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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“We have heard of Moab’s pride—how great
is her arrogance!—of her insolence, her pride, her conceit and the haughtiness
of her heart. I know her insolence but it is futile,” declares the Lord, “and
her boasts accomplish nothing.”
“Therefore I wail over Moab, for all Moab I cry out, I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth. I weep for you, as Jazer weeps, you vines of Sibmah. Your branches spread as far as the sea; they reached as far as Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your ripened fruit and grapes. Joy and gladness are gone from the orchards and fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy. Although there are shouts, they are not shouts of joy.”
“The sound of their cry rises from
Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz, from Zoar as far as Horonaim and Eglath
Shelishiyah, for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.”
Jeremiah 48:29-34
This ends today’s reading
from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Have you ever been around an arrogant person?
Maybe you are one yourself.
You’ll know when you see the following behavioral symptoms:
1. an exaggerated sense of their own importance or abilities
2. overbearing personality
3. egotistical
4. conceited
5. bragging and boasting
6. a high and mighty attitude
Arrogance is usually born out of pride that has grown to
sinful proportions, the kind found in today’s scripture passage as we continue
to study the word of the Lord from Jeremiah 48. Look again at these words here:
“We
have heard of Moab’s pride—how great is her arrogance!—of her insolence, her
pride, her conceit and the haughtiness of her heart. I know her insolence but
it is futile,” declares the Lord, “and her boasts accomplish nothing.”
“Therefore I wail over Moab, for all Moab I cry out, I moan for the people of Kir Hareseth. I weep for you, as Jazer weeps, you vines of Sibmah. Your branches spread as far as the sea; they reached as far as Jazer. The destroyer has fallen on your ripened fruit and grapes. Joy and gladness are gone from the orchards and fields of Moab. I have stopped the flow of wine from the presses; no one treads them with shouts of joy. Although there are shouts, they are not shouts of joy.”
“The
sound of their cry rises from Heshbon to Elealeh and Jahaz, from Zoar as far as
Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah, for even the waters of Nimrim are dried up.” Jeremiah 48:29-34
Notice here that Moab’s problematic arrogance was done in
full view of the Lord without reservation. The sinful pride they adopted was,
in the Lord’s words, “great” underscored by their insolence, conceit, haughtiness,
and boasting. Humility wasn’t a consideration when it came to the way the
Moabites lived.
Such was the severity of Moab’s unrepentant sin that it
drove the prophet Jeremiah to weep for them, knowing that their transgressions
were bringing God’s judgment in its most severe form. Indeed, the powerful
Babylonian forces, referred to as the “destroyer” in the Lord’s words, were
coming who would bring complete and utter destruction to the land. The Moabites
would be taken away into captivity, removing the joy and the gladness of the
people as they were taken into exile and oppression in a foreign land.
Of course, none of this should come as any surprise to
anyone who knows the word of God. He has made it no secret that He detests
people who live arrogantly. Consider these verses:
After Uzziah became
powerful, his pride led to his
downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God. 2 Chronicles 26:16
In his pride, the
wicked man does not seek Him; in all his thoughts, there is no room for God.
Psalm 10:4
To fear the Lord is
to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.
Proverbs 8:13
When pride comes,
then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. Proverbs 11:2
Where there is
strife, there is pride, but wisdom is found in those who take advice. Proverbs
13:10
The eyes of the
arrogant will be humbled and human pride brought low; the Lord alone will be
exalted in that day. Isaiah 2:11
For everything in the
world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the
Father but from the world. 1 John 2:16
Pride goes before
destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Proverbs 16:18
I could go on and on but you get the point. The Lord hates
arrogance and will bring consequences on anyone who adopts this kind of life attitude.
So how do we prevent ourselves from falling into sin by
living this way?
The answer is simple really.
All we need to do is to live like the only One who was ever
perfectly humble in all He did.
Of course, I’m talking about none other than Jesus, God’s
only Son, the Savior of all mankind.
Think about it. Jesus possessed all the power of God within
Him. He performed miraculous acts that showed He was no mere human. No one had
the might or authority to rival or oppose Him.
Not the Jewish religious authorities.
Not the Romans.
No one.
Yes, no one could come against Jesus and win except in one
scenario:
Jesus would have to allow them to do so and as we know, that’s
exactly what He did. God’s word from Paul’s epistle to the Philippians
proclaims as much:
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
If Jesus had arrogance, He would have considered Himself
above suffering, persecution, false accusation, and crucifixion. He would have
called down legions of angels to destroy any one who opposed Him, leveraging
His almighty power against His enemies.
But that’s not what happened. The scriptures tell us that
Jesus did not take advantage of the fact that He was one with God, His Father.
Rather, He exercised humility and “made Himself nothing by taking the very nature
of a servant” before “becoming obedient to death” on Calvary’s cross.
It was the only way to save us all. A perfect sacrifice was
required to atone for the transgressions of mankind and Jesus allowed Himself
to become the sacrifice, the Lamb of God who through His death would take away
the sins of the world.
Note that this did not cost Jesus position with God. Rather,
Jesus’ Father rewarded His Son with the highest honor possible, exalting Him to
the highest place to sit in power and authority over creation so that at the
name of Jesus, every knee should bow and confess Him as Lord to God’s glory.
Friends, can you see that humility isn’t a weakness?
The world would have you believe it is but then again the
world wants you to live in sin.
God on the other hand wants you to have the same mindset as
Jesus in your relationships with others and that mindset is grounded in
humility, not arrogance.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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