Pride: A Path To Destruction
Pride: A Path to Destruction
Part 1
Stephen D. Edwards
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 ESV)
Introduction
This is possibly the hardest subjects for me to write about, because I of everything I know pride is the least. The odd thing about saying that is that objectively, there’s no pride in the statement is there? Part of the difficulty here is remaining humble while writing about the subject. So I pray for humility God’s direction in this task. I also pray that God will use me in this weakness.
There are four definitions of pride in the Oxford English Dictionary:
1) A high, (especially) an excessively high, opinion of one’s own worth or importance which gives rise to a feeling or attitude of superiority over others; inordinate self-esteem;
2) Arrogant, haughty, or overbearing behaviour, demeanour, or treatment of others, esp. as exhibiting an inordinately high opinion of oneself;
3) A consciousness of what befits, is due to, or is worthy of oneself or one’s position; self-respect; self-esteem, esp. of a legitimate or healthy kind or degree;
4) A person of whom, or thing of which, any person or group of people is proud that which causes a feeling of pride in its possessor; (hence) the foremost, best, or most distinguished of a class, country, etc. In pride and joy: a cherished person or thing.
God looks at our hearts, not occasionally as we might perceive by how infrequently we see this kind of verse in Scripture. Instead, God sees our hearts all the time.
I find it interesting that the two definitions we need to be aware of are the first two on the list. The last two fit into the category of what I call healthy pride. The first two definitions are of the nature that leads us to fall after fall until we reach rock bottom.
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18 ESV)
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Pride is a leading of the enemy away from God’s ways and into evil paths of destruction. Stuck in a prideful mind-set, we can be blind to it, but to a witness of our pride it’s obvious. If we’ve ever found ourselves in an argument, it is pride that keeps us from humbling ourselves in order to back out of the skirmish to make peace. But we need to choose to speak in love and humility.
Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. (Matthew 7:13 ESV)
I have wondered two things about this verse for a long time: First, why do so many people not see that simply believing in Jesus leads to salvation and eternal life? Second, why did Jesus say this? In the last few months I’ve watched many debates between atheists and Christians. What appears evident from these debates is pride. There is no humility in their presentation of their ideals. For example, the late Christopher Hitchens made assertions that the Bible is full of fairy stories that are unreliable and not worth believing, while others present archaeological evidence that many of the events actually took place, most importantly, the resurrection of Jesus attested to by many both within Scripture and from other sources. Jesus’ statement is a parable in that tells us that many whose pride gets in the way of receiving their salvation.
It’s so simple! Matthew 7:13 is indeed about choosing the salvation that Jesus offers, but it can also be choosing to follow Him by following His example.
I think one of the best ways to look at the issue of pride in our lives is to examine some of the characters we find in the Bible, both the prideful and the humble. So let’s have a look.
One thing you might notice about this selection of characters trapped in their pride is that they are destructive to their self as well as to others, though that is not always the intention behind their action. It must go along with that haughty spirit.
Haman the Agagite
We might as well label Haman the Agagite the villain of the Book of Esther. The King Ahasuerus had promoted Haman to second in command in Persia even giving him his signet ring which allowed him to make his own laws. Haman’s first act was to demand that all the servants at the gate bow down to him, almost as though he was equal to the king and making himself appear to be better than anyone other than the king of the land. The servants of the king may have perceived him that way.
If it was not for Mordecai Esther’s cousin who refused to bow down to anyone other than God, Haman would have had his way. However, that ignited Haman’s anger and so began the plot to destroy the Jews. He was deceptive in that he told the king that there was a people in the midst of the Persian population that didn’t follow the king’s rules and that it was not to the king’s benefit to accept them. So the king gave Haman the authority and means to enact and enforce any law he wished. So he wrote a law that the Jews were to be annihilated.
When Esther the wife and queen of the Persian king heard of this from Mordecai, she told the king that her people would be destroyed at the hands of Haman’s decree. As the king came to understand that Esther’s cousin Mordecai had saved the king’s life at an earlier time, he wished to break this decree. So he decided to honor Mordecai by the method that Haman himself would recommend, and had Haman himself give the honor to him.
It was then that the king had Haman then impaled on the very pole that Haman erected and purposed to impale Mordecai. His sons all met the same fate.
Haman was a descendant of the same King Agag of the Amalekites whom God commanded King Saul to devote to destruction; Mordecai and Esther were descendants of King Saul. However, Saul had failed to obey God in this task, leaving Samuel to be the hand of God to execute the king he’d commanded Saul to kill.
And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. (1 Samuel 15:33 ESV)
It is possible that the source of Haman’s pride was the result of the defeat of his people at the hand of Joshua and Moses at Rephidim (Exodus 7:13-16) and God declared through Moses that the Lord would have war against Amalek from generation to generation. (Exodus 17:16 ESV)
Either way, it’s clear from Haman’s words and actions that his pride ruled his life as he thought of himself better than anyone, including God and the King Ahasuerus.
