People often say that power corrupts. One way it does so is through arrogance. Some powerful leaders become so arrogant they think they are greater than God! When Moses went to Pharaoh to inform him that Yahweh demanded Israel be released, Pharaoh responded, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice?”[1] The Assyrian king sent a message to Jerusalem that they shouldn’t trust in the Lord. After all, he argued, none of the “gods of the nations” had defeated him yet, so why would Israel’s God?[2] When Nebuchadnezzar threatened the three Hebrew men, He said, “And who is the god who will deliver you out of my hands?”[3] These men all learned dramatic lessons about who the Lord is.
You don’t have to be a king or emperor to yield to arrogance and rebellion. Know the Lord, and submit to Him before you learn the hard way who God is.
[1] Exodus 5:2
[2] 2 Kings 18:35
[3] Daniel 3:15