Another can of worms…
Psalms 5:5, You hate. The idea of Elohim hating is anathema to the sensibilities of most Christian-minded people. After all, doesn’t the Bible declare that “Elohim is love” (1 John 4:8,16)? How could he also hate anything, much less people? Yet this is what this verse says, “[YHVH] hates all workers of iniquity.” Let’s explore this concept and try to understand how this could be so.
But first, let’s define the word hate. According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, hate means “to have a strong dislike or ill will for; to wish to avoid.” According to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, the word hate in the Tanakh (or Old Testament) means “to hate as an enemy or foe, to be utterly odious.” As used in the Testimony of Yeshua, hate means “to detest.”
Here are some examples of certain things that Elohim hates, and of Elohim commanding his people to hate certain things as well.
Your throne, O Elohim, is for ever and ever…. You love righteousness, and hate wickedness… (Ps 45:6–7)
Here we see that Elohim loves what is good and detests that which is evil or sinful (or Torahless).
The foolish shall not stand in your sight; you hate all workers of iniquity. (Ps 5:5)
Workers of iniquity is a biblical expression referring to “those who walk contrary to Torah.”
YHVH tries the righteous, but the wicked and him that loves violence his soul hates. (Ps 11:5)
These six things does YHVH hate, yes, seven are an abomination unto him: a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord among brethren. (Prov 6:16–19)
Elohim strongly dislikes or detests those things that are sinful (Torahless) or wicked—those things which hurt people and which cause pain and suffering. Even his hatred is out of a heart of love for the lost and a desire for them to repent and return to Torah.
For I, YHVH, love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. (Isa 61:8)
YHVH hates religious hypocrisy, and those who plunder his people spiritually for their own personal gain.
Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate. (Jer 44:4)
When people disobey the Word of Elohim, YHVH hates this and calls it “an abominable thing.”
“Seek good, and not evil, that you may live, and so YHVH, the Elohim of Hosts, shall be with you, as you have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate; it may be that YHVH Elohim of Hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.” (Amos 5:14–15)
Here Elohim commands his people to hate evil and to love good even as he does.
The fear of YHVH is to hate evil: pride, and arrogance, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. (Prov 8:13)
Elsewhere we read that “the fear of Elohim is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov 1:7). Therefore, we can conclude that an aspect of godly wisdom is to hate evil even as Elohim hates evil. Wisdom is a biblical Hebraism meaning “Torah.”
“These are the things that you shall do: speak you every man the truth to his neighbor; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates, and let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbor; and love no false oath, for all these are things that I hate, says YHVH.” (Zech 8:16–17).
All their wickedness is in Gilgal, for there I hated them, for the wickedness of their doings I will drive them out of mine house, I will love them no more; all their princes are revolters. (Hos 9:15)
Elohim hated the house of Israel (Ephraim) because of their rebellion against him and their wickedness (or Torahlessness), because they had turned away from Torah (Hos 8:1, 12), and because they had become morally and sexually corrupt (Hos 9:9).
But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” (Rev 2:6).
Here YHVH commends these early first century believers for hating the sinful (Torahless) deeds of the heretics called the Nicolaitans, even as he (YHVH) hated them. Here YHVH teaches us that we are to hate the actions of false teachers who come into the congregation or the spiritual body of Yeshua. We also learn that we’re not to hate the sinner, but to hate the sin. We are also to hate the things that Elohim hates.
From the above study, hopefully we can learn several things. When studying these verses of the Scriptures in the context of the rest of the Bible, we should see that while Elohim is a God of love, and he loves humans so much that he sent Yeshua, his Son, to die for us, he is, at the same time, an Elohim of justice, righteousness and holiness. He abhors the sinful (Torahless) deeds of wicked and rebellious men, for sin and evil destroy that which he loves. He desires that all men turn from the sin (Torahlessness) that will not only hurt them and others now, but will damn them to the lake of fire for eternity. In brief, he hates those things which destroy or make impossible a loving relationship with him—our Heavenly Father (see 1 John 1:9–2:2).
Do you hate what Elohim hates?
Thanks for you study – God is love teaching is skewed to the point were we taught that God loves you just as you are and is seems to me to encourage a lax attitude towards sin. Oh well, God is love, He’ll forgive me type of thinking and so one does not strive to overcome sin(Heb 12:4). We forget that sin causes pain and ultimately death so to hate sin is a loving response. Now it is said to hate the sin but love the sinner. How is sin and the sinner separated? Can sin be judged independent of the sinner? Is sin alive on its own without a person behind it? And how do we reconcile this with Ps 7:11?
Just seeking some of your insights on this.
Thanks.
There are levels and degrees of sin and sinfulness. We must love the things Yah loves and hates the things he hates. The problem is knowing when and how to hate not only the sin but also the sinner. It’s not that these are to be separated, but how do we separate them in our minds without falling into sin ourself—the sin of pride, the sin of thinking we’re better than the next guy, the sin of hypocritical judgmentalism, the sin of hating someone when we should be loving them? So as not unwittingly to fall into these sin traps, it is safer for us, in most cases, to love the sinner and hate the sin.
When Yah hates the workers of iniquity, this is a class of people who are so sold out to sin that they have become reprobate. They are hell-bent,and there’s no stopping them. Most people aren’t that far gone spiritually and there is still hope for them the repent. If we hate all sinners, then how are we to have the right perspective and heart attitude to be able to love them into the truth?
John 3:16 says that YHVH so loved the world…. That means, in a general sense, he loves everyone—even the sinners, which is why he sent Yeshua. He loved us while we were yet sinners (Rom 5:8). So he loves everyone, but he hates those who, again, are so sold out to sin, like Satan, that they are beyond redemption.
David talks about hating with a perfect hatred (Ps 139:22). This involves hating those who hate YHVH. Most people don’t really hate YHVH, but some do. This is the hatred with which Yah hates. It’s a hatred that is not sinful. I don’t know that we’re capable of that in most cases without ourselves falling into sin. That’s why, in most cases, it’s better to stay on safer ground and to hate the sin and not the sinner.
Does this make sense to you? This is, at least, how I have worked out this difficult issue in my mind.
Thank you for taking your time to respond, I only just noticed it. Yes it does clear this up very well, I agree it is best to stay on safer ground by hating sin and not the sinner.
Blessing on your ministry.
Shalom.