Haters
We live in an era of “hate speech” and “hate crimes,” and but these are nothing new. The god of this world, as Martin Luther wrote, is armed with cruel hate. Therefore, hate is one thread in the fabric of our fallen world.
Hate is a rather harsh word but is a common theme in the Bible. Miseo and stugetos are the two main Greek words employed to bring us our subject from over one hundred sixty-seven uses in the Bible. The Old Testament is home to three quarters of the biblical usage, with the wisdom literature being its richest depository.
I confess I have never sat through a sermon or Bible lesson with hate as the subject. One might imagine hate being a subcategory of evil, but hate can be an internal penchant in both the righteous and the unrighteous. It is a very strong emotion.
We will structure our study into four categories: people who hate God; people who hate God’s people; God who hates certain people and things; and a Christian’s relationship to hate. Our task is to survey the subject so we might come to a better and more balanced view of hate from the Bible’s perspective.
First, there are people who hate God. The ungodly and the unrighteous are haters of God (Rom 1:30). This is because they are haters of good (2 Tim 3:3). God is good. God promises to repay those who hate Him, as well as generations of their progeny (Ex 20:5; Dt 5:9; 32:41). They hate Him without cause (Ps 35:19; Jn 15:25), and they hate His discipline (Ps 50:17). Those who hate the Lord often pretend obedience to Him (Ps 81:15), in the way Judas Iscariot was a friend of Jesus (Ps 55:12).
Zion is the city of God, so men hate it (Ps 129:5). If men hate God, they surely hate the things of God. Blessed are the peacemakers, but there are men who hate peace (Ps 120:6). God Himself is our peace, but they hate Him.
Christ is the wisdom of God, but fools hate knowledge (Prv 1:22). Knowledge encourages a man to fear the Lord (Prv 1:29), but there are men who hate instruction (Prv 5:12). Those who hate God, and who sin against Him only injure themselves and love death (Prv 8:36).
Haters of God are foolish. They err by hating the wrong thing. When they observe right and wrong, they choose wrong. They serve money instead of God (Mt 6:24). This is because they lack knowledge and wisdom. Satan entices them to live in darkness, the sin of which causes them to distance themselves further and further away from God. God is Light. They hate the Light because He exposes them (Jn 3:20). They harden their hearts toward God and everything pertaining to God, even denying His existence (Ps 14:1; 53:1).
Second, there are people who hate the people of God. Jesus said, “He who hates Me, hates my Father, also (Jn 15:23).” He also taught His disciples, “If the world hates you, it hated Me before you (Jn 15:18).” Christians are hated on account of Jesus’ name (Mt 10:22; 24:9; Mk 13:13). This condition was confirmed when Jesus prayed to God the Father for His people, “I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of this world, even as I am not of this world (Jn 17:14).”
The apostle John encourages us not to be surprised by this hatred toward us (1 Jn 3:13). Salvation, in part, is God saving His people from all who hate them (Lk 1:71). God turns the hatred of our enemies into a blessing for us (Lk 6:22).
There is hatred in natural man. If God’s people love one another, people of the world hate one another (Tit 3:3). Blessed are the poor in spirit, but is there anyone more hated than the poor man (Prv 14:20)? His neighbors and his brothers both hate him (Prv 19:7). If a man hates his brother, he is equal to a murderer (1 Jn 3:15). Men of bloodshed hate the blameless (Prv 29:10). He walks in darkness (1 Jn 2:11).
Natural man hates the judge (Amos 5:10), who has authority from God (Rom 13). There is a man who says he is in the Light (1 Jn 2:9), and assures us, “I love God” (1 Jn 4:20), but because he hates his brothers, he is a liar. He belongs to the city of Babylon, along with every hateful bird (Rev 18:2). “Those who hate You have exalted themselves (Ps 83:2),” says the psalmist. Is this not the way of Lucifer?
The devices of the evil man include hatred (Prv 14:17). Amnon hated his sister after he defiled her (2 Sam 13:15). In turn, their mutual brother, Absalom, hated Amnon (2 Sam 13:22). King Ahab hated Micaiah because the man of God told him the truth of God’s Word (2 Chron 18:7). Those who hate the righteous will be condemned (Ps 34:21). Joseph’s brothers hated him (Gen 37:4, 5, 8), but they repented and were reconciled to him.
If we learn that man, being sinful, hates God, and if we observe his hatred toward others, we are experiencing something familiar. The teaching of the whole counsel of God is necessary to avoid a lopsided knowledge of Christ and of God. We now turn to something less familiar and quite possibly altogether foreign to some Christians. There is much distortion in the church today because the average Christian is given a heavy dose of certain doctrines, to their detriment. We need balance. The doctrine of hate is neglected because it is an unpopular subject. I commend my dear reader for traveling this far! We now embark upon the most challenging portion of our study: God’s hatred.
