Ortlund: God hates all discord with a passion.

On Sunday nights we have been marching verse by verse through Proverbs.

Tomorrow night, Lord willing, we will be looking at Prov 6 v12-15.

Proverbs 6 v12-15 New International Version (NIV)

¹²A troublemaker and a villain,

who goes about with a corrupt mouth,

¹³ who winks maliciously with his eye,

signals with his feet

and motions with his fingers,

¹⁴ who plots evil with deceit in his heart—

he always stirs up conflict.

¹⁵Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;

he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.

Ray Ortlund said this about Proverbs 6 v12-15.

I remember sitting in the back row of a Christian meeting some years ago. The leader was up front. Then I noticed a man over at the right end of the back row leaning back in his seat, looking slyly at another man over on the left end of the back row, and rolling his eyes in disdain with a smirk on his face as if to say, “Can you believe that moron up front?”

God is saying, in verse 15, “I will punish that behavior, because my Son died to bring you together in unity!” Look how intensely God feels about this:

There are six things that the LORD hates,
seven that are an abomination to him:
haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
and hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
feet that make haste to run to evil,
a false witness who breathes out lies,
and one who sows discord among brothers. (Proverbs 6:16–19)

When the Old Testament uses this literary device (x // x + 1), as in “three // four” (Proverbs 30:18–19, 29–31) or “six // seven,” it is the last item in the list that matters most. The seventh thing the Lord hates, “one who sows discord among brothers,” is the key to understanding the other six things the Lord hates. What he hates about haughty eyes is that their arrogance sows discord among brothers, what he hates about a lying tongue is how its gossip and slander sow discord among brothers, and so forth. God hates all discord with a passion. That’s what “abomination” means. It turns his stomach.

Ortlund, R. C., Jr. (2012). Preaching the Word: Proverbs—Wisdom that Works. (R. K. Hughes, Ed.) (p. 103). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Comments

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