Spotting Hatred – Proverbs 26:24-26

It is common in movies or TV to know who the bad guy or gal is by the way they answer questions with a certain hesitation, or by seeing their sneer after the person they talk to isn’t looking, and especially if there is an ominous piece of music playing at the moment.  Apparently we need help to understand the plot.  But in real life we don’t get ominous music playing when the bad person comes in.

Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart;  when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart;  though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. (Proverbs 26:24–26, ESV)

How do you know if someone hates you?  The one who hates usually seeks to disguise it with gracious speech.  He is harboring the hatred in his heart but seeking to deceive others about that.  We shouldn’t believe his lies.  But how do we know he is lying?

In the view of the proverbs a person’s hatred will inevitably come out “in the assembly.”  It seems that hatred cannot forever be concealed.  The person of wisdom will recognize it when it slips out and learn that he cannot trust this deceitful one to be a genuine friend.

We have an instance of the Holy Spirit revealing a person’s motives in Acts 5.  Ananias and his wife Sapphira conspire to pretend that the entire amount they received for a property sale has been donated by them to the assembly, the church, for helping the poor.  But the Spirit reveals to Peter that they are lying.  It benefits us to learn to listen to the Spirit should He reveal deceit to us.  I have experienced this a couple of times.

I’ve also learned to trust my wife’s intuition.