When I was reading the Bible recently, I noticed a verse that stood out to me and (to be honest) made God seem a little "unfair."
That is quite a thought about the God of the universe, isn’t it? I mean, if God is God, then he can do whatever he wants and never needs my permission or approval, right? Nevertheless, the thought of "unfairness" still came to my mind.
Just to be clear, I already believe that God is not fair anyway. He is at least not fair, according to our perspective. A better description of God's nature would be that he is just. This is actually something I have thought about quite a bit. Come to find out, it is a good thing that God (not us) makes these kinds of calls because if it were up to any of us, we would always tip the scales in our favor.
But still, when I read this verse, I could not help but raise an eyebrow. But then that eyebrow went right back down when I realized what was really going on.
Here’s what happened.
In the Old Testament historical book of 1 Chronicles, in chapter 21, we read that David took a census of his people. Well, actually, you could say that he fell prey to the temptation of the devil and then took the census. It is a very intriguing verse. Check this out:
"Then Satan stood against Israel and incited David to number Israel. So David said to Joab and the commanders of the army, “Go, number Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, and bring me a report, that I may know their number.” - 1 Chronicles 21:1-2
As a result, God caused some severe judgment on him and Israel to the point that there was death and horrible suffering. Here is a snippet from this horrible scene:
"But God was displeased with this thing, and he struck Israel... So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel, and 70,000 men of Israel fell." - 1 Chronicles 21:7, 14
The good news is that David recognized his sin and repented, praying this to God:
“I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly." - 1 Chronicles 21:8)
Then, even though God did bring judgment, he stopped short of doing as much damage as he was going to do. Why would he do that? because even in the midst of his wrath, God is still merciful.
There is a little more to this whole story, including a conversation with God, the presence of an angel (possibly the death angel), and an interesting look into how God works in our world in "real-time." The full story is worth some studying.
But if you are like me, you may be wondering why God gave such a severe consequence in the first place. Was God just haphazardly throwing down judgment like a toddler when he sees some ants on the sidewalk? Were there other more obvious sins that David was involved in that we just aren’t aware of? What was so bad about David counting the people in his land?
The real answer for God’s judgment lies in David’s motivation for taking the census in the first place. And that motivation was… pride. King David, who rose from nothing to “the goat” status entirely because of God’s blessing, had begun to believe his own hype and feel pride about all that he had accomplished. That is what our adversary, Satan, tempted him with. There was no obvious sign on the outside that anyone could see. It was the silent killer of the soul: pride.
To make matters worse, God even gave David an opportunity to escape from the temptation of pride and the consequential judgment when he sent Joab to warn him in verse 3. The whole scene could have been avoided, and so many people would not have had to die.
But for David, his “me” became more important than the “He.” His desire to feel good about himself was more important than his desire to honor God. Sound familiar?
That is why pride is so destructive - because pride in our hearts means that right below the surface of our holiness and piety lies this dragon of idolatry. Why idolatry? because we have put ourselves above what God wants and us above God. And left unchecked, unconfessed, and unrepented from pride will lead to whatever kind of disgusting sin you could imagine.
This reminds me of how Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, promised us that:
“The LORD tears down the house of the proud.” Proverbs 15:25
I have seen it in politics, show business, and in the church (such as in the recent pastors who have resigned or been forced to resign in the news). And oh yeah… I have seen it in my own life. I have found myself in the worst situations in life when I thought too highly of myself and thought I was good or strong enough. But I learned very quickly that pride silently destroys us from the inside out.
Solomon again wrote that:
“Pride goes before destruction.” - Proverbs 16:18
That is also why Jesus preached in his Sermon on the Mount that a joyful life will come from us recognizing how needy and desperate we are for God. He said:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3
Think about it: if Jesus (God in the flesh) chose to live a life of humility and servitude, how could we ever think that we should live a life of anything less?
In what area is there pride in your life? In what area do you believe too highly about yourself? In what area are you convinced that you “deserve” better?
May we remember today that if there was any that we could ever be “good enough,” then Jesus would not have had to come and live a perfect life, die on the cross for our sins, and rise again? There is no room for pride in the life of a Christian who accurately sees himself and herself in light of the Gospel.
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