The Pastor’s Pen

Humility is such a sweet quality, and most of us enjoy being in the presence of it. It has the unmatched ability to grow relationships to be agreeable and harmonious. Uniquely, humility looks not only to his/her own interests, but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:4).


The Lord displays enormous humility which He also values in His people. Psalm 25:9 says the Lord leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. For some of us, this takes a long time as the Lord employs the repetitive and sanctifying lessons of life to slowly realign our priorities and values to reflect His.

New Testament humility speaks of a person’s lowliness of mind which is not weak, nor is it depressing. Rather, humility expresses inner strength which is under control and places self second to others. For the Christian, this begins with placing self under the example and lordship of Jesus Christ as our character template.

In Matthew 20:27-28, Jesus explained to His disciples, whoever would be first among you must be your slave, ²⁸ even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Jesus’ example is both invigorating and challenging. Surely, He was entitled as the anointed Christ, the Son of God, to be served. But no, Christ did not exalt himself… (Hebrews 5:5). Jesus came not for personal aggrandisement, nor to fulfil His own will but the will of him who sent Him (John 6:38). Jesus came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10), to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15) was Paul’s conclusion. Jesus was, and remains, the serving Saviour who humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8).

But for we sinners, we naturally resist thinking of ourselves as slaves. This requires relinquishing personal rights and entitlements for the benefit and advancement of Christ and others. Recognising our struggle with this motivates us to bow in dependence upon the Lord working out His humility within us. This unnatural and selfless attitude of humility begins with Christ. He invites us to take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart… (Matthew 11:29).

Christian humility flows from Christ’s humility, and it flows through Holy Spirit replication of Jesus’ character (2Co 3:18). The Lord announced in Isaiah 57:15 …I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. As believers place themselves under the Lord, He assigns His presence to them for the purpose of spiritual revival and ongoing heart development.

Whereas worldly humility, sooner or later, seeks something for self. It may simply be recognition, vindication, or reward of some kind, but self will surface and pursue gratification. This is NOT the attitude of those who believe in Christ as Lord. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Therefore, James exhorts us to humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up (James 4:10 NIV), which is the essence of Isaiah’s words.

It is a privilege to live and worship under the Lord’s supremacy, knowing that He is active in that self-humiliation process. I encourage you to seek the Lord’s ongoing character development beginning with humility, for with the humble is wisdom (Proverbs 11:2).

Nicodemus was a Pharisees, a ruler of the Jews (John 3:1), and a member of the Sanhedrin ruling council (John 7:50–51). Nicodemus was a common Greek name, and it means “victor over the people.” He was Israel’s leading teacher, they listened when he spoke. Here is Nicodemus sneaking around at night to get a secret audience with Jesus. He had no sooner got in the door and politely greeted Jesus, when He was confronted by the most alarming words he had ever heard. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

Immediately Jesus takes Nicodemus to his greatest need which he did not want to talk about. Nicodemus, you are not able to enter God’s Kingdom! This Jewish leader would have been proud of his religious qualifications. But no amount of Jewish or religious law keeping could qualify him for eternal life in God’s Kingdom.

That evening Nicodemus learned he had wasted his entire life on false religion. Nicodemus understood the impossibility of Jesus’s words. John 3:4, how can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born? Obviously not, it simply cannot happen. Neither can a person enter God’s Kingdom because of personal merit.

Jesus’ point is this, salvation, entry into God’s Kingdom is entirely the work of God. We offer nothing, we earn nothing, and we cannot persuade God to give us entry. This was NOT good news for self-righteous Nicodemus. Jesus continued, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:5-6).

Nicodemus, like us, was born dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1). Like us, he was not capable of belief because he was so dead that he did not realise there was a life to be had – he was DEAD! Rebirth is totally the act of God the Holy Spirit. God gifts the dead sinner with eternal life. He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit… (Titus 3:5).

God supernaturally takes the dead sinner and regenerates them. He gives them spiritual rebirth from death to eternal life, washing them clean of sin (1 Corinthians 6:11), and spiritually makes a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Nicodemus was wealthy, powerful, popular, and respected. He could pray and he had memorised much of the Old Testament. But Nicodemus was walking DEAD! He could not call heaven down, he could not release heavenly blessing, he could not name or claim anything from God. Only Jesus Christ, God’s anointed Son could give Him life, this was the truth Nicodemus needed to believe.

