Isaiah 9:9-10 (KJV)
And all the people shall know, even Ephraim and the inhabitant of Samaria, that say in the pride and stoutness of heart,The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with hewn stones: the sycomores are cut down, but we will change them into cedars.

The pride of Ephraim and Samaria are in view. But the audience God addresses is Judah.[1]It seems appropriate then to give this passage a broad application.

Perhaps the worst thing about pride is that it cannot see God. Pride builds idols of gold and silver, wood and stone, and sometimes of flesh and bone. The gods of pride block the view of the living God. They may even blur the mind so that the one bowing to them believes he is bowing to the true and living God.

Pride seeks to rebuild what God has taken down. Pride refuses to accept judgment. Pride believes that, if God cannot be reached in prayer and holy worship, He can certainly be reached through a Tower of Babel.[2]

• Pride replaces humility with hard work
• Pride replaces repentance with reform and religion 
• Pride builds movements rather than churches

The cure for pride is humility. When we accept our judgment He graciously replaces it with Christ.

[1]Isaiah is a prophet in Jerusalem. His ministry is directed, especially early on, to the king in Jerusalem.

[2]Religion of man’s own making.

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Isaiah 9:9-10 (KJV) Pride Refuses To Accept Judgment

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