Does God hate you?
In Jeremiah 11, the prophet lays out God’s covenant lawsuit against Jerusalem. The logic of the chapter is pretty simple: God said that if you disobey him and turn to idols, then he will destroy you. Well, for generations now Israel and Judah have disobeyed God and turned to idols. Therefore, God will now destroy you.
Sometimes we hear this and think that God is just a cosmic sadist, watching our misery for his good pleasure! If God is a God of love, then how come he allows this to continue?
We need to keep reading. In Jeremiah 12, verse 7, the LORD says:
“I have forsaken my house;
I have abandoned my heritage;
I have given the beloved of my soul
into the hands of her enemies.”
Think about this! The temple where I said I would dwell with my people forever? I have forsaken it.
My beloved bride – the one who I called “my people”? I have given her into the hands of her enemies.
You can hear the grief in the LORD’s voice – even as you hear the anger:
“My heritage has become to me
like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
therefore I hate her.” (Jeremiah 12:8)
What does a lion do – when she “lifts up her voice against me”? When does a lion roar? Lions do not roar before they pounce. Lions are silent stalkers. They only lift up their voice after they have subdued their prey!
God has been mauled by his people! You – and I – mauled God. Our sin sent Jesus to the cross. WE might as well have bee the ones who spit on him, beat him, and hammered the nails into his hands!
“Therefore I hate her.”
Wait. God hates us? Yes, he cannot help but hate us! For we have sinned.
But doesn’t God love us? Oh yes, but that is precisely why he must also hate us. For we have sinned. He loves the good that he created. And therefore he hates that which has marred his good creation.
But take heart, for if God only hates us because he loves what he made us to be, then we can trust him to do what it takes to remove the evil.
Indeed, only a love so deep that it is willing to hate is worthy of being called love! I knew a man who did not seem to care that his wife had cheated on him. That man did not love his wife. A man who loves his wife will hate her for cheating on him. Only such a man will be able to bear the cross needed to restore the marriage!
Only when you understand the depth of God’s hatred and sorrow over our sin and rebellion can you truly understand the beauty of John 3:16 — “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him might not perish, but have everlasting life.”
You can listen to the whole sermon here
