Yesterday, we observed the emphasis on intention in Hebrews. Intention is closely bound to another constant emphasis in Hebrews: perseverance:

“So let’s keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4.11)

This is a main theme of Hebrews:

Stay with it.

• The Israelites didn’t.
• The Southern Kingdom of Judah didn’t.
• The church at Ephesus didn’t.

But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. (Revelation 2.4, 5, ESV)

Let’s not let it slip through our fingers.”(Hebrews 4.14, MSG)

“Until the end…”

And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. (Hebrews 6.11, 12, ESV)

PS I’ve just found a fantastic article on “stay with it,” that’s too good not to share. Stay tuned.

As we get into Hebrews, one theme is “avoid Jesus and…” But I’m seeing another in these first few chapters. What do you think?

• Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (2.1)
• Now, if we can only keep a firm grip on this bold confidence, we’re the house! (3.6)
• So watch your step, friends. Make sure there’s no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. (3.12)
• For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God’s goal for us, we need to be careful that we’re not disqualified. (4.1)

Pay attention, lest we drift…keep a firm grip…watch your step…be careful. The Jews now in captivity in Babylon, that we’ve been reading about, didn’t set out to be idolatrous…but that’s what they became. How could France, a Christian country for centuries, builder of the Notre Dame Cathedral, be proud to produce an Olympics Opening Ceremony that mocked Christianity?

My son the stair racer won another race, Saturday, July 27. It was the Coors Field climb, 3,600 steps around the lower stands. I watched him do it. The runners run individually, a staggered start. His friend Christopher Baker shown with Mark after the race finished a minute slower than Mark.

Why am I highlighting Mark again? Because he doesn’t win these races by accident. He trains. And to get worse, to go from winning to being an also-ran, he wouldn’t have to do anything. Literally. Just stop training. The application is clear.

Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire. (Matthew 26.41, MSG)

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. (1 Corinthians 9.24, 25, NIV)

As we get into Hebrews, and as the political climate heats up, let’s remember that it was specifically written to counteract “Christianity and…” Eugene Peterson’s introduction to Hebrews in The Message contains this sentence:

In the letter, it is Jesus-and-angels, or Jesus-and-Moses, or Jesus-and-priesthood. In our time it is more likely to be Jesus-and-politics,…

C.S. Lewis said much the same thing, way back in 1942. In Screwtape Letters (highly recommend!), senior demon Screwtape is writing to junior demon Wormwood on how to get a new believer off track. In letter VII, Screwtape asks Wormwood to find out whether the new believer is a “Patriot” (in favor of the war against Germany) or a “Pacifist,” and Screwtape really doesn’t care which. Screwtape writes:

Whichever he adopts, your main task will be the same. Let him begin by treating the Patriotism or the Pacifism as a part of his religion. Then let him, under the influence of partisan spirit, come to regard it as the most important part. Then quietly and gradually nurse him on to the stage at which the religion becomes merely part of the ‘Cause,’ in which Christianity is valued chiefly because of the excellent arguments it can produce in favour of the British war effort or of pacifism. – C.S. Lewis, Screwtape Letters

The application to our day is clear. I wrote on July 28, 2020: Where are our loyalties? that no political party has the five elements the early church had. Four years ago I made the point that we ought to be loving each other regardless of where we are on the political spectrum.

Our focus needs to be Jesus.

Regarding angels he says, The messengers are winds, the servants are tongues of fire. But he says to the Son, You’re God, and on the throne for good; your rule makes everything right. (Hebrews 1.7, 8, MSG)

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1.15 – 20, ESV)

Parts of this blog were originally published October 20, 2020.

Olympics are in full force, and I’ll probably do some lessons learned as I usually do. But this story can’t wait. It’s about the Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina after a successful ride on an epic wave:

According to What’s the story behind this insane, viral Olympic surf shot? by Laylan Connelly in the Orange County Register, Gabriel is not saying that he’s #1 or that the Brazilians are #1, he’s pointing to Jesus:

So what did the finger mean? Was Medina telling the world he’s No. 1? A premonition that the Brazilians will come in No. 1 spot at the Olympic games to win gold?

Medina, who is devoutly religious, days earlier had to cover an image of Jesus on his surfboard due to Olympic rules.

