The Danger of Independence

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

July 4, 2004 
 

Today our country celebrates its birthday, 228 years ago we declared our independence from Great Britain. The declaration was adopted on July 4, 1776, by the delegates in the colonies, announcing the separation of Great Britain and the creation of the United States.

Listen to what the framers of our Constitution wrote in 1776 * "We therefore, the representatives of the United States of America in general congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the rectitude of our intentions*. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence * we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

When the first Continental Congress met, and were debating about how the Declaration of Independence should be written, Ben Franklin got up and said * "Gentlemen, if it is true that not one single petal from any flower falls to the ground without escaping God*s attention, will the distress of this nation go unheeded? Let us therefore determine to seek His face." After having said that, 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence went to their knees and began to pray and seek God*s wisdom. Our founding fathers were dependant upon God in seeking independence from Great Britain.

Fifty six brave men signed our Declaration of Independence. Do you realize the price that they paid for your independence and the freedoms you enjoy? Five were captured and tortured by the British before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned to the ground. Two lost their sons in the American Revolution. One had two sons captured in the war for your independence. Nine fought and died from wounds of the Revolutionary War. Carter Braxton, a wealthy Virginia trader, saw his ship destroyed, and had to sell his home to pay his debts * he died in poverty. Thomas McKean had to constantly move his family because of British harassment * he served in Congress without pay, and died in poverty. Thomas Nelson urged General Washington to destroy his home, when it was taken over by the British and used as a command post * he died bankrupt. Our freedom and independence came to us at a great cost.

We live in a truly blessed nation. Think of all we have. We live in huge homes that are climate controlled. We simply turn a dial and our house gets warmer or colder. We have bathrooms with hot and cold running water, several of them. We have refrigerators and pantries filled with every kind of food you can want. And if we run out all we have to do is get in our air-conditioned cars and drive to the supermarket where we can buy every kind of food imaginable. We have telephones that allow us to talk to anyone around the world. We have televisions that bring us movies and news and sporting events. We have the best medical care in the world. We are blessed!

We live in peace, counting on our military might to keep us safe from any aggressor. What more could we ask for in this country? We should be the most thankful people on the planet. But are we?

Do you realize that there are many people on this planet who have no electricity, no running water, and have to work all day just to get enough food to keep them alive? They live in constant fear for their lives as war is a daily part of their life. Yet here we are, we*re rich, we*re blessed, we*re at peace, we*ve got it all.

The problem with all of this prosperity is that it creates a great spiritual danger. In our abundance there is a tendency to forget God. To begin to think that we are independent of Him. I thank God that we celebrate our independence as a nation, but in our prosperity we need to guard against thinking that we are independent of God, and acting as if we don*t need Him.

In Deuteronomy 8 there is a warning to Israel against the spirit of independence. Let*s look at it:

Deuteronomy 8:1-3 (NASB) "All the commandments that I am commanding you today you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your forefathers. 2 "And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 "And He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you with manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD. 

 

God led the Israelites into the desert where they had no alternative but to trust Him. Think about that; they had no food and no water they had to depend on God to provide what they needed each and every day. There were no faucets to get a drink from, there were no refrigerators to get food from. Each day God provided what they needed for that day.

When Moses reminded them that they did not live on bread alone he meant that even their food was decreed by the word of God. They had manna because it came by His command. It was therefore ultimately not bread that kept them alive but His word! God wanted to show Israel that he alone is the life-source of their corporate existence. Moses said that God did this to humble them.

HUMILITY is a personal quality in which an individual shows dependence on God and respect for other persons. Humility keeps us from depending on our own strengths. God was bringing Israel to a place of complete dependence on Him - humility.

Too often we rely on our own skills and strength, especially when the task before us seems easy. We go to God only when the obstacles seem too great. The humble person knows that he is dependent on God for everything! And this humility is demonstrated in their prayer life. Prayer is a declaration of dependance.

The New Testament affirms, as does the Old Testament, that God gives grace to the humble. He will exalt those who are humble and bring low those who are proud.

James 4:6 (NASB) But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, "GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE." 

 

James 4:10 (NASB) Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. 

 

Lets continue on:

Deuteronomy 8:4-6 (NASB) "Your clothing did not wear out on you, nor did your foot swell these forty years. 5 "Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son. 6 "Therefore, you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 

 

This was a special or miraculous intervention of their loving Guardian in preserving them amid the wear and tear of their nomadic life in the desert. The Lord disciplined Israel by making her depend on Him for everything: food, water, and clothes. Since all these were provided by His decree the only logical response was to obey His commands, following and fearing Him. Fearing to disobey the One who is so powerful and holy.

I think that our problem is that we don*t see ourselves as dependent upon God and therefor we don*t fear or obey Him.

Deuteronomy 8:7-9 (NASB) "For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing forth in valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land where you shall eat food without scarcity, in which you shall not lack anything; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. 

 

In contrast with the severity of the wilderness these verses describe the abundance of Israel*s new land. What a contrast! In the promise land they would lack nothing. It sounds a lot like what we have, only we have even more. Now, note carefully what their response was to be to all this prosperity:

Deuteronomy 8:10 (NASB) "When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you. 

