Posted: 6/21/07
Explore the Bible Series for July 1
Humility can prevent a fall
• Zephaniah 1:12-15; 2:1-3; 3:11-12
First Baptist Church, Duncanville
This week’s lesson is from the book of Zephaniah, which foretells the destruction of Judah by the Chaldeans (or Babylonians). The book outlines God’s outrage over worship of false gods, the coming judgment and God’s mercy toward those who obey him.
Zephaniah is not light reading. The book begins with a blast of God’s wrath. “‘I will sweep away everything from the face of the earth,’ declares the Lord” (1:2). And it ends with the salve of his love: “‘At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home. I will give you honor and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,’ says the Lord” (3:20). How can God change his tone so quickly? What do we need to learn from this harsh indictment against Judah?
Disobedience is pride
We tend to read the story of the Israelites with a knowing shake of the head, failing to realize we are no different. The Israelites experienced a supernatural rescue from Egypt and then doubted God’s ability to provide food in the desert. Since we know the end of the story, we can wonder at their lack of faith. Yet we, after experiencing the personal revelation of salvation through Jesus, wonder if God even listens to our prayers. Then, like the Israelites, we make our own decisions about how to live.
Although in Zephaniah we see God’s rage over our unfaithfulness and disobedience, we also hear his call to humility. But what do obedience and humility have to do with one another? To make the connection, we must grasp that unfaithfulness and disobedience are, in fact, a form of pride.
What is disobedience, after all, but an effort to preserve our own ways of doing things. Obedience is defined as the act of fulfilling a command or instruction. It demands we put aside our own wishes so the wishes of God can be fulfilled. Real obedience occurs when we value God so much that we respect his wishes more than ours.
When we disobey, we ignore God’s wishes and choose our own way. Essentially, we value our own plans more than God’s and, therefore, find it impossible to put God’s wishes above our own.
Pride is defined as an awareness of your own value, often associated with putting too much emphasis on yourself. But look again at the definition of obedience. Valuing your own wishes above others’ is not obedience. Essentially, pride, or valuing your own way, is disobedience, preferring to follow your own impulses rather than God’s.
God hates pride
Seeing pride as disobedience opens the doors to understanding Zephaniah’s message. You see, disobedience is not the root of our problem; pride is. When we find it difficult to obey God, we merely display the symptoms of pride, which is a far deeper problem. But what is pride? Nothing less than elevating ourselves to the status of god. Pride is self-worship.
Throughout the Old Testament, God repeatedly warns the Israelites against worshipping anyone but him. He even devotes two of the Ten Commandments to this mandate, ending with the consequences of disobedience: “You shall not bow down to (idols) or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:5-6).
But pride especially is dangerous because it clouds our thinking and leads us astray. It causes us to believe we are centered in God’s will, when we really are centered on ourselves. It makes us blind to our sins and creates an atmosphere where talking one way and living another is perfectly justifiable.
God hates pride because it separates us from him and challenges his authority. “Woe to the city of oppressors, rebellious and defiled! She obeys no one, she accepts no correction. She does not trust in the Lord, she does not draw near to her God” (3:1-2). God desires us to lean on his wisdom and knowledge as little children trust in their parents. He wants us to seek his guidance for how to live our lives rather than trusting our own ways. But pride never submits and therefore can never really draw near to God.
Humility restores us to God
Humility is defined as an attitude of submission and respect. Instead of seeking its own will, it seeks God’s. Humility, then, defeats pride and creates an atmosphere where obedience seems right and natural. And why does God desire this? Because the proud will be destroyed, and God does not desire that anyone perish. “Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger” (2:3).
After his harsh denouncement of proud idolaters, God gives the humble a special salve of blessing. “The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing” (3:17).
But proper humility is a delicate balancing act. To humble ourselves, we must understand our smallness and insignificance while remembering our great value in the eyes of God. On the one hand, we are so full of sin we are as filthy rags. On the other, God knows the number of hairs on our heads. We are to come boldly before his throne, but be silently awed by his presence.
As with every other Christian attribute, the right balance can only be achieved through a personal and intimate walk with God. We tend to want rules to live by. But there are only two rules that never fail: Put God first, and put others ahead of ourselves. Everything else requires God’s personal leading.
That is, after all, what God wants. We were made to enjoy close fellowship with him. And his chief complaint in Zephaniah is that we “turn back from following the Lord and neither seek the Lord nor inquire of him” (1:6).
Humility is an attitude, not a standard set in stone. It comes from valuing God’s will above our own. And it causes us to seek him every day to find his direction, striving to obey him no matter what. Pride goes before a fall, according to the old saying. But humility can put us back on our feet. Pride separates us from God, but humility restores us.
Discussion questions
• What are ways we disobey that seem easy to justify?
• Why don’t we see those things as sin?
• Describe how a humble person interacts with others.
• Describe how Jesus interacted with others.
• Would you say Jesus was humble? How does that change your perception of Christlike humility?
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