Seven Things God Finds Abominable: #3 — Hands that shed innocent blood
Welcome back to our continuing study on “Seven Things God Finds Abominable.”
If you’re new to our study, this seven-part series explores Proverbs 6:16–19 and God’s own list of what He calls “an abomination.” So far, we’ve examined “A Proud Look” and “A Lying Tongue.” If you haven’t read those yet, I invite you to go back.
Today, we arrive at the third abomination in Proverbs 6:17:
“These six things doth the LORD hate: Yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood.”
This is one of the most severe charges in all of the Bible, because it strikes at the very image of God Himself. Life is sacred, not because man deems it so, but because God made it so. To shed innocent blood, then, is to lay violent hands upon what God has made in His own likeness.
The Lord hates the shedding of innocent blood because it is an act of rebellion against His rule. He breathes life into every soul, and only He holds the power to call it back again. Life was meant to be shared with God, not stolen from one another. When we spill it, we rebel against the very order that makes life possible.
The Value of Life
When Cain rose up against his brother Abel and slew him, it was not just fratricide but also it was rebellion against Heaven. Genesis 4:10 records God’s words to Cain:
“What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.”
The blood of the innocent always cries out to God. From the murder of Abel to the slaughter of infants in Pharaoh’s Egypt, to the cross of Calvary where the Innocent died for the guilty. It is a fact that the shedding of innocent blood is woven into the history of sin and God has never overlooked it.
Proverbs 28:17 warns:
“A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him.”
The Lord does not take lightly the destruction of life, whether by the sword, the tongue, or the pen. Which brings us to our next point.
The Shedding of Innocent Blood is more than Murder
It’s easy to read this verse and think only of murderers, but “hands that shed innocent blood” extends far beyond what we would initially think it does. In our time, it can be found in policies that destroy life before it draws breath (abortion), in industries that profit from violence, and in hearts that justify cruelty for convenience.
From the unborn child to the unjustly condemned, every act that devalues life is a strike against God. Our culture often disguises destruction in the language of choice or necessity, but God’s Word never wavers. Exodus 20:13 does not suggest but instead declares:
“Thou shalt not kill.”
Not every act of murder requires blood upon the hands. Some kill with words, signatures, and decrees. Look at what King David did for example. When he committed adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, he feared that his sin would be exposed. Rather than confess it, David sought to conceal it. He summoned Uriah home from battle, hoping the man would lie with his wife and believe the child she carried was his own. However Uriah, faithful to his fellow soldiers, refused to enjoy the comforts of home while Israel’s army still camped in the open field.
Unable to hide his sin, David turned to darker means. He wrote a letter to Joab, the commander of his army, instructing him to place Uriah in the deadliest part of the battle and then to withdraw from him so he would be killed. That letter David had penned became Uriah’s death sentence.
Though David never lifted a weapon, he was still the murderer. When the prophet Nathan confronted him, God’s verdict was unmistakable in 2 Samuel 12:9:
“Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the children of Ammon.”
David’s hands appeared clean, but God saw them stained with innocent blood. His guilt was not lessened by distance or delegation. The Lord sees beyond the act and instead looks at the intention of the heart.
God hates hands that shed innocent blood because He loves life. Every human soul bears His signature, and to destroy it is to deface His creation. Yet the gospel reminds us that even the vilest offender may be washed clean by the very blood he once despised.
Psalm 34:14 commands:
“Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.”
Our call as believers is not merely to avoid violence but to protect the innocent, defend the weak, and value every life as God does. The true mark of righteousness is not power over life, but reverence for it.
So let us keep our hands pure, our hearts tender, and our voices lifted for those who cannot speak for themselves. For the Lord still hates hands that shed innocent blood but He still loves the souls who repent and return to Him.