"When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom." - Prov 11:2
"Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished. " - Pro 16:5
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Why does the Lord hate pride so ? We were scratching our heads trying to understand it .... , here the texts from Proverbs that talk about it.... but they just reinforce the message, and don't necessarily tell us why it's so bad...
Set A: The "Proud"
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Pro_6:16-19 These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A -proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.
Pro_15:25 The LORD will destroy the house of the -proud: but he will establish the border of the widow.
Pro_16:5 Every one that is -proud in heart is an -abomination to the LORD: though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
Pro_16:19 Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Pro_21:4 An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.
Pro_21:24 Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dealeth in --proud --wrath.
Pro_28:25 He that is of a proud heart ---stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.
Set B: Pride
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Pro_8:13 The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.
Pro 13:10 Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom.
Pro 14:3 In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.
Pro 16:18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
Pro 29:23 A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.
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Why is pride SOOO wrong? Being Proud/Pride does not "seem" to be evil......
.........Shouldn't we be proud that we are created in God's image, that He has redeemed us by His precious blood? Shouldn't we be proud of our kids when they do well? Shouldn't we be justifiably proud of our (admittedly) humble accomplishments as humans, as individuals?
Is it wrong to aspire to be GREAT... e.g. MAGA, being proud of being white, black, brown, yellow, gay, bi, straight....
Even the Lord seems to be -proud- of Job!!!! Just check out what He says to Satan....
" And the LORD said unto Satan, ----Hast thou considered my servant Job----, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?" - Job 1:8
Hey Satan, you went roaming on the planet, did you get a chance to check out my servant Job? He's m'boy!!!! Obviously we are parapharasing.... ?
What -is- the deal with pride, and how could a created being like Satan aspire to be like God Himself, when he (Satan) has much more intimate knowledge of the Lord than us, and would know it is a foolish errand???
We do not claim that we have the definitive answer (God knows) but this is what we can glean from the Word that HAS been given to us. Here it is in summary, and then we will look at it in detail.
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God hates pride because it is :
(a) at its root .... a fundamental ----REJECTION------- of God, and His ways.
Satan's pride caused him to reject God and His ways, Man's Pride denies the existence of a God, and refuses to obey His JUST commands as communicated by His Word, because it does not consider itself beholden to Him for anything.
(b) fundamentally UN-TRUE --- We ARE beholden to GOD for everything, AND There is only One that is good, and that is God!
No one has any basis to boast of anything in comparison to Him, from whom are all things, who sustains all things, for His own good pleasure. { "And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God." (Mat 19:17, Mar 10:18, Luke 18:19) }
If you are boasting of anything over anyone, you have no ground to do so (it is --untrue-- that you are any better!)
To be proud therefore, at the ---highest level---, is to be a liar, and say that you can be, ---AS GOOD AS---, God Himself. That is the lie of the devil, that is also being peddled by fake religion, which says, you can access God by your own works.
And the biggest whopper of them all .... You are your own God and owe no allegiance to anyone!
(c) Pride, as a spiritual attitude (!) is hateful, causes strife and violence, and is FUNDAMENTALLY ALIEN to His nature.
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Well, we said a mouthful. Where did this come from? ....
EXHIBIT A: The fall of God's created beings
God created Angels and Men, with free will. The existence of free will allows for the rejection of God, but in His wisdom, God has deemed that, a universe in which His creatures are free to love or hate Him is --SUPERIOR-- to a universe where everybody has no choice but to obey Him! Hallelujah!...
Here is the Lord speaking to Satan via Ezekiel...
"Thou sealest up the sum, --full of wisdom, and --perfect in beauty. -----Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God;------------ every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the ---day that thou wast ---created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Thou wast perfect in thy ways ---from the day that thou wast ----created----, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have ----filled the midst of thee with -------violence (!!!!) -----, and thou hast ---sinned:
therefore I will cast thee as -----profane---- out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
Thine ----heart was lifted up--- ----because of thy ---beauty, thou hast corrupted thy ---wisdom by reason of thy ---brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. " :- Ezekiel 28:12-17
You get the picture. A created being, created very beautiful (but NOT perfect), present in the Garden of Eden, and close to the throne of God Himself. A being that elected to follow his own path, and reject the wise counsel of God, and took a third of the sons of God with him.
A being that chose the path of power, dominance, violence, self-will and fundamentally disagreed and rejected the way the Lord chose to run His universe. Such a "profane" being cannot coexist with God, and is therefore thrown out of Heaven along with his crew.
EXHIBHIT B: The revealed Plan of God
The fact that angels, and men, are allowed to rebel against God, is for God to show all Heaven and Earth, the righteousness of His judgements, and His glory, truth, and power.
"And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. ---To the intent----- that ----now--- unto the ------principalities and powers in heavenly places------ might be known ---by the church ----the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: " - Eph 3:9-11
Its the principalities and powers in heavenly places that are being educated by the church experience!
This rejection of God began in Heaven, continued from the Garden of Eden and is alive and kicking today!
We see Satan being given the power of being a "god" over this planet, trying to run it his own way, with violence, wickedness, power plays, murders, thefts etc... .... for a ---limited time----. Satan even has the temerity to attempt to offer Christ power to get Him to come over to the "self-willed side".
Christ overcame the enemy - not by war, or fighting - He overcame Him with gentleness, meekness, humility, love, healing, forgiveness!!! Hallelujah!!! Do you see the Righteousness of God's ways now???!!!
You may well say, how can a righteous God submit His creation to this kind of suffering ---- just to make a point?
It can be difficult to grasp, but you have to understand, that eternal beings, gifted with great power, must learn to use it responsibly, as our LORD HIMSELF does!
If God was evil, all life would be meaningless... now imagine a heaven polluted by creatures who constantly disobey God... for all eternity.... how will that work? This temporary (by HIS Standards) experience that we (Angels and Men) are all destined to go through is designed, as Moses said, to DISCIPLINE, and HUMBLE His creation so that we can be LIKE HIM!
The Lord was not being proud when he talked about Job. He was telling the TRUTH!!! Pride is always based on falsehood, and it is the intent of our LORD to destroy it completely.
We will leave you with a prophetic text that sums up this topic, and also accurately forecasts a coming global earthquake designed to humble Men even further.
" For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be upon every one that is ---proud and ---lofty, and upon every one that is ---lifted up; and he shall be ---brought low:
And upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, And upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, And upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. And the ---loftiness of man shall be ---bowed down, and the ---haughtiness of men shall be ---made low: and the LORD --alone-- shall be --exalted-- in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish.
And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to -----shake terribly--- the --earth.
In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; To go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the LORD, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to ---shake terribly the earth.
Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? - Isa 2:12-22
That last verse is so poignant when we see the world collectively unable to "breathe" because of this pandemic. God is humbling us, and that means there is still time.... go to Him!!!
The sufferings of Job illustrate the righteousness of God over His creation, and His prerogative to run things His way because He knows best. Satan lost, and continues to lose, every time he comes to one who has been gifted with the knowledge of the ONE TRUE GOD!
Hallelujah!