 

They were to praise God for what He had given them, they were to be thankful to Him. All they had He had provided and they were to praise Him for it. Failure to praise God was to disobey His commands.

Four times in Psalm 107 the psalmist cries out for men to praise the Lord for His goodness:

Psalms 107:8-9 (NASB) Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men! 9 For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good. 

 

Moses then spelled out the danger inherent in abundant prosperity. Please listen carefully:

Deuteronomy 8:11-14 (NASB) "Beware lest you forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments and His ordinances and His statutes which I am commanding you today; 12 lest, when you have eaten and are satisfied, and have built good houses and lived in them, 13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and gold multiply, and all that you have multiplies, 14 then your heart becomes proud, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 

 

Whereas in the wilderness they had to depend on God for the necessities of life, their newfound prosperity might conceal their need for the same dependence.

If the children of Israel faced the danger of becoming independent of God because of the blessings of the promise land how much more do we face this danger in twenty first century America? They faced the danger of pride, "your heart becomes proud." An Israelite who ceased to praise the Lord for what they had would find that his heart had become proud in his abundance:

Hosea 13:6 (NASB) As they had their pasture, they became satisfied, And being satisfied, their heart became proud; Therefore, they forgot Me. 

 

Israel*s prosperity caused pride. In their pride they forgot God. Moses said that they forgot God by failing to keep His commandments. They ceased to obey Him. Do we face the danger of pride? Yes, I believe even more so than Israel did.

What is pride?

Pride is and expanded view of self. It is an undue confidence in and attention to one's own skills, accomplishments, state, possessions, or position. Pride places self above God. We must all understand that pride is something that everyone must carefully guard against.

In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis calls pride the "great sin" and says this about it, "There is one vice of which no man in the world is free; which every one in the world loathes when he sees it in someone else. Pride is spiritual cancer, it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense. If anyone would like to acquire humility I can I think tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step too. At least nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed."

Pride is a sin we ALL struggle with; no one is free from the temptation to be proud. Pride is the opposite of humility which is the proper attitude for man in relation to God. Humility is dependence upon God and pride is rebellion against God because it attributes to self the honor and glory due to God alone.

In the world, pride is a virtue but in the Scriptures it is a sin. MTV did a documentary entitled "The Seven Deadly Sins." Which is interesting because those seven sins - pride, covetousness, lust, anger, envy, gluttony, and sloth -are standard MTV fare. It turned out to be a montage of celebrity quotes, movie out-takes, interviews, one-liners, and quips. It was an enlightening program. It clearly revealed the profound moral confusion of our culture. Rap singer Queen Latifah was asked about the sin of pride. "Pride is a sin?" she responded. "I wasn't aware of that." Actress Kirstie Alley added, "I don't think pride is a sin . . . I think somebody made that up." Rapper Ice-T echoed the same idea: "Pride is mandatory. That's one of the problems of the inner city. Kids don't have enough pride." It seems that one of the basic teachings of scripture is totally out of touch with the values of our modern culture.

The Old Testament scriptures clearly condemn the sin of pride. Proverbs has a lot to say about pride:

Proverbs 6:16-17 (NASB) There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes (proud look NKJV), a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 

 

Proverbs 8:13 (NASB) "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way, And the perverted mouth, I hate. 

 

Proverbs 11:2 (NASB) When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom. 

 

Proverbs 16:5 (NASB) Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished. 

 

Proverbs 16:18 (NASB) Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling. 

 

The Scriptures have nothing good to say about pride: it is a very destructive, very damaging sin that is to be avoided.

We have an good example of pride and God's judgement against pride in Daniel chapter four:

Daniel 4:27-33 (NASB) 'Therefore, O king, may my advice be pleasing to you: break away now from your sins by doing righteousness, and from your iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, in case there may be a prolonging of your prosperity.' 28 "All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king. 29 "Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. 30 "The king reflected and said, 'Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?' 31 "While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, 32 and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you, until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whomever He wishes.' 33 "Immediately the word concerning Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled; and he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until his hair had grown like eagles' feathers and his nails like birds' claws. 

 

This is an unusual psychological delusion called, lycanthropy. It comes from lukos, which means wolf and anthropos, which means man. A person thinks he is an animal and lives accordingly. There was a documented case of this in a British mental hospital in 1946.

These verses are a commentary on James 4:6, "God resists the proud." Nebuchadnezzar refused to acknowledge God*s rule and God judged him until he humbled himself before Him:

Daniel 4:34-37 (NASB) "But at the end of that period I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 "And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?' 36 "At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me. 37 "Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride." 

 

After seven years had transpired Nebuchadnezzar with his sanity restored praised the Most High. The only person he was praising was himself until God judged him.

The king who had sought honor and glory for himself now acknowledged that the Most High lives forever. The king confessed that God*s dominion is* eternal, that His kingdom endures. Thus he acknowledged God*s sovereign authority.

Nebuchadnezzar also acknowledged God*s irresistible will: He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. Also the king confessed that man is answerable to God, not God to man, for no one can stop God and no one has a right to question Him

This is a warning to those of us who may never rule an empire other than the little one we all invent within ourselves.

