Does God Hate Most People?

I believe you are correct. He hates the sins performed by us all. He wants repentance and faith. But I do not believe he actually hates us, only our rebellion because we are told that punishing us is not in his will, but must be done. Jesus is the illustration that he doesn't hate us.

Michael

Psalm 5:5 (King James Version)

5 The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

We need to leave God where he is… a place of incomprehension when it comes to such things as Hating and Loving at the same time.

It seems that many try to take Him from this lofty place and mold him to their liking…or at least into something they can completely understand. This is not wise.

Love and Hate. The Bible is clear that he can and does do both…and at the same time.

He is God.

By posting Psalm 5:5 I was not saying I subscribe to some hate theory...I was just tossing it out there to show God is capable of hate.

we cannot attribute what mere humans understand and mean by the word "hate" and apply it to the Great God and therefore say in our loftiness that we know "He hates."

Does this hold true for love?

we cannot attribute what mere humans understand and mean by the word "love" and apply it to the Great God and therefore say in our loftiness that we know "He loves."

???

Is God lopsided? Do we not know that he hates from the simple fact we know he loves?

I'm not saying what or who He hates...just that he is capable...

Although the Bible says God hates, it never says God IS hate. It does say God IS love. Any hatred of God is perfect and within love. When He hates, He does not stop loving. He has a love for justice and therefore he hates injustice, and yes, the unjust also. But that doesn't negate His love, His love continues.
Just like tjservant said. Just thought I'd put it in my words.
It does seem that God gives more grace to some than others.

It is not what you think or what I think or what anybody else thinks, it is thus saith the Lord.

2 Tim. 3:16-17
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: [17] That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

The Holy Spirit is the teacher of all truth by the Word not through our opinions. Why not let Him teach, read and study the Word. Speculation is simply speculation and not truth.

John 16:13
Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

His Word is very clear I would not call this hate.

Ezekiel 18:23
Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. [17] For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

Romans 5:8
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

It is those who refuse to believe who are condemned and they condemn themselves.This does not involve hate on God's part,only on man's part.

John 3:18-21
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [19] And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. [20] For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. [21] But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

In His Love
pastorfrin

God loves only a small few while He hates the majority

This truly is absurd.

I was wondering…what people said this?

Your original post says you have heard people say this.

I have never encountered this extremely warped theology. I’ve heard drunks and the sort spout some pretty stupid stuff, but they were just being ignorant.

Were the people you are speaking of professing Christians?

God IS Love, it's one of His essential attributes, therefore He can do nothing outside of that attribute, not even the judging of a soul to hell. God's type of Love is a very difficult thing to truly understand and much in the same way Paul calls some things mysteries, so also is that dynamic which we refer to as the Love of God. In many ways it truly is a mystery, as the old timers say , better felt than telt.

I have never encountered this extremely warped theology. I’ve heard drunks and the sort spout some pretty stupid stuff, but they were just being ignorant.

There are some groups out there that believe this stuff. They protest at funerals of veterans and things like that. They protest Billy Graham crusades, etc. They hold up big signs that says God hates you, etc. We had some of these conversations here on SI some years ago as some folk were a bit confused.

Is it not impossible to trust someone that you know hates you? To tell the masses that God hates them is diabolical and is the error of spiritual pride; i.e. "God loves me because I'm in a cult and everyone else he hates." This is madness.

The challenge is to demonstrate the wrath and anger of a good God that loves the human race. This is God as He weeps over Jerusalem. This is the express image of His person. This is God's reaction to sinners rejecting Him.

When the disciples thought to call fire down from heaven Jesus told them that they knew not what manor of spirit they were of. This is man trying to damn the people Christ died to save. And this is why men are so quick to condemn; they didn't die on the cross for them. And it is troubling! Why are men so quick to try to find cause to damn a person? Almost like the temptation is to standon the wrong side of God and even oppose God's grace and mercy.

I did a cursory search in the Word search engine just now and found nothing about God hating man. The closest I found was Psalm 53:5 (very last verse posted here) in which "despise" means "abhor, find contemptuous, rejects".

