Everyone knows that the lion is the king of the jungle. One day the lion being filled with pride decided to make sure all the others knew it. He was so confident that he by-passed the smaller animals and went straight to the bear.
"Who is the king of the jungle?" the lion asked. The bear replied, "Why you are, of course" The lion gave a mighty roar of approval.
Next, he asked the tiger, "Who is the king of the jungle?" The tiger quickly responded, "Everyone knows that you are, mighty lion”
Next on the list was the elephant. The lion faced the elephant and addressed his question, "Who is the king of the jungle?"
At first, the elephant ignored him. So the lion roared, “Who is the king of the jungle? “ The elephant immediately grabbed the lion with his trunk, whirled him around in the air five or six times and slammed him into a tree. Then he pounded him onto the ground several times, dunked him under water in a nearby lake, and finally dumped him out on the shore. The lion--beaten, bruised, and battered--struggled to his feet. He looked at the elephant and said, "Look, just because you don’t know the answer is no reason for to get mean about it!"
Today we are going to discuss pride, the animal kingdom and a pride-filled man. The Bible gives us several warnings about pride. “Pride leads to conflict,” (Proverbs 13:10), “Pride goes before destruction” (Proverbs 16:18), “Pride leads to disgrace,” (Proverbs 11:2), “Pride ends in humiliation,” (Proverbs 29:33).
Let’s look at Mr. Lion. His pride led to conflict. All the other animals were unsure of their ability to stand up to the lion. They coward before him and placated him with compliments. But the elephant with held his answer and, in his pride, the lion became confrontational.
Next, his pride went before his destruction. Mr. Lion found himself being whirled through the air, slammed into a tree, smashed into the ground, and nearly drowned, before being deposited on the shore.
His pride then led him to disgrace. All the animals that had feared him so much were now in awe of the elephant. They began to reconsider who was the true king of the jungle.
Finally, his pride left him humiliated. He tried to make a comment that deflected from the fact that his pride had disgraced him and destroyed his reputation.
The danger of pride is what led Paul to write in Romans 12:3 “Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.”
We have a tendency to measure ourselves on a basis of worldly standards. We look better then someone else. We are more fit, more successful, wealthier, more talented, and the list goes on. But Paul warns us not to evaluate ourselves too highly.
As Christians, we should evaluate ourselves based on the faith that God has given to us. In other words, we are to have a right state of mind about ourselves, being honest with ourselves about our faults. James 4:6 states, “God opposes the proud but favors the humble.”
God paints a picture in Ezekiel of one who thought they were better than they really were. “You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and exquisite in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone—red carnelian, pale-green peridot, white moonstone, blue-green beryl, onyx, green jasper, blue lapis lazuli, turquoise, and emerald—all beautifully crafted for you and set in the finest gold. They were given to you on the day you were created.
I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God
and walked among the stones of fire. “You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you. Your rich commerce led you to violence,
and you sinned. So I banished you in disgrace from the mountain of God. I expelled you, O mighty guardian, from your place among the stones of fire.
Your heart was filled with pride because of all your beauty. Your wisdom was corrupted by your love of splendor.
So I threw you to the ground and exposed you to the curious gaze of kings.” (Ezekiel 28:12-17)
Satan, whom God says was a model of perfection and exquisite in beauty, allowed pride to enter into his inner being. He became prideful in his beauty and in his role, thus his wisdom became corrupted. He thought he was better than he really was. Because of this, he was banished and thrown to earth.
Therefore let’s answer this question; “What is pride.” Pride, in itself, is not necessarily evil. We take pride in our children’s accomplishments. We can take pride in our accomplishments for Jesus. When the master says, “Well done, my good and faithful servant” the servant has a right to be proud.
Evil pride is that pride that exalts ourselves in arrogance. The Hebrew word for this type of pride had many meanings. It was a surging pride much like an ocean wave. It was a type of pride that was destructive with each prideful moment becoming greater. The word also referred to a tallness, like a lush bush that was growing upward. This pride grew steadily everyday, ever reaching new heights of self-exaltation. It was this type of pride that nearly cost a mighty warrior his blessing from God.
2 Kings 5: 1 “The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the Lord had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy.”
I have always heard that the word “but” means everything that was just said is no longer relevant. Naaman was a great commander. He was greatly admired. He was a mighty warrior that had many great victories. However, none of that mattered because he had leprosy.
There was a young Hebrew slave girl that told the King of Aram about a prophet who lived in Samaria that could heal Naaman of his leprosy. So the king sent Naaman to visit him.
2 Kings 5:9-12 So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and waited at the door of Elisha’s house. But Elisha sent a messenger out to him with this message: “Go and wash yourself seven times in the Jordan River. Then your skin will be restored, and you will be healed of your leprosy.”
But Naaman became angry and stalked away. “I thought he would certainly come out to meet me!” he said. “I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call on the name of the Lord his God and heal me! Aren’t the rivers of Damascus, the Abana and the Pharpar, better than any of the rivers of Israel? Why shouldn’t I wash in them and be healed?” So Naaman turned and went away in a rage.
Elisha was not avoiding Naaman because he had leprosy. Elisha simply saw no reason to show this man any sort of abundant praise. Naaman had come for a cure, God had related that cure to Elisha, and Elisha had sent a messenger to relay it to Naaman. The cure involved washing seven times because seven is the number of perfection. The cure involved washing in the Jordan because it was the river in the midst of the Holy Land.