But his faith-based messaging came in a new form as Medina pointed toward the sky, the photo capturing his relaxed body floating above the saltwater in the air in a seemingly mystical image.

“I can do everything through him who strengthens,” Medina wrote on social media under the unbelievable shot shared around the world.

The article is worth the read in its entirety and includes this picture of him on the actual wave:

God has people everywhere, even if there are those in Paris trying to proclaim another message.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4.13, NKJV)

All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar’s household. (Philippians 4.22, ESV)

P.S. There is doubt in some circles about whether what I wrote yesterday about the Opening Ceremony mocking Da Vinci’s Last Supper is accurate. Here’s an alternate view with some good lessons by a Christian art teacher: The Paris Olympics’ Altar to an Unknown God. And here’s another alternate view that explains that how art is perceived is as important a consideration as how it was intended to be perceived: The Lessons of the Paris Olympics Tableau.

P.P.S. Christianity Today published a beautiful article on this photo on August 9, 2024.

As we leave the Jews of Jerusalem in exile and begin our reading of Hebrews, we might need to pick up a lesson from chapter 13. Did you see the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris last Friday? I didn’t see much of it, and I missed the mockery of Da Vinci’s Last Supper put on by drag queens. Rod Dreher writes about the event and its significance.

Here’s the word from near the end of Hebrews:

Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (Hebrews 13.13, 14, ESV)

“Outside the camp.” If you don’t think so, read the Dreher article. If you don’t believe that we’re in exile, read the Dreher article. If you’ve forgotten we’re in a spiritual battle… You get the idea. Paul’s challenge is clear:

This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. (Ephesians 6.12, MSG)

In the meantime, the instructions to the exiles apply and immediately follow the “outside the camp” observation:

Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (Hebrews 13.15 – 16, ESV)

P.S. There is doubt in some circles about whether the Opening Ceremony intended to mock Da Vinci’s Last Supper. Here’s an alternate view with some good lessons by a Christian art teacher: The Paris Olympics’ Altar to an Unknown God. And here’s another alternate view that explains that how art is perceived is as important a consideration as how it was intended to be perceived: The Lessons of the Paris Olympics Tableau. A friend of mine who reviews culture for a living observed that the director most likely vastly underestimates how many Christians might be offended and vastly overestimates the size of the LGBTQ… population.

We left Judah yesterday in Babylon:

Judah went into exile, orphaned from her land. (2 Kings 25.21, MSG)

Gedaliah is appointed governor, but he is assassinated. There is more detail on this period in Jeremiah, including this command:

This is the letter that the prophet Jeremiah sent from Jerusalem to what was left of the elders among the exiles, to the priests and prophets and all the exiles whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken to Babylon from Jerusalem, including King Jehoiachin, the queen mother, the government leaders, and all the skilled laborers and craftsmen. The letter was carried by Elasah son of Shaphan and Gemariah son of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah had sent to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. The letter said:

This is the Message from GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies, Israel’s God, to all the exiles I’ve taken from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and make yourselves at home. Put in gardens and eat what grows in that country. Marry and have children. Encourage your children to marry and have children so that you’ll thrive in that country and not waste away. Make yourselves at home there and work for the country’s welfare. Pray for Babylon’s well-being. If things go well for Babylon, things will go well for you.” (Jeremiah 29.1 – 7, MSG)

Judah was not scattered like the Northern Kingdom. They were intact in Babylon. And it wasn’t going to be a short stay. This is the present condition, and their instruction on how to live in this condition is simple: be normal:

• Build houses and make yourselves at home
• Put in gardens and eat the produce
• Marry and have children – you and your children
• Work for the country’s welfare and pray for Babylon’s well-being

Say what? But we want to return to Jerusalem now! We’ve learned our lesson. Trust us! Nope. We’ll read about their coming back when we get to Ezra and Nehemiah but that’s 70 years away.

