PRIDE goes BEFORE a FALL!
January 20 Bible Reading: Exodus Chapters 7-9
PRIDE goes BEFORE a FALL!
God had
raised Pharaoh in Egypt in order to display His power in him which would result
in God’s name be declared in all the earth. Yet, Pharaoh exalted himself
against God and the children of Israel and would not let them go to worship God
(Exodus 9:16-17). That is the reason why God hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and
multiplied His signs and wonders in the land of Egypt (Exodus 7:3) so that the
Egyptians would realize the power of the true God (v. 5). With the passing of
each miracle or plague, we read that Pharaoh hardened his heart (Exodus 7:13,
22; 8:15, 19, 32; 9:7, 12, 35).
In his book ‘In the Name of Jesus’ Henri Nouwen asks
this question: What makes the temptation
of power so seemingly irresistible? He goes on to answer that maybe it is
that power offers an easy substitute to the hard task of love. It seems easier
to be God than to love God, easier to control people than to love
people, easier to own life than
to love life. Jesus asks us, “Do you love me?”, and we ask him back, “Can we sit at your right hand and your left
hand in your kingdom?” (Matt. 20:21). Ever since Eve made a choice in the
Garden of Eden to become “like gods
knowing good from evil” (Gen. 3:5), we have been tempted to replace love with power, choose control over the cross and to become a leader over being led.
Let us not be like Pharaoh whose hardened his heart and exalted himself – he ended up in the bottom of the Red Sea eventually. Let us always remember that “pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). Let us today “humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt us in due time” (1 Peter 5:6)
