PRIDE GOES BEFORE DESTRUCTION
PRIDE GOES BEFORE DESTRUCTION “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18)
Pride originated in heaven when Satan said: “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.” (Is. 14:13-15) Note that from the very beginning pride goes before destruction!
Note that while Satan sought to exalt himself, God was going to bring him down to the realm of the dead. The same truth is stated about Satan in Ezekiel 28:15-17: “You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created till wickedness was found in you. Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.” Note again that pride goes before destruction!
Pride was the original sin! C.S. Lewis said: “According to Christian teachers, the essential vice, the utmost evil, is Pride. Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness, and all that, are mere fleabites in comparison: it was through Pride that the devil became the devil: Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.” Incredibly,, even though homosexuality is an abomination to God (Lev. 18:22), many homosexuals are proud of their sin. In fact, homosexuals devote the entire month of June to celebration their “pride”. The name June is derived from the Roman goddess of marriage, Juno. Families believed that a couple married in June would be blessed with happiness forever. It is hard to imagine a more obvious rebellion against God and marriage than the fact that “June” was selected as “Pride Month”. It all began on June 28, 1969 when police raided a homosexual bar in New York. Homosexual activists resented the raid and started riots in protest. The next year the “Pride Marches” spread throughout cities in the U.S. Today the rebellion continues to spread as LGBT groups join in protests around the world.
Official recognition came in June 1999 when US President Bill Clinton recognized June as Pride Month for Gays and Lesbians. In 2011 President Barak Obama expanded Pride Month to include the whole LGBT community. After taking office in 2021, President Joe Biden continued the recognition of Pride Month and even authorized U.S. missions overseas to fly the LGBT Pride flag on their official flagpoles.
God hates pride and it is sad to see millions celebrating something God hates! Please consider what God thinks about “pride”:
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Proverbs 6:16-19 lists 7 things that God hates and a proud look is at the top of the list! •
Proverbs 8:13: “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior, and perverse speech”.
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Proverbs 11:2: “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.”
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Proverbs 15:25: “The Lord tears down the proud man’s house.”s
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Proverbs 16:5: “The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: they will not go unpunished.”
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Proverbs 18:12: “Before his downfall a man’s heart is proud, but humility comes before honor.”
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Proverbs 21:4: “Haughty eyes and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked are sin!” •
Psalms 10:4: “In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all this thoughts there is no room for God.”
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James 4:6: “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
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I Peter 5:5-6: “Clothe yourself with humility toward one another because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time.”
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Isaiah 2:12: “For the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning Against everyone who is proud and lofty And against everyone who is lifted up, That he may be abased.” •
Isaiah 23:9: “The Lord Almighty planned it, to bring low the pride of all glory and to humble all who are renowned of the earth.”
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Daniel 5:20: “But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed of his royal throne and stripped of his glory.”
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Luke 1:51: “He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.”
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1 Corinthians 13:4: “Love . . . does not boast, it is not proud.”
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Etc. Etc. Etc.
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PLEASE REMEMBER THAT PRIDE GOES BEFORE DESTRUCTION!
SODOM AND GOMORRAH
Paul described man’s decline into sexual perversion by stating that “although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.” Note: “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” (Romans 1:21-27)
Sodom and Gomorrah are famous for homosexuality and the destruction of those cities is recorded in Genesis 19:1-29). Peter also makes reference to this destruction by reminding his readers that God: “condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings;” (2 Peter 2:6-10)
Please note that their pride went before their destruction!
DAVID AND GOLIATH
Goliath, as you know, was a giant. “His height was six cubits and a span. He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.” (1 Samuel 17:4-7)
When Goliath came closer to David: “He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!” (1 Samuel 17:42-44)
“David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.” (1 Samuel 17:45-47)
When the battle was over, the proud Goliath was dead, and the devout David severed his head as a trophy. In fact he carrie that head all the way to Jerusalem as a symbol of what happens to those who revel against God (1 Samuel 17:540. Once again we see evidence that pride goes before destruction!
HEZEKIAH AND SENNACHERIB
Hezekiah was the king of Judah. Sennacherib was the king of Assyria. The story of Sennacherib’s amazing defeat at Jerusalem is recorded three times in the Bible – 2 Kings 18:17-19:37; 2 Chronicles 32; and Isaiah 36-37.
The king of Assyria was so proud and confident of victory that he offered to give Hezekiah 2,000 horses if he was able to put riders on them (2 Kings 18:23).
“This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says: On what are you basing your confidence, that you remain in Jerusalem under siege? When Hezekiah says, ‘The Lord our God will save us from the hand of the king of Assyria,’ he is misleading you, to let you die of hunger and thirst. Did not Hezekiah himself remove this god’s high places and altars, saying to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar and burn sacrifices on it’? “Do you not know what I and my predecessors have done to all the peoples of the other lands? Were the gods of those nations ever able to deliver their land from my hand? Who of all the gods of these nations that my predecessors destroyed has been able to save his people from me? How then can your
god deliver you from my hand? Now do not let Hezekiah deceive you and mislead you like this. Do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of my predecessors. How much less will your god deliver you from my hand!” Sennacherib’s officers spoke further against the LordGod and against his servant Hezekiah. The king also wrote letters ridiculing the Lord, the God of Israel, and saying this against him: “Just as the gods of the peoples of the other lands did not rescue their people from my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.” Then they called out in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to terrify them and make them afraid in order to capture the city. They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world—the work of human hands.” (2 Chronicles 32:10-19)
As you know, pride goes before destruction: “Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisrok, his sons Adrammelek and Sharezer killed him with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.” (Isaiah 37:36-38)
HAMAAN AND MORDECAI
King Xerxes was ruler over 127 provinces that stretched from India to Cush (Esther 1:1). Hamaan was honored by King Xerxes and even given a seat of honor higher than all of the other nobles. All the royal officials bowed down to Hamaan for the king had commanded them to do so.