As an atheist, I believed I was better than others, which was an attitude that came across to others as arrogant and haughty even in my kindest ways. My pride kept me from receiving salvation and led me toward destruction, but God had other plans.
Jezebel
Jezebel was the wife and queen of King Ahab of Samaria. She was the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidon (a land of Gentiles). As queen she held more power than the common people and was the epitome of the idea that power corrupts absolutely. Her story plays out in 1 Kings 16 to 2 Kings 9.
If her husband had a shred of faith in God left after his own misgivings, he lost it all as it would appear he lost control of the kingdom, because he began to worship Baal due to his wife’s influence on him. (1 Kings 16:31). According to Obadiah their servant, she cut off and killed the prophets of the Lord (1 Kings 16:31, 1 Kings 18:13).
After Ahab told her that the prophet Elijah had killed the prophets of Baal, she sent a message threatening to kill him. That was when he ran to Beersheba. (1 Kings 19:1-3).
The anger of the Lord was stirred against the house of Ahab because of Jezebel. Elijah heard from God and prophesied to Ahab that he’d found the king because he sold his soul to do evil in sight of God, that He burn his house up, making his house like the house of Jeroboam (Israel’s first king after Solomon’s reign), because of the king provoked God’s anger in making Israel sin. He continued, saying that dogs would eat Jezebel within the city walls. (1 Kings 21:20-24)
One of Elisha’s servants and son of a prophet, also prophesied to Jehu that he would bring down the house of Ahab so that He could avenge the lives of the prophets and servants of the Lord. He also prophesied that Jezebel would be eaten by dogs and that there would be nothing left of her for a burial. (2 Kings 9:1-10)
By the time Jehu arrived in Jezreel, Ahab had repented, gone into battle with Jehoshaphat king of Judah and died in his chariot from an arrow shot. As he had his chariot driver take him out of the battle he died and the blood spilled to the bottom of the chariot. After he was buried, dogs licked up the blood according to Elijah’s prophecy. (1 Kings 22:29-39)
When Jezebel learned that Jehu was in Jezreel she put make up on and did her hair then looked out of her window and asked him as he entered the gate, “Is it peace?”
He looked up at her as two of her eunuchs looked on and asked, “Who is on my side?” Then he commanded, “Throw her down,”
So they threw her down. Her blood splattered on the wall and his horses, and they crushed her.
He went inside to eat and drink and commanded servants, “Take care of this cursed woman and bury her.”
On their return they told him that they couldn’t find more than the skull, feet and palms of her hands to bury.
Jehu said that this fulfilled the prophecy of Elijah that dogs would eat the flesh of Jezebel and that her corpse will be the dung in the fields of Jezreel so that nobody could say, “This is Jezebel.” (2 Kings 9:30-36)
Notice that Jezebel’s eunuchs threw her down at Jehu’s command. That action on their part makes me think that they had hated her for her haughty behavior just as much as anyone else. After all, why else would anyone throw his master down to her death?
Why is it significant that Elisha prophesied the same thing to Jehu that Elijah did to Ahab? Well, God needed Jehu to fulfil Elijah’s prophecy about Jezebel. I have no doubt that Ahab would tell his wife what Elijah had to say, because he told her everything else that went on before. So she had time to humble herself and repent. God saw her heart. By the time, Elisha delivers his prophecy, and Jehu arrives and has her executed, it’s too late.
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I have a side note to add about Jezebel and the prophecies, but it’s a big one. Elijah’s prophecy as it relates to Jezebel is like Jesus coming two millennia ago calling the world to repentance. The prophecy of Elisha’s servant is like Jesus’s second coming in which He will deliver the final judgment.
I have known a few people in my life whose actions were almost as evil as Jezebel’s, except for the count of murder against her. They were hard to deal with. They all believed their actions were righteous and above reproach. It is from that experience that I relate to the story of Jezebel. I also know it is this story is behind the name of one of the most evil spirits around: the spirit of Jezebel. But it does convict me as well. The reason for that is that I believe that God views all sin as equally evil. I’ve been known to say, “Sin is just sin. Whether I steal a paperclip or murder a man of God, it’s all sin.” But this story is in the Bible to highlight God’s judgment on someone who refuses to repent and how gruesome that will be. That lack of repentance and pride may be what God would consider the greatest evil.
BIO:
Stephen D. Edwards began writing in his teens. His memoir titled The Branch and the Vine: How Jesus Gave Me Freedom from Depression, available at Kobo and Amazon. He also writes Christian themed fiction to encourage and inspire. Edwards’ most recent work has been published in Agape Review, Faith on Every Corner, Calla Press and Open Door Poetry.