Proverbs 16.5
“Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished.”
The great question that confronts every person is: Who rules in your heart? Have you made Jesus the Lord of your life, or is your life directed by self and personal preference?
The English word “autonomy” comes from two Greek words: autos, which means “self” + nomos, which means “law.” Autonomy can be a good thing or a bad thing. In a good sense, it describes a person with self-discipline who aligns their life with God’s standards. In a bad sense, it describes an arrogant person who rejects the Lord’s standards and is a law unto themself.
Proverbs — indeed the whole bible — is consistent in its condemnation of arrogance and self-centered pride. Arrogance promotes self and fuels a defiance that rejects God’s standards and resists constructive criticism.
This verse says that the arrogant will be punished. Perhaps their punishment will be effected through their own foolish behavior, or perhaps God will act directly. Whichever it is, the arrogant will not escape.
“Arrogance of heart” is the great issue facing our nation. It is increasingly present in the politicians, professors, pundits, and the people of America. The core problem is that arrogance of heart produces negative autonomy … the false belief that God either isn’t there, or he doesn’t matter. It’s the arrogant belief that truth and morality are determined autonomously by personal preference or popular opinion, not by God’s objective principles.
Arrogance of heart is deeply deceptive, and it blinds people to the truth. Here is what the Lord said to the nation of Edom through the prophet Obadiah:
“Behold, I will make you small among the nations; you shall be utterly despised. The arrogance of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rock, in your lofty dwelling, who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?” Though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among the stars, from there I will bring you down, declares the Lord.” (Obadiah 1:2-4)
This is a prophetic message to any nation (or person) who arrogantly rejects God’s principles and standards. The Lord explicitly says “the arrogance of your heart has deceived you.”
A few verses later in this chapter of Proverbs, the message against arrogance is repeated: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Where there is arrogance, there will eventually be disaster. Not immediately, but inevitably. Arrogance blinds people to what is eventually coming.
In verse 19, this chapter offers a third comment on arrogance: “It is better to be of a lowly spirit with the poor than to divide the spoil with the proud.” Arrogance might often produce material success and prosperity, but the cost of that success is enormous. Solomon declares it is better to be humble and poor than rich and arrogant.
Caution: This is not saying that poverty automatically produces humility and that wealth produces arrogance. It is very possible to be poor and arrogant, and it is possible to be wealthy and humble. Whether you are poor, wealthy, or somewhere in between, the core message is this: Be humble, and at all costs avoid arrogance of heart.
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8)
