Saturday, July 24: Abominations

One of the hot button issues in our country, along with other places in the world, is gay marriage. While most evangelical Christians strongly oppose the legislation of gay marriage, most of its supporters make accusations of discrimination and hatred against anyone who disagrees with them. God’s Word is easy to understand concerning this subject, though people claiming to be gay Christians argue by saying that God is against physical lust, though He is not against love. Another typical argument points out that Jesus never said one word against homosexuality, though Paul certainly did in the New Testament. Sadly, we all know what it is like to feel convicted about a sinful behavior in our lives and try to rationalize our own sin. Certainly, it is difficult for people to both love and follow the Lord and continue in that lifestyle, yet as Christians, we need to be quicker to love than to judgment, just as we are called to be with all sinners. All too often the phrase “homosexuals are an abomination to the Lord” is used, when in fact, it is the sin, not the sinner, which is the abomination to the Lord, according to Leviticus 18:22 and Leviticus 20:13.


In the Bible, the word “abomination” pertains to something or someone who is dangerous, repulsive or sinister to another individual. The word, or a form of the word, occurs 175 times in 165 verses in the Bible. A verse in Proverbs explains that concept thoroughly:


An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous,
And he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.
Proverbs 29:27

Deuteronomy 18:9-12 speaks of some of the sins of the land the Jews inhabited, namely witches, sorcerers, spiritualists, mediums or people who speak with the dead. Specifically, that section says that those people are an abomination to the Lord, yet that is the only verse I found that speaks of a person as an abomination in relation to a specific sin. There are a number of verses that speak of the wicked as an abomination to the Lord, and all unforgiven sinners are wicked in the eyes of the Lord. Most frequently, idols and idolatry are referred to as abominations to the Lord, while sexual immorality would be the next most common sin, followed by pride and lying. The following verse lists seven abominations to God:


16  These six things the LORD hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
17  A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
18  A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
19  A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.
Proverbs 6:16-19


Though most of us would argue that we never have shed innocent blood with our own hands, when we take to heart the words of Jesus concerning murder, we understand that anger is no different. Surely, there have been times when I have done all seven of the items on the above list. Does that make me an abomination to the Lord?

When we sin against others, we are sinning against the Lord. Knowing how God feels about pride, idolatry and sexual immorality should break us to the core of our beings, yet there are still times when Satan’s temptations seem to win the battle. Because we are weak, and because Satan is a better tactician than any of us, we are going to lose battles. Yet who is going to win the war? God will! Additionally, anyone on God’s side also will prove victorious. That victory will be over the world, over sin and over Satan. As believers, we need to stay the course and remember that the majority of the battle occurs within our own minds. We cannot lose sight of the work God is doing in each of our lives. At the same time, we need to remember that the unbelievers are captives of the enemy. They cannot believe rightly, for they are being fooled by the deceiver of the brethren. Did you notice that all seven of the abominations apply to Satan’s destructive hand? Is it any wonder that his followers act similarly? If nothing else, that should remind us of what actions we should avoid, as we do not want to emulate Satan in any way. In the midst of it all, remember to love the captives. Without our love, they will have no chance in seeing the grace of a forgiving God, who has forgiven so much in each of us!


32For the perverse person is an abomination to the LORD,
But His secret counsel is with the upright.
Proverbs 3:32