Theological term
Son of Belial
2 sermons · All terms
The Things God Hates
Proverbs 6:16–19 presents a numerical list of seven things God hates and finds abominable — a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren. This sermon works through each item in canonical order, grounding the list in its immediate context (the portrait of the son of Belial in vv. 12–15) and in the broader testimony of Proverbs, the Psalms, and the New Testament. The abominable members (pride, lying, murder, the cunning heart, swift feet) and the abominable actions (perjury and discord) are each exposed and applied. The sermon concludes by urging hearers to pursue the opposites of each vice — humility, truth-telling, protection of innocent life, guarding the heart, swift pursuit of good, faithful witness, and peacemaking — and to rest in Christ, whose perfect obedience is the righteousness that covers remaining corruption in the believer.
2 Samuel 20
Second Samuel 20 continues the unrelenting sequence of trials that mark the consequences of David's sin: no sooner does David return to Jerusalem after Absalom's rebellion than Sheba the son of Bichri, a Benjamite opportunist, exploits inter-tribal tension to launch a fresh secession against the Davidic throne. The chapter traces five movements — Sheba's rebellion, the reminder of David's sin through the fate of the concubines, Joab's cold-blooded murder of Amasa, the wise woman of Abel-Beth-Maacah who ends the revolt, and the list of David's officers — each illuminating how God preserves His kingdom despite the sinfulness of its human participants. Typologically, the chapter anticipates the rejection and vindication of David's greater Son: the worthless rebel who rises against God's anointed receives a mortal head wound, echoing the protoevangelion promise of the seed of the woman crushing the serpent's head.