Proverbs 8:13
“The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way And the perverse mouth I hate.”
The Bible defines sin as, “the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4, KJV) and “the love of God [is] that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (I John 5:3), while Proverbs 8:13 states that the fear of the Lord is “hating evil.”
Biblically, “evil” is used in a various ways, but it basically means “bad” or “negative.” When used passively, it describes distress, misery, misfortune, calamity, or repulsiveness. When used in the active form, the scope is more closely aligned to “what is detrimental in its effects on mankind.”
Typically, when we think of evil, we think of something that is intentionally injurious or unkind. It is not merely bad in the sense that a tornado may be bad; it is more than merely unpleasant, but it is terrible by someone’s plan of design. In this definition of evil, there is intent to harm or lack of concern toward harm done to another. This type of evil does not care if harm is done.
In the Bible, we often read, “…did evil in the sight of the LORD.” This active form of evil is a unique description of people that often, did not consider their deeds to be evil. In their view, they were harmless acts. From their perspective, nobody was getting hurt, and nothing detrimental occurred, so they did not consider their behavior to be evil. However, from God’s perspective, what they did was evil.
In Proverbs 8:13, we are told that those who fear God instinctively and earnestly loathe those things that do harm to life and liveliness, even if the harm is not immediately apparent. The great men and women in the Bible are those who fear the LORD. They lived happy and successful lives. God was their focus, and He blessed them abundantly (Psalm 25:12-15; 128:1-6). Jesus Christ feared God, and His prayers were heard, and He rules over the universe (Hebrews 5:7-9; 1:3,13). Follow His holy and perfect example.
