God Haters

Whose heart he turned, so that they hated his people.

 - From Psalm 105

This is an intriguing, and troubling, turn of phrase. And the same idea is rather prominent throughout the Old Testament - 

...The idea that God turns the hearts of His enemies, or the enemies of His chosen people. Does he, like make them hate His people? Is it a Calvinist sort of predetermined fate? It can't be turned around, or changed, or reversed. God just decides to make one person hate another. Is this plausible? Is it done?

Or perhaps God knows the hearts of people. He knows that we're jealous, that we're made to react and not respond after reflection. He knows how prone we are to hate others, for jealous and superficial reasons. He knows that, if He doesn't act, we'd probably kill each other. But He also knows that if He does act, it will create another form of contention because we're so envious of each other, in a way that leads to violence.

God knows this about us, because He made us.

In Egypt, God made Israel prosper. The net effect was that Egypt began to hate Israel. Now, we know this is totally plausible.

A friend of mine was a lifelong fan of the New York Yankees. He loved them because they were, historically, "Number One." And he loves that so many people hated the Yankees. He said "Do you know why people hate the Yankees? Because they're Number One."

And then he continued: "That's why other countries hate the US. Because we're Number One. Yes we bail them out of disasters and wars. But they will hate us anyway, because we're Number One, and people don't like Number Ones."

So this is how it happened. Out of the goodness of their hearts, Egypt welcomed Israel. But within a few generations, Israel became more prosperous than the Egyptians . . . in Egypt! 

And we all know what is bound to happen next. 

Our politics today, is like that. Both sides hate the other because of a perceived advantage the other side has. They are driven more by jealousy than they are by sound values.

But let's presume, for a moment, that God actually is on one of the sides. Maybe one of our political movements is "God's People." If it is true that God blesses His people, which makes their enemies jealous, then that means that a God hater may actually be doing God's will, by hating.

Even an act of defiance towards God plays right into His plan.

God's people should be loving, anyway.

But God's enemies, by hating, are doing exactly what He wants. So maybe they should love their enemies, out of spite!

There is plenty of reason for us to love. And we should go out of our way, not to be a people that God has turned against Himself!