Sunday, February 21, 2010

Reflections on Divorce and other things God Hates Part ONE

In response to the News regarding Benny Hinn and Divorcement, Part One

There are things according to the Bible that God HATES. All of them were condemned by Jesus. They carry with them a capacity to send someone to an eternal hell without repentance. Some are even listed as so exceptionally evil that Jesus in the Book of revelation has a list of these sins that will send you into the lake of fire.

Jesus is pretty serious about the kind of things he wants us to avoid. I will attempt to clarify them in this writing.

Proverbs 6: (16) These six [things] Jehovah hates; yea, seven [are] hateful to his soul; (17) a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, (18) a heart that plots evil plans, feet hurrying to run to mischief, (19) a false witness who breathes lies, and he who causes strife among brothers.
He seems to be pretty uptight about these seven things. They come up again and again. God doesn’t use the word HATE very often. But this is one of those times.

A Proud Look (sometimes translated HIGH EYES)
Have you ever heard the phrase, "he looked down on someone else"? This phrase is an outgrowth of the concept of "high eyes." When one's eyes are HIGH, they LOOK DOWN. It is a picture of a person with his neck stretched high and looking down with disdain or disgust on someone who is of lower status than he is. It is an outward symbol of PRIDE. A PROUD LOOK comes from a PROUD HEART. Those who have a PROUD HEART are ones who think that they are inherently better than others. God hates this.

A Lying Tongue (False Witness)
What is a "witness"? It is a testifying about the deeds of someone else. So a "false witness" or a "witness of falsehood" is testifying falsely about the deeds of someone else. It is making a false accusation. For example, if Mr. Smith says that Mr. Jones committed adultery but has no proof, then Mr. Smith is guilty of bearing false witness against Mr. Jones. Now we have seen this many times when we've encountered religious people, haven't we? They will hurl out the accusations as fast as they can speak or type, as the case may be, but when they are asked for proof of these accusations, they suddenly go silent, or they'll say, "You know what I'm talking about" or speak in generalities. But an accusation, a witness, a testifying, of the deeds of others without proof is a false witness. And God says He hates a false witness who breathes lies. Let those of us who have been the ones falsely accused take heart, for Jesus Christ was falsely accused as well. He was told by the religious people of His day that He was of the devil. The accusers were of the Devil… that’s one of his names. The accuser of the Brethren. When you bear false witness you are in partnership with the devil.
Revelation 21:8 ...and all liars — their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.
Hands that Shed Innocent Blood
This is the sin that propagates murder, abortion, and all kinds of things meant to harm or hurt other people. Robbery, Rape and all violent actions come under this cover. In addition, it’s persecution of the innocent or even if they are guilty, taking advantage of their guilt. Words can kill as well. Reputations destroyed have caused blood to be shed. This is dangerous ground.

A Heart that Plots Evil Plans
This is pure and simple scheming to accomplish an end, even a well intentioned end, one a person feels justified in. If it has to be done in the dark, in quiet whispers, in secret it’s evil. It reveals the heart behind the schemer. And God Hates This.

Jeremiah 17:9, KJV The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

Feet that Hurries to Run to Mischief
This is talking about those who have no self-control, who are running to and fro to do one evil thing after another. As soon as they've done one evil thing, they are off doing another evil thing. It's interesting that God includes both the one who thinks a lot before doing evil deeds and the one who doesn't think a lot before doing evil deeds. And these deeds do NOT have to be bank robberies or vandalism. They can be going into situations willy nilly without thinking and stirring up all kinds of trouble. God HATES this. Those who run to mischief are lacking self control.

A False Witness who Breathes Lies
We have already covered this earlier. But there is a further dimension to this. It’s called Talebearing. Sometimes things are TRUE. Factual. Even problematic. One who engages in this is little different than one who gossips. God hates Gossip. More in a little bit.

One who Causes Strife among Brethren
Titus 3:10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.

A pastor friend of mine was once counseling a very divisive person. The pastor concluded with the startling statement, “...and besides that, GOD HATES YOU.” I imagine that the man he was counseling was shocked. But the Bible clearly declares that “...the Lord hates ... a man who stirs up dissension among brothers”.

Two things that cause people to stir up strife or contention or discord or quarreling are PRIDE and ANGER. How do these things cause strife? Well, let's first think about PRIDE. Someone who thinks he's better than others will easily get into an argument to show his superiority or if his pride is at stake. Proverbs 13:10 says that contention comes by pride. And what about ANGER? Someone who is an angry person will easily get into contentions with others arising out of his anger at another person. Proverbs 10:12 says that hatred stirs up strife, and Proverbs 30:33 says that the squeezing of wrath brings out strife.

If there are people among you who are always stirring things up the Bible says in Romans to mark them well. A friend of mine says Spray them Yellow.
Romans 16: (17) And brothers I exhort you to watch those making divisions and causes of stumbling contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and turn away from them. (NOTE the causes of stumbling are not the doctrine, it's people who stir things up and cause stumbling that had been taught and ignored)
Gossip is a sin in this context. Gossip is often half truths or lies told as truth. Its harmful stories told one to another and in the end it harms the person who is being gossiped about and causes the person gossiping to become stained. Gossip is a sin. It’s easy to see why.

There is one just as big as gossip. It’s the sin of Talebearing. Talebearing tells others something that is TRUE but has no business being talked about. Unless there is some danger (like a child molester) this should be kept silent about. God is pretty clear about this.
Proverbs 18:8 says, "The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly."
Leviticus 19:16 says, "Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people. . .
" Every Christian has the duty to deny his own desires and seek to edify other Christians (Rom. 14:19; Philip. 2:3).
Talebearing runs wholly contrary to Christian edification. Talebearing (carrying and telling tales) spreads all sorts of hurtful information around, and Satan uses such information to hinder and tear down God's work. A victim of talebearing, according to Proverbs, is a "wounded" person. God forbid that a Christian should wound another Christian, but it does happen all the time! Some Christians live as though they think God has "called" them to bear tales on other Christians. Many "Christian" newsletters are dedicated to informing the body of Christ on the latest news about someone's ministry or personal life. There are many nice words and phrases used to justify such conduct, but the Bible word is TALEBEARING.

God HATES TALEBEARERS.

Gossip, Lies, Dissensions and Talebearing are pornographic activities. They strip people naked before others. They commit the sin of causing someone to be exposed when they had no desire to be. It's the same as if you took someone out in front of everyone and at the point of a gun forced them to strip naked.

There are other things God hates… One is Divorce. I will get to that in my next writing. Be aware however that unless you are clean in all the other sins God hates, you need to see other things God hates with the same despair as one who has gone thru the death of a marriage.

Here's where an important scripture comes into force:
Luke 6:37"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Many people have the mistaken idea that this has to do with Giving Charitably. Verse 38.
In context however, if you read the text, this has to be about Judging, Condemnation, forgiving... if you give good or evil, men will pour into your lap a measure much greater than you imagine. You will be judged, condemned, forgiven or not....And it will overflow in your life.

This is not a pretty sight. I don't want to be there....neither do you. Let he who has ears to hear, hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying.

Part two on Divorce and Ministry will follow soon.

2 comments:

Coulby said...

A fool is known by his many words. And what are fools good at? Evil of all types.

Brenda Craig said...

Gene, this is excellent and thought provoking...and has lead me to repentance in some areas...thank you so much for your uabashed willingness to speak the truth....blessings Brenda Craig