Arrogance

Why do you brag about your valleys, your flowing valley, you faithless daughter? You who trust in your treasures [and boast]: Who can attack me? - Jeremiah 49:4

What is the meaning of "arrogance?"

Is it simply the presence of pride or is it something more? I would define arrogance as "self-love, revealed by the placement of trust in something other than God."

The Babylonians trusted in their valleys (and bountiful harvests), their power, their false gods, and all their riches. They didn't believe that anyone could ever defeat or even dare to attack them. The truth about arrogance, as revealed by the history of Babylon, is that it usually precedes a terrible fall!

Of course, for the Christian, arrogance is idolatry, because when we put our "self" above God, we become our own object of worship.

Certainly, if this is true of a person, the same can be true of a nation. Let us be very careful who or what we worship.

The truest characters of ignorance are vanity and pride and arrogance. - Samuel Butler