Arrogance

THE BOASTING DREAMER

Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.

And he said to them, “Please listen to this dream which I have had; for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and lo, my sheaf rose up and also stood erect; and behold, your sheaves gathered around and bowed down to my sheaf.”

Then his brothers said to him, “Are you actually going to reign over us? Or are you really going to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

Now he had still another dream, and related it to his brothers, and said, “Lo, I have had still another dream; and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”

And he related it to his father and to his brothers; and his father rebuked him and said to him, “What is this dream that you have had? Shall I and your mother and your brothers actually come to bow ourselves down before you to the ground?”

And his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the saying in mind. -- Genesis 37:5-11

Jacob’s obvious preference for Joseph exasperated his brothers beyond what they could endure, yet the bad blood within Jacob’s family was intensified, not by any overt action of the father, but by the arrogant boastfulness of Joseph when he related to them his dreams in which he was depicted as ruling over his weaker brothers.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF INDULGENCE

Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” So he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen with fifty men to run before him.

And his father never crossed him at any time by asking, “Why have you done so?” And he was also a very handsome man; and he was born after Absalom. -- 1 Kings 1:5-6

The son’s arrogance apparently increased in proportion to David’s indulgence.

THE HOLLOW MEN

We have heard the pride of Moab, an excessive pride;
Even of his arrogance, pride, and fury;
His idle boasts are false.
-- Isaiah 16:6

Isaiah described Moab in a manner appropriate not only for proud nations but also for arrogant men

DOWNFALL OF THE PRIDEFUL

But when he became strong, his heart was so proud that he acted corruptly, and he was unfaithful to the Lord his God, for he entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. -- 2 Chronicles 26:16

Uzziah’s remarkable achievements, both in war and in peace, spread his fame widely. But when he attained power, he became prideful, and that ruined him.

“Though you build high like the eagle,
Though you set your nest among the stars,
From there I will bring you down,” declares the Lord.
-- Obadiah 1:4

THE FOOLISH AXE

Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it?
Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it?
That would be like a club wielding those who lift it,
Or like a rod lifting him who is not wood.
-- Isaiah 10:15

The arrogant man, proud in his self-sufficiency, and oblivious to the care of the Lord, is chided by Isaiah.