“Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘The Lord will deliver us.’ Have the gods of any nations ever delivered their lands from the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? Who of all the gods of these countries have been able to save their lands from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
Isaiah 36:18-20 NIV
Pride deceives the heart, making a person believe they have attained success through their own strength and wisdom. Obadiah 1:3 warns of the foolishness that blinds individuals to the reality of God’s sovereignty. “The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights, you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’” (Obadiah 1:3 NIV). The Edomites, secure in their high dwellings, believed they were untouchable, yet their confidence led to their downfall. The foolishness of pride causes a person to place trust in their position, wealth, or power rather than in God. They forget that human strength is fleeting, and without God, even the highest fortress crumbles.
This same spirit of foolishness was evident in King Sennacherib of Assyria. In Isaiah 36, he boasted of his conquests, belittling the God of Israel, and assuming that Jerusalem would fall just as other nations had. He mocked Hezekiah’s trust in God, convinced that his military strength was supreme. However, his arrogance led to his destruction—he was struck down, and all his boasting ended in death. Pride makes a person overestimate their abilities and underestimate God’s power, leading them straight to ruin.
Basically, this foolishness whispers the dangerous lie that we are self-sufficient, that our success is solely the result of our efforts. It blinds us to the reality that it is God who grants us strength, wisdom, and opportunities. When we fail to recognise His hand in our lives, we set ourselves on a path of destruction. The downfall of many throughout history has stemmed from their refusal to acknowledge God as the giver of all things. It is foolishness to think that we can sustain ourselves apart from Him, for everything we have ultimately comes from His grace.
The foolishness of pride often prevents people from seeing the warning signs of their downfall. They ignore counsel, reject humility, and live in the deception that their achievements are eternal. But Scripture makes it clear: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18). Those who walk in this foolishness will find themselves suddenly brought low, for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
Meanwhile, where has your pride led you? Have you fallen into thinking you are who you are without God? The antidote to this foolishness is humility—recognising that every good thing comes from Him. Do not allow arrogance to deceive you into believing you are untouchable. Instead, submit to God, acknowledge Him in all your ways, and walk in the wisdom that comes from a heart surrendered to Him. True strength is found in dependence on God, not in the foolishness of self-reliance.