Moses had been adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter. Hebrews 11:24-25 “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.”  As a member of the royal Egyptian family, Moses likely had opportunities to indulge in many fleshly pleasures.  He could have indulged in sexual immorality; he could have indulged in gluttony; he could have collected great wealth.  There were likely many sinful pleasures he could have participated in. Moses chose to be identified with the people of God rather than enjoy the temporary pleasures of sin.

Sin has a certain appeal to it.  It may be easy to see the pleasures and “benefits” of the sin and not see the evilness and the consequences that it brings.  Hebrews 3:12-13 “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”  Sin is deceitful.  Eve was deceived by the serpent into thinking that the benefits of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil were worth disobeying God and suffering death.  Sexual immorality has an appeal to our fleshly desires for sexual pleasure.  But in sexual immorality, we even sin against our own body. 1 Corinthians 6:18 “Flee sexual immorality.  Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.”  To sin against your own body, perhaps the apostle is referring to the consequences of contacting sexually transmitted diseases which often results from sexual immorality. Covetousness results from our strong fleshly desire to possess material things.  But covetousness makes material things our god. We are told in Colossians 3:5 that covetousness is idolatry. Because of the desirability of sin, we are tempted to indulge ourselves.  James 1:14-15 “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.”  Although sin seems desirable, sin has bad consequences; the ultimate consequence of sin is death.

Rather than be tempted by the desirability of sin, I encourage you as a Christian to develop a hatred for all that is evil and sinful.  Romans 12:9b “Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.”  The word here translated as hate or abhor implies an intense hatred for the evil or sin.  Psalm 97:10 tells us “You who love the Lord, hate evil!”  If you love the Lord, you will hate evilness and sin. Proverbs 8:13 tells us that “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.”  If you fear or respect God, you will hate evil. If you truly have an intense hatred for all sin and evil, then it should be easy to avoid being enticed by any pleasures of sin.  How can you be tempted by what you hate?

I suppose that God hates all sin.  However, let us look at things that we are specifically told that He hates.  Proverbs 6:16-19  “These six things the LORD hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren.”  A proud look: Pride, arrogance, a lifted-up heart. A lying tongue: Deception, dishonesty, falsehood.  Hands that shed innocent blood: Violence, murder, harming the innocent.  A heart that devises wicked plans: Plotting evil, manipulating, scheming.  Feet that are swift in running to evil: Eagerness to sin, impulsive wrongdoing.  A false witness who speaks lies: Perjury, slander, false accusations.  One who sows discord among brethren: Division, strive, sowing conflict in relationships.  We are specifically told that the Lord hates these seven things.  If God hates these things, should you not hate them as well?

There are many things that God tells us in the Bible that are an abomination to Him.  That means that they were loathsome and detestable to Him.  Here are a few such things: Homosexuality (Leviticus 20:13); cross dressing (Deuteronomy 22:5); sexual immorality (Leviticus 18 and 20); witchcraft, sorcery, mediums and the like (Deuteronomy 18:9-12); carving or molding an idol (Deuteronomy 27:15); idolatrous practices (2 Kings 23:13); the way of the wicked (Proverbs 15:9); everyone proud in heart (Proverbs 16:5); he who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just (Proverbs 17:15); dishonest scales (Proverbs 11:1); hypocrisy in worship (Isaiah 1); many things that are highly esteemed by the world (Luke 16:15).  Since these things are an abomination to the Lord, how do you look at them?  Are they an abomination to you also?

The apostle wrote about those who reject God and His ways. Romans 1:28-32 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.” This passage lists many things that I believe God hates.  But notice the last phrase: “not only do the same but approve of those who practice them.”  Do you approve of those who practice these kinds of things?  Are you entertained by evil practices?  Do you enjoy reading about or watching TV, movies, or videos of evil practices?  How can we be entertained by things that God hates?  Should you not instead hate and be repulsed by evil that might be presented to you?

To avoid being tempted by the desirability of sin, I encourage you to learn to hate evil.  Hate the things that God hates.  Don’t be entertained by evil things.  Instead, love what God loves. Micah 6:8  “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?”