Proverbs 29:23 (NASB) A man's pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor. 

 

James I. Packer, in his book "Rediscovering Holiness," writes, "Pride blows us up like balloons, but grace punctures our conceit and lets the hot, proud air out of our system. The result...is that we shrink, and end up seeing ourselves as less--less nice, less able, less wise, less good, less strong, less steady, less committed, less of a piece - than ever we thought we were. We stop kidding ourselves that we are persons of great importance to the world and to God.... We bow to events that rub our noses in the reality of our own weaknesses, and we look to God for strength quietly to cope."

In his book, The Winner Within, Pat Riley, former coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, talks about the danger of pride, the "Disease of Me." He tells how the Laker's out-of-control egos brought about one of the quickest falls in the history of the NBA. They had won the Championship in 1980. The following season they were predicted to do it again. Then, resentment set in among the players. Some thought Earvin Johnson got too much attention from the media. Kareem Abdul Jabbar believed that he was being snubbed by other players. Some players believed they weren't getting the recognition they deserved. As a result, the Lakers shifted their focus from winning to whining. And they got beat in the first playoff round. This is the ultimate humiliation for a reigning champ; it has happened only twice before in NBA history. Riley summed it up by saying, "The Disease of Me leads to the Defeat of Us."

Pride lures us into living independently of God. There is an incompatibility between blind arrogance and the presence of God in our life. The proud person depends on himself rather than on God. This causes God*s guiding influences to leave his life. When God*s presence is welcome, there is no room for pride, because he makes us aware of our true self.

Deuteronomy 8:15-17 (NASB) "He led you through the great and terrible wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water; He brought water for you out of the rock of flint. 16 "In the wilderness He fed you manna which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do good for you in the end. 17 "Otherwise, you may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth.' 

 

This is a danger we all face, "My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth." We think, well I have worked hard for what I have, or I studied hard to get where I am. Some now we think that we have accomplished things apart from God, this is self-deception.

Deuteronomy 8:18 (NASB) "But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 

 

We must remember that God gives us all we have no matter how hard we have worked for it. Who gives us the health to work? Who gives us the ability, skill, intelligence to work? God does, all we are and have come form His gracious hand.

Deuteronomy 8:19-20 (NASB) "And it shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God, and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you shall surely perish. 20 "Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the LORD your God. 

 

Did Israel forget God? Yes, they did. Did God destroy them? Yes, he did. In AD 70 God used the Roman army to destroy forever the nation Israel.

As we celebrate our nations independence from Great Britain lets remember that we are not independent from God. As America walks away from God we praise Him less and less, we begin to think, "My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth." We become more and more proud as a nation, turning form the God who made us great. This country needs to repent before God brings judgement on us as he has on other proud nations.

In 1953 President Eisenhower made history by being the last President to refer publicly to the need for our nation to confess and repent of our sins in order to receive mercy and pardon. Even though many presidents have used religious terms and imagery in their speeches, none since Eisenhower have addressed the crux of the problem of American society and called for national repentance. Can you imagine the backlash such a statement would create today?

We look back at the history of Israel and we see how they turned from God and were destroyed. History shows us many nations who have turned away from God and been judged, but do we learn?

Some people never learn. A man hired a pilot to take him Caribou hunting in Canada. He asked the pilot to land in a remote place. The pilot said, "There aren't any Caribou in this area." The hunter said, "There were last year. I hunted here and I know what I'm talking about." Sure enough, in a few hours the hunter returned, dragging two caribou. As he got ready to load the plane, the pilot said, "You can't load two caribou on this plane. The plane can't bear the weight." The hunter said, "I did last year. Same size plane, same size caribou. I know what I'm talking about because I did it last year." The pilot finally agreed, and they took off. The plane, however, couldn't carry the load, and crashed into the side of a mountain. The pilot got angry at the hunter and said, "I can't believe I let you talk me into this. I knew this plane couldn't carry two caribou. Now we're stranded on this mountain and no one will ever find us." The hunter said, "Don't worry, the rescue squad will find us here in no time. We're right by where they found us when we crashed last year."

This story is funny but sadly true, some people never learn. We are so often like this, we see the damage and pain that the sin of pride and independence causes and yet we continue to act as if we are independent of God.

Pride becomes our deadliest enemy because it causes us to trust ourselves rather than God. Where do you put your trust? In your intellect? Your health? your possessions? There may come a time when all of these will fail us. If we trust in ourselves-our accomplishments, our possessions, our investments-there will come a time, regardless of how much we have accumulated, when we will stare into the darkness and feel the waters rise around us. If we confess that our strength is inadequate and put our faith and dependence in God, then we will discover why the humble and the meek of this world are blessed.

We are rich, we have an abundance in this country, we are truly blessed. Do you recognize that all you are and all you have comes from God? Do you live your life in thankfulness and gratitude for all that God has given you?

Micah 6:8 (NASB) He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? 

 

We walk humbly with our God when we walk in total dependance on Him being thankful for all that we have.  

 

This message was preached by David B. Curtis on July 4, 2004. Media order # 298a.