8 Bible Verses about Ambition, Example Of

Then they said: Let us build ourselves a city, with a lofty tower that reaches into space, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.

They came together to confront Moses and Aaron. They said: You have gone far enough! Everyone in the whole congregation is holy. Jehovah is among them. Why do you set yourselves above Jehovah's assembly? When Moses heard this, he bowed with his face touching the ground. Then he said to Korah and all his followers: In the morning Jehovah will show who belongs to him, who is holy. He will have that person come near him. Only the person Jehovah chooses will be allowed to come near him.read more.
Korah, you and all your followers must do this tomorrow: Take incense burners, Put burning coals and incense in them in Jehovah's presence. Jehovah will choose the man who is holy. You have gone far enough! Moses also said to Korah: Listen, you sons of Levi! Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the rest of the congregation of Israel? Jehovah has brought you near to do the work for his tent and stand in front of the community to serve them. He brought you and all the other Levites near. But now you demand to be priests. You and all your followers have joined forces against Jehovah! Who is Aaron that you should complain about him? Then Moses sent for Dathan and Abiram, sons of Eliab. But they said: We will not come! Is it not enough that you brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey only to kill us in the desert? Do you also have to order us around? You have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey or given us any fields and vineyards to own. Do you think you can still pull the wool over our eyes? We will not come. Moses became angry and said to Jehovah: Do not accept their offering. I have not taken anything from them, not even a donkey. And I have not mistreated any of them. Moses said to Korah: Tomorrow you and all your followers must come into Jehovah's presence. Aaron will also be there with you. Each man will take his incense burner and put incense in it. They will offer all two hundred and fifty incense burners to Jehovah. Then you and Aaron offer your incense burners. So each man took his incense burner. He put burning coals and incense in it and stood with Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Korah assembled all his followers who opposed Moses and Aaron at the entrance to the tent of meeting. The glory of Jehovah appeared to the entire group. Jehovah said to Moses and Aaron: Move away from these men. I will destroy them instantly. Immediately, they bowed with their faces touching the ground and said: O God, you are the God who gives the breath of life to everyone! If one man sins, will you be angry with the entire congregation? Then Jehovah said to Moses: Tell the congregation: 'Move away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.' Moses got up and went to Dathan and Abiram, and the elders of Israel followed him. He said to the congregation: Move away from the tents of these wicked men. Do not touch anything that belongs to them, or you'll be swept away because of all their sins. So they moved away from the tents of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram came out and were standing at the entrances to their tents with their wives and children. Moses said: This is how you will know that Jehovah sent me to do all these things and that it wasn't my idea: If these men die a natural death like all other people Jehovah has not sent me. But if Jehovah does something totally new, if the ground opens up, swallows them and everything that belongs to them, and they go down alive to their graves; then you will know that these men have treated Jehovah with contempt. When he finished speaking, the ground under them split, and the earth opened up to swallow them, their families, the followers of Korah, and all their property. They went down alive to their graves with everything that belonged to them. The ground covered them. They disappeared from the assembly. All the Israelites around them ran away when they heard their screams. They thought the ground would swallow them, also. Fire came from Jehovah and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering incense.

Gideon's son Abimelech went to the town of Shechem. All his mother's relatives lived there. He told them: Ask the men of Shechem: 'Which is better for you. To have all seventy of Gideon's sons govern you or to have just one man? Remember that Abimelech is your own flesh and blood.' His mother's relatives talked to the men of Shechem about this for him. The men of Shechem decided to follow Abimelech because: He is our relative.read more.
They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith. Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men to join him. He went to his father's house at Ophrah. There on top of a single stone he killed his seventy brothers, Gideon's sons. Gideon's youngest son Jotham hid and therefore was not killed. All the men of Shechem and Bethmillo got together and went to the sacred oak tree at Shechem, where they made Abimelech king.

Absalom provided a chariot and horses for himself. He had an escort of fifty men to run ahead of him. He would rise early in the morning and stand by the road at the city gate. When someone came there with a dispute that he wanted the king to settle, Absalom would call him over and ask him where he was from. After the man told him what tribe he was from, Absalom would say: My friend, the law is on your side. However, there is no representative of the king to hear your case.read more.
He added: How I wish I were a judge! Then anyone who had a dispute or a claim could come to me. I would give him justice. The man would approach Absalom and bow down before him. Then Absalom would reach out and hug and kiss him. Absalom did this with every Israelite who came to the king for judgment. That way he won their loyalty. After four years Absalom said to King David: My lord let me go to Hebron and keep a promise I made to Jehovah. When I lived at Geshur in Syria (Aram), I promised Jehovah that if he would take me back to Jerusalem, I would worship him in Hebron. Go in peace, the king said. So Absalom went to Hebron. He sent messengers to all the tribes of Israel. He told them: When you hear the sound of trumpets, shout: 'Absalom is king in Hebron!' Absalom had two hundred men who at his invitation traveled from Jerusalem with him. They knew nothing of the plot and went in good faith. Absalom was offering sacrifices. He sent for Ahithophel, David's adviser, to come from his home in Giloh. Meanwhile, the conspiracy grew stronger. The number of people siding with Absalom kept getting larger. A messenger told David: Absalom has the hearts of the people of Israel.

Then on that day Haman went out full of joy and glad in heart. When he saw Mordecai in the king's gate and he did not get to his feet or give any sign of fear before him, Haman was full of wrath against Mordecai. But controlling himself, he went to his house; and he sent for his friends and Zeresh, his wife. He gave them an account of the glories of his wealth. The number of children he had. He recalled the ways in which he had been honored by the king. How the king put him over the captains and servants of the king.read more.
Haman continued: Truly, Esther the queen let no man but myself come in to the feast she made ready for the king. Tomorrow again I am to be her guest with the king. But all this is nothing to me as long as I see Mordecai the Jew seated by the king's gate. Then his wife Zeresh and all his friends said to him: Let a pillar, fifty cubits high, be made ready for hanging him. In the morning get the king to give orders for the hanging of Mordecai. Then you will be able to go to the feast with the king with a glad heart. Haman was pleased with the suggestion, and he had the pillar made.

Nebuchadnezzar the king made an image of gold. He set it up in the plain of Dura, the province of Babylon. It was ninety feet tall and nine feet wide. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king gathered the satraps, deputies, governors, judges, treasurers, counselors, sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces. They came to the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king set up. The satraps, deputies, governors, judges, treasurers, counselors, sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces were gathered together at the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king set up. They stood before the image.read more.
Then the herald proclaimed: You are commanded to do this, O peoples, nations, and men of every language. When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, harp, zither, pipes (bagpipe), and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king set up. Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into the midst of a blazing furnace. When all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp, zither, pipes, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshipped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king set up.

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him saying: Teacher, we want you to do for us what we ask of you. He asked: What do you want me to do for you? They said to him: Allow us to sit next to you in your glory. One could sit on your right hand, and one on your left hand.

Do not let anyone deceive you about this in any way. That day will not come unless apostasy (a falling away from truth) takes place first, and the man of lawlessness (sin), the man of destruction, is revealed. (2 Timothy 4:3)