“Because of all their wickedness in Gilgal,
I
hated them there.
Because of their sinful deeds,
I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;
all their leaders are rebellious…
Because of their sinful deeds,
I will drive them out of my house.
I will no longer love them;
all their leaders are rebellious…
My God will reject them
because they have not obeyed him;
they will be wanderers among the nations. Hosea 8:15,17
because they have not obeyed him;
they will be wanderers among the nations. Hosea 8:15,17
God
hates us because of our sins that drive us further and further away from
him. But, does he hate and completely
reject us? No.
God
is love and he always receives us back if we repent and ask for forgiveness. In Hosea, he appealed to his people to return
to him and later in Hosea said he would restore their relationship to him.
“Hate”
means more like “disapprove” in these verses.
God can’t hate us in a total rejection kind of way, but he can hate our
sinfulness so much that he would punish us severely to get us back. If he totally hated us, God would never
extend offerings of love and mercy.