This is GOD’s Word on the subject: “As soon as Babylon’s seventy years are up and not a day before, I’ll show up and take care of you as I promised and bring you back home. I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. (Jeremiah 29.10, 11, MSG)

Many believe the application is for the church today. In the US we used to think we were the leading edge of God’s nation here in North America. If that were ever so, it is certainly not so anymore. The church is in exile. Work for the good of the city where you live. I like the tagline of First Presbyterian Church, Colorado Springs:

Light and Life for the City

firstprescos.org/what-we-believe

The Jews weren’t “home,” and neither are we:

You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5.13 – 16, ESV)

Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night. (Philippians 2.15, MSG)

The Northern Kingdom was scattered in 2 Kings 17; the Southern Kingdom, Judah, is carted off to Babylon in 2 Kings 24 and 25. The downfall begins:

Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to rule; he was king for eleven years in Jerusalem…In GOD’s opinion he was an evil king, picking up on the evil ways of his ancestors. It was during his reign that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon invaded the country. Jehoiakim became his puppet. But after three years he had had enough and revolted. GOD dispatched a succession of raiding bands against him: Babylonian, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite. The strategy was to destroy Judah. Through the preaching of his servants and prophets, GOD had said he would do this, and now he was doing it. None of this was by chance—it was GOD’s judgment as he turned his back on Judah because of the enormity of the sins of Manasseh—Manasseh, the killer-king, who made the Jerusalem streets flow with the innocent blood of his victims. GOD wasn’t about to overlook such crimes.  (2 Kings 23.36 – 24.4, MSG)

Jehoachin becomes king, and the judgment continues:

And Jehoiachin king of Judah, along with his mother, officers, advisors, and government leaders, surrendered. In the eighth year of his reign Jehoiachin was taken prisoner by the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar emptied the treasuries of both The Temple of GOD and the royal palace and confiscated all the gold furnishings that Solomon king of Israel had made for The Temple of GOD. This should have been no surprise—GOD had said it would happen. And then he emptied Jerusalem of people—all its leaders and soldiers, all its craftsmen and artisans. He took them into exile, something like ten thousand of them! The only ones he left were the very poor. He took Jehoiachin into exile to Babylon. With him he took the king’s mother, his wives, his chief officers, the community leaders, anyone who was anybody—in round numbers, seven thousand soldiers plus another thousand or so craftsmen and artisans, all herded off into exile in Babylon. (2 Kings 24.12 – 16, MSG)

All according to God’s prediction and plan. Then Jehoachin’s successor Zedekiah is the last:

The Babylonians took Zedekiah prisoner and marched him off to the king of Babylon at Riblah, then tried and sentenced him on the spot. Zedekiah’s sons were executed right before his eyes; the summary murder of his sons was the last thing he saw, for they then blinded him. Securely handcuffed, he was hauled off to Babylon. In the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, on the seventh day of the fifth month, Nebuzaradan, the king of Babylon’s chief deputy, arrived in Jerusalem. He burned The Temple of GOD to the ground, went on to the royal palace, and then finished off the city—burned the whole place down. He put the Babylonian troops he had with him to work knocking down the city walls. Finally, he rounded up everyone left in the city, including those who had earlier deserted to the king of Babylon, and took them off into exile. He left a few poor dirt farmers behind to tend the vineyards and what was left of the fields. (2 Kings 25.6 – 12, MSG)

Hard to believe this is the same kingdom that the Queen of Sheba visited. But nothing is permanent, especially when God promises exactly this outcome. Moses told them:

All the nations will ask, “Why did GOD do this to this country? What on earth could have made him this angry?” Your children will answer, “Because they abandoned the Covenant of the GOD of their ancestors that he made with them after he got them out of Egypt; they went off and worshiped other gods, submitted to gods they’d never heard of before, gods they had no business dealing with. So GOD’s anger erupted against that land and all the curses written in this book came down on it. GOD, furiously angry, pulled them, roots and all, out of their land and dumped them in another country, as you can see.” (Deuteronomy 29.24 – 28, MSG)

The narrative of 1 Samuel – 2 Kings ends with the people in Babylon. After the same story is told from another perspective in 1 and 2 Chronicles, The books of Ezra and Nehemiah will record their return from exile. What happened during exile? We’ll take a quick look from Jeremiah’s perspective tomorrow. In the meantime, a sad time.