Third, God hates certain things and certain people. God loved Jacob, but He hated Esau (Mal 1:3; Rom 9:13). God hates those who do iniquity (Ps 5:5). God also hates those who love violence (Ps 11:5). He repays those who do iniquity and their offspring with His vengeance (Ex 20:5; Dt 5:9; 7:10; 32:41). God scatters those who hate Him (Num 10:35; Ps 68:1) and places diseases upon them (Dt 7:15), especially those who act on their hatred toward God’s people (Dt 30:7). David was able to say, “He delivered me from my strong enemy, from those who hated me (2 Sam 22:18).
God hates the sin of His people and brought discipline to Israel by subjecting them to foreign rulers (Lev 26:17). God turns wicked hearts to hate His people (Ps 105:25). Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart. The devil tricks God’s people into having a poor view of Yahweh, “Because Yahweh hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us (Dt 1:27).”
Others look at the discipline God puts upon His people, and they come to the same conclusion, “Because Yahweh was not able to bring them into the land He had promised them, and because He hated them, He has brought them out into the wilderness to slay them (Dt 9:28).” We need the truth about God’s hatred.
God hates the works people do, in service to demons, with their idolatrous objectives, including the sacrifice of the lives of their children (Dt 12:31). Men set up icons and idols to worship, and God hates this act of unfaithfulness (Dt 16:22). Shall a man rob God? God hates robbery (Is 61:9). Men who hate God love death, and men who hate God’s reproof will die (Prv 15:10). Hate stops with death (Eccl 9:6), and punishment begins.
God condemns those who hate the righteous (Ps 34:21), and there are many of them (Ps 38:19). God puts to shame those who hate His people (Ps 44:7; 86:17). Christ hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans (Rev 2:6). God hates wickedness (Ps 45:7), and He directs his wrath against it (Rom 1:18–32). God delivers His people from those who hate them (Ps 106:10), so we might look with satisfaction upon those who hate us (Ps 118:7).
There are six things which the Lord hates, yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers (Prv 6:16–19). Pride, arrogance, and a perverted tongue are also on Yahweh’s hate list (Prv 8:13). He also hates perjury (Zech 8:17). God hates the careless keeping of that which is holy, “I hate your festivals and feasts (Is 1:14),” was Yahweh’s message to those who took sin lightly and practiced their religion with even greater levity.
God came to hate Israel because the nation of His people roared against Him like a lion (Jer 12:8). God sent messengers to Israel to preach the truth about what God hates (Jer 44:4), but because Israel would not listen, God delivered them out of His house (Hos 9:15) and into the hands of those who hated them (Ezek 16:27; 23:28). The apostle Paul encouraged the Corinthians not to follow Israel’s example (1 Cor 10). God hates people and practices out of alignment with His holiness.
Fourth, Christians must have a right relationship to hate. There is a time to love and a time to hate (Eccl 3:8). Jesus taught his disciples to hate their lives in this world, in order to keep them unto eternal life (Jn 12:25). We must not love the world, for this is the way to hate God our Father (1 Jn 2:15). David wrote, “Hate evil, you who love the Lord (Ps 97:10).” Amos preached, “Hate evil and love good (Amos 5:15).” Note the balance. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.
We should hate every false way (Ps 119:104, 128), especially the ways of those who are double minded toward God’s Word (Ps 119:113). David said, “Do I not hate those who hate You, O Yahweh? Do I not hate those who rise up against You (Ps 139:21)?” He answered his own question, “I hate them with the utmost hatred; they have become my enemies (Ps 139:22).” Christians should hate the work of evildoers, too (Ps 101:3). We expose evil (Eph 5:11) because we love what is good.
Jehu rebuked King Jehoshaphat for loving those who hated Yahweh (2 Chron 19:2). Solomon had enemies who hated him, but he did not ask God to give the life of his enemies into his hands (2 Chron 1:11). Jesus said, “Love your enemies” as a suitable means to lay hot coals upon their head (Lk 6:27; Rom 12:20). Love exposes the wretched for their treachery, and it may prove to be a catalyst to win some to righteousness, which would result in their glorifying our Father in heaven.
Christians should hate the idea of being a guarantor for a loan, as much as receiving bribes (Prv 15:27) or unjust gain (Prv 28:16), including thievery (Prv 29:24). We should not be a burden to our neighbors, for they will hate us (Prv 25:17). We should not lie to others because to lie is to hate (Prv 26:24, 28). It is good for brothers to dwell in unity (Ps 133), but if, “Your brothers who hate you, who exclude you for My name’s sake (Is 66:5),” they will be put to shame. In fact, Jesus affirmed this, “Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man (Lk 6:22).” The Christian life is a difficult life in the world and often in the family of God.
Men hate God. Men hate others. God hates those who do iniquity, and He hates their iniquities. Christians must be wise in what we hate. It is best for us to hate in the manner of God’s hatred.
In conclusion, we have tackled a formidable foe in this neglected topic. My prayer for you is one of confidence in your pursuit of other difficult doctrines. As I have shown here, our best approach to them is the Scriptures. Our opinions about hate are silenced by the truth of Scripture. Let us love in word and deed and truth, and let us hate evil, just as we should.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
April 2, 2021
