Tag: king of the proud
King of the humble!
Scripture reading for August 25th: Ezekiel 24-28
Satan is not often mentioned by name in the Old Testament. He was a fallen angel who inhabited the body of a serpent in the Garden of Eden and enticed Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. The serpent was told by God that the Seed of woman would crush his head and he would bruise the Seed’s heel. (Genesis 3:1-6, 14-15) In the oldest book of the Bible, Job underwent a trial as a result of Satan’s accusations of him. Satan was given permission by God to test Job by taking his possessions and children and then his health. In 1st Chronicles 21:1, Satan stood up against Israel and enticed King David to number the people and inciting pride in how many fighting men he had. In Zechariah 3:1-2, Satan accused Joshua, the high priest, and was rebuked by the Lord. The only other direct reference is found in Psalm 109:6 where the King James Version has “Satan” as the accuser.
There are two other passages that commentators believe refer to Satan because the descriptions go beyond that of an earthly man or king. One is found in Isaiah 14 and the other in Ezekiel 28:11-19. Ezekiel describes this ‘king’ as being the model of perfection and full of wisdom and beauty. He was in Eden, the Garden of God and covered with many precious stones. He was anointed by God to be a guardian cherub on the holy mountain of God. He walked among the fiery stones and was blameless from the day he was created. Wickedness was found in him and he was filled with violence. God drove him from the mountain of God because of the sin of pride. God threw him down to the earth.
This description seems to fit Satan and not just a man or earthly king. Satan is the king of pride and of all the proud of the earth. All mankind has fallen under his spell because of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden. But God has provided one who has crushed the head of this serpent, Jesus Christ the Lord. The end of time will see Satan (the Devil) cast into the Lake of Fire forever! (Revelation 20:10) Jesus Christ is King of the humble!
Job’s Restoration!
Scripture reading for June 3rd: Job 40-42
Before Job could be restored, he also needed correction and further instruction about spiritual warfare. God continued His questioning of Job, who was now under conviction of being unworthy to say any more. (Job 40:4-5) The first question was: “Would you discredit my justice?” The next related to the first: “Would you condemn Me to justify yourself?” (Job 40:8)
Curiously, God then began to direct Job’s attention to two of the most fierce animals. Behemoth was a fierce land animal that is perhaps the hippopotamus or elephant. Leviathan was a fierce water creature that is perhaps the crocodile or fire-breathing dragon. These two animals brought fear to the hearts of men because of their power and ability to dominate. But at the end, God stated that there was nothing on earth that was these creatures’ equal–a creature without fear. He was king of all that are proud! Could it be that God was teaching Job about Satan and his downfall, pride?
Job repented and came to a new understanding of God’s greatness and trustworthiness. God instructed the friends to offer sacrifice and have Job pray for them to avert judgment. Elihu was not mentioned and we are not told why. After Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored Job to his former prosperity and gave him double all that he had lost. (Job 42:10) Job had seven more sons and three daughters. This is the same as before and implies that he would see his others in heaven!
We won’t always have all the answers and we must be careful when trying to help those going through trial or affliction. We don’t want to become like Job’s comforters! We can be thankful that God is merciful and answers prayer. We can also rest assured that God will work everything for good to those who love Him and keep the faith!
“Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” James 5:10-11