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Signs of pride and humility
Pride is such an insidious sin that those who suffer from it usually don’t know it. And that sucks because everyone has some problem with pride, aligning himself with the devil in his sin. For me, every day feels like a heated battle against a soundless, invisible enemy.
Pride is one of the chief sins which God condemns in the book of Zephaniah. It’s mentioned explicitly a couple of times (2:10, 3:11), and it seems to be the common thread underlying the sins of Israel and her neighbors. So I thought I’d go through the book and pick out symptoms of pride — all the better to diagnose it. In addition, I’ll look at symptoms of humility as well. (It would probably be a good idea to ask why these reflect pride and humility, but I don’t want to spend all day writing this.)
Signs of pride:
- Dividing your loyalties between God and other things which act as idols (1:4-6).
- Failing to seek the Lord (1:6) through His Word, prayer, and the counsel of other believers.
- Trying to “fit in” with the unbelieving world (1:8).
- Complacency (1:12).
- Believing God will not act and trusting in our own plans (1:12, James 4:13-17).
- Trusting in our money (1:18).
- Taunting and boasting against other Christians (2:8, 10) — taking delight in their failures and criticizing them to make ourselves look better.
- Living securely with a false sense of superiority (2:15).
- Rebelling against authority (3:1).
- Oppressing others (3:1) by misusing our power or abilities to hurt or damage them.
- Refusing to accept correction (3:2).
- Failing to trust in the Lord (3:2).
- Failing to draw near to God (3:2) by holding Him at arms’ length.
- Being fickle and treacherous (3:4) by failing to live up to what we promise or going back on our word.
- Profaning what is holy (3:4) by treating the things of God casually — the way the world treats them.
- Being eager to do corrupt deeds (3:7) — to engage in sins of the flesh.
Signs of humility:
- Seeking the Lord (2:3) — turning to the Bible, calling on God in prayer, seeking the wisdom of other believers.
- Doing what is just and seeking righteousness (2:3).
- Naturally, seeking humility (2:3).
- Fearing the Lord and thus submitting to His discipline (3:7).
- Calling on the name of the Lord for help and refuge (3:9, 12).
- Serving the Lord in one accord with other believers (3:9).
- Bringing offerings of our resources and also ourselves to the Lord (3:10).
- Telling the truth at all times (3:13).
- Being unafraid of what other people will do to us because we trust that God will save us (3:13, 15-17).
- Loudly rejoicing in the Lord’s salvation (3:14-15).
- Doing good works with strength (3:16, Galatians 6:9).
A common theme I’m seeing is that pride is a result of failing to fear the Lord, while those who are humble fear the Lord and no one else.
Fat and happy
Nobody escapes God’s wrath in the book of Zephaniah. Kings and royalty, other nations, and the entire earth will come under His judgment. The merchants of Jerusalem are also condemned:
Zephaniah 1:12
At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps,
and I will punish the men
who are complacent,
those who say in their hearts,
‘The LORD will not do good,
nor will he do ill.’
When I read that God will search Jerusalem “with lamps,” it makes me think that God is announcing a search-and-destroy mission against the fat and happy merchants. The word translated “complacent” is actually a Hebrew idiom — the merchants are “thickening on the dregs (of their wine).” The idea is that wine left with the dregs in the bottom of the cup will get sludgy, kind of like the really thick, nasty coffee made by the coffeemaker in the church kitchen that apparently only Marty can get to work properly. This is a pretty interesting figure of speech to describe complacency. I suppose an equivalent idiom in English would be “slow as molasses.”
When we get complacent — content with what the world has to offer — our attitude toward God becomes one of apathy. “The LORD will not do good,” we think deep down inside of us. In my case, I tend to lose sight of Jesus Christ and become discouraged, forgetting that God will act to help me in each trial of life. On the opposite end, we think, “Nor will He do ill.” We believe that God will not mind a little sin — that He would certainly never discipline us by disrupting our lives and allowing pain to come our way. I’ve definitely been on the receiving end of this discipline.
In our rationalistic Western worldview, we tend to forget that God is intimately involved in every detail of the world. We may say that He is active, but the way we think and act tells another story. We cannot afford to become complacent — to have our eyes fixed on the things of this world, which will one day come to a “full and sudden end” (Zephaniah 1:18).
