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God Hates Everyone
You hate all workers of iniquity. (Psalm 5:5b)
The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God. They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one. (Psalm 14:2-3; 53:2-3)
I. God Hates Sinners
Psalm 5:5b; 14:2-3 & Psalm 53:2-3 applies to every human on the planet. There are no exceptions, "not one."
For there is not a just man on earth who does good and does not sin. (Ecclesiastes 7:20)
"No one living is righteous" in the sight of God (Psalm 143:2). Thus, everyone is a worker of iniquity. And the God, who is love (1 John 4:8), hates them all. He hates "all workers of iniquity" (Psalm 5:5). As it is written,
The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; the Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man. (Psalm 5:5-6)
In Romans 3:10-18 Paul describes all men as unrighteous and particularly bloodthirsty and deceitful (see verses 13-15).
As it is written:
There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one. Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; (Romans 3:10-15)
Jeremiah 17:9 confirms the heart of man is "deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." In other words, all men are wicked, "bloodthirsty and deceitful." Thus, "the Lord abhors" (Psalm 5:6) all of mankind.
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil (Proverbs 8:13), and we are evil (Matthew 7:11). Therefore, God hates us. Mankind is desperately wicked (Psalm 14:1; 58:3) and violent (Romans 3:15), and "the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates" (Psalm 11:5). God hates people, because of the evil of their deeds. As it is written,
All their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them. Because of the evil of their deeds I will drive them from My house; I will love them no more. (Hosea 9:15; see also Hosea 9:16-17; Leviticus 20:23; 26:30; Psalm 78:59)
David writes,
God is a righteous judge, and God is indignant in every day. (Psalm 7:11, a more literal translation).1
The reason for this indignation is because people are wicked every day. Isaiah writes,
You are indeed angry, for we have sinned - in these ways we continue; and we need to be saved. (Isaiah 64:5)
We need to be saved from God's hate and anger, as it is written,
If he does not turn back, He will sharpen His sword; He bends His bow and makes it ready. He also prepares for Himself instruments of death; He makes His arrows into fiery shafts. (Psalm 7:12-13)
Mankind has experienced God's hate and anger for thousands2 of years now. God has been killing people and sending them to hell every day (Job 38:12-13; 1 Samuel 2:6). "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23), and Jesus has been killing with death (like in Revelation 2:23) for a long time.
What man can live and not see death? (Psalm 89:48)
This is because,
all who behave unrighteously are an abomination to the Lord (Deuteronomy 25:16).
And so, in His righteous hate and anger, He kills people (e.g. 1 Samuel 2:25). For "it is appointed for men to die" (Hebrews 9:27), and God is the Appointer (Romans 11:36).
All mankind has been cursed with the curse of being born a sinner (Psalm 58:3; Romans 5:19; 11:32). That is, God has created a bunch of wicked fools. As Psalm 14:1 declares of all mankind,
The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good. (see also Psalm 53:1)
Besides the flattery (Psalm 36:2), the boasting (Psalm 94:4), and the general deception (Romans 3:13), one main part of the discussion in the wicked human heart (Jeremiah 17:9) is "There are no Gods" (Psalm 14:1).3 This, of course, is false, and so men testify in their hearts falsely and are therefore false witnesses at heart. As it is written,
A false witness will utter lies. (Proverbs 14:5)
The Lord hates a false witness (Proverbs 6:16-19). "A false witness will not go unpunished" (Proverbs 19:5, 9). And so, in His hate and wrath, the Lord sees to it that men die.
But His hate and wrath do not end there. There is the second death that awaits the ungodly. As it is written,
But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)
Psalm 11:6 says,
Upon the wicked He will rain coals; fire and brimstone and a burning wind shall be the portion of their cup.
Why? Because He hates the wicked. As it is written,
The LORD tests the righteous, but the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. (Psalm 11:5)
So again,
You are indeed angry, for we have sinned - in these ways we continue; and we need to be saved. (Isaiah 64:5)
II. Saved From God's Hate
The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. (Psalm 145:9)
Unlike wicked men,
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners [i.e. while He hated us], Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
In other words, while He hated us, He loved us. For it is in this manner God loved us.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
Men perish, because God hates them and burns them forever in hell. That's perishing (Isaiah 66:24). If they don't repent (Luke 13:1-5), this is their fate. But, the Lord also loves those He hates (all men), and has made only one way for them to be saved from His hate and wrath. That one way (John 14:6) is faith in what He says (Matthew 4:4; James 1:21). In other words, God will not tolerate anyone calling Him a liar. That's the bottom line to not believing what the Bible says. Anyone who does not believe God makes Him a liar (1 John 5:10).