I did find multiple verses about God hating wickedness and that he will laugh at the calamity of the wicked but did not find that He hates the wicked.

I will continue my search.

But for now here are the verses I've found so far:

[b]
Job 20:29
This is the portion of a wicked man from God, And the heritage appointed unto him by God.

God gives a description of the wicked man in verses 4-28 and bears posting here:

[i]4 Knowest thou not this of old time, Since man was placed upon earth,

5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, And the joy of the godless but for a moment?

6 Though his height mount up to the heavens, And his head reach unto the clouds;

7 Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: They that have seen him shall say, Where is he?

8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: Yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.

9 The eye which saw him shall see him no more; Neither shall his place any more behold him.

10 His children shall seek the favor of the poor, And his hands shall give back his wealth.

11 His bones are full of his youth, But it shall lie down with him in the dust.

12 Though wickedness be sweet in his mouth, Though he hide it under his tongue,

13 Though he spare it, and will not let it go, But keep it still within his mouth;

14 Yet his food in his bowels is turned, It is the gall of asps within him.

15 He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again; God will cast them out of his belly.

16 He shall suck the poison of asps: The viper's tongue shall slay him.

17 He shall not look upon the rivers, The flowing streams of honey and butter.

18 That which he labored for shall he restore, and shall not swallow it down; According to the substance that he hath gotten, he shall not rejoice.

19 For he hath oppressed and forsaken the poor; He hath violently taken away a house, and he shall not build it up.

20 Because he knew no quietness within him, He shall not save aught of that wherein he delighteth.

21 There was nothing left that he devoured not; Therefore his prosperity shall not endure.

22 In the fulness of his sufficiency he shall be in straits: The hand of every one that is in misery shall come upon him.

23 When he is about to fill his belly, God will cast the fierceness of his wrath upon him, And will rain it upon him while he is eating.

24 He shall flee from the iron weapon, And the bow of brass shall strike him through.

25 He draweth it forth, and it cometh out of his body; Yea, the glittering point cometh out of his gall: Terrors are upon him.

26 All darkness is laid up for his treasures: A fire not blown by man shall devour him; It shall consume that which is left in his tent.

27 The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, And the earth shall rise up against him.

28 The increase of his house shall depart; His goods shall flow away in the day of his wrath.[/i]

Job 21:17
How oft is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? That their calamity cometh upon them? That God distributeth sorrows in his anger?
Job 27:13
This is the portion of a wicked man with God, And the heritage of oppressors, which they receive from the Almighty:
Psalm 3:7
Arise, O Jehovah; save me, O my God: For thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; Thou hast broken the teeth of the wicked
Psalm 5:4
For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: Evil shall not sojourn with thee.
Psalm 9:17
The wicked shall be turned back unto Sheol, Even all the nations that forget God.
Psalm 59:5
Even thou, O Jehovah God of hosts, the God of Israel, Arise to visit all the nations: Be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah
Psalm 68:2
As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: As wax melteth before the fire, So let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
Psalm 94:23
And he hath brought upon them their own iniquity, And will cut them off in their own wickedness; Jehovah our God will cut them off.
Psalm 139:19
Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: Depart from me therefore, ye bloodthirsty men.
Ecclesiastes 8:13
but it shall not be well with the wicked, neither shall he prolong his days, which are as a shadow; because he feareth not before God.
Isaiah 57:21
There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.
Jeremiah 1:16
And I will utter my judgments against them touching all their wickedness, in that they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands.
Jeremiah 2:19
Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that thou hast forsaken Jehovah thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts.
1 Corinthians 5:13
But them that are without God judgeth. Put away the wicked man from among yourselves.

Proverbs 1
22 "How long will you simple ones [d] love your simple ways?
How long will mockers delight in mockery
and fools hate knowledge?
23 If you had responded to my rebuke,
I would have poured out my heart to you
and made my thoughts known to you.

24 But since you rejected me when I called
and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,

25 since you ignored all my advice
and would not accept my rebuke,

26 I in turn will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you-

27 when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

28 "Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me.

29 Since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the LORD,

30 since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,

31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.

32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;

33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm."[/b]

[b]Psalm 53
2God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God.

3Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.

4Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread: they have not called upon God.

5There were they in great fear, where no fear was: for God hath scattered the bones of him that encampeth against thee: thou hast put them to shame, because[/b][size=x-small][color=CC3333] God hath despised them.[/color][/size]

While God "loves" all His creation, we must be careful not to blur the lines, and then cry out,"all then must be saved", or "God wants all men to be saved."

The issue is God's universal love, and His special love.

The universal love is for all men, and gives them breath, oxygen, sunlight, rain, crops, etc. Yet we know that this general love or revelation is not enough to save someone as the Scriptures tell us that people see creation and then rather than serving and worshipping the true Creator, they make to themselves gods, and worship and serve the creation.

Now God's special love is that of a husband and a bride. For instance I have love for all men I meet, but that love should never compare to the love I have for my wife. The two are completely differing. Christ came to purchase a bride for Himself, and as only the Groom can lift the veil of the Bride, only those who have been purchased shall have the veil lifted.

Also in dealing with God's love, and thus saying He must save all, or He wants to save all, how does one explain Scritures like this

Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16 [b]But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.[/b]
Who made them to differ? and note it does not say they did anything.

Mar 4:10 And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.
Mar 4:11 And he said unto them, [b]Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:[/b]
Mar 4:12 [b]That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.[/b]

Joh 12:37 But though he had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed not on him:
Joh 12:38 That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?
Joh 12:39 [b]Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again,
Joh 12:40 He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them.[/b]

Since God changes not, we understand from the OT as well, that there was not a universal application of salvation given to the nations around Israel. The atonement for sins was limited to those who were in Israel(true some from outside of Israel came in, but they still had to partake of the sacrifices for them to be of any benefit to them).

And again one must understand that when faced with the dilemma of salvation for all men you must have one of two things-
1)God wants all to be saved, so all will be saved.

2)God wants all to be saved, but man's will is greater than God, and therefore not all are saved.

Neither of these is true, for what God purposes, He does as He alone is sovereign.
Deut 32:39 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

Job 12:7 But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:
Job 12:8 Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.
Job 12:9 Who knoweth not in all these that the hand of the LORD hath wrought this?
Job 12:10 In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

Psa 33:9 For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
Psa 33:10 The LORD bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect.
Psa 33:11 The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.

Psa 115:3 [b]But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.[/b]

Psa 135:6 [b]Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.[/b]

Isa 14:24 The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand:

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Act 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
Act 2:23 [b]Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,[/b] ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

Act 15:18 Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of [b]him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:[/b]

There are many, many more that show that God does what He will, He alone is God the Creator, we are man the creation. Problems arise when men from their own desires begin to make man like God, or God like man apart from the testimony of Scripture.

Correct me if I'm wrong. But I believe what Jesse is trying to get at is that he believes that in Calvinism God hates most people and only loves a few.

Yes, and because Jesse does not understand the doctrines of sovereign grace, he makes those who hold to them to be heretics, and even questions there standing in the Body of Christ.

Of course his mentor Finney did the same thing. ;-)

Unfortunaltey many of the men Jesse and others like to use to back their views would be more in line with Calvinism than Pelagianism. One in particular would be Albert Barnes who proclaimed himself to be a four point Calvinist. The point he did not adopt was that of limited atonement.

Spurgeon was a five pointer, Whitefield was a five pointer who called Wesley a confused Calvinist because he(Wesley) believed in depravity of man, justification by faith alone through Christ alone. Jonathan Edwards was a Calvinist too. J.C. Ryle, Isaac Watts, John Newton, Richard Baxter, Joseph Alleine, the Puritans etc.

EDIT: The groups who go to funerals and such are hyper-Calvinists. Hyper Calvinists do not believe the Gospel should be given out to anyone, but that God will do His work alone, and that the reprobate need not hear the good news at all until God moves in their hearts.

Of course this is absolutely repugnant to Scripture, and we can safely say that yes that is wrong. Yet at the same time to write off the historical view of God, man etc. , because of some people who are false in teaching would be like me saying that because people roll around on the floor and bark in the Spirit that all Charismatic people are like that and are the same. It would be foolish to do so.