Sometime later Nicodemus helped Joseph of Arimathea remove Jesus’ body from the Cross and laid Him in the tomb (John 19:39-42). Most likely, Nicodemus believed in Jesus and was born again, discovering the truth of Jesus’s teaching. To all who did receive him (Jesus), who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12-13). Nicodemus calls from the past, have you been born again?

Gideon, who lived approximately 1175-1100 BC, abruptly appears on the pages of Scripture when secretly he was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianite enemies. Looking up, Gideon sees the angel of the Lord sitting under an Oak tree (Judges 6:11). Israel had been worshiping idols for many years while being under God’s discipline for it through the Midianite armies who raided their lands regularly. The angel of the Lord gets straight to the point, the LORD is with you, O mighty man of valour… go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian (Judges 6:12-14).


Confronted with this incredible heavenly assignment, Gideon stands and argues as to why it has taken the Lord so long to come to the aide of idolatrous Israel. Furthermore, following his arguments of being an insignificant man, yet understanding who it was that was instructing him, Gideon says, if now I have found favour in your eyes, then show me a sign (Judges 6:17). Gideon promptly prepared a meal of Goat for he and the angel to enjoy. But the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight (Judges 6:21). That was convincing enough for Gideon.

Gideon immediately begins his campaign against Israel’s Midianite enemies with astounding success. However, Gideon never overcame his desire to see signs as evidence of God’s authenticity. Judges 6:33-7:40 records his double challenge for God to prove Himself by wetting and drying a woollen fleece unnaturally, to which the Lord obliged. Having his faith emboldened by this, and enabled by the Lord’s divine military interventions, Gideon led Israel into great victories over their enemies.

However, their remained hidden heart issues within Gideon which He never allowed the Lord to have victory over. One such issue was the matter of unforgiveness which led to revenge. When the leaders of Succoth and Penuel (Judges 8:5-8, 16-17) would not feed Gideon’s hungry army he threatens them and later returned to fulfil his violent threats.

The men of Israel later asked Gideon, rule over us?… since …you have saved us from the hand of Midian. But Gideon wisely responded, I will not rule over you…  the LORD will rule over you (Judges 8:22-23). This was Gideon’s most righteous decision; he had learned his place under the sovereign rule of God.

Sadly, Gideon did not end the race of life well. Apart from having many wives, 70 sons, and a concubine (Jdg 8:29-31), he did not remain completely faithful to the Lord. Following his decline to national rulership, Gideon collected gold that his soldiers had gathered from the dead Midianites. From that gold he formed an “ephod.” This was some type of breastplate or mask used in idol worship (Jdg 8:24-26). He placed the ephod in Ophrah, his town. All Israel prostituted themselves by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his family (Judges 8:27 NIV).

We learn from Gideon that God’s presence is never based upon our worthiness but upon God’s gracious will. Gideon was a mixed bag. He had some great qualities of faith, and some equally shameful ones. Fortunately for Gideon, as for us, God was consistently gracious in all His dealings with him, as with us. Therefore, Hebrews 11:32 finds Gideon recorded amongst the great leaders of faith.

A key person in Old Testament history is Reuben, whose name means “behold, a son.” Reuben was the first son born to Jacob and Leah and lived approximately 1775-1675 BC.

Despite growing up in a family with great tension between his mother and Aunty Rebecca, who shared both the same house and husband, Reuben turned out to be one of the more honourable sons of Jacob. His first courageous step showing strong character is recorded in Genesis chapter 37. Reuben’s younger brother Joseph had become Dad’s favourite. Now Jacob loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colours. ⁴ But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him (Genesis 37:3-4).


However, Reuben did not give into petty brotherly jealousy. When the other brothers conspired against Joseph to kill him… (Genesis 37:18-20), Reuben rescued Joseph out of their hands saying, “Let us not take his life… shed no blood …do not lay a hand on him,” hoping he could return Joseph to their father alive (Genesis 37:21-22). Reuben was courageous in his protective love for his younger brother, courageous enough to risk being mistreated or killed himself.

As we know, through a long and painful series of shocking events orchestrated by God, Joseph ended up becoming the ruler over all Egypt, second only to Pharaoh. But where was Reuben? He was back in the family homeland living amongst ongoing domestic hostility.

Sadly, the conviction Reuben had showed with Joseph did not always dominate his character. Reuben’s tragic fall from his father’s grace came when he slept with his father’s concubine Bilhah (Genesis 35:22). This crime was punishable by death and revealed a terrible downgrading of his earlier integrity. Even though Reuben demonstrated compassion for his aging father when he offered his own two sons as a guarantee for the safety of brother Benjamin (Genesis 42:37), he lacked longevity of strong character.