God’s wrath accentuates His love
I really like the way the love of God stands out in the Old Testament prophecy books. When I hear songs or hymns about God’s love, I’m not that impressed because every song seems to be about God’s love. Frankly, it gets boring, especially since they are rarely creative. On the other hand, these prophecy books talk a lot about God’s wrath. (The only song I can think of that gives more than a passing mention to God’s wrath is “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.”) Because they talk so often about God’s justice and wrath toward evildoers, His mercy and love toward the unrighteous stand out more than ever.
Cherry-picking verses about God’s love is a great way to water down its preciousness. If you want to be impacted by how amazing it is, try reading an entire book of prophecy in one sitting (preferably a short one). Zephaniah is a good choice. You know God means business when the first sentence of His message is, “I will utterly sweep away everything from the face of the earth” (1:2). He pronounces judgments against Judah as well as the surrounding nations. He proclaims that the Day of the Lord is near, singling out the idolatrous priests, the royalty, and the merchants for punishment. Over and over and over, God announces how He will destroy them all.
So far, so good. But then in chapter 3, God ends with a promise of love, joy, and restoration that is unprecedented in the rest of the book. I read it with a sense of relief. I can’t help but come away amazed at how God’s wrath and judgment are so much greater (and more righteous) than ours, and that His love and joy toward us are also far superior to our own.
The LORD your God is in your midst
All right, it’s time for a sequel to my last post. Moving on from vv. 14-15, let’s take a look at the next two verses in Zephaniah chapter 3:
Zephaniah 3:16-17
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
“Fear not, O Zion;
let not your hands grow weak.
17 The Lord your God is in your midst,
a mighty one who will save;
he will rejoice over you with gladness;
he will quiet you by his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing.
The pattern of encouragement continues. I took some time to meditate on this today. What stood out:
- God rejoices in us. When I get discouraged over my sin, I often tend to think that I must be a constant headache for God. I wonder why He puts up with me — I imagine He’s always in damage control mode concerning the things I do. While certainly it’s good to remember God’s patience and mercy toward sinners, it’s also important to remember that He rejoices in His people. Why? Because we are identified with His beautiful Son, Jesus Christ! If you are a Christian, God is thrilled to have you in His kingdom! I love the phrase, “He will exult over you with loud singing.” We often sing to God, but here God is singing over us. What a great picture of His love and joy! If only I had this sort of love and joy for my brothers and sisters in Christ — and for God Himself.
- We should not be discouraged. “Fear not.” “Let not your hands grow weak.” Remember that God is not out to get you. He cares about what you’re doing, and He will give you all that you need to accomplish His will. He points us toward an eternity spent in His presence: “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap [eternal life], if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:10).
I’m really enjoying Zephaniah. God’s love stands out so sharply to me in this book. I’ll explain why tomorrow.
Rejoice and exult with all your heart
One of the characteristics of the Christian life that I lack is joy. Often, when I read someone like John Piper, I get a distinct sense that I am light-years away from where he is in his enjoyment of God. So the question I have to ask is, “Why should I rejoice?”
Zephaniah 3:14-15
14 Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;
shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
O daughter of Jerusalem!
15 The LORD has taken away the judgments against you;
he has cleared away your enemies.
The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;
you shall never again fear evil.
Verse 14 describes the rejoicing of Israel — singing, shouting, rejoicing, exulting with all their heart! And why?
- The LORD has taken away the judgments against you. What a great promise! This is one that does encourage me. When I see my sin, I often forget that Christ already bore the punishment for it. There’s an old Michael Card song called “Jubilee” that includes the following lyrics: “To be so completely guilty / Given over to despair / To look into your judge’s face / And see a Savior there.” What a great reminder that the same God who would judge us is now the one who saves us. The deck is stacked in our favor.
- He has cleared away your enemies. No one can condemn us if God has justified us (Romans 8:33-34). What a hope — I should never be afraid of how others see my sin as long as God has forgiven me.
- The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst. The people may not have been used to thinking of God as their king. But Christ Jesus is our king, and not an aloof ruler either — He is here among us! He will not leave us or forsake us (Joshua 1:5), and nothing can separate us from His love (Romans 8:38-39).
- You shall never again fear evil. The Hebrew word translated “evil” can also mean “disaster” or “harm.” Basically, God is saying to the people that because He is in their midst, they have no reason to be afraid of bad things happening to them. That’s a good reminder for me not to be pessimistic, dwelling on worst-case scenarios, but to live each moment trusting in the God who hems me in, behind and before (Psalm 139:5).
So there are four perfectly good reasons to rejoice. I’m going to spend some time meditating on them tomorrow. More than just knowing the truth, I want to love it.
