We all have things in life that we don’t particularly care for, and we have things we definitely do not like. And then there are those things that are absolutely disgusting and revolting in our eyes. The same seems to be true of Yahweh. There are certain things that Yahweh clearly hates and is disgusted by. The KJV calls them “abominations”. Other versions use the phrase “detestable things”. The Hebrew basically means something filthy, disgusting, or an abhorrence.
The purpose of this study is to understand what disgusts Yahweh the most and what should be disgusting to us as well. But first, let’s look at a few things that men consider abominations, but really aren’t.
Genesis 43:32 – “And they set a place for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Egyptians, which did eat with him, by themselves: because the Egyptians might not eat bread with the Hebrews; for that is an abomination unto the Egyptians.”
The Egyptians were a proud and exclusive people who considered foreigners abominable, especially the Hebrews who were undoubtedly a much hairier people which can lead to the false belief that they are unclean or dirty people.
Genesis 46:34 – “That you shall say, Thy servants’ trade has been about cattle from our youth even until now, both we, and also our fathers: that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.”
Their disgust at shepherds may also have to do with being dirty or smelly. A herd of sheep can smell pretty bad causing their shepherd to smell bad as well. It can also have to do with the Egyptian view of sheep. If sheep were taboo for religious reasons, then their shepherds would be looked upon as taboo breakers.
Now to the real abominations.
Leviticus 11:9-13, 42-44 – “These shall you eat of all that are in the waters: whatsoever has fins and scales in the waters, in the seas, and in the rivers, them shall you eat. And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you: They shall be even an abomination unto you; you shall not eat of their flesh, but you shall have their carcases in abomination. Whatsoever has no fins nor scales in the waters, that shall be an abomination unto you. And these are they which you shall have in abomination among the fowls; they shall not be eaten, they are an abomination: the eagle, and the ossifrage, and the ospray, . . .Whatsoever goes upon the belly, and whatsoever goes upon all four, or whatsoever has more feet among all creeping things that creep upon the earth, them you shall not eat; for they are an abomination. You shall not make yourselves abominable with any creeping thing that creeps, neither shall you make yourselves unclean with them, that you should be defiled thereby. For I am Yahweh your Elohim: you shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy: neither shall you defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
Certain “foods” of today are an abomination to Yahweh. He says that when we eat these animals that are disgusting to Him, that we then become disgusting in His sight (vs.43). He also says that His people are to consider them abominable as well. How would you feel if your child picked up dog poop and ate it? I would be gagging and want to vomit. We are Yahweh’s children. He does not want us to eat disgusting things.
It is not nitpicking or too legalistic to refuse to eat certain products because they contain unclean animal byproducts. Its for our own good and for Yahweh’s good pleasure that we keep ourselves pure and holy.
Leviticus 18:6-23 concerns forbidden acts such as incest, adultery, human sacrifices, homosexuality, beastiality, etc.
Leviticus 18:26,29 – “You shall therefore keep my statutes and my judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations; neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that sojourns among you: . . . For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people.”
In 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, we read about a man in the congregation that committed incest by having his father’s wife. The Apostle Paul’s judgment was to excommunicate the man or to cut him off from his people. This time it was only men cutting off another man from his congregation and it may have been temporary providing the man repented. However, a time will come when Yahweh will do the cutting off and it will be forever.
Question: What would you do if you were walking through a forest and you came across a 14 ct. gold statue of Neptune (the pagan mighty one of the sea) worth about $5,000?
Deuteronomy 7:25-26 – “The graven images of their mighty ones shall you burn with fire: you shalt not desire the silver or gold that is on them, nor take it unto you, lest you be snared therein: for it is an abomination to Yahweh thy Elohim. Neither shall you bring an abomination into your house, lest you be a cursed thing like it: but you shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.”
Deuteronomy 17:1 – “Thou shalt not sacrifice unto Yahweh thy Elohim any bullock, or sheep, wherein is blemish, or any evil favouredness: for that is an abomination unto Yahweh thy Elohim.”
Yahweh desires unblemished, spotless sacrifices. This is why Yahweh could accept nothing less than a sinless (unblemished) man to die as the atoning sacrifice for mankind. He also desires for us to be unblemished sacrifices as we read in 2 Peter 3:14:
“Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent that you may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”
That may seem impossible to do, but as long as we confess our sins, we will have all our unrighteousness cleansed and become spotless again.
Deuteronomy 18:9-12 – “When you are come into the land which Yahweh thy Elohim gives you, you shall not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. There shall not be found among you any one that makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that uses divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto Yahweh: and because of these abominations Yahweh thy Elohim drives them out from before you.”
Believers today are not to resort to such sources for their information, guidance or revelation. Yahweh has given us His Son and Scripture. We are to hear them.
