All of Yeshua's Teachings are absolutely priceless, but The Most Important of Them that not discussed enough is Humility. By manifesting Himself as a human being, G*d humbled Himself in Heaven. As The Word Made Flesh walked this earth and dwelt among us, He humbled Himself unto death thus conquering sin and death. How perplexing it is to think that humility is the key to overcoming darkness, which is the supernal secret and the hidden wisdom of HaShem. His Humility is Our Salvation.
"Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away.
But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.
None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." - 1 Corinthians 2:6-8
Humility destroys the self-serving ego that separates us from Our Creator. If we truly understand that every trial sent to us in this life provides an opportunity for a blessing and if we are thankful for every single one of them, then how can anything ever bring us down? The root of our redemption is humility and we should do our best to sink deeper into it each day.
"Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." - James 4:10
"if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." - 2 Chronicles 7:14
Pride is the root of all sin and is the curse of our fallen human nature. It was pride that caused the fallen angels to be cast out of Heaven. The original lie that the serpent used to deceive mankind was the the promise that we could become "like G*d, knowing good and evil". Satan's goal was done to deceive mankind and to steal the glory that was rightfully due to Our Creator.
G*d assured us that if we ate from that tree that we would surely die that day.
"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." - Genesis 2:17
Many people argue that this statement wasn't true, as Adam went on to live a long life of 930 years, as it is written:
"Thus all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died." - Genesis 5:5
That argument is void and anyone who argues such is missing the important fact that we are told that one day on this earth is like a thousand years to G*d, so knowing that this is the case, then we can literally see that the day that they ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was the day that they surely did die.
"For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night." - Psalm 90:4
"But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." - 2 Peter 3:8
When Eve considered what the lie of the serpent, his poison entered her soul and destroyed her humility and dependence on G*d that would have forever given mankind everlasting happiness and peace. Because of this, her life and the life of the root of all mankind became corrupted by the poison of Satan's own pride. That same pride is the root of the jealousy that caused Cain to kill his own brother. I look around and I see that nothing has changed ever since. Only humility can free us from this selfish pride, thus purifying our vessel that can contain G*d's Pure Light and Love. Just as Yeshua told us, new wine cannot be put into old wineskins - Humility gives us that new wineskin.
"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins—and the wine is destroyed, and so are the skins. But new wine is for fresh wineskins." - Mark 2:22
All forms of pride is poison, but the most dangerous form of pride is the pride of holiness (or righteous pride). Anyone who speaks as if they have all the answers truly knows nothing and has most to learn.
"The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice." - Proverbs 12:15
The pride of holiness is by far the most deceiving of all. It’s that self righteousness that the world can see in our actions. It is brought into light by the way we act and react toward others. Although we may have been blessed with a high level of spiritual discernment through plenty of self discipline, it’s all for nothing if we cannot humble ourselves before our brothers and sisters. We must love one another and be patient with those who are new to the faith. A righteous man that is so convicted in his beliefs that he refuses to consider what others think is not righteous at all.
The deceptive nature of righteous pride is so subtle that it completely eludes our consciousness altogether. The irony is that the world sees it in us, in our actions and reactions to others, and if we don’t make a conscious effort to humble ourselves before one another in every situation, they will see it in our fruit. People that are considering the path of salvation see this in others and it proves to them that there is no point in living righteously or to even believe in anything heavenly. They don’t see any heavenly fruit produced from the self righteous people who are quick to judge their own brother. Judgment is not ours and our ability to humble ourselves before one another will ultimately determine our own judgment. I can observe the wicked ways of this world and the ones who do them. I can make the choice not to follow them and to stay away from them and what they do...but who am I to judge anyone for anything? How can I possibly judge my brothers and sisters who are made in the image of Our Creator just as I am? Who am I to do so? Only The Creator Himself has the authority to pass judgment.
“There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?” - James 4:12
“So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?” - Romans 2:3
The Word of G*d makes it very clear that He resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. There can be no selfish pride in humility, this is the principal character that should be seen in all of Yeshua’s disciples. The true measure of our own humility is how we express it with our fellow man. Being humble before Our Creator in prayer is a given, that’s simple; the real challenge is to express that same level of humility to our fellow man. Ultimately our own judgment before Our Creator will be based on how well we humble ourselves before others.