¹  By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.
²  On the willows there we hung up our lyres.
³  For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
⁴  How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land? (Psalm 137.1 – 4, ESV)

How lonely sits the city that was full of people! How like a widow has she become, she who was great among the nations! She who was a princess among the provinces has become a slave…Judah has gone into exile because of affliction and hard servitude; she dwells now among the nations, but finds no resting place; her pursuers have all overtaken her in the midst of her distress. (Lamentations 1.1 – 3, ESV)

We left Josiah in shock after discovering and reading “the book of the law,” finding his nation under God’s judgment. He leaps into action:

The king acted immediately, assembling all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. Then the king proceeded to The Temple of GOD, bringing everyone in his train—priests and prophets and people ranging from the famous to the unknown. Then he read out publicly everything written in the Book of the Covenant that was found in The Temple of GOD. The king stood by the pillar and before GOD solemnly committed them all to the covenant: to follow GOD believingly and obediently; to follow his instructions, heart and soul, on what to believe and do; to put into practice the entire covenant, all that was written in the book. The people stood in affirmation; their commitment was unanimous. (2 Kings 23.1 – 3, MSG)

The commitment is eerily similar to the one Jehoida and young king Joash made:

Then the priest brought the prince into view, crowned him, handed him the scroll of God’s covenant, and made him king. As they anointed him, everyone applauded and shouted, “Long live the king!” …Jehoiada now made a covenant between GOD and the king and the people: They were GOD’s people. Another covenant was made between the king and the people. (2 Kings 11.12…17, MSG)

• Josiah cleans out the Temple (2 Kings 23.4 – 7)
• He demolishes the shrines to all the false gods in Judah AND Samaria (2 Kings 23.8 – 20)
• He celebrates the Passover (2 Kings 23.21 – 23)

Josiah was a welcome respite from bad kings…BUT it was a short-lived respite. His son Jehoahaz was his successor. Another son, Jehoiakim, was the king after him:

Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to rule…In GOD’s opinion, he was an evil king, reverting to the evil ways of his ancestors…Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he began to rule; he was king for eleven years in Jerusalem…In GOD’s opinion he was an evil king, picking up on the evil ways of his ancestors. (2 Kings 23.31, 32, 36, 37, MSG)

Revival under Joash didn’t last; revival under Hezekiah didn’t last; revival under Josiah didn’t last.

Russell Moore at CT wrote a fantastic column about elections, which ties in beautifully to these lessons from the Kings. Russell’s point was that we keep expecting a once-for-all victory. “We’ll finally put that other party out of business.” No you won’t. They’ll be back. There are people with differing views in this country, and those views are reflected in the two parties, whose positions even change from time to time. It’s exactly the lesson in 2 Kings. The enemy keeps re-arming and coming back. And when the enemy is Satan in the biggest battle of all, he keeps coming back, too.

And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. (Luke 4.13, ESV)

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. (Matthew 26.41, ESV)

PS If you’re following the reading program, you’ve finished 2 Kings. Our next book is Hebrews, which I inserted to give us a little break before we start 1 Chronicles.

We’re moving through 2 Kings toward the Babylonian captivity of Judah. Israel has already been scattered by the Assyrians. It seems that Judah was on the upswing with the reign of Hezekiah who started by demolishing all the idols. But the revival was short-lived:

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king. He ruled for fifty-five years in Jerusalem…In GOD’s judgment he was a bad king—an evil king. He reintroduced all the moral rot and spiritual corruption that had been scoured from the country when GOD dispossessed the pagan nations in favor of the children of Israel. He rebuilt all the sex-and-religion shrines that his father Hezekiah had torn down, and he built altars and phallic images for the sex god Baal and sex goddess Asherah, exactly what Ahaz king of Israel had done. He worshiped the cosmic powers, taking orders from the constellations. (2 Kings 21.1 – 3, MSG)

Manasseh leads the nation downhill for 55 years, followed by his son Amon who reigned for only two years (badly) before being assassinated. Josiah takes over at age 8, the last good king of Judah:

Josiah was eight years old when he became king. He ruled for thirty-one years in Jerusalem…He lived the way GOD wanted. He kept straight on the path blazed by his ancestor David, not one step to either left or right. (2 Kings 22.1, 2, MSG)

And under Josiah we find one of the problems. He commands that the temple be refurbished, and in the process:

The high priest Hilkiah reported to Shaphan the royal secretary, “I’ve just found the Book of GOD’s Revelation, instructing us in GOD’s ways. I found it in The Temple!” He gave it to Shaphan and Shaphan read it…Then Shaphan the royal secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest gave me a book.” Shaphan proceeded to read it to the king. When the king heard what was written in the book, God’s Revelation, he ripped his robes in dismay. (2 Kings 22.8 – 11, MSG)

