Proverb 8:13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
A person who fears the Lord walks in a knowledge of being accountable to the Lord and being subject to His rule. He has a right perspective about sin, judgment, and accountability before God Ecclesiastes 8:11-13. Proverb 8:13 spells out specifics of the fear of the Lord adding the strong emotion of hate by saying, “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” We aren’t taught much about what to hate from modernistic teachers but it is a core element to the fear of the Lord. Evil can be defined as what:
1. Causes injury, damage, suffering, misfortune, or disaster.
2. Whatever originates from the evil one and is morally corrupt, bad, darkness, and destructive.
3. Corrupt and destructive forces of satan let loose in a world to destroy all things of God and His goodness.
Some interpret evil to be defined by the four specific words listed after evil: pride, arrogancy, the evil way, and the forward mouth.
Pride is to be lifted up or puffed up in ones view and thoughts of oneself.
Arrogancy is a feeling of self importance coupled with contempt and disregard for others seen as being beneath one.
The evil way is deliberate unruliness and deviation from what is good, right, proper, and moral.
The forward mouth is a mouth that is perverse, a fraud, twisted, and marked by a disposition to oppose and contradict.
Some Christians are deathly afraid to hate what God hates and calls evil. In today’s world to stand against these things and to speak out against them is to be labeled as a “hater,” which they apply in a pejorative way or to express disapproval and contempt toward. God’s Word says it is a positive attribute and the fear of the Lord. “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil ….” Who will we fear, God or man? The Apostle Paul presented a valuable example of the proper response when he said, “For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ Galatians 1:10.” His ambition was to seek the approval of God. If we please God, we may offend men; but if we please men, we may offend God.
Pastor John Rasicci is the founder and Pastor of Word of His Grace Church in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where we are building people who are building the Church. Pastor's ministry mission is to help people discover God's dream for their Life, the Local Church, and the Last Days' Harvest. With a strong emphasis on the grace of God and with a prophetic voice, Pastor John preaches and teaches in churches, conferences, and crusades both locally and throughout the world. He has produced books, tapes, and other teaching materials to empower, enable, and equip Believers with the Word of God. Pastor John is married to his wife Candy who with their three children, Krista, Joanna, John Anthony, and two son-in-laws, Matt and Doug, serve together in the ministry. After graduating from Kent State University, Pastor John pursued a career in professional baseball before accepting the call to the ministry. He and his wife, Candy, received their ministry training from Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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