah.’ When I thought of ignorant Jews, those who crucified innocent Jesus, the tree of curse, without knowing that Jesus was their Savior, I remembered the hand of Jesus crucified. I also remembered Jesus' feet crucified. Perhaps the reason is because the hands that shed innocent blood that God hates and detests is with “Feet that run rapidly to evil’ (Prov. 6:18). So when I think about the hands and feet of the worthless and the wicked man, I remember the hands and feet of Jesus, who was innocent and crucified to death. By no means should we shed the blood of the innocent with our hands. Rather, we must devote ourselves to building up the church that became the body of the Lord by offering our hands on the Lord like the Israelites in Nehemiah's day. Although Satan and our adversaries will scare us and make us wear out our hands and try to stop the work of the Lord, we say to God, like Nehemiah, “But now, O God, strengthen my hands” (Ne 6:9), we must offer our hands to accomplish the work of the Lord.
The fourth evil that God hates is a heart that devises wicked plans.
Look at Proverbs 6:18 – “A heart that devises wicked plans ….” In Proverbs 6:14, the Bible says that the worthless and the wicked man continually devise evil. In other words, the worthless and the wicked man always devise evil and stirs up dissension (v. 14) while speaking perverse words with his perverse mouth (v. 12). The reason is because Satan, who always devises evil, distorts the truth of God and twists the heart of the worthless and the wicked man. In other words, the reason the heart of the worthless and the wicked man is distorted is because of Satan, who always devises evil schemes. Satan is evil. And evil Satan only devises evil schemes. There is also a plan to twist our hearts in Satan’s evil shemes. In putting the plan into action, Satan mixes truth with lies by adding or subtracting from the word of God's truth. Therefore, Satan deceives us and twists our hearts first. Satan stimulates and pulls out all the wicked thoughts (Mk. 7:21) that come out of our hearts, and causes them to take control of us, causing us to sin against God. What are those evil thoughts? In the Bible Mark 7:21-22, Jesus says, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness.” What is Satan's evil scheme? Isn’t Satan making us sin by breaking God's commandments? Even looking at Genesis 3, didn't Satan use his lying tongue to make Adam and Eve's eyes haughty and eventually eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? And their son Cain, didn’t he shed the blood of his innocent brother Abel? (Gen. 4) Therefore, we must listen to the words of God that King Solomon is saying in Proverbs 4:23 – “Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.” And, as the apostle Paul says in Philippians 2:5, we must embrace the heart of Christ Jesus. We must be humble, faithful, serve, and love our neighbors.
The fifth evil that God hates is feet that run rapidly to evil.
Look Proverbs 6:18 – “… Feet that run rapidly to evil.” In Proverbs 6:13, the Bible says that the worthless and the wicked man not only winks with his eyes, but also signals with his feet. I don't know how the worthless and the wicked man conspires evil with his own feet, but what is clear is that his feet are used as instruments to do evil. When I think of the feet used to do this evil, I think of Proverbs 1:15. In that verse, King Solomon is telling us not to walk with the sinners (v. 10) and keep our feet from their path (v. 15). What is the reason? The reason is because the feet of the wicked run to evil and hasten to shed blood (v. 16). The wicked man with a heart for devising evil scheme not only has hands that shed the blood of the righteous who are innocent (v. 17), but also has feet that run rapidly to evil (v. 18). In short, the wicked's hands and feet are quick to do evil. But we must have the hymn “Take My Life, and Let It Be” verse 2 be our prayer of devotion: “Take my hands, and let them move/ At the impulse of Thy love/ Take my feet, and let them be/ Swift and beautiful for Thee.” Especially when I thought about the feet, I thought of Romans 10:15 – “And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” Feet that are beautiful in the sight of God are those who preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Therefore, our feet must be agile to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. Although the feet of the wicked quickly run to evil, the feet of us who have been justified in faith in Jesus will have to run quickly to preach the Gospel.
The sixth sin that God hates is a false witness who utters lies.
Look at Proverbs 6:19 – “A false witness who utters lies ….” The second sin that God hates is “a lying tongue,” we learned in verse 17. And here in verse 19, King Solomon says that the sixth sin that God hates is “a false witness who utters lies”. When we look at the words we have already meditated on in verse 12, King Solomon says that the worthless and the wicked man “walks with a perverse mouth”. In other words, those who are useless and only cause problems will speak out lies and deceitful words with his perverse mouth. And in verse 19, King Solomon says that God hates the false witness who utters lies with his lying tongue. One of the reasons is because the false witness who utters lies is a witness against his neighbor without cause (24:28) and accuses his neighbor falsely (Deut. 19:18). What is the reason? The reason is because there is a “hate” in the heart of the false witness. However, he conceals hatred (Prov. 10:18). As for such a person, Proverbs 10:18 says, he has lying lips. As a result, the false witness can spread strife among brothers (6:19) with his false witness. So Moses told the Israelites at the time of the Exodus not to preach false reports and not to become a malicious witness in association with the wicked (Exod. 23:1). If we become the false witness who utter lies with our lying tongues, Proverbs 19:9 says: “A false witness will not go unpunished, And he who tells lies will perish.” We must be truthful witnesses. We should never be false witnesses who utter lies. What is the reason? The reason is because “A truthful witness saves lives, But he who utters lies is treacherous” (14:25). We are witnesses of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8). Therefore, we must testify of Jesus Christ. We must bear witness, but we must testify of Jesus Christ truthfully and faithfully.
The seventh and the last sin that God hates is stirring up dissension.
Look at Proverbs 6:19 – “… and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.” If we look back at verse 14, which we have already meditated on, the Bible says that the worthless and the wicked man “always stirs up dissension”. Those who are useless in God's sight and cause problems cause dissension. In verse 19, Solomon says that the sin that God hates is the one who stirs up dissension among brothers. In other words, Solomon is saying that God hates those who cause strife and quarrels between brothers. What is the relation between the man who stirs up dissension, who causes strife and quarrels with the first sin that God hates, that is the haughty eyes (v. 17)? Look at Proverbs 13:10 – “Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.” The proud man doesn’t listen to counsel. And the proud man secretly slanders his neighbor (Ps. 101:5). Hence, the proud person separates the brothers from one another in the middle, causing dissension among them. However, the humble man plays a good role as a stepping stone between brothers in the middle. He is a peacemaker, not a peacebreaker. Therefore, he who is humble, whom God shows grace, obeys the word of God and faithfully keep the unity of the church.
Today we have learned about the seven sins that God hates. Those seven sins are haughty eyes, the lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, the heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, the false witness who utters lies and the man who stirs up dissension among brothers. As we meditate on the seven evils that God hates, we learned what kind of eyes, tongue, hands, hearts, and feet we should have. It is none other than the humble eye, the truthful tongue, hands given to accomplish the work of the Lord, the heart that embraces the heart of Christ Jesus, the beautiful feet in preaching the gospel, the witness who speaks truth, and the person who makes reconciliation between brothers. May we become God's people who have these seven goods that God loves.