I’m always surprised when I get a fresh glimpse of the imagery that the Bible uses to communicate the most profound truths. God just doesn’t say, “Be wise.” He takes snapshots for us to look at, and as is often the case, a picture is worth a thousand words. One of the more interesting passages with this is Proverbs 6:16-19. The New Living Translation renders these verses like this: “There are six things the Lord hates—no, seven things he detests: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord among brothers.” Just notice the images. There are eyes, a tongue, hands, a heart, feet, a mouth (spewing or pouring out), and seeds of discord. Each of these things conjures images in our minds that more profoundly impress us with the sharpness of the intended message.

This passage presents us with things God hates. It’s the negative images that are projected. I remember the days when cameras would take negative images, and you had to take them to the drugstore to have them developed.  It would often take a week or more to get your photos back. My Dad got the family a Polaroid camera back in the ’60s one Christmas, and we got the images in about a minute or so. With digital images, we used to use a camera that took pictures you could view immediately. Now we use our phones!! That’s beside the point. In previous days, The store would take them into a darkroom and impress them (somehow) on paper and soak them in some kind of solution that would impress upon the paper the positive impression. The positives are what you’d get back as your developed photos. During my trips to Israel, when we arrived at the place where Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, I would read parts of that sermon from Matthew, Chapter 5. It later dawned on me that this sermon is the positive development of the negatives of Proverbs, Chapter 6. Instead of reciting the things that God hates, Jesus gives us the things that God loves. Some of them are obvious. Others might require a little interpretation.

As surely as God hates “haughty eyes,” He loves the “poor in spirit” and pronounces them blessed. Poor in spirit is often related to a humble attitude. God hates lying tongues, but he loves the victims of lying tongues. He says, “Blessed are you,” in Matthew 5:11-12, “when men cast insults at you, and…say all kinds of evil against you falsely…Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” He hates hands that harm the innocent, yet in Matthew 5:10, he pronounces a blessing on those who suffer innocently. He hates hearts that plot evil deeds, but he loves the pure in heart in Matthew 5:8. He despises feet anxious to do wrong while he loves those hungering to do right (Matthew 5:6). He hates mouths spewing out lies to get what they want from others while Jesus blesses those who receive wrong from others and offers mercy (Matthew 5:7). Finally, God curses those who sow strife in relationships while Jesus blesses those who plant the seeds of peace.