Yet, for those who believe what He says, as Abraham believed what the Lord said (Genesis 15:1-6), these God continually saves from His own hate and wrath. For believers are still sinners (Romans 5:19). They are still wicked (Romans 3:10-18; Psalm 14:1-3). God still hates them (Proverbs 8:13; Matthew 7:11). But, "the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). Notice the present tense, "cleanses."
We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins (1 John 2:1b-2a).
Jesus "always lives to make intercession" for us (Hebrews 7:25), and this is needed, because believers are still in this sinful flesh (Romans 7:14-25). Their spirit has been redeemed (Ephesians 2:1-5; Proverbs 11:23; 1 John 3:5-9), but the flesh is dead because of sin (Romans 8:10). Thus, we continually need to be saved from His hate and wrath, even on into the future. Romans 5:9-10 makes this clear. It says,
Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. (Romans 5:9-10)
Notice the future tenses. "We shall be saved from wrath through Him," and "we shall be saved by His life." Both of these dictate the wrath (and thus hate) will be there, and we will need to be saved from it, just as we need to be saved from it today.
But for most of mankind He has chosen not to save them, but rather to harden their heart (Romans 9:18), so that they won't repent and believe Him. He has chosen to hate most of them from eternity to eternal doom.
III. God Hates Because He Decides to Hate
Not only does the Lord hate men because of their evil deeds, but He also hates men apart from any wickedness they might commit. This is Paul's point in Romans 9:11-13. Using Jacob and Esau as examples, Paul writes,
(for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of Him who calls), it was said to her, "The older shall serve the younger." As it is written, "Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated." (Romans 9:11-13)
Before they could do "any good or evil," before "being born," He loved Jacob and hated Esau (and all his descendents as well, Malachi 1:3-4; Obadiah). Why? "That the purpose of God . . . might stand" (Romans 9:11). In other words, that God might fulfill His purpose.
Moreover, Paul continues in Romans 9 and reveals the Lord's eternal purpose. It is to have people (vessels) for honor and people for dishonor, people (vessels) of mercy and people of wrath (Romans 9:21-23). In other words, God wants to glorify Himself through people He has made. For the minority of mankind He has chosen to display His love, mercy, and kindness through them. For the majority He has chosen to display His hate, wrath, and terror (Psalm 90:11) through them. As it is written,
The Lord has made all for Himself, yes, even the wicked for the day of doom. (Proverbs 16:4)
We know the minority have been loved and the majority have been hated, because of what Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14 and Luke 13:24. Both passages reveal few people are vessels of mercy.
Furthermore, since God speaks the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10), and His Word has always been (John 1:1), this love and hate is from eternity past. As Paul wrote to the vessels of mercy, speaking of God,
who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began4 (2 Timothy 1:9).
IV. God's Hate Toward Believers
Finally, even though believers are indeed saved from His hate and wrath on a continual basis (Hebrews 7:25), this does not mean they are immune to it entirely in this life. The Lord still kills believers (1 Samuel 2:6; Job 13:15; Psalm 116:15), and according to His good pleasure and time (Psalm 115:3), He still brings His hate and wrath.
Job said,
He tears me in His wrath, and hates me; He gnashes at me with His teeth; my adversary sharpens His gaze on me. They gape at me with their mouth, they strike me reproachfully on the cheek, they gather together against me. God has delivered me to the ungodly, and turned me over to the hands of the wicked. I was at ease, but He has shattered me; He also has taken me by my neck, and shaken me to pieces; He has set me up for His target, His archers surround me. He pierces my heart and does not pity; He pours out my gall on the ground. He breaks me with wound upon wound; He runs at me like a warrior. (Job 16:9-14)
A little later Job said,
But He is unique, and who can make Him change? And whatever His soul desires, that He does. For He performs what is appointed for me, and many such things are with Him. Therefore I am terrified at His presence; when I consider this, I am afraid of Him. For God made my heart weak, and the Almighty terrifies me; because I was not cut off from the presence of darkness, and He did not hide deep darkness from my face. (Job 23:13-17)5
The holy man of God (2 Peter 1:21), Heman, also knew well His wrath.
