[This is part 8 in a series on “pride in the scriptures.” See part one, two, three, four, five, six, seven].

Leaving Egypt Ministries, Obadiah D. Morris

If pride is sinful and we ought not to have fellowship with such overt and unrepentant sinners (1 Corin 5:9-11; 2 Corin 6:14-17; Matt 18:17), how should we go about avoiding the prideful? Should we just avoid individuals who simply have big egos? That would probably be good counsel, too. Those men are most likely lacking the Spirit of Christ too and have been given over to worldly desires and pleasures, like drinking, partying, fashion, pop music, or sports. They have probably not absorbed Jesus’s lessons on the humble, the meek, and those poor in spirit (Matt. 5). 

But if we are to avoid “the proud” in a Biblical sense, as anyone seeking to serve God should want to do, it is not good enough to just say that we ought not associate with narcissistic friends or something of the like. “The proud” are not just some puffed-up individuals.

“The proud” are puffed-up men with badges on, who think they have a right to put you in a cage because a human “lawmaker” wrote some words on a piece of paper and rubber-stamped it, or to kick down your door because a judge signed a warrant based on the lie of some officers who claim you have a bag of weed inside. “The proud” are men who join state militaries so they can “kick some ass” with “the baddest army on the planet.” “The proud” are the men who root these people on and shout “back the blue” and “go America!”

As I have already argued, “the proud” are the men with power who (proudly) rule over others, as well as those who are proudly (patriotically) ruled by these people. The “proud” are the men who have exalted themselves above the rest of the people, not just in terms of their egos or their personal belief in their high status, but in a real caste system of authority, military might, riches, and the supposed prestige that comes with such plunder systems as political rule.

And average men, wanting (in their pride) to elevate their standing in the world too, seek to be like them and so aspire to join the class of proud-men who rule over the rest of the people. They want to get in on the power, plunder, and prestige, and so they join the police academy, sign on with the military, or campaign for political office so to chase after an income, sign-on bonuses, health and education benefits, cheap loans, retirement packages, brotherhood, gang membership, and special favors, subsidies, and privileges of all types from their connections to the political beast system. 

And so the State (one of the devil’s great temptations), with the help of a money printer and its ability to make others believe taxes are necessary to civilization, is able to sucker men into its network of lies and plunder. It is able to purchase men’s morals and get them to renounce God and serve a false god instead.

Foolish riches and righteous poverty

But even though Pharaoh has the “good jobs” to offer men because he robs the masses to be able to pay above-market wages and benefits, we’re told to avoid wanting to associate with them. 

“It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud” (Proverbs 16:19).

As we see here, the scriptures often identify “the proud” as being those who divide spoils, i.e., those agents of the State (politicians, police, tax collectors) who rob people and divvy it up and out for themselves and their beneficiaries. And God’s word tells us that we are better off being lowly than joining up with the proud plunderers who call themselves “governments.” Amen. It is better to be poor and righteous and know the Lord—and this does seem to be the trade-off when looking at the wealthy folks around us who are lacking in spirit and understanding—than to be a rich idiot who doesn’t know God. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Praise the Lord. Through God’s grace we have seen through the evils of the world, and even though we suffer for it, we do so contently knowing that it would never be worth millions of Caesar’s dollars to give up a prophet’s knowledge about the evil system of human government that most fools are still caught idolizing.

But most men, of course, have failed in this instruction and chosen the opposite road. They have said, ‘It is better to serve Pharaoh as one of his armed officers and make a paycheck, than to be one of those bums on the street.’ But God tells us the opposite: It is better to be homeless than to join in with the plunderers! How many people are willing to make that choice? Most men are sell-outs who will become police officers, jailers, or tax collectors to feed their families, before they would accept any poverty. Are you prepared to live on the street and in a tent if that’s what it comes down to in order to maintain your integrity and service to the Lord? Are you prepared to resist Babylon’s agenda if it means your livelihood is over with? We already saw the millions willing to put on masks and take vaccines to keep their jobs and to keep being accepted by the masses. 

Not being tempted by the proud

At any rate, “the proud” are the state rulers who plunder people and have the loot (stolen from taxpayers) to tempt other weakened, demoralized sinners with. But God tells us to avoid these opportunities to plunder people for a paycheck. 

“My son, if sinners entice you, do not yield to them. If they say, ‘Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause, let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit. We will find all manner of precious goods; we will fill our houses with plunder. Throw in your lot with us; let us all share one purse’— my son, do not walk the road with them or set foot upon their path. For their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed blood” (Proverbs 1:10-16).

God’s people, in short, must never be tempted by the offers of the plunder-state to earn money in exchange for doing evil. They would know that the voice of the Lord calls us away from these things. 

“Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of the evil. Avoid it; do not go on it; turn away from it and pass on” (Proverbs 4:14-15).

Resisting joining the proud

One sure way to avoid “the proud,” then, is to never serve the State in any capacity. To become a police officer, a jailer, a tax agent, court clerk, or a soldier (as the Marines even admit in their slogan), is to join up with “the proud.” Men are acting proudly when they wish to wear one of Pharaoh’s uniforms and have his princes put boots and badges on them.

God cares very much whether men avoid such proud men as state servants are, whether associating with them or becoming one of them. There was a reason that avoiding these actions were some of the first things we’re told in very important books of the Bible. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked” (Psalm 1:1). God surely cares about the steps that we take, and what kind of shoes—work boots that serve our neighbors or jackboots that serve Pharaoh’s law system—we strap on our feet. We cannot claim to be serving the Lord while doing evil on the other hand (e.g., robbing people for a living as an agent of the State). “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6). 

Rather than join up with the State and its evil, plunderous schemes, God’s people are instead told to call-out these people and make them turn away from their evils. We are to “take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them” (Ephesians 5:11). 

God’s people are to hate the political plunder system that makes up our society and enslaves men, not join up with them and pretend that we can remain in service to the Lord at the same time. God’s people say,

“I do not sit with men of falsehood, nor do I consort with hypocrites. I hate the assembly of evildoers, and I will not sit with the wicked” (Psalm 26:4-5).

When one becomes a soldier or a police officer in service to the Egyptian system of man-made “laws,” they reverse everything about this scripture. They say, instead, that they love sitting with men of falsehood and associating with hypocrites, that they admire the assembly of evildoers and think these “lawmakers” are needed for society, and that they are willing to sit with evildoers if it means earning an income for them and their families. 

It is better in God’s eyes that we reject joining up with state plunderers than to accept their blood money as a means of taking care of ourselves and our families. We don’t need these people for our survival anyway. Our blessings come from trusting in God, not these systems of men. Amen.

“Blessed is the man who has made the LORD his trust, who has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood” (Psalm 40:4).

Prayer 

Lord God in heaven, show our brothers and our neighbors Your way, that they be not tempted to sin by joining up with the evil, prideful men of our world who have been led by evil spirits into operating these wicked political systems that these liars have told men are necessary to social order. Show them the way back to Your paths. Get them to working on your Kingdom instead of helping to build the Babylonian system further. Help us to be a light for them. Help us to share Your word in a way that reaches them and touches their lost souls. Get men back on track to what they are supposed to be doing to glorify You. Don’t allow the devil to tempt men anymore with his stolen purse. Cause the men who are currently serving the state system to repent of their evils, walk away from their careers serving these satanic systems, and turn their eyes, minds, hearts, and feet back to You. Get them back to working on Your kingdom rather than giving their hand in the service of darkness. Amen.