Selfish pride is the whole evil of fallen human nature, and self denial is ultimately our capacity for salvation. All of the evils of the fallen angels and men have their birth in the pride of self, and all of the virtues of the heavenly life is rooted in humility. To put it in simpler terms, there are two master powers which are constantly struggling against one another and these are pride versus humility, which are darkness and light.
Everything in this world is like a dirty mirror image of the worlds above and everything here is upside down and is opposed to everything that is holy. The least among us here is the greatest in His Kingdom. The path to the higher life is gained through submission of our selfish nature, therefor we must descend physically in order to ascend spiritually.
צנע = Tzanah - Humble / Modest (Root Word) - Verb
Numeric Value = 210
וצדיק = And Righteous = 210
רדו = Come Down = 210
מעליכם = Above You = 210
נפלים = Fall Down = 210
Water is the most heavenly element that we can observe on this earth. Water flows from the highest to the lowest, and fills all of the lowest places. This is a good analogy for G*d’s infinite light to fill our emptiness when we make room for it through humility. I made a post where I go into the spiritual significance of water in depth, you can find that here:
Even the disciples who walked with Yeshua on this earth did not fully comprehend this secret of humility. Although they gave up all of their earthly possessions to walk with him and were even ready to die for him, they still argued with one another about who was the greatest of them.
"Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest.
And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’
But not so among you; on the contrary, he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves.
For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves." - Luke 22:24-27
"Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, “What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?”
But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest.
And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”
Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them,
“Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.” - Mark 9:33-37
"At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me." - Matthew 18:1-5
Yeshua had told them on several occasions what he was here to do. The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve. Yeshua made it clear that He came to do His Father’s Work and that nothing was for Himself. He never outright proclaimed Himself to be G*d, though He indeed walked the earth as The Word Made Flesh. He told us that if anyone had seen Him, that they had seen The Father.
“I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." - John 5:30
"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." - John 6:38
In order to teach them this most valuable lesson, He literally humbled Himself before them and washed their feet. He told them to learn how to humble themselves from children. We know that a child is completely dependent on their parents, they simply cannot take care of themselves. They understand their dependence on adults and they can't even attempt to be self-sufficient. This is exactly the type of relationship that we must have with HaShem, we cannot do anything without Him.
"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet." - John 13:14
Yeshua destroyed sin and the power of the devil through death and resurrection. In his resurrection, He gave us His Divine Power by filling us with The Ruach HaQodesh (The Holy Spirit). Without that we are powerless against the darkness and this is why the disciples could not understand this. It's arguable that it wasn’t until the Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given to them before they truly understood.
There are several lessons in humility throughout scripture, especially in The New Testament. When we see Yeshua compliment someone on how great their faith is, we really need to pay close attention and imitate their actions as closely as possible. I believe that most are probably familiar with the healing of the centurion's servant. The centurion was so faithful in Yeshua's abilities and so humble in the fact that he proclaimed that he was not worthy for Yeshua to come to his home. We are told that Yeshua marveled at him and proclaimed to the crowd around him that He has never found such faith, not even in Israel. This gentile man expressed more faith that every Jewish man that Yeshua witnessed to. Another key lesson that I would like break down that is spoken of less is The Faith of The Canaanite Woman. Both Matthew and Mark record this lesson and both give us important details that complement one another.
Leaving that place, Jesus withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon.
And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.”
But Jesus did not answer a word. So His disciples came and urged Him, “Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us.”
He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
The woman came and knelt before Him. “Lord, help me!” she said.
But Jesus replied, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
“Yes, Lord,” she said, “even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table.”
“O woman,” Jesus answered, “your faith is great! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour." - Matthew 7:21:28
Jesus left that place and went to the region of Tyre.
Not wanting anyone to know He was there, He entered a house, but was unable to escape their notice.
Instead, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit soon heard about Jesus, and she came and fell at His feet.
Now she was a Greek woman of Syrophoenician origin, and she kept asking Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
“First let the children have their fill,” He said. “For it is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs.”
“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.”
Then Jesus told her, “Because of this answer, you may go. The demon has left your daughter.”
And she went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon was gone." Mark 7:24-30
There is a lot going on in this story. Matthew records that Yeshua was initially silent to the woman's request. It seems as if Yeshua’s silence and response was somehow denying her of the request that she was asking for, even though her request wasn’t selfish request in anyway. I personally believe, that Yeshua was possibly testing her and was also teaching His Disciples a lesson at the same time. Matthew’s account tells us that they urged him to send her away, as if she was nothing more than a dog begging for food and was unworthy of a miracle. Needless to say, in Biblical Terminology, dogs are indeed identified as filthy animals.
