The Fear of God
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There are things that God hates even though there are people who don’t want to believe that about God, and we would be wise to hate the same things. There are six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren (Proverbs 6:16-19).
The numbers six and seven is a means of getting one’s attention, it wasn’t meant to be an exhaustive list, but to shock our understanding of this theological truth that there are things which God hates. Again, this truth needs to be underscored because there are people who don’t want to believe this about God. There are things which God hates.
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About the Book
In the book of Ecclesiastes, King Solomon concludes with the warning to fear God. Yet it seems most people default to what they want to believe about God instead of believing what God has actually disclosed about himself in the Bible—that he is a God of justice and judgment.
In The Fear of God, author and pastor Stephen C. Yohn explores the neglected biblical doctrine of the fear of God, noting that this theme runs through all the books of the Bible. He shows how we must guard against wanting to believe something about God but dismissing all the other biblical declarations about God—for God’s Word is complete and must be taken as a whole. Like the Bible, God is not one-dimensional, and while he is a God of joy and peace, he will also bring every work into judgment before he offers us this joy and peace.
Don’t be deceived! We’re warned numerous times in the Bible that those who practice evil will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:21). So if we want and expect justice in this world, then we must not hope that it will be absent in the world to come. Fearing God and keeping his commandments—not merely our own—is how we can accept his justice and his offer of salvation.
About the Author
Stephen C. Yohn graduated from Fuller Seminary in 1990 with a master of divinity degree, and he served in full-time pastoral ministry for twenty-five years before retiring in 2016. He currently lives in Reno, Nevada.