In the bible, both the book of James and 1 Peter mentions that “God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.” This demonstrates the importance of this verse! From this verse, we can clearly understand that people who are proud will be resisted by God. However, for those who are humble, not only does God not resist them, rather He gives them grace. This reminds us that no matter how good our spiritual or physical conditions are, we can not become proud so that we will not be resisted by God. If instead we know how to be humble, then we will be blessed by God.
In the Bible there are many examples of proud characters who faced resistance from God and humble people who received grace from God. When Moses was 80 years old, the Pharoah who had prevented the Israelites from leaving Egypt was an example of someone who was proud and was resisted by God. In fact, throughout history, there are very few kings who were not proud because as a king they have supreme power, and it is difficult for them to be humble. As the ruler of Egypt, a Pharoah would be even more proud than other kings because in the hearts of their people, they were not only the head of state, but they were also the incarnation and representative of their god.
Thus, when God told Moses to ask Pharoah to allow the Israelite people to leave Egypt and go into the wilderness to observe the feasts, it was not difficult to imagine how the Pharoah’s perspective may have been one of contempt and disdain. Otherwise, Pharoah would not respond to Moses saying, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, nor will I let Israel go.” (Exodus 5:2)
The Bible says: “When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2). Pharoah was very proud, and shame soon followed him. Not long after, God sent down the ten plagues to punish Pharoah. Furthermore, each plague was more serious than the last, and by the last plague, the firstborns in the entire country of Egypt from the household of Pharoah, to that of the prisoners, and even to the livestock, they were all struck down by God. At that time there was a great wailing in Egypt as there was no house that did not suffer loss that day, only until Pharoah agreed to let the Israelites leave Egypt.
However, after all this, Pharoah still had not learned the lesson of humility. As the Israelites left Egypt, he became more and more unwilling to let them go. Thus, he immediately led his army to pursue them. As a result of his pursuit, the entire Egyptian army, with its chariots and horsemen all drowned in the Red Sea. Thus, Pharoah’s pride and his subsequent fate fulfills the Bible’s words that “God resists the proud.”
As for the people in the Bible who received grace from God because of their humility, an example is that of Naaman. Naaman was the general of Aram in the time of prophet Elisha. Naaman was a great general, so for him to be able to take the advice of the servant girl that he had captured from Israel to seek the enemy prophet Elisha for the healing of his leprosy was very difficult. A great general who is willing to listen to the advice of a servant girl must have had a humble heart because otherwise he would not have been able to do it. However, because he was willing to be humble, God gave him grace, healing his leprosy. This fulfills what the Bible says about how “God gives grace to the humble.”
In fact, our Saviour, the Lord Jesus, is Himself an unfathomable example of humility. The Lord Jesus is the True and Almighty God, a holy and honourable God. But when He came as a man into this world, He did not arrange for Himself to be of royal descent or to be born into a palace. Instead, He arranged for Himself to be born in a lowly manger, and for His earthly father to be a lowly carpenter. No wonder that even though He taught the people in the synagogue in His hometown, and displayed great wisdom and performed great miracles, the Galileans still could not believe or accept that He was the Messiah. Thus, if the Lord Jesus came to the world so humbly, then how can we as His creation be proud!
The Bible describes the Lord Jesus as: “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,” (Philippians 2:6-9). May we also follow in the example of the Lord Jesus, that in our lives we may be as humble as He was.
When the apostle Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, he described himself as “the least of the apostles” (1 Corinthians 15:9). Later when writing the book of Ephesians, he was even more humble in saying that he was “the least of all the saints” (Ephesians 3:8). As he was getting closer to the day of his martyrdom, he wrote 1 Timothy and he humbly considered himself the “chief of all sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15).
Why did Paul become more and more humble? This is because the longer he knew God, the more he realized his unworthiness and lowliness. In addition, he realizes that he has nothing to boast about other than the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 6:14) and his own weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9)
Proverbs says: “The Lord will destroy the house of the proud, But He will establish the boundary of the widow.” (Proverbs 15:25). This allows us to understand just how much God hates pride. The Lord Jesus also said: “But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:11-12). May we remind ourselves each day, that we must always be a humble person!
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