Cheshvan 21
Before Esteem
“… And before esteem is humility.” (Pro 15:33 ISR)
Would you allow me
the license to turn this around somewhat … “humility comes before esteem.” I see this
section of this verse as a progression, similar to learning the alphabet before
one can even attempt to read a book.
Most of us can
admit that there is nothing within us that is deserving of our Elohim’s love
and mercy, yet these are facets of our ABBA’s character that we desperately need.
Our friend Daniel Webster has the following for one of the definitions
of the word ‘humility’: “… a deep sense of
one's own unworthiness in the sight of God, self-abasement, penitence for sin,
and submission to the divine will”[1]. It
appears that this is where true
humility is born: the recognition of who
and what we are without the embrace of our Father.
I have seen (and
read) of a ‘false’ humility within the body of Messiah, revealing a sense of
pride in how humble the me/myself/I appears
to be. This is nothing new; our Master
spoke of it Himself, and it is recorded for us in Luke 18:10-14. This is a ‘false’ humility, is very
dangerous, and will not go unpunished.
James, the brother of our Master, tells us to ‘Humble ourselves
in the sight of the Master’ (Jam
4:10); this is our responsibility. Should we choose to not abase ourselves, make no mistake, brethren – our loving and
benevolent Father will do what needs to be done, as is also stated in the
reference from Luke 18.
However, when we
voluntarily choose to walk true humility before YHWH our Elohim, we must also
trust Him to elevate us to where He
desires us to be. Moshe was considered
to be the most humble man there ever was (see Num 12:3), yet our Creator
elevated him to be the shepherd of several million
ex-slaves. Moshe’s face would shine and glow,
reflecting the shekinah of our God
(see Ex 34:29-30), and this was the
evidence of the honor and esteem that our Father had settled upon him. And are we
not also called to be His light (see Mat 5:14)?
“Seek the Lord [inquire for Him, inquire of Him, and require
Him as the foremost necessity of your life], all you humble of the land
who have acted in compliance with His revealed will and have kept His
commandments; seek righteousness, seek humility [inquire for them, require them as vital]. It may be you will be
hidden in the day of the Lord's anger.” (Zep 2:3 AMPC,
emphasis mine)
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