Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered. Let those also who hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. (Psalm 68:1-2)
Hitler once explained the reason for his intense hatred for Jews this way: “Because they cursed civilization with a conscience.” In other words, he didn’t hate them because they hailed from another land or because they spoke a different language necessarily but because of what was deposited in their ancestors at Mount Sinai — the commandments of God. Hitler, and all who are like him, despise the people of God because of what and who they represent in the earth. They harbor a bitter antagonism toward all that is truly holy, vigorously resisting the sovereignty and rule of Israel’s God. While they heartily embrace other religions with fanatical zeal, they can’t bring themselves to respect those who uphold and live by the Word of God, thus revealing themselves to be thoroughly Godless.
Underscoring this point is this interesting tidbit: the Hebrew word שנא sanah, translated as “hate” in the verse above — i.e. “those also who hate Him” — is phonetically equivalent to the word סני sinai. The implication seems obvious: when God called Israel to be a set apart nation and live according to the ways of the Creator, it effectively placed a target on their back. Not that the Creator intended for His people to be the object of the world’s ire; to the contrary, His intention was that the nations would be blessed by our example. However, hardened hearts and determined rebels do not like to be reminded of their shortcomings and will, in most cases, work to rid themselves of that reminder, hence Hitler’s statement.
The reality is that the world hates the people of God because the world hates God. More specifically, they loathe the notion that there are moral boundaries assigned by the Creator to curb our thoughts and actions — not to impede life as so many think, but to insure it. So even if living according to His Word means we go through life with a target on our back, as His people, we have the responsibility to walk upright before Him as an example to those who hate Him. Yes, the world may hate us, but it is because they hate what He has placed within us. This is our charge and we must be faithful to continue in it, for our sake and for the sake of others. It might be that today is the day when you encounter an individual whose once hardened heart melts like wax when they sense the Presence of God in your life.
Blessings and Shalom,
Bill
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