Much later, when Jacob was dispensing his end-of-life blessings, he administered an alarming yet accurate summary of Reuben’s life. Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might, and the firstfruits of my strength, preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power. ⁴ Unstable as water, you shall not have preeminence, because you went up to your father’s bed; then you defiled it (Genesis 49:3-4).

In the amazing grace of God, Reuben was not written off as a total waste of space by the Lord. Like us, the guilt of Reuben’s sin outweighed any redeeming qualities he may have possessed. But the Lord acted upon Reuben’s life with mercy, even assigning him to be father of the tribe of Reuben in Israel. Sadly, the tribe eventually lost its high position of dignity, with no prominent judge, prophet, or ruler coming from it. The tribe of Reuben fades into silent history, with only one New Testament mention in Revelation 7:5. Incredibly, in the tribulation times which lay ahead, when the 144,000 Jewish evangelists shall reap a great harvest of souls for Christ, 12,000 of those evangelists shall be descendants of Reuben.

God’s grace outdoes our sin (Rom 5:20). While our failings, stumblings, and disappointing actions qualify us for discipline or worse, God treats us with grace. Through Christ we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2). God’s grace saves, His grace keeps, and His grace shall deliver us into His presence. Like Reuben, the Lord’s grace covers our lives and our futures, regardless of our water-like characters.

Hezekiah was one of only a few righteous kings who did what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God (2 Chronicles 31:20). 2 Kings 18:5 tells us that Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, …so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. Hezekiah was the son of wicked king Ahaz, and later fathered wicked Manasseh. Despite his wicked family, Hezekiah walked faithfully with the Lord, turning idolatrous Judah back to Jehovah. Hezekiah removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it and called it Nehushtan (2 Kings 18:4). Under his rulership, the nation shared in the overwhelming blessings of God.


Hezekiah was one of only a few righteous kings who did what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God (2 Chronicles 31:20). 2 Kings 18:5 tells us that Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, …so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. Hezekiah was the son of wicked king Ahaz, and later fathered wicked Manasseh. Despite his wicked family, Hezekiah walked faithfully with the Lord, turning idolatrous Judah back to Jehovah. Hezekiah removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it and called it Nehushtan (2 Kings 18:4). Under his rulership, the nation shared in the overwhelming blessings of God.

He had a soft obedient heart that lived for the glory of God. Hezekiah’s malleable heart proved its quality (2 Chronicles 32:26) by putting the Lord first, even following times of sinful failure. True faith never abandons the Lord. We may stumble and faulter in sin, but faith always returns repentantly to walk with the Lord, and Hezekiah is proof of this. During Hezekiah’s 29 year reign over Judah, the prophets Isaiah and Micah served.

Israel had been suffering a long-term military attack by Assyria, who had invaded much of the land and now wanted to capture Jerusalem. But God destroyed the Assyrian army of 185,000 soldiers using just one angel (Isa 37:36). The king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh (Isa 37:37-38) where two of his sons killed him while worshipping an idol.

During this time Hezekiah became sick (from a boil, Isa 38:21) and was about to die, and he prayed to the Lord (2Ch 32:24), but he did not actually ask for healing in the way we would expect (Isa 38:2-3). God responded, I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. ⁶ I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria… (Isaiah 38:5-6). The Lord healed Hezekiah by telling Isaiah the prophet to have a cake of figs applied to the boil, that he may recover (Isa 38:21). They applied the fig poultice and the Lord empowered Hezekiah’s healing.

2 Chronicles 32:29 further explains that God had given him (Hezekiah) very great possessions. So, when the Babylonians came to visit, he proudly showed them everything within the kingdom that God had blessed Israel with (Isa 39:4). As a result, God left Hezekiah to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart (2 Chronicles 32:31). God wanted Hezekiah to truly know his own heart – OUCH. To understand the nature of the pride that had developed, and the deceitful way sin had manipulated his thinking and behaviour. The consequence was, God said, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord (Isaiah 39:6). This happened approximately 100 years later when evil Manasseh ruled as king, and the Babylonians took them captive.

The remaining 15 years of Hezekiah’s life were well spent in faithfully leading the nation in worship of Jehovah. Hezekiah learned well from his few stumblings. Throughout, he repeatedly centred his affections and loyalties on the Lord. He was a man of prayer who honoured the Word of the Lord. May the same be true for each of us.