Big oops. “We are in a heap of trouble!” The book – the book that Moses had commanded be with the king so that he could read from it daily, so that he would know how to live and remain humble – that book had been lost! And therein is part of the problem. You can’t read from a book you don’t have! But, of course, losing the book in the first place requires a level of complacency as the prophet Zephaniah pointed out:

The word of the LORD that came to Zephaniah…in the days of Josiah…, king of Judah…At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are complacent, those who say in their hearts, “The LORD will not do good, nor will he do ill.” (Zephaniah 1.1, 12, ESV)

We’ll look at Josiah’s whole-hearted response tomorrow, but for now, we should meditate on the implications of this story. Most of us probably know where our Bibles are – we haven’t lost them. But do we read it? And do we pay attention…with intention…to what we read? Are we hearing from God? It takes intention to overcome complacency to which we are all spring-loaded.

A friend of mine, disciple-maker Mike who now lives in Missouri, called me recently to bemoan the fact that he had five men, leaders in his church, that he was trying to help, and none of them could find the time for a short daily time with God. It’s an example of complacency winning over intention. I’m going to revisit this problem in a few days. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, let’s not be those guys:

I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder. (2 Peter 1.13, ESV)

And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not neglect it. Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD, but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death. (Proverbs 8.32 – 36, ESV)

After a good beginning, King Hezekiah has a bit of a hiccup at the end. First, Isaiah tells him he’s going to die:

Some time later Hezekiah became deathly sick. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz paid him a visit and said, “Put your affairs in order; you’re about to die—you haven’t long to live.”

Hezekiah immediately responds in prayer.

Hezekiah turned from Isaiah and faced GOD, praying: Remember, O GOD, who I am, what I’ve done! I’ve lived an honest life before you, My heart’s been true and steady, I’ve lived to please you; lived for your approval. And then the tears flowed. Hezekiah wept.

God hears and answers together with a promise not to let Jerusalem fall to the Assyrians.

Isaiah, leaving, was not halfway across the courtyard when the word of GOD stopped him: “Go back and tell Hezekiah, prince of my people, ‘GOD’s word, Hezekiah! From the God of your ancestor David: I’ve listened to your prayer and I’ve observed your tears. I’m going to heal you. In three days you will walk on your own legs into The Temple of GOD. I’ve just added fifteen years to your life; I’m saving you from the king of Assyria, and I’m covering this city with my shield—for my sake and my servant David’s sake.’ ” (2 Kings 20.1 – 6, MSG)

Back to the prayer. Why was Hezekiah so upset? On what basis was he praying? I think the answer is in the first verse of 2 Kings 21, describing Hezekiah’s son Manasseh succeeding Hezekiah as king.

Manasseh was twelve years old when he became king… (2 Kings 21.1, MSG)

If God gave Hezekiah 15 years, and Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king, Hezekiah didn’t have any sons at the beginning of chapter 20 when he was on his deathbed. David’s line would die out, which was contrary to the promise.

But he did recover and had Manasseh. Then Hezekiah was visited by officials from Babylon, and Hezekiah showed them his wealth, perhaps with a bit of pride. Then the promise changes: Jerusalem won’t fall to the Assyrians, but she will fall to the Babylonians.

Then Isaiah spoke to Hezekiah, “Listen to what GOD has to say about this: The day is coming when everything you own and everything your ancestors have passed down to you, right down to the last cup and saucer, will be cleaned out of here—plundered and packed off to Babylon. GOD’s word! Worse yet, your sons, the progeny of sons you’ve begotten, will end up as eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” (2 Kings 20.16 – 18, MSG)

Why? The 2 Chronicles commentary on this incident is clear:

Some time later Hezekiah became deathly sick. He prayed to GOD and was given a reassuring sign. But the sign, instead of making Hezekiah grateful, made him arrogant. This made GOD angry, and his anger spilled over on Judah and Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 32.24 – 26, MSG)

We have a choice between gratitude and arrogance. I pray Donald Trump chooses well after the attempted assassination. I pray that we choose well.

…although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful… (Romans 1.21, NKJV)

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble. (Daniel 4.37, ESV)