Mordecai the Jew, however, refused to comply. Hamaan, therefore, hated Mordecai and offered to give the king ten thousand talents of silver in exchange for a decree “to kill and annihilate all the Jews – young and old, women, and little children – on a single day, the thirteenth day of the twelfth month the month of Adar, and to plunder their goods.” (Esther 3:13) Hamaan’s hatred, as you see, went far beyond just one man. It involved the whole Jewish race!
Please read the book of Esther to find the details of this amazing story. It only has ten chapters. You will discover that Hamaan’s pride resulted in his destruction. “Hamaan boasted to them about his vast wealth, his many sons, and all the ways the king had honored him and how he had elevated him above the other nobles and officials.” (Esther 5:11) The wicked Hamaan even built a gallows 75 feet high on which to hang Mordecai the Jew (Esther 5:14).
Later, when the king asked Hamaan: “What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?” the proud Hamaan egotistically assumed it was him that the king was going to honor (Esther 6:6) He was wrong! The king intended to honor Mordecai who was the focus of his hatred.
Hamaan’s pride went before his destruction for God intervened and this proud man was hanged on his own gallows. Then Mordecai the Jew, whom he hated, was promoted to be second in rank to the king himself (Esther 10:3).
This miraculous story is celebrated each year by Jews in the Feast of Purim. This is just another of many warnings in the Bible against the sin of pride!
KING HEROD
There were many descendants of Herod the Great who were in positions of power. Herod Agrippa I was the king of Judea from AD 41 to 44. He was a grandson of Herod the Great and nephew of Herod Antipas. He had the apostle James put to death with the sword (Acts 12:2). When he saw that it pleased the Jews he also had Peter arrested, intending to execute him after the Passover.
Since the apostles had mysteriously escaped from prison some time before (Acts 5:17-21), Herod assigned 16 soldiers to guard Peter (Acts 12:4). When an angel of God delivered Peter from prison Herod had all 16 soldiers tortured and put to death (Acts 12:18-19).
“Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply. On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died.” (Acts 12:19-23)
Once again we are faced with the harsh reality that pride goes before destruction!
GOD LAUGHS AT THE POWER OF EARTHLY KINGS
Pilate said to Jesus: “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you, or to crucify you?” (John 19:10)
“Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power at all over me if it were not given to you from above.” (John 19:11)
Jesus was right!
Belshazzar was the king of Babylon, but his future was in the hands of God. When God wrote the doom of King Belshazzar in unforgettable letters across the wall, Daniel explained to him: “Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. Because of the high position he gave him, all the nations and peoples of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone he wishes. But you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of
silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways. Therefore he sent the hand that wrote the inscription.” (Daniel 5:18-24) “THAT VERY NIGHT BELSHAZZAR, KING OF THE BABYLONIANS, WAS SLAIN, AND DARIUS THE MEDE TOOK OVER THE KINGDOM AT THE AGE OF SIXTY TWO.” (Daniel 5:30)
All earthly kings are mortal and are a mere heart beat away from death and destruction! So when King Herod and Pilate, (representatives of Rome), conspired with the rulers of the Jews to try and stop the church, Peter and John remembered the inspired words of David in the second psalm: “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One” (Ps. 2:1-2) David continued: “The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them.” (Ps 2:4)
So, instead of being intimidated by the puny power of these earthly rulers, they prayed: “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your words with great boldness.” (Acts 4:19)
JESUS WAS NOT PROUD
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature[ of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11)
Jesus said: “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:12) Please note that Jesus took seven steps down from deity, and God brought him seven steps up to honor and glory.
Seven steps down:
1. Jesus made himself nothing.
2. Taking the very nature of a servant.
3. Being made in human likeness.
4. And being found in appearance as a man.
5. He humbled Himself.
6. And became obedient unto death.
7. Even death on a cross.
God brought Jesus up seven steps to glory:
1. God exalted him to the highest place.
2. And gave him a name above every name.
3. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.
4. In heaven.
5. On the earth.
6. And under the earth.
7. And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father!
THE POINT OF THIS IS THAT “YOUR ATTITUDE SHOULD BE THE SAME AS THAT OF CHRIST JESUS.” (PHIL. 2:5)
The disciples also needed to learn this lesson for they also struggled with the sin of pride. “A dispute also arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves.” (Luke 22:24-27)
Jesus was not proud, he was meek and humble in heart (Matthew 11:29). We also need to be meek and humble in heart!
Jesus is famous for washing the feet of his disciples. Before he did so, however, the Scriptures remind us: “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” (John 13:3-5)
When we recognize our relationship with the Father, as Jesus did, and when we know that we will soon be in the presence of God, as Jesus was, then we too can humble ourselves as Jesus did!
THE GREAT HEROES OF THE FAITH WERE ALSO HUMBLE
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“Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth.” (Numbers 12:3)
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Solomon prayed: “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” (1 Kings 3:7-9)
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Gideon asked God: “How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” (Judges 6:15)
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Isaiah said: “Woe to me . . . I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5)
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John the Baptist said: “I baptize with water . . .but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” (John 1:26)
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Paul wrote: “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners – of whom I am the worst.” (1 Timothy 1:15)
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Please consider this inspired advice from Jesus: “When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable:“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” (Luke 14:7- 11)
PLEASE CHOOSE TO EXALT JESUS AND NOT YOURSELF!
Please consider this testimony from Paul: “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” (Philippians 3:7-16)
Yes! “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall”