The other day I saw a bumper sticker that had long been faded that said, “Fight Hate.” Its a simple message and on the surface it sounds really good. But the more I pondered it, I found a rising up in my spirit, a kind of frustration at this message, that caused me to dig a bit deeper. I am going to let you in on my brain rabbit hole moment.

The word fight is an Old English word feohtan and it means “to combat, contend with weapons, strive; attack; gain by fighting, win” It has the connontation of winning at all costs, using the appropriate weapons, and having a strategy.

So, how do you fight hate?

I struggle with this because when I look at the examples of “fight hate” that I’ve seen or experienced, to fight hate, the weapon of choice is to hate the one hating. Yet those who are fighting this way, will simultaneously say that they are fighting hate with love. But the actions are not loving. Besides, if you are hating the one who is hating – aren’t you the hater? Yes?

For me, the buck always stops at personal responsibility. This statement then perplexes me because to fight hate with hate means that we are not fighting hate but joining hate to shut up the ones that we find hateful, while also become what we do not like. A hater. Do you see the dilemma?

So, now let’s look at what is hate?

The word hate is also an Old English word hatian that means to “regard with extreme ill-will, have a passionate aversion to, or treat as an enemy.” It is quite the mess, I think, of soul if you allow it to live in you. I guess I just dont get the message because it doesnt apply out with the action as good and right. Treating others with hate is appaling. I’ve found hate to be soul warping.

What I find interesting is that the first instance of someone hating in the Bible is Esau, who hated his brotherJacob. (Here is the portion of scripture to find this:Genesis 27) Esua’s mom, named Rebekah, tricks her own husband Isaac into giving the blessing to the younger son. And Isaac even though he seems to catch on to this tricking just goes through with his own logical reasoning and blesses Jacob. At this it says in Genesis 27:41 So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob. Bitterness and anger take root in his heart and he vows after his father passes away that he will kill his brother.

But this is not where the hate started. We have to go back.

First who are these two men. Genesis 25: 19-27 Isaac and Rebekah had no children. So Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived.  They were twins. The Bible says that the children struggled together within her. The commotion must have frightened her because she said, “If all is well, why am I like this?” She inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her:

“Two nations are in your womb,
Two peoples shall be separated from your body;
One people shall be stronger than the other,
And the older shall serve the younger.”

One was a red head – He was like a hairy garment all over – Esau.  The brother came out, and his hand took hold of Esau’s heel; so his name was called Jacob. Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a mild man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau because he ate what Esua caught, but it says Rebekah loved Jacob.

So now we have a backdrop of what this family was like and how the younger was favored by his mother. Now here is where it get’s real interesting: Genesis 25:29-34

Jacob cooked some stew and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. He was tired and exhausted. He asks Jacob to feed him some of that stew. But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.” Esau said, “Look, I am about to die; so what is this birthright to me?” Jacob said, “Swear to me as of this day.” And he did. He sold his birthright for soup!

So now we are really getting the picture. No wonder, he hated Jacob. All of his inheritance and the blessing of his father went to his younger brother. Now, heres the kicker! What’s behind this situation? Personal responsibility! The start of all this hate was the seeds of not taking personal responsibility for his own actions. He did not have self control when he was weary and the Bible says that he despised his birthright.

He considered it or regarded it of little value or worth.

Now, why was this birthright so important? One commentary said this, “the birthright, goes to the firstborn who would become the head of the family, and would have charge of the family, including the family property. He would be responsible for the welfare of the younger sons, the widow, and any unmarried daughters. He would exercise considerable authority over the other members of the family. The blessing that he received would also place him in a special covenant relationship with the Lord.”

Ahhhhh, so now we see something very interesting – it was more then possessions and authority over people and lands. He regarded a special covenant relationship with the Lord of little value or worth.

Could hate be birthed in the lack of personal responsibility we have; as we cast our anger upon others who we deem, as those who took advantage, without seeing how we ourselves through our lack of self control led us to give up our most precious possession for instant satisfaction? Ya, I think it could be quite easy to look at Jacob and point the finger for taking it all from his brother. But how much more can we look Esua square in the eyes and say, “you despised the goodness of God” and would rather have what ever satisfies you.

Ultimately these two brothers reconciled after Jacob went on the run for a few years and where God got a hold of his heart. He became Israel, the father of nations. Their lives would become a picture of what God would do on a grand scale of history. Jesus the firstborn would share in His inheritance with all those who would believe in Him.

Does the Lord hate? The Bible says yes, the Lord hates some things:

These six things the Lord hates,
Yes, seven are an abomination to Him:
¹⁷ A proud look,
A lying tongue,
Hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸ A heart that devises wicked plans,
Feet that are swift in running to evil,
¹⁹ A false witness who speaks lies,
And one who sows discord among brethren.

Proverbs 16:16-19

God hates these actions. Hating haters then puts us in an interesting position considering that hating someone suggests having a sense of pride that we know or are better than another. Jesus said that murder was about the same and being angry with someone because anger leads to murder. (Matt 5:21-26) Hating often causes us to find ways to bring another down. And man! If we are not careful, we will launch a full on assult of those who we call brethen. That is 5 out of this list – directly relating to hating. I suppose that we must therefore be quite careful in how we go about dealing with our own hearts and how we handle the people God puts in front of us.

We might just despise the gift God has given us.

Thanks for Listening,

Starla