God Favors The Humble

Ezekiel 31

Egypt Compared to Fallen Assyria

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10 “Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because Egypt became proud and arrogant, and because it set itself so high above the others, with its top reaching to the clouds, 

11 I will hand it over to a mighty nation that will destroy it as its wickedness deserves. I have already discarded it. (NLT)

CONTEXT:

        Ezekiel was given a message by The Lord regarding Egypt's fall and how the land is similar to Assyria, beautiful yet haughty. Because of the blessings they received, they became high of themselves which angered the Lord and brought fall to Assyria, that will also be Egypt's fate.

REALIZATION:

        This isn't the first time in the bible where those who exalted themselves were humbled. In fact, there's numerous accounts of stories like this, for example, the stories of punishments towards the anointed Kings who became high of themselves and disregarded the messages of God for they believed in their own wisdom (Books of 1 Kings and 2 Kings). Some other examples are when Israelites were exiled to Babylon (Books of Jeremiah & Ezekiel), when God flooded the Earth, vanishing all the haughty and stubborn (Genesis 7), or when Adam and Eve disobeyed God when they ate the forbidden fruit (Genesis 2). All of them received God's disciplining for disobeying Him due from their self sufficient thoughts.

        Looking back to the bible stories and then to the world we are living now, truly God does not let people to live on their own wisdom and understanding. He disciplines the proud and disobedient, and pleased with the humble and obedient. We may look at the world now as an unfair world, but those who live in faith of God, knows that we are sustained with what we need because we are not sufficient without His grace. A true Christian heart is humble enough to admit that we cannot be sufficient by our works alone.

        This reminds me of the verse Matthew 23:12 "Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted." The Lord hates the haughty and is pleased with the humble. Life without God's grace and life without Jesus Christ is empty living as King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 2:10-11, everything we own, gain, and experience here on earth is considered folly or in vain if we won't acknowledge that all of it came from God. Claiming everything we have as a result oh our works or strength alone has a major consequence as said in (Isaiah 13:11)

PRAYER:

        Lord, we thank you for reminding us today that without your abundant grace, we can't be with you in eternal life. We thank you that by your grace and love we are able to conquer our worries and fears. Lord, truly only by You we are able to experience everything that we have. We pray that may You never allow us to keep that grace by ourselves, help us live it out in everyday lives, enabling us to share the truth about You Christ. Be our continuous source of wisdom and provision. We pray all of these in Your Mighty Name Jesus. Amen.