The Humility of Abraham or Pride of Babel
I want to start by looking at Isaiah 57: 15:
For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.
God has a plan for each person’s life. Pride kills our ability to follow God’s plan. 1 Peter 5:5 and James 4:6 warn us that God gives grace to the humble but resists the proud. From Genesis to Revelation this warning is echoed over and over again: God hates pride. Proverbs 16:18 – 19 warns us that pride leads to destruction and a haughty spirit comes before a person falls. This passage goes on to warn that it is better to be lowly and humble than to be rich and proud. Benjamin Franklin said it best. He said, “Humility is a virtue so difficult to grasp that if I should ever attain to it, I would be proud of myself.”
I believe that humility is directly affected by the size of our God. If we think little of God or don’t believe God can direct our lives, we will think that we are able to do a better job than He can or we will be like Nebuchadnezzar who looked at his accomplishments and boasted, “Look what I have done”. God showed Nebuchadnezzar what he amounted to without God – a mad man who grazed the fields like an animal. When we put God in proper perspective, our self-image will fall into the right perspective. Humility is not hanging your head low and belittling yourself. Humility is depending on the sovereignty of God, understanding that His ways are right, choosing to align ourselves with the will of God and trusting His ability to lead and direct us. It is a never-ending growing process. That is why Jesus made the statement, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23.
Denying our own ways is an essential part of following Christ. Self-denial is the first step in following God’s will. Self-denial is not the same as depriving yourself, it is depending on God to supply our desires and needs and not playing God with our own lives. I don’t believe anyone is deprived when they deny themselves. Jesus’ command to deny ourselves carries a lot of weight. We are being asked to deny self-gratification, self-sustainment, and self-righteousness. I literally must look at my desires and God’s desire for me and then I must choose. I see worldly pleasures that I can use to get my own pleasures and gratification. But I trust God and I choose to deny pursuing these pleasures believing that God can fulfill these desires when I follow Him instead of my desires. I see my needs and my ways tell me that I need to sustain myself by sacrificing everything necessary and putting my job first. But I choose to trust God and I choose to put Him first trusting that God can sustain me and fill my needs even when I have to make sacrifices to make Him first. I give to God because my money is not my salvation and my trust is not in my dollars. I see the image of what a righteous man or woman looks like. My ways tell me that I have to do good deeds, volunteer and show the world my righteousness. But I choose to trust in what God teaches about righteousness. Jesus provides my righteousness, salvation and makes me holy before God.
God does not honor our self-made righteousness. God doesn’t honor our self-made name in any area of our lives. God measures success based on our obedience. God clearly tells us that when we humble ourselves, He will lift us up. When we do it ourselves, it just doesn’t work. In Matthew 23:12 Jesus said, “whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” God desires to bless us when we humble ourselves and obey, but will bring low those who lift themselves up. There are two illustrations in Genesis that clearly drive this point home. Lets look at Genesis 11:1-4:
1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.
3 Then they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly. They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.
4 And they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.
Next look at Genesis 12:1-2:
1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.
Genesis 11 is the story of the Tower of Babel. Their sin was not that they desired to make an architectural marvel. Their sin is found at the end of verse 4, “let us make a name for ourselves”. Compare this to Genesis 12. Then end of verse 2 says, “I will bless you and make your name great”. The point the scriptures makes is that we don’t have the right to make our name great, but when we humble ourselves and follow God, He delights in making our name great. The glory of that great name belongs to God. It is important for us to learn this point. Jesus lead by example. The bible tells us that Jesus humbled himself as an example to us. Look at Philippians 2:5-9:
5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.
8 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.
9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name
Jesus was God and had the right to claim His divinity here on earth. But that was not His mission. His mission was to be an example and humble Himself to die for us. Why then do we think we have a right to exalt ourselves when Jesus humbled Himself. Look at Matthew 10:24-25. Jesus said,
24 A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
25 It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!
This shoots down the argument I occasionally hear that Jesus humbled Himself so that we could be rich. Jesus plainly states that a disciple is not above his teacher. In verse 25 Jesus says that we are to imitate Him – He is our teacher. If He humbled Himself, we should understand that we are to follow His lead. The message I believe God is conveying to us is that we to only be concerned with humbly following Christ and let God worry about reputations and good names. Jesus did not make a name for Himself. He humbled Himself and God made Him a name above all names. The men of Babel built a tower to make themselves a great name and God troubled their cause. Then one chapter later, God tells Abraham that if he forsakes his name and follows God, then God will give Abraham the very thing the men of Babel were denied.
God has a plan for each person’s life. The only way you will find the greatness of God is to forsake all and follow God. That requires trust and humility. Abraham already had a name. When he left Ur, his family wanted to follow. God required him to leave his self-made reputation and provisions and in return God promised that He would make him a great name, a great nation, and great blessings that would flow out to all the families of the earth. Abraham trusted God and cast off his reputation and let God build it for him. That is humility. Take a moment and think about the size of your God. Have you boxed Him into an idea that is below your own abilities? God wants to bless you greatly. Your relationship with God will flow throughout your family and into those in your circle of influence and beyond. God wants you a blessing to those in need. You will not know until you get to heaven all the lives you have touched. Your calling is to grow in Christ and then flow to others who you can influence to reach out to others. Abraham’s obedience is still reaping the harvest thousands of years later. God rarely uses great people to use their greatness. God uses humble people and makes them great by His power so others will see and know the Lord is God. Humility toward God is more usable than great talent. Let God take your life and use it for His glory.