“As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly.” - Proverbs 26:11
What a wonderful lesson of the type of faith this Gentile Woman provides us, who literally accepted the name of a dog and was more than honored just to be fed the crumbs from of The Master’s Table. This is the type of faith that we should all have, the type of faith that can only come through true humility. In both of these accounts we see how humility and faith are paired with one another; we can't have genuine faith if we are filled with pride. Through the Ultimate Sacrifice that Yeshua made for us, we have been given promises of shalom, unbounded joy, unconditional love and all authority over the darkness that plagues this world; the only thing that holds us back from achieving all of these promises is our own foolish pride.
“If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?” - Matthew 12:26
We have no chance of doing all of this on our own. Our human nature cannot overcome human nature, just as Satan cannot cast out Satan. Since pride is root of the original sin of mankind who was tricked by the satanic lie that we could be like G*d, this statement rings even more true. This a challenge that is otherworldly and only HaShem can give us the power to overcome such a huge obstacle and only through unquestioning faith in His Only Begotten Son. The example has been made and Yeshua is The Truth, The Life and The Way. Just as Yeshua humbled Himself unto death and conquered it through His Resurrection; we must humble ourselves to unto the death of our self before our spirit we can truly ascend. Humility leads to perfect death and only death perfects humility. Where G*d is Everything, self is nothing; they simply cannot coexist in the same place at the same time.
Only HaShem can correct our fall in human nature, there is nothing we can do to cast out this evil. Unfortunately it is human nature and we are powerless against it. Pride has been instilled in us since birth. The rabbis teach that "the sin that crouches is at the door" is an analogy for a baby in the womb entering a world of sin; outside the sin is waiting, or crouching at the door.
"If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it." - Genesis 4:7
Pride is ours, it's a given, but we must make humility ours in the same way...it must become our own very nature. No light can fill a vessel until it has first been emptied of all our selfish pride.
"Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the LORD, and humility comes before honor." - Proverbs 15:33
צנוע = Tzanu = Adjective, To Be Modest or To Show Humility
Numeric Value = 216
Same As:
יראה = Yirah - Fear
אריה = Airah - Lion
ברוח = B'Ruach - In The Spirit
דברי = Devari = My Words
"When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom." - Proverbs 11:2
ישוע
Yeshua (Jesus)
Numeric Value = 386
Mispar Katan Mispari (Reduced Value) = 8
ואת צנועים חכמה
With Humility Comes Wisdom (Proverbs 11:2) = 746
Mispar Katan Mispari (Reduced Value) = 8
The Numeric Value of Yeshua HaMashiach ( ישוע המישח ) is 749 and in Gematria, we can add a value of 1 for each word as the whole - thus givning us more numeric proof that the phrase from Proverbs 11:2 - "With Humility Comes Wisdom" ( ואת צנועים חכמה ) - Numeric Value of 746, +3 (One for the Whole of Each Word - Im Kolel) equates to Yeshua HaMashiach ( ישוע המישח ) - who literally is Wisdom Personified (in Proverbs 8) and came to this earth as The Architype of Humility. I went deep into this here:
Humility comes before honor. Just as Yeshua came to this earth as Meshiach Ben Yosef (The Suffering Servant) and will return as Meshiach Ben David (The Conquering King), which seems fitting for the following verse:
"Before a downfall the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor." - Proverbs 18:12
When we are at our lowest point in this life, that is when we are the closest to G*d. I have come to know this in my own life as absolute truth. When things are coming down on me hard in this world, I know that as long as I keep my faith and keep HaShem before me, there is surely a blessing coming my way soon. It is up us to turn curses into blessings, it all about our reaction. We have to descend in this world in order to ascend spiritually. The Infinite Light of Our Creator cannot fill us if we are full of ourselves.
"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God." - Micah 6:8
"For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted." - Luke 14:11
חסד ושלום עליכם והרבה אהבה וברכות
May Grace and Peace Be Upon You and Much Love and Blessings!
For those of you who think humility is not bragging... I have a question for you. Would you die to give somebody else a chance to live?