Leviticus 26:42-44 English Standard Version

42 then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. 43 But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes. 44 Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God.

When I did a word search for abhor I found this opening verse. What I was looking for was this; 

Romans 12:9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

We read the Old Testament to see what transpired between man and God as examples of what to expect since God does not change. Then returning to the search I found this;

Deuteronomy 7:26 And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction.
Deuteronomy 23:7 “You shall not abhor an Edomite, for he is your brother. You shall not abhor an Egyptian, because you were a sojourner in his land.

Those passages confused me. What is abominable and abhorrent if it is not the people?

Answers without context only lead to confusion. Even then the context may lead us to study even further to satisfy our understanding.

Deuteronomy 7:25 The carved images of their gods you shall burn with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord your God.

What is an abomination to the Lord, the worship of a powerless god or the lust for the items that are a symbol of their dedication to those false gods? That was then and we live in the here and now. How can we relate to past mistakes in order to avoid the same mistakes? I find it difficult to watch what is going on around us and separate what people do from what they are. Are they evil or do they do it for gold and silver? I find it more and more difficult to make a righteous judgment every day.

For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7)

International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia

Integrity:

in-teg’-ri-ti (tom, tummah): The translation of tom, “simplicity,” 

Genesis 20:5 Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.”

It is interesting that the first use of the word integrity was said by Abimelech king of Gerar.

Dictionary

Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more

in·teg·ri·ty

noun

1. the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.
2. the state of being whole and undivided.

And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?” Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’ Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.

The simple answer was that Sarah was his sister but fear on Abraham’s part kept him from revealing the whole truth. Abraham fell in love with his half sister and married her. Things in this world are never as simple as telling half truths.

The biblical definition of integrity isn’t just simplicity. It also means  “soundness,” “completeness,” rendered also “upright,” “perfection.”

When we let fear interfere with soundness, completeness, uprightness and perfection, we have failed to trust God for our protection. I can say that because God said this; Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”

God is faithful even when we are not. Abraham did not lie, he just let fear keep him from telling the whole truth. We are not perfect, not yet anyway. When we allow fear to keep us from being completely honest it allows those in the world to render a false assumption about our character.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.