"The Lord will tear down the house of the proud, but he will establish the boundary of the widow"
The Bible is consistent in its insistence that God hates pride. It was the first sin which the Devil committed. He was not content with the position and privilege that God gave him, so he rebelled and wanted to be God. Pride is behind all sin because it is the seedbed of all selfishness. It is the thought that you are more important than anything or anyone else.
We have a rather limited understanding of pride in this culture because we see pride as excessive arrogance or bragging too much. But biblically pride is so much more. God does not want His servants to be proud because while it feels good in the short run, it completely gums up the plans God has for you. Pride gets in the way of God blessing you more. In fact, in 1 Peter 5, God repeats through Peter the truth that God hates the proud but gives grace to the humble. God blesses those who understand who they are and that God made them to be are blessed with more grace.
Lord
This is the Hebrew word Yhwh which is the personal name for God that He gave to Moses at the burning bush. It is as though through the use of this word Solomon is saying the people who exalt themselves up above God's plans, God Himself will personally make sure that they do not have a lasting legacy.
tear down
This is the Hebrew word nasach which means to pull, uproot, tear, tear down. The idea is one of destruction and removal.
house
This is the Hebrew word bayith which means house. It is important to note that what every really proud person wants to have happen is for their importance to have a lasting legacy. God says He will make sure that does not happen. He may allow the proud person to flourish for a season, but he will not allow that person to build a lasting legacy.
Solomon is saying this so that you understand which side of the pride river to build your legacy on. Do not build it on making a name for yourself; build it on the side of serving the downtrodden and afflicted. The scales of what is important will seem dramatically different in the next life than what they seemed in this life. Solomon is giving us advanced warning that God is not impressed by the things our culture produces. He is impressed by a loving heart.
The two phrases do not seemed linked in our minds, but in ancient cultures the way that a person would increase his holdings or importance was by purchasing up the land of those who had misfortune happen to them. So the house of the widow belonged to a woman who could no longer work her field because her husband died. A savvy businessman may take advantage of her situation and take or purchase her land to build his legacy.
The point of the year of Jubilee and sabbatical years was to return these land deals to their original owner. God wanted power and wealth not to be clumped in the hands of a few but spread out to the whole nation.
widow
This is the Hebrew word almanah which means widow. It is a woman who was greatly afflicted because she did not have a husband to economically provide for her. This left her in a very vulnerable state.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz