Doctrine #49: Hate

What is the opposite of Love? Many would probably say, "Hate".

A catchy Christian phrase is, "Hate the sin, Love the sinner." Is that biblical? Does God have a definition of the word "Hate"? If He did and it was different than yours, would you change your Definition?




DOCTRINE #49: HATE
In the Bible, God's definition for "hate" is "to love less". In the Bible, anger occurred every time there was an expectation.


Question: Do you believe God hates you?



Next Doctrine: Doctrine #50

Table of Contents



If you need it, here is the support from the Word of God...

SCRIPTURE
"²⁸ And Jacob did so, and fulfilled her week. And he gave him Rachel his daughter to wife.
²⁹ And Laban gave to Rachel his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to be her handmaid.
³⁰ And he went in also unto Rachel, and he loved also Rachel more than Leah, and served with him yet seven other years.
³¹ And Jehovah saw that Leah was hated, and he opened her womb. But Rachel was barren.
³² And Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben. For she said, Because Jehovah hath looked upon my affliction. For now my husband will love me." (Genesis 29:28-32)

(Remember, love is quantitative; it is an amount. There can be more and less love. Rachel was loved MORE than Leah. God said Leah was "hated". God's definition of hated was "loved less". This is God's definition. If you don't like this, argue with God. It is man's thinking to say that you either love someone or you do not. Jesus told us to love everyone, didn't He?)

"²⁵ Now there went with him great multitudes: and he turned, and said unto them,
²⁶ If any man cometh unto me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:25-26)

(In the Greek, the word for "hate" in this passage was miseo which meant "love less". In this passage, "hate" meant to love these people less than God. Jesus was not telling us to feel negatively or be destructive towards our parents, siblings, other believers, spouse or children. Why would Jesus want us to love Him MORE?)

"²⁴ No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." (Matthew 6:24)

(In this passage, the Greek word for "despise" meant "to think against". People will Say they can love both God and money. However, you will love one of them more than the other, and it will show when there is a conflict between them (Do). When the conflict occurs, you will "think against" or despise the one you don't choose. Which do you take direction from more, the number in your bank account or God's voice? Besides, hate is not the worst thing...)

"¹⁵ I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
¹⁶ So because thou art lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew thee out of my mouth." (Revelation 3:15-16)

(Some people try to say cold and hot were both doing the right thing in this passage. If it was, then Jesus didn't need to tell us that He wished we were doing right instead of in between right... whatever that is. Cold meant making progress away from God. Hot meant making progress towards God. Jesus likely will love you less (give you less) when you are making progress away from God than if you were making progress towards God. However, Jesus would rather that you make progress either towards or away from God because then He can respond through justice: God can get involved. If by going cold you sin, or are destructive, God can even out situations through justice, and He can humble you by facilitating a bottom for you. However, if a person doesn't go either way, they are LUKEWARM, and Jesus spews them out of His Mouth. THAT is the worst thing.)

"¹ And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
² If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith Jehovah of hosts, then will I send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
³ Behold, I will rebuke your seed, and will spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your feasts; and ye shall be taken away with it.
⁴ And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant may be with Levi, saith Jehovah of hosts.
⁵ My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him that he might fear; and he feared me, and stood in awe of my name.
⁶ The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and uprightness, and turned many away from iniquity.
⁷ For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of Jehovah of hosts.
⁸ But ye are turned aside out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble in the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith Jehovah of hosts.
⁹ Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have had respect of persons in the law.
¹⁰ Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
¹¹ Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of Jehovah which he loveth, and hath married the daughter of a foreign god.
¹² Jehovah will cut off, to the man that doeth this, him that waketh and him that answereth, out of the tents of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto Jehovah of hosts.
¹³ And this again ye do: ye cover the altar of Jehovah with tears, with weeping, and with sighing, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, neither receiveth it with good will at your hand.
¹⁴ Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because Jehovah hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously, though she is thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
¹⁵ And did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? And wherefore one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
¹⁶ For I hate putting away, saith Jehovah, the God of Israel, and him that covereth his garment with violence, saith Jehovah of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.
¹⁷ Ye have wearied Jehovah with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? In that ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of Jehovah, and he delighteth in them; or where is the God of justice?" (Malachi 2:1-17)

(God hates putting away. Quick Doctrinal lesson: Divorce was the ending of a marriage covenant while both people remained in covenant through the believing body. In this case it was Israel. In our case it is church. Putting away was the ending of a marriage covenant and the expulsion of one of the spouses from the believing body. Putting away prevented the spouse from being able to get married again to someone who was in the believing body. Under the Law, only a man could divorce a woman. However, both husband and wife could put each other away. The reason for putting away was fornication, which was idolatry, which meant giving one's self to an image. This was BOTH worshiping another god or having covenantal intercourse with an unbeliever. Notice, the context of the passage was that the priests were putting away their wives and marrying other "wives". However, the "wives" they put away hadn't committed fornication, so God still considered the priests married to their first wives and having committed adultery with the other "wives". God said to return to their first wives. If they wanted to divorce them, they could. This passage could not mean that God barred divorce or putting away, that would make God a hypocrite; God divorced and put away Judah and Israel. God loved less the act of putting away than He did divorce. In fact, here was God's Doctrine of divorce according to the Law...)

"¹ When a man taketh a wife, and marrieth her, then it shall be, if she find no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some unseemly thing in her, that he shall write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.
² And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife.
³ And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, who took her to be his wife;
⁴ her former husband, who sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before Jehovah: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance." (Deuteronomy 24:1-4)

(Again, only the husband could divorce. He had to write her a bill of divorcement showing she wasn't married AND she was a believer. Why? Because she was no longer a virgin and couldn't physically prove she wasn't married to someone else. Notice, the ONLY act against the Law concerning divorce was the remarriage of a husband and wife to each other if the wife had married someone else in the interim. In fact, this passage stated the second husband hated her, which again meant "to love less" (than what he promised). This couldn't mean abhor because they were still in covenant through the bigger body. If he mistreated her, the rest of the community could remove him. However, it didn't matter if he hated her or died, she wasn't allowed to remarry her first husband.)

"²⁰ Jehovah will not pardon him, but then the anger of Jehovah and his jealousy will smoke against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book shall lie upon him, and Jehovah will blot out his name from under heaven.
²¹ And Jehovah will set him apart unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law." (Deuteronomy 29:20-21)

(God gave the tribes of Israel an objective set of commands known as the Law. God EXPECTED these people to abide by the Law. God didn't "hope" they would abide. When a HOPE is fulfilled, we experience happiness because of justice. We gave something ahead of getting the effect. When the effect occurs we get a reward through justice. Expectation means we enjoy the benefit before we actually get it. We act as if it has already happened. Consequently, when it doesn't ACTUALLY happen, justice takes from us and we feel anger. God acted as if everyone was going to uphold the Law, so He made further plans. When the people didn't uphold the Law, His anger was a result of these expectations not being fulfilled.)

"⁵ And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.
⁶ And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye would say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou rooted up, and be thou planted in the sea; and it would obey you.
⁷ But who is there of you, having a servant plowing or keeping sheep, that will say unto him, when he is come in from the field, Come straightway and sit down to meat;
⁸ and will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink?
⁹ Doth he thank the servant because he did the things that were commanded?
¹⁰ Even so ye also, when ye shall have done all the things that are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which it was our duty to do." (Luke 17:5-10)

(The disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith, which was like a hope. Faith is a belief that something will eventually happen. The fulfillment of the faith brings joy. In verse 6, Jesus stated that it only takes a small amount of faith to bring fulfillment, and then He talked about expectations. Jesus began verse 7 with "But..." Jesus covered the case of someone being expected to do something. Jesus asked did the servant get thanked (a reward through justice) for doing what was expected? The answer was no. Jesus then said that we shouldn't look for a reward when we do what was expected. In fact, we ought to have the humble mentality that we are not profitable, which would prevent us from expecting.)

"³¹ It was said also, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
³² but I say unto you, that every one that putteth away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, maketh her an adulteress: and whosoever shall marry her when she is put away committeth adultery.
³³ Again, ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
³⁴ but I say unto you, swear not at all; neither by the heaven, for it is the throne of God;
³⁵ nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
³⁶ Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black.
³⁷ But let your speech be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: and whatsoever is more than these is of the evil one.
³⁸ Ye have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
³⁹ but I say unto you, resist not him that is evil: but whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
⁴⁰ And if any man would go to law with thee, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
⁴¹ And whosoever shall compel thee to go one mile, go with him two.
⁴² Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
⁴³ Ye have heard that it was said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy:
⁴⁴ but I say unto you, love your enemies, and pray for them that persecute you;
⁴⁵ that ye may be sons of your Father who is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust.
⁴⁶ For if ye love them that love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
⁴⁷ And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the Gentiles the same?
⁴⁸ Ye therefore shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:31-48)

(Jesus talked about divorce and putting away. Jesus stated the man-made Doctrine of the time was to give bills of divorcement to wives who weren't believers because it was easier. However, that was causing other men to marry unbelieving wives. Jesus then said the only way to put away a spouse was if they committed fornication: unbelief, just like God said in the Book of Malachi. Jesus also stated that God considered the spouses to still be married if they put away believing spouses because the intercourse they had with another would be seen by God as adultery, not marriage. Then Jesus transitioned to oaths. He said NOT to make ANY oaths because they become an expectation and can only end up in anger. Instead, we should just DO what we SAY in the moment that we are going to DO. Jesus said anything more than this was from the devil because it resulted in destruction. We make oaths trying to enjoy a benefit before it happens and it makes us angry and destructive against others. Jesus followed this with the contrastive view: how ought we to act when others are angry and destructive towards us? We ought to forgive so we gain reward. What is the ultimate way to gain Reward? Love! This passage began with how to deal with unbelievers in marriageand ended with how to prove you are a believer with love.)

God desires that the entire Body of Christ, the Church, be profitable. If people are married and it hurts the entire Body, why would it be a benefit if they remained married? Because, both parties would look bad if they got divorced? Even God divorced the children of Israel. Are you saying God looks bad, or His record is "stained" because He has been divorced?

What is better, two people remaining married by simply holding on to their marriage, or two people going hot or cold towards their marriage? And yes, going hot or cold can mean divorce. Why would we want to hold on to our tradition of marriage over God's measures for profitability?

If we have tradition soaked marriages, we are making the word of God of none effect in our marriages. And if our marriages have tradition, then all of our interactions with people would probably have tradition as well. Has tradition over taken our definition of Fellowship?



ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE
The most famous usage of "hate" in the Bible was covered in Doctrine #43: Uniqueness. In the ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE portion of that Doctrine, we looked at Malachi 1:1-14...the passage Paul referenced in Romans 9. Let's look more closely at what Paul stated...

"¹³ Even as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

(God loved Esau less than He loved Jacob. We got God's definition of "hate" from how Jacob handled Rachel and Leah. Now, we see a second critical usage of "hate" that involved Jacob.)

"¹⁴ What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid."

(Paul asked if it was wrong of God to love Jacob more than Esau. It was not. God does NOT love everyone the same. God loves Jesus more than all of us.)

"¹⁵ For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.
¹⁶ So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that hath mercy.
¹⁷ For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, For this very purpose did I raise thee up, that I might show in thee my power, and that my name might be published abroad in all the earth.
¹⁸ So then he hath mercy on whom he will, and whom he will be hardeneth."

(Paul stated it was God's choice and it was Right. I believe it was because God was responding to the lump of clay He was given. We've seen Pharaoh made the choice to follow ethics instead of morals and everything God did was in response to Pharaoh's choice, which was Right of God to do.)

"¹⁹ Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he still find fault? For who withstandeth his will?
²⁰ Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why didst thou make me thus?
²¹ Or hath not the potter a right over the clay, from the same lump to make one part a vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?"

(Paul argued for the contrastive point in order to teach. Paul asked how can God find fault with anyone if He causes us to do everything, if everything is predestinated. Obviously God can't, it would be a contradiction.)

"²² What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering vessels of wrath fitted unto destruction:
²³ and that he might make known the riches of his glory upon vessels of mercy, which he afore prepared unto glory,
²⁴ even us, whom he also called, not from the Jews only, but also from the Gentiles?"

(Paul's answer was that God may choose to have mercy and not respond through justice immediately to those who choose to oppose God. Remember, the Book of Malachi passage showed that even though God loved Jacob and hated Esau, Esau tried in their own strength to be blessed instead of being humble towards God. Also, Jacob tried in their own strength to be good instead of recognizing God had blessed them. BOTH ended up doing wrong even though God had hindered (Esau) and blessed (Jacob) them. This was not God's fault. It was their choice. Because of that, God would bless another group of people that were not from Jacob or Esau: the Gentiles. THAT was Paul's purpose in referencing the Book of Malachi passage. In fact...)

"²⁵ As he saith also in Hosea, I will call that my people, which was not my people; And her beloved, that was not beloved.
²⁶ And it shall be, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people, There shall they be called sons of the living God."

(Paul gave another passage from scripture to show that Malachi wasn't the only prophet to explain HOW/WHY God would bless Gentiles.)

"²⁷ And Isaiah crieth concerning Israel, If the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that shall be saved:
²⁸ for the Lord will execute his word upon the earth, finishing it and cutting it short."

(Paul referenced another prophet, Isaiah, in addition to Malachi and Hosea to prove his point.)

"²⁹ And, as Isaiah hath said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, We had become as Sodom, and had been made like unto Gomorrah."

(Paul referenced another passage from Isaiah. How can people miss the point of this passage unless they are justifying man-made doctrine (predestination) instead of God's Doctrine?)

"³⁰ What shall we say then? That the Gentiles, who followed not after righteousness, attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith:
³¹ but Israel, following after a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law."

(Paul's conclusion: Gentiles didn't have God's attention like Jacob and Esau did, yet they ended up with God's attention while Israel/Jacob, that was LOVED by God, did not keep God's attention because of their choice.)

"³² Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by works. They stumbled at the stone of stumbling;
³³ even as it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence: And he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame." (Romans 9:13-33)

(Paul referenced another prophetic passage to prove that God's "hate" wasn't the worst thing and God's "love" wasn't a guarantee of salvation.)