However, Naaman’s pride flairs up. He feels like he is not getting the respect he deserves. He imagined Elisha coming out of his house and bowing before him. Then, while waving his arms, call upon God and demand that Naaman be healed. Instead, he sends a servant. So Naaman is heading home.
Let me tell you about llamas. In South America, to keep a herd of llamas corralled, you don’t even need a fence. All you need is one rope circling around the herd to keep them enclosed. Just by placing it at a height beneath the head and base of the neck, the llamas are secured in this makeshift pen. Rather than stooping beneath the rope, the proud llamas stand tall, but remain captive.(taken from E.R. McManus’ Uprising, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2003, p.61)
Naaman was a llama. Rather than stooping to wash in the dirty Jordan River, he would stand tall with his pride intact and remain a captive to his leprosy. However, his men reasoned with him.
2 Kings 5: 13 “But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’”
Now Naaman must overcome being an impala. The African impala can jump to a height of over 10 feet and cover a distance of greater than 30 feet. Yet these magnificent creatures can be kept in an enclosure in any zoo with a 3-foot wall. The animals will not jump if they cannot see where their feet will fall. (Illustration by John Emmons) It was time for Naaman to jump.
2 Kings 5: 14 “So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child’s, and he was healed!”
Naaman went looking for a cure to his leprosy and got a complete makeover. Naaman was a warrior, an army commander. He would have been weathered beaten. His skin would have been like leather from exposure to sunlight. Maybe his leprosy was a type of skin cancer. Now, not only is the leprosy gone but also his skin has become like that of a young child’s. Naaman looks thirty years younger.
2 Kings 5:15 “Then Naaman and his entire party went back to find the man of God. They stood before him, and Naaman said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”’
Let’s talk about giraffes for a minute. In A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond tells about the birth of a giraffe:
The first things to emerge are the baby giraffe’s front hooves and head. A few minutes later, the plucky newborn is hurled forth, falls ten feet, and lands on its back. Within seconds, he rolls to an upright position with his legs tucked under his body. From this position, he considers the world for the first time and shakes himself.
The mother giraffe lowers her head long enough to take a quick look. Then she positions herself directly over the calf. She waits for about a minute, and then she does the most unreasonable thing. She swings her long, pendulous leg outward and kicks her baby, so that it is sent sprawling head over heels.
When it doesn’t get up, the violent process is repeated over and over again. The struggle to rise is momentous. As the baby calf grows tired, the mother kicks it again to stimulate its efforts...Finally, the calf stands for the first time on its wobbly legs.
Then the mother giraffe does the most remarkable thing. She kicks it off its feet again. Why? She wants it to remember how it got up! In the wild, baby giraffes must be able to get up as quickly as possible to stay with the herd, where there is safety. Lions, hyenas, leopards, and wild hunting dogs all enjoy young giraffes, and they’d get it too, if the mother didn’t teach her calf to get up quickly and get on with it!
Source: In A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond Publisher: JJM Communications. ISBN Number: 1579191223
Naaman had leprosy. Naaman went to great lengths to find a cure. Naaman had to forgo his pride and do what he felt was unreasonable. Why? So he would remember how to get back up when his pride brought him down. So he would remember that there is no God in the entire world except in Israel.
You know, God allows us to be knocked down sometimes so we can remember how to get back up. Sometimes we allow our pride to intervene in remembering who God is and what He has called us to do. Sometimes we think our accomplishments come from us being the best at what we do and forget that we can do nothing without God. So He allows the world to occasionally give us a good, swift kick as a wake up call.
Naaman could have decided to allow his pride to overcome him. Elisha’s presumed snub could have led to a conflict between Israel and Damascus. Naaman’s pride could have led to his own destruction, disgrace, and humiliation. His pride could have stopped him from doing a simple task. But wisely, he obeyed God.
I would like to return to 2 Kings 5: 13. “But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, ‘Go and wash and be cured!’”
Do you detect the Gospel in this passage? Over the years, I have on occasion attempted to give away free items such as bread, calendars, ect. In a few cases, my offers have been refused because people are concerned about the catch. In fact, a high number of people would rather pay a small price for an item than to accept it free. This gives them a sense of ownership, a sense that they earned it.
Most religions teach a system of earning the grace and mercy of their deity. You must abstain from certain things or pray a specific number of times daily. Jesus offers a salvation that is free, no catches. It was paid for at the cross. Naaman was not asked to do something difficult but rather something simple. Mankind is not asked to do something difficult but rather something simple. Believe in Jesus and confess He is Lord.
In closing, let’s visit the animal kingdom one more time.
Australia has two animals pictured on their Coat of Arms. They are an Emu and a Kangaroo. These are some strange choices to those who don’t know why they are there. The Emu is nothing but a big, dumb bird and a kangaroo just looks funny while it hops along to escape danger. But there’s more to it than that.
You see, these two animals have a very special characteristic that isn’t found in any other species. It is impossible for them to move backwards. An Emu has 3 toes and they are all on the front of its foot. If he tries to move backward, he falls down. A kangaroo can’t move backwards because it’s long and heavy tail gets in the way and trips him up. So they both must move forward all the time. They were picked to symbolize Australia as a nation that will never fall back but keep moving on against all odds.
What a great picture of the church. Of all the animals we discussed today, I want us to be an Emu and a kangaroo. May we never fall back but rather keep moving on.
