Israel in the Desert
God saved Israel out of slavery in Egypt. It would seem like being forced to slavery would be enough to humble a people, but whether it was them believing themselves trapped between the sea and Egypt or upset they haven’t had meat for a while they repeatedly express how they feel they deserve more than they’re being given.
After many such instances of Israel demanding more than they had, God got them to the land he had promised them. However, even with the promise of rest in a land that had everything they needed, they didn’t trust that God could actually fulfill his promise because of the fortifications and soldiers defending that land.
Because of this lack of faith, God sends them to wander in the desert for 40 years until none of that generation remained. He did this to finally create a people humble enough to trust in him.
And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not.
Deuteronomy 8:2
Even as slaves, they could imagine that it was their own labor that earned them their care. Even after walking through a sea on dry ground, they were quick to attribute it to another god (made with their own hands) when Moses had been gone for a long time. After eating Manna which was delivered miraculously and water which came from rocks, they still grumbled against God.
However, that time in the wilderness produced a new generation of people who were eager to trust God’s providence for the promised land.
Nebuchadnezzar Humbled
At the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, and the king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” While the words were still in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, “O King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: The kingdom has departed from you, and you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. And you shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.” Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws.
Daniel 4:29-33
This was the same king who, just shortly before this, had built a statue of himself for people to worship. He was then humbled when, throwing those who refused to worship him into a furnace, witnessed God keep them perfectly safe in the flames. However, even knowing there was a true God with that much power, he is found in that verse imagining that it was by his own might that his kingdom was grand.
Again, you see that the thing which finally humbles him was being driven into the wilderness for a time.
God’s Creation
Being reduced to dependence upon, and appreciation for, the world God has provided for humanity has a way of humbling us like not even miraculous displays of his power can. Perhaps this is because creation is the most amazing display of his power. The God who created every molecule in existence and set it all up in a way that provides for all varieties of life we see would have no problem producing water from a rock or feeding Israel in the desert. It is a small thing to protect 3 men from fire when he controlled enough energy to produce the universe. In fact, many verses tell us exactly that (Psalm 8:3-4, Psalm 19:1, Romans 1:20).
As we develop as a society, we begin to clutter around ourselves all manner of manmade things. Some people can look out their window to see nothing but concrete and glass. With such a perspective, it can be easy to look at things as if man were the ultimate creator. We can imagine that it is by our own might and will that all things have their existance.
Such thinking is exactly what keeps us from a relationship with the God who ultimately provides all things. To truly be humble, we must have in our minds the reality that nothing exists apart from God. If you find yourself feeling like everything in your life is there because of good infrastructure planning or human ingenuity, it may help to spend some time in the wilderness. However, it’s not impossible to humble ourselves even surrounded by skyscrapers and pavement. We just must keep in mind that even those things which man has accomplished has been accomplished using those things which God provided and under his direct supervision.
Humility is Serious
In Isaiah, God tells us the type of person whom he looks after.
All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord.
Isaiah 66:2
But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
Again we see the relationship between God being creator of all things and humility. We also see that God’s people will be those who humbly acknowledge God and reverently listen to his word. God has a way of humbling those who do not give him his due and it is never pleasant. However, those who are humble he honors.
If you are placing your faith in the “indomitable human spirit” you build your house on sinking sand. Like Nebuchadnezzar, proud men may set up themselves as objects of worship and punish those who refuse. Like him, they will ultimately be humbled by the God who, alone, cannot be conquered.
If you place your faith in the God of all creation, you build your house on the solid rock that cannot be moved. Trust Jesus, through whom all of creation has its being. The same Jesus who sacrificed his glory and even submitted to death so that he could conquer it all on your behalf. That Jesus who will come again to gather his people to himself, and the humble will be exalted!
