Reasons Why You Must Exchange Pride for Humility, and Do It As Soon As Possible
Reason #1:
You Will Be Brought Low
“The writing is on the wall!”
That has come to be a common saying meaning “the end is at hand,” or “the consequences are inevitable.” The saying has become so common to use figuratively, that we may sometimes forget that it comes from a literal experience in the life of Belshazzar, a former ruler of Babylon, whose pride led to his downfall.
The scene was festive. Belshazzar was hosting a huge banquet with 1,000 of his lords in attendance. The wine was flowing. Fun was being had by all! In his exuberance, Belshazzar ordered the gold and silver cups which had been stolen from the temple of God in Jerusalem to be brought to the banquet. The guests drank wine from these vessels which had been dedicated to the Holy God of Israel. But Belshazzar and his guests went even further in their depravity by praising their false gods carved out of wood and stone while they were drinking from these vessels which had been stolen from the temple of the one true God!
Then, without warning, it happened.
“Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared. They wrote something on the plaster of the palace wall. It happened near the lampstand. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale. He was so afraid that his legs became weak. And his knees were knocking together.”—Daniel 5:5-6 (NIRV)
Left with the mysterious writing on the wall of the banquet hall, King Belshazzar desperately sought for someone who could interpret its meaning. He offered great rewards for anyone who could explain its meaning to him. Daniel was finally brought before the king to explain the mysterious writing.
Then Daniel answered the king. He said, “You can keep your gifts for yourself. You can give your rewards to someone else. But I will read the writing for you. I’ll tell you what it means.
“Your Majesty, the Most High God was good to your father Nebuchadnezzar. He gave him authority and greatness and glory and honor. God gave him a high position. Then people from every nation became afraid of the king. That was true no matter what language they spoke. The king put to death anyone he wanted to. He spared anyone he wanted to spare. He gave high positions to anyone he wanted to. And he brought down anyone he wanted to bring down. But his heart became very stubborn and proud. So he was removed from his royal throne. His glory was stripped away from him. He was driven away from people. He was given the mind of an animal. He lived with the wild donkeys. He ate grass just as an ox does. His body became wet with the dew of heaven. He stayed that way until he recognized that the Most High God rules over all kingdoms on earth. He puts anyone he wants to in charge of them.
“But you knew all that, Belshazzar. After all, you are Nebuchadnezzar’s son. In spite of that, you are still proud. You have taken your stand against the Lord of heaven. You had your servants bring cups from his temple to you. You and your nobles drank wine from them. So did your wives and concubines. You praised your gods. The statues of those gods are made out of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood or stone. They can’t see or hear or understand anything. But you didn’t honor God. He holds in his hand your very life and everything you do. So he sent the hand that wrote on the wall.
“Here is what was written.
MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN
“And here is what these words mean.
The word Mene means that God has limited the time of your rule. He has brought it to an end.
The word Tekel means that you have been weighed on scales. And you haven’t measured up to God’s standard.
The word Peres means that your authority over your kingdom will be taken away from you. It will be given to the Medes and Persians.”
Then Belshazzar commanded his servants to dress Daniel in purple clothes. So they did. They put a gold chain around his neck. And he was made the third highest ruler in the kingdom.
That very night Belshazzar, the king of Babylon, was killed. His kingdom was given to Darius the Mede. Darius was 62 years old.—Daniel 5:17-31 (NIRV)
Sometimes, the lessons learned by one generation are forgotten in the next. Belshazzar was very familiar with the consequences of pride that brought his father so low that he lost his mind and lived for years as an animal. How quickly we forget! That’s why it’s important to be constantly vigilant, on guard against pride in order to avoid its destructive consequences. We can’t afford to forget the lessons of the past.
“If you are proud, you will be destroyed. If you are proud, you will fall.”—Proverbs 16:18 (NIRV)
God always gives time to repent and to change our ways, but if we ignore the warnings of Scripture, consequences of pride come suddenly. By that time, it is too late.
“He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, Will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.”—Proverbs 29:1-2 (NKJV)
The promoters of the Titanic forgot the lessons of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar when they declared, “Even God couldn’t sink this ship!” That statement of pride rings hollow today after the ship was infamously sunk by a big piece of ice. Now the Titanic serves as its own tragic lesson to warn us of the consequences of pride.
In the ancient religion of Egypt, Pharaoh proudly declared himself to be a god who supposedly controlled the Nile River as well as the sun itself. Working through a messenger with a speech impediment (Moses), the one true God turned the Nile to blood and blocked out the sun over those ruled by Pharaoh but gave continuous light to the Hebrews. By the time it was over, Egypt experienced extreme devastation, every first-born son died, and the army of this proud Pharaoh was swallowed up in the Red Sea.
When the Philistines captured the Ark of the Covenant, they placed it temporarily in their temple beside the image of their pagan god Dagon. They soon found out that no one is allowed to be exalted alongside God Almighty, especially not a false god.
*“The people of Ashdod got up early the next day. They saw the statue of Dagon. There it was, lying on the ground! It had fallen on its face in front of the ark of the Lord. So they picked up the statue of Dagon. They put it back in its place. But the following morning when they got up, they saw the statue of Dagon. There it was, lying on the ground again! It had fallen on its face in front of the ark of the Lord. Its head and hands had been broken off. Only the body of the statue was left. Its head and hands were lying in the doorway of the temple.”—1 Samuel 5:3-4 (NIRV) *
Daisy Osborn was among the witnesses of a modern-day re-enactment of this when a violent man challenged the man of God, William Branham, by storming the pulpit during a large meeting, swearing and hurling false accusations at the man of God, and declaring his intent to violently harm the preacher. Brother Branham calmly but firmly replied, telling the man that because he had challenged the Holy Spirit, he would now fall before him.1
Paul Keith Davis tells this story in some of his audio messages. After Brother Branham made his bold declaration, people watching said that the huge man stopped in his tracks. Sweat broke out on his forehead. Soon, one of the man’s knees buckled. Then the other knee buckled, and down he went. The man had not challenged William Branham. He had challenged the Most High God. In his arrogance and pride, he was suddenly brought down.
The lessons of the past are only valuable to us if we learn from them. God will not share his glory with anyone. If we begin to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think and begin to exalt ourselves in ways that only God Almighty should be exalted (because He is the only One worthy of it), then we should also expect to be brought low.
It will happen. It is only a matter of time.
It would be so much better for each of us to acknowledge the Most High God for Who He is, and to bow before him voluntarily, and declare our need for his help. Then He would gladly give us the grace and help that we need for the situations that we face.
“The Scriptures say, ‘God opposes proud people, but he helps everyone who is humble.’ Be humble in the presence of God’s mighty power, and he will honor you when the time comes.”—1 Peter 5:4-6 (CEV)
Reference:
1Deranged Maniac Falls Across William Branham’s Feet. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.williambranhamstorehouse.com/site_testimonials/maniacfallsacrossfeet.htm