Deuteronomy 22:5 – “The woman shall not wear that which pertains unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto Yahweh thy Elohim.”
We may not know the full reason why Yahweh gave this commandment, but we do know the result when someone breaks it. That person becomes an abomination in Yahweh’s sight.
Deuteronomy 24:4a – “Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before Yahweh:”
A man cannot remarry an ex-wife if she remarried and was later divorced.
Deuteronomy 25:13-16 – “You shall not have in your bag diverse weights, a great and a small. You shall not have in your house diverse measures, a great and a small. But you shall have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shall you have: that your days may be lengthened in the land which Yahweh thy Elohim gives you. For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto Yahweh thy Elohim.”
The same would be true of any kind of measurement including gas stations putting water in their tanks, contractors ordering far more cement than what is needed for a job, moving the boundary markers of your land, etc. I once bought a bunch of bananas in Greece. When I returned to my room and removed the bananas from the bag, I found a giant black banana at the bottom. It was placed their to increase the weight my purchase costing me more.
Deuteronomy 27:15 – “Cursed be the man that makes any graven or molten image, an abomination unto Yahweh, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and puts it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.”
Any image or idol that is used for worship is an abomination to Yahweh. That includes all the statues you see in churches today, all the crucifixes with images of Christ on them, and all the religious art depicting images of people that are prayed to like the virgin Mary.
Proverbs 3:32 – “For the froward is abomination to Yahweh: but his secret is with the righteous.”
“Froward” here means to be perverse or stubbornly obstinate. Pharoah comes to mind as that type of person.
Proverbs 6:16-19 – “These six things does Yahweh hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaks lies, and he that sows discord among brethren.”
May we never commit such abominations. A heart that devises wicked imaginations is someone who takes the time to think up evil things to do and feet that are swift in running to mischief is just the opposite. They don’t even stop to think. They just do evil without thinking.
Proverbs 12:22 – “Lying lips are abomination to Yahweh: but they that deal truly are his delight.”
This is why Revelation 21:8 says all liars are destined for the Lake of Fire. Yeshua is the truth and his followers must walk in truth as well. Satan is the father of lies. We must not follow his example, but Yeshua’s.
Proverbs 17:15 – “He that justifies the wicked, and he that condemns the just, even they both are abomination to Yahweh.”
There are judges in our judicial system today that are provoking Yahweh’s wrath every time they allow the guilty to go free while the victim’s suffer.
Proverbs 28:9 – “He that turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.”
How many people in Christianity today are guilty of this? Many today are ignorant concerning the Scriptures and are being deceived concerning the law, but there are also many who are very learned in the Scriptures and yet, refuse to hear the law. A day is coming when these people will stand before Yeshua and he will say to them, “Depart from me you workers of lawlessness. I never knew you.”
Proverbs 29:27 – “An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.”
Its hard to believe that a follower of Yeshua can be considered an abomination, but that is how the wicked view us. That would mean that all human beings, including those in the Body of Messiah, are considered abominable! Thankfully, however, those in the Body are not considered abominable by Yahweh.
Luke 16:15 – “And he said unto them, You are they which justify yourselves before men; but Elohim knows your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of Elohim.”
This is similar to idolatry. Whatsoever man values above Yahweh is an abomination to Him. In this case, the Pharisees love of money was abhorred by Yahweh. For many people it is their cars and still others, their wardrobe or clothing. The true riches that we as believers should be seeking after are those of the Spirit; eternal riches that no man can steal from us.
Revelation 21:7-8 – “He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his Elohim, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Abominable people will be cast into the Lake of Fire. How does someone become abominable? By doing those things mentioned above; the things that Yahweh says are abominations that make us abominable.
Ezekiel 43:8 – “In their setting of their threshold by my thresholds, and their post by my posts, and the wall between me and them, they have even defiled my holy name by their abominations that they have committed: wherefore I have consumed them in mine anger.”
Israel defiled Yahweh’s name by their abominations. This is mostly speaking about their idols. If we are going to be holy as Yahweh is holy and not defile His Name, we must separate ourselves from any and all abominations.
If you have been committing any of the abominations spoken of in Scripture, I admonish you to repent and walk in a way that is not abominable/disgusting to your Creator. It doesn’t matter whether you have been committing beastiality, homosexuality, cross dressing, incest, witchcraft, idolatry, or any other abomination. There is forgiveness available from Yahweh through the shed blood of His Son Yeshua who died for you. He took the punishment for your sin (death) upon himself so that you can live forever justified before Yahweh. You need only to repent of your sin (turn away from it) and confess the Master Yeshua the Messiah as your Savior asking him to cleanse you of your sin. He will do so and empower you to overcome sin and death so that you may live forever in his Kingdom. May it be so.
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