Our Great Evil

Isaiah 14:12–14 records the five “I wills” of Satan. Ezekiel also records the same prideful spirit as the power behind the king of Babylon. Satan is driven by prideful ambition, the same ambition he works in “the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:1).

The great evil of human existence is pride—the self-deception that one can rightly trust himself (Proverbs 8:13). God says that He hates evil, which is identified in the proverb as pride. Pride drives a person to destructive living and speaking. The Hebrew for perverse or froward means “habitually disposed to disobedience and opposition.” Eve sinned in Eden when Satan deceived her into believing God was dishonest, keeping something good from her. She was convinced she deserved this power to choose for herself and would have it if she just disobeyed God’s prohibition. Adam, however, was not deceived but knowingly followed Eve in her experiment. Pride now controlled their hearts and would be genetically passed to all their offspring (Romans 5:12). Of the seven things God hates, a proud look—the exalting of oneself—heads the list (Proverbs 6:16–19; Psalm 18:27).

God’s remedy for pride is humbling (Isaiah 2:11, 17; Zephaniah 3:8–13). God charged His remnant in Zephaniah 8 to “wait for me (for salvation) in the day I pour out my indignation and remove the proudly exultant ones” (paraphrasing vv. 8 and 11). The same catastrophic judgment that destroys the proud saves the “humble and lowly” (v. 12; James 4:10).

Pride is deceptive, often lurking in a believer’s expectations of God. There is a very pervasive but false doctrine that God is just waiting to bless and reward people with greatness and prosperity if only they will believe that He will. Someone may greatly desire something, praying long and hard. He expects that God will grant his request simply because the one praying wants it? When the request is not realized, the expectant believer becomes discouraged, discontented, and perhaps angry, frustrated, and filled with doubt. That is a reaction of pride. The truth is that God is not there to reward our ambitions or to fulfill all our dreams and desires. 

True faith believes what God says in His Word, acting in obedience to God’s will, not the believer’s. In Gethsemane, Jesus asked God to remove the cup of suffering. However, He humbly submitted to God’s will and trusted God’s purpose. God did not remove the cup, but “saved” Him through His suffering, raising and exalting Him and, thereby, “bringing many sons to glory” (Hebrews 2:10).

Humble saints wait on the Lord. They know that He is working all things for their good and His glory. While they do have desires and seek His face in prayer for these, they also submit to His will and rejoice in His goodness, even when their request is denied.

Jim Elliff of Christian Communicators Worldwide recently posted about what God wants of us: “to always know how much we need Him, and to always be amazed at Him.” How simply and profoundly does this describe a truly humble believer who has died to himself to live in Christ (Colossians 3:3).