According to National Geographic, “a Pufferfish can inflate into a ball shape to evade predators. Also known as blowfish, these clumsy swimmers fill their elastic stomachs with huge amounts of water (and sometimes air) and blow themselves up to several times their normal size … But these blow-up fish aren't just cute. Most pufferfish contain a toxic substance that makes them foul tasting and potentially deadly to other fish. The toxin is deadly to humans—1,200 times more deadly than cyanide. There is enough poison in one pufferfish to kill 30 adult humans, and there is no known antidote.”
The King of Tyre shared some things in common with the Pufferfish. His own ego inflated him to the position of a god. To be sure, on the current coast of Lebanon, the King of Tyre ruled a beautiful land. Ezekiel spoke truth to power and warned him of his impending fall. As a mortal, he should not have usurped the place of God. This stands as a lasting lesson to politicians, preachers, and other people who become convinced of our own greatness.
In the New Testament, we read that King Herod gave a speech to the people of Tyre and they said, “This is the voice of a god, not a man.” Like the earlier King of Tyre, Herod failed to recognize the true God. He died shortly afterward. Failing to learn the lessons of history, many people today have become proud of pride. Pride is posited as something good these days. But Solomon said, “It goes before a fall.”
Here is the trouble: I can quickly identify pride in others, but I have a harder time seeing it in myself. Pride can become toxic to a marriage, a church, or a friendship. No wonder the late Bible scholar John Stott once said, "Pride is your greatest enemy, humility is your greatest friend.” What will we do about our pride? Frederica Mathewes-Green helps us: “Ego builds a cardboard fortress that humility must, every day, tear down.”
