Murder is a crime and a capital offense at that, because it is a strike at God Himself. In man’s act of killing man he is, at the root of the matter, seeking to murder God. This, of course, God hates.
Perhaps you have noticed by now that Proverbs 6:16-19 is not simply a list of ills that God hates though it most certainly is that. But it is more. On the surface of this list is an explanation. God is not only telling us the things He hates but why He hates them. Have you noticed what is included in this list? We have eyes, a tongue, hands, a heart, feet and even breath! If we were Dr. Frankenstein we might create an entire person! And that is the point. God is telling us that the entire person is corrupt.
It’s not only the externals but the entrails that are problematic. By entrails we are not simply talking about the muscle that pumps our blood. No, when talking about the heart Solomon has inclinations and motivations in mind. The person is rotten to the core. What’s the message? Quite simply, God hates these things because they are evidence that the image of God in man has been destroyed. Of course, we are talking here about the image of God in the narrow (e.g. knowledge, righteousness and holiness) and not the broad sense (rationally and linguistically). The point is that these behaviors are evidence of our hatred for God.
This is even clearer when we think of “hands that shed innocent blood” (Proverbs 6:17). After the flood we read that murder is a capital offense. This was not new. But annexed to this statement regarding the capital crime of murder is the explanation, “for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:6). In other words, murder is a crime and a capital offense at that, because it is a strike at God Himself. In man’s act of killing man he is, at the root of the matter, seeking to murder God. This, of course, God hates.
