Before Honor is Humility Prov 15:33 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO

Naturally we are proud – pride seeks to bring honor to us but instead it brings destruction – Prov 16:18.  Here are some excellent Old Testament examples concerning humility:

Deut 8:2-3 the Jews were humbled in the wilderness and arrived in the land of Canaan with great honor according to the testimony of Rahab, Jos 2:9-11.

Ex 10:3 Pharaoh refused to humble himself before God and was destroyed – his title never connotes honor in the Bible.

Jon 3:5-10 the king of Nineveh humbled himself and saved his country and was honored in that God repented of the evil that he thought to do to that place.

1 Ki 21:20-29 Ahab humbled himself and delayed the judgment of God on his house.  In 1 Ki 22, however, he hated the prophecy of Micaiah [pride] and died in battle as a result.  You can see how you can humble yourself one time and then neglect to humble yourself on a subsequent occasion and the honor you gained earlier can be lost when the destruction comes.  Ahab’s humility came late and was only temporary – thus he has the reputation of the wickedest king Israel ever had.

2 Chr 33:9-13 Manasseh humbled himself late in life; not in time to save the kingdom but in time to keep the destruction from coming in his day.  Nevertheless, he was not remembered with honor because he spent most of his days as the wickedest king Judah ever had.

2 Chr 32:24-26, 31 Hezekiah’s heart was lifted up in pride late in his reign after being healed and he had to humble himself to keep from being destroyed. He was remembered as an honored king because of his humility.  Josiah humbled himself early after hearing the Lord’s words and is remembered as an honored king.

So the spiritual thing for us to do is to humble ourselves.  We have a pattern in Jesus for doing just that.

• Phil 2:5-11 Jesus humbled himself and has been exalted above all:
• Col1:18 he is the head of the church
• Rev 19:16 he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords
• 1 Cor 15:25-27a he will put death and all things under his feet
• Is 2:11 the Lord alone is to be honored

Notice the exhortation of these verses: Matt 18:4, Matt 23:12, and 1 Pet 5:6.