Abomination

Those of crooked heart are an abomination to the LORD, but those of blameless ways are his delight.

Proverbs 11:20 ESV

The Hebrew word translated with “abomination(s)” in the KJV and “detestable thing(s)” by the NIV occurs 112 times in the Bible with fully 80 of those occurrences appearing in just three books: Ezekiel (42); Proverbs (20); and Deuteronomy (17). At bottom, sin is an abomination, something that is disgusting to God, because it is contrary to the nature of His creation. It is to  fly in the face of the way He made us. Thus, idolatry is one of the great abominations (Deut 17:2 -4). We don’t often think of idolatry as disgusting, but it is to God. The thought that we might give worship to something he created is disgusting to him.

This understanding of sin explains why this term occurs so frequently in the book of Proverbs. This book of wisdom is telling us what works and what doesn’t work in God’s creation. But living in a way that is contrary to the way we were made is not merely stupid and foolish; it is an abomination. So, a scales that is rigged to show that the meat being sold weighs 16 ounces, when in fact it only weighs fourteen ounces is an abomination (Prov 11:1). It is an offence against the very nature of reality, and that disgusts the Creator.  Sin is an abomination.

One of the tragedies of our day is that we have become desensitized to the abominable character of sin. Our media in all its forms does that. “Oh, it’s just one more murder.” “Yes, they are serial adulterers. What else is new?” “Yes, it’s a male pretending he is a female who won the women’s swimming meet. Oh, well.” We are immersed in all of the offences against God’s reality, and we lose our capacity to be disgusted, horrified and grieved by sin.

But before we point many fingers at our culture, what about ourselves? Insensitivity to the disgusting nature of sin is deadliest of all when it is found within. Cowper said it, “I hate the sin that drove thee from my breast.” Yes, let us hate every disgusting deviation from God’s reality, most especially in ourselves.