O LORD, God of my salvation, I have cried out day and night before You. Let my prayer come before You; incline Your ear to my cry. For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to the grave. I am counted with those who go down to the pit; I am like a man who has no strength, adrift among the dead, like the slain who lie in the grave, whom You remember no more, and who are cut off from Your hand. You have laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the depths. Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and You have afflicted me with all Your waves. You have put away my acquaintances far from me; You have made me an abomination to them; I am shut up, and I cannot get out; my eye wastes away because of affliction. Lord, I have called daily upon You; I have stretched out my hands to You. Will You work wonders for the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise You? Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction? Shall Your wonders be known in the dark? And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? But to You I have cried out, O Lord, and in the morning my prayer comes before You. Lord, why do You cast off my soul? Why do You hide Your face from me? I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth; I suffer Your terrors; I am distraught. Your fierce wrath has gone over me; Your terrors have cut me off. They came around me all day long like water; they engulfed me altogether. Loved one and friend You have put far from me, and my acquaintances into darkness. (Psalm 88:1-18)
Furthermore, at His own choosing (Psalm 115:3), God will bring His wrath on the righteous at the same time He brings it upon the wicked. See e.g. Genesis 18:23-32 and Ezekiel 21:1-5. Moreover, even though forgiven, God will, at His choosing, bring His wrath upon a believer because of their particular sin(s). See e.g. 2 Samuel 12:10-14; Psalm 38:1-8, 17-18.
Finally, Moses also wrote of His wrath, saying,
For we have been consumed by Your anger, and by Your wrath we are terrified. You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance. For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; we finish our years like a sigh. The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:7-12)
Endnotes:
1. Psalm 7:11 in the Hebrew is, אֱלהִים שׁוֹפֵט צַדִּיק וְאֵל זעֵם בְּכָל־יוֹם ('elohiym shophêt tsadiyq ve'êl zo`êm bekhâl-yom).
2. When one calculates the 1656 years of genealogies up to the flood (Genesis 5:3-32; 7:11), the 582 years of the Hebrew genealogies from the flood to the time Jacob came into Egypt (Genesis 9:28-29: 11:10-26; 21:5; 25:26; 47:9), the 430 years Israel spent in Egypt (Exodus 12:40), the 480 years from the Exodus to Solomon (1 Kings 6:1), the 427 years of the kings (1 Kings 6:1; 2 Chronicles 9:30-36:11), the 70 years of the Babylonian captivity (2 Chronicles 36:20-23; Jeremiah 25), and the prophesied 483 years of Daniel to the time of Christ (Daniel 9:25), it becomes evident that the heavens and the earth had only been in existence for approximately 4128 lunar years by the time Christ came.
3. Psalm 14:1 more literally says,
A fool says in his heart, "There are no Gods." (see same in Psalm 53:1)
In the Hebrew this is,
אָמַר נָבָל בְּלִבּוֹ אֵין אֱלהִים ('âmar nâvâl belibo 'êyn 'elohiym)
Here we have the particle אֵין ('êyn) "There are not" (or "there is not") and the plural noun אֱלהִים ('elohiym). Psalm 10:4 likewise, speaking of the wicked, more literally says,
"There are no Gods" are all of his thoughts. (אֵין אֱלהִים כָּל־מְזִמּוֹתָיו ['êyn 'elohiym kol-mezimmotâyv]
For more see He Is Holy Gods.
4. In 2 Timothy 1:9 the phrase "before time began" is more literally, "before times of eternity" or "before times of ages" (προ χρονων αιωνιων [pro chrovôn aiôniôn]).
5. Except for Job's accusation of injustice (Job 9:19; 27:2; 34:10-17), Job spoke what was right (Job 42:8). In Job 16:16-17 Job said,
My face is flushed from weeping, and on my eyelids is the shadow of death; although no violence is in my hands, and my prayer is pure. (Job 16:16-17)
He was right (Job 1:1). His prayer was pure, but the Lord brought His wrath on him nonetheless (Job 1-2).
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