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The Pride Problem!

Today’s reading from Ezekiel is a good reminder of the outcome of pride. God has a message for Ezekiel to give to the kings of Tyre and Egypt. To the king of Tyre, God says because you claim that you are a god and as wise as a god, I am going to bring an army against you, and you will fall (Ezekiel 28:2, 7-8). Concerning Pharaoh, who claims in pride to have made the Nile River, God says that He will pull Pharaoh out of the Nile and into the wilderness and leave him there to die (Ezekiel 29:3-5). Though not mentioned in the reading, The Book of Daniel reminds us of Nebuchadnezzar, who was lifted with pride. God responded by causing him to crawl around on all four limbs like an animal and eat grass like an ox (Daniel 4:30–33). In the New Testament, the people called Herod a god, and because he did not dispute that claim, he immediately broke out into worms sent by God, which consumed him (Acts 12:21–23).

So, what does the Bible say about pride? Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, Than to divide the spoil with the proud. (Proverbs 16:18–19, NKJV) When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom. (Proverbs 11:2, KJV) A proud person lacks wisdom, for wisdom says to stay humble and not think of oneself too highly.

What, then, is our best protection against pride? Notice this instruction from God’s Word. Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. (Romans 12:3, NLT) Yes, by faith, let’s heed this warning from God!

Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from Ezekiel 28-31.

God is just!

God does not overlook anything! A famine breaks out under the reign of David. David inquires of God why there is a famine. God says it is for something that Saul did. Something that Saul did? What did Saul do? And a famine? Why did God bring something upon Israel as devastating as a famine? Notice the answer.

Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year. And David sought the face of the Lord. And the Lord said, “There is bloodguilt on Saul and on his house, because he put the Gibeonites to death.” (2 Samuel 21:1, ESV)

A famine under David’s reign for something the previous king had done? Just because Saul is dead doesn’t mean what Saul did was forgotten. Years later, it was still not okay with God! And it certainly was not forgotten by the Gibeonites!

Four hundred years before our reading, Joshua made a covenant with the Gibeonites before God (Joshua 9). Israel would spare the Gibeonites from bloodshed as they conquered the promised land. However, centuries later, Saul did not honor this covenant, and he murdered some of the Gibeonites to impress the people of Israel! Saul knew better; God was not pleased.

And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.) (2 Samuel 21:2, KJV)

As I read this, a few things stood out to me. First, the sins of Saul (the father) affected his family (the sons) long after he died. Seven of Saul’s family will now die as a result. Sin has lasting consequences. Second, the sins of Saul (the leader) affected all of Israel (the people). Many innocent people in Israel will die in this famine. Third, vengeance belongs to God; He does repay, refusing to overlook the injustice done to the Gibeonites.

Notice the caution here. The lasting consequences of sin are far and wide. Often, sin can be generational in its devastation. Also, vengeance is not ours to take, lest we should get caught up in sinning, too.

Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:19, NLT)

Does this mean you must let all wrongs be committed against you? No! It does mean, however, that God will revisit the wrongs committed against you. Wow!

Herein is our comfort. What has been committed against us will not be forgotten. It will be addressed by the One who knows all things and cannot be fooled. God can be trusted to be perfect, working in the lives of those who wronged us and in our lives, too, when we have wronged others. In the end, God is just.

Child of God, rejoice! We have a just God. Let us pause to remember justice was served upon His own Son at the cross so we might be forgiven! May we rest in our God, who does all things well and will not overlook the guilty but is patient, working to restore all things.

Thank you for joining me as I read and journal chronologically through the Bible! This devotional reflection comes from 2 Samuel 19-21.

Offered to God!

God’s Word always amazes me! Here, we have a chapter with 89 verses crammed full of repetition. Verses 12-73 repeat the same thing 12 times. The twelve tribes of Israel are bringing gifts and offerings to the Levites to help with their work and the dedication of the altar. They all bring the same thing. Repitious! How is this amazing? What is there to see besides carts, silver platters, basins, gold incense containers, goats, bulls, rams, and lambs? While reading through this repetition, a verse from the New Testament came to mind!

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. (Romans 12:1, NLT)

As believers, God is not looking for our inanimate objects, such as carts, platters, basins, and containers. Instead, the Apostle Paul asks us all to bring the same gift and offer it to God. What is this gift? Our bodies! And not as dead sacrifices like the goats, bulls, rams, and lambs Israel gave, but as living sacrifices! Wow, this is strange talk! What does it all mean?

Simply put, we live life through our bodies. For example, we do that through our bodies when we talk to each other. When we help a stranger, we help through our bodies. A living sacrifice is offering our life and body to God for His use and purpose!

Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. (Romans 6:13, NLT)

There is a life-altering truth in front of us! As believers, we are no longer enslaved to serving sin with our bodies because Jesus has broken the power of sin on the cross! We now have the choice to offer ourselves to God, to serve Him through our bodies! Sin leads to death; God is life. To really live life, let’s offer ourselves to God daily and in every way!

Today’s reading: Numbers 7 | Tomorrow’s reading: Numbers 8-10