God's Holy Hatred
- James Ward
- Jan 2, 2018
- 13 min read
"God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son..." (John 3:16)
"The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." (1 John 4:8)
Like all of God's attributes, His love is infinite and eternal. His love is so deep it's impossible to fully grasp. The Bible exhausts human language when describing the depths of God's love. When describing God, John says that "God is love". We all know that God is loving because it's one of His most famous characteristics. But does God love everyone equally? Is He obligated to love every human being equally and unconditionally? When dealing with humans, is God limited to love and only love? The clear biblical answer is no. God also hates.
"I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” Though Edom says, “We have been beaten down, but we will return and build up the ruins”; thus says the Lord of hosts, “They may build, but I will tear down; and men will call them the wicked territory, and the people toward whom the Lord is indignant forever.” Your eyes will see this and you will say, “The Lord be magnified beyond the border of Israel!" (Malachi 1:2-5)
God clearly does not favor everyone equally. He even says He hates some people. He specifically said He hated Esau. In Exodus, did God love the Egyptians the same way He loved the Israelites? Of course not. He saved one group and sent plagues on the other. He chose to love one group and destroy the other. He guided His chosen people out, and drown the whole Egyptian army. He obviously decides to show His favor to some and not to others. But did the Israelites do something to get themselves chosen? No, God chose them because it's what He wanted to do. God chooses who He wants to love and who He wants to hate. In Romans 9 Paul uses the above Malachi passage about Jacob and Esau in order to make a very deep theological point.
"For though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God’s purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, it was said to her, “The older will serve the younger.” Just as it is written, 'Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.' What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.' So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.' So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires." (Romans 9:13-18)
He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. God chooses who He will save and who He will not, who gets mercy and who gets wrath. If God wanted to show mercy to Pharaoh, He could have softened the man's heart. But God sovereignly chose to harden Pharaoh's heart so that God could demonstrate His power in Egypt. But wait a second, how is that fair? He told Pharoah to let His people go, but He hardened Pharaoh's heart so he wouldn't let them go, and then God punished Pharaoh for not letting His people go. How is that fair? If you read Romans 9 and get to this part without coming to the question of fairness, then you have not yet understood Paul's point. Paul is bringing you to a natural objection that anyone who understands the text should be asking themselves. How can God hold people accountable for their actions even when His will is overpowering theirs? If no one can resist God's will, why does He still hold people accountable? Paul's answer is basically, who do you think you are to question God? As a created thing, do you seriously think that you can question your Creator's actions? Does a pot have any right to question the potter?
"So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires. You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory..." (Romans 9:18-23)
Paul compares God to a potter who uses clay to make different kinds of vessels. As the Potter, God does whatever He wants with His clay. He's perfectly free to make two different kinds of vessels from the same lump of clay. One kind of vessel is polished smooth and shiny, treated with delicate oils, carefully etched with beautiful elaborate patterns, and is inlaid with gold, silver, and precious jewels. This vessel will be a trophy for the Potter. It will sit on display so that everyone can admire His work (Ephesians 2:7).
The other vessel will be used as a spittoon. It will be used for something unpleasant and then it will be thrown away. It was designed for that specific purpose. One is a vessel of mercy, the other is a vessel of wrath. Some people receive grace, and some receive justice. Is this somehow unfair of the Potter? Will the broken pots outside in the garbage pile have any right to complain about anything? Will the trophies on the Potter's mantel have anything to brag about? Did they make themselves into trophies? Couldn't the Potter have just as easily made them into spittoons also? Is the Potter obligated in any way to make exclusively one kind of vessel, or is He not free to decide? Isn't God free to create whatever He wants to create and to do whatever He wants to do with His creation?
"The Lord has made everything for its own purpose,
Even the wicked for the day of evil.
Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord;
Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.
By lovingkindness and truth iniquity is atoned for,
And by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil." (Proverbs 16:4-6)
"I am the Lord, and there is no other;
Besides Me there is no God.
I will gird you, though you have not known Me;
That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun
That there is no one besides Me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other,
The One forming light and creating darkness,
Causing well-being and creating calamity;
I am the Lord who does all these." (Isaiah 45:5-7)
God takes responsibility for His creation. He clearly has a purpose in everything that He creates. He chooses the objects of His love. He chooses to show mercy to some and not to others, and that's His free choice to make. Why should anyone be surprised that God is in total control of absolutely everything? He makes the choices in His creation, and He is not obligated to treat two people equally. He is fully within His Godly rights to show mercy to one person and justice to the other. He accepted Abel's offering but not Cain's. He chose Noah and his family, and killed everyone else on the planet. He chose the Israelites and punished the Egyptians. He clearly chose Israel and favored them in a way that He did not do with any other group. He causes one group to prosper, and He kills every man, woman, and child in the other group.
Christian, there is no reason for you to be shy about what God has done in history. He's not shy about it, so why should you be? God speaks for Himself. He displays Himself boldly in the pages of scripture, for all to see. He is glorified by His actions, and He will not be judged by any human being who would dare to assume moral superiority over His eternal wisdom. The Creator is free to do whatever He wants with His creation. Biblically ignorant Christians can be rather shocked when they read things like this because they only see God through the lens of "God is love". The following passage of scripture is often used by atheists against Christians who have a weak view of God.
"But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land; for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today. The Lord said to me, ‘See, I have begun to deliver Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to occupy, that you may possess his land.’ Then Sihon with all his people came out to meet us in battle at Jahaz. The Lord our God delivered him over to us, and we defeated him with his sons and all his people. So we captured all his cities at that time and utterly destroyed the men, women and children of every city. We left no survivor. We took only the animals as our booty and the spoil of the cities which we had captured. From Aroer which is on the edge of the valley of Arnon and from the city which is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was no city that was too high for us; the Lord our God delivered all over to us. Only you did not go near to the land of the sons of Ammon, all along the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, and wherever the Lord our God had commanded us." (Deuteronomy 2:30-37)
God hardened the king's heart, just like He did with the pharaoh of Egypt, so that His purposes would be accomplished. God arranged a battle to take place by hardening this king's heart and having him come out in opposition to Israel, so that Israel could defeat them and take their land. Did God love these two groups equally? Of course not! The God of the Bible shapes history as He sees fit. That includes the prosperity of some nations, and the complete destruction of others. He loves and He hates. He shows mercy and He shows wrath. He does whatever pleases Him.
"But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases." (Psalm 115:3)
"We utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying the men, women and children of every city. But all the animals and the spoil of the cities we took as our booty." (Deuteronomy 3:6-7)
“When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations which you are going in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ 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." (Deuteronomy 12:29-31)
"Only in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes. But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the Lord your God has commanded you, so that they may not teach you to do according to all their detestable things which they have done for their gods, so that you would sin against the Lord your God." (Deuteronomy 20:16-18)
"Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" (1 Samuel 15:2-3)
The God-haters love to swing those passages around like a weapon against ignorant Christians. We can easily argue that the nations being wiped out in the Old Testament were guilty of every sin imaginable, including the grossest forms of child sacrifice, every sexual abomination, demon worship, you name it. But even though that's true, God does not need to provide any excuse for Himself. If He tells the Israelites to wipe out another nation, what do you think they're supposed to do, tell Him He's making a mistake? No, when God commanded them to do it, they did it. He does what He wants to do with His creation because He's God. The Potter has a right to do whatever He wants to do with His clay. Earth is the lump, and we're all just vessels. Some are vessels of mercy and some are vessels of wrath. Everyone serves His purpose even if they don't know it. The question is, can you accept the fact that this is the true God of the Bible?
Maybe you're thinking that God used to do those kinds of things but now He's different. Maybe He changed? But God does not change so He's still exactly the same as He's always been.
"For I, the LORD, do not change" (Malachi 3:6)
God obviously chooses to love some people and show them His mercy and grace, while choosing to not do that for other people. He is not limited to only His love, but He also demonstrates His anger, hatred, and wrath. God is love, but there are definitely things that He hates. It's obvious that God hates sin and evil. He definitely hates certain human behaviors, but He hates the person doing the behavior too. He hates the person, not just their actions.
"The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes;
You hate all who do iniquity.
You destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit" (Psalm 5:5-6)
"There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers."
(Proverbs 6:16-19)
He doesn't just hate the things that people do, He hates the people. We've probably all heard someone say "love the sinner but hate the sin". But God does not just throw the sin into hell, He throws the sinner into hell. He's not obligated to provide salvation to anyone, but He's very gracious and merciful. He chose to send His precious Son to die for us. Can you even begin to understand how loving that is? He sent His perfect Son to be treated like garbage and tortured to death on the cross so that the wrath due to believers would be on Him instead of on us. Jesus bore the sin of everyone who would believe in Him, and absorbed the wrath of God for us. It's going to take forever to thank Him and to try and understand the depth of God's love in that amazing demonstration. But He was not obligated to do any of that. God would still be as holy, loving, good, just, and righteous, if He had chosen to immediately throw Adam and Eve into hell the first time they sinned. But instead, He chose to show His grace, mercy, and patience. He is willing to demonstrate these attributes to anyone who comes to Him and asks Him for it. Jesus promised that anyone coming to Him would never be rejected. Jesus could never break His word. Anyone who puts their faith in Him for the forgiveness of their sins will be saved, a vessel of mercy.
"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out." (John 6:37)
"Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Joel 2:32, Romans 10:13)
Of course the same God who shows this astonishing depth of love would also show the same depth of hatred for sin. His holy hatred of sin is just as infinite and eternal as His love and His mercy. He is love, but He's not ONLY love. We can't view everything He does through the lens of His love. He is also a righteous holy Judge who throws people into hell. That's not a loving thing to do to them. It's a holy thing, and a righteous thing, and a just thing. God truly is love, but He is so much more than love.
"For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God." (Deuteronomy 4:24)
"Know therefore today that it is the Lord your God who is crossing over before you as a consuming fire. He will destroy them and He will subdue them before you, so that you may drive them out and destroy them quickly, just as the Lord has spoken to you." (Deuteronomy 9:3)
"...for our God is a consuming fire." (Hebrews 12:29)
"Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead." (Acts 17:30-31)
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God." (John 3:16-21)
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me." (John 14:6)
Thanks for reading. God bless.
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