The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Amos 6:8b,
"I abhor the pride of Jacob and detest his fortresses; I will deliver up the city and everything in it."
In his indictment of Israel, the Lord proclaims his abhorrence of the pride of Jacob. Consistently, throughout the Scriptures, the Lord speaks of the vileness of pride. Pride was a natural outcome of Israel distancing herself from the Lord.
Peter quotes Proverbs 3:34, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." He points to this passage as he speaks of the importance of young men submitting themselves to their elders, clothing themselves with humility. A rare disposition these days!
I suspect most folks would prefer to find themselves receiving God's grace instead of being opposed by God. Humility is difficult for many though, and it becomes a struggle. I suspect one reason has to do with a failure to recognize the greatness of someone outside ourselves.
Humility is a natural reaction when confronted with greatness, superiority: the kind that points to pristine perfection and a majestic quality of splendor far beyond ourselves. Isaiah had such an experience. What we call his "commissioning" to his prophetic occupation is found in Isaiah 6. His reaction to witnessing the throne of God was, "'Woe to me!' I cried. '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.'" Humility.
In Proverbs 8:13, the personification of the woman Wisdom, says, "To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech." Pride and arrogance point to someone who has not come near the presence of God. Distance is there and the indwelling sinful nature flourishes, manifested in the self-importance and self-adulation of one who has not found cause to draw near to God.
In that those who harbor pride and arrogance have kept themselves distant from the Lord, destruction is inevitable. Proverbs 16:18 tells us, "Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall." This was certainly true of Israel in Amos' day and is just as true for all of us today who fail to come near to God.
There is no need for pride and arrogance to present a danger for us. God has invited us to himself and all we need do is accept his invitation. "Come near to God and he will come near to you." James 4:8a. "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water." Hebrews 10:19-22.
God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. However, he opens wide his arms to us and invites us to himself, providing all we need to discover a genuine and natural humility that attends our proximity to him. He has made the way for us. May we all avail ourselves of what our loving and kind Lord provides us!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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