JEALOUSY: ITS DECEPTIVENESS AND ITS MURDER

Jealousy is a deadly sin. Why? It is one that we refuse to face. We might readily admit that we have a problem with anger, resentment, lust, and even pride. However, jealousy is the one we will not face. Therefore, it is a stealth sin, one that goes undetected, and because of this, it is one of the most deadly.

Since it remains hidden, it can disguise itself as a concern for others and even as various forms in spirituality. Moses’ siblings, Miriam and Aaron, spoke against Moses for