Compare Hosea 9:15 with Psalm 5:5. How does God view wickedness? Setting the Scene in Hosea 9:15 • “All their evil appears at Gilgal, for there I came to hate them. Because of the wickedness of their deeds, I will drive them out of My house! I will love them no more; all their princes are rebellious.” (Hosea 9:15) • Israel’s rebellion at Gilgal became the tipping point; God personally says, “I came to hate them.” • The language is active and decisive—“drive,” “love no more”—showing that wickedness severs fellowship with the Holy One. The Lord’s Fixed Stance in Psalm 5:5 • “The boastful cannot stand in Your presence; You hate all workers of iniquity.” (Psalm 5:5) • Not merely the deeds but the “workers” themselves are the objects of divine hatred while they persist in sin. • “Cannot stand” underscores moral incompatibility; evil literally has no footing before God. Key Observations • Same verb, “hate,” in both passages—no dilution, no softening. • God’s hatred is righteous, not capricious. He hates because He is holy (Isaiah 6:3). • Wickedness provokes relational rupture: “drive them out of My house” (Hosea) and “cannot stand in Your presence” (Psalm). Corroborating Scriptures • Habakkuk 1:13 — “Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; You cannot tolerate wrongdoing.” • Proverbs 6:16-19 — a catalog of deeds the Lord hates, stressing His moral clarity. • Romans 1:18 — God’s wrath revealed “against all ungodliness and unrighteousness.” Unchanging Character of God • Old and New Testaments speak with one voice: His disposition toward sin is unwavering. • James 1:17 — “the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” Implications for Believers • Take sin seriously; God certainly does. • Flee complacency—wickedness is never “small” or “manageable” in His sight. • Embrace the refuge offered in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:21); only the righteousness He provides enables anyone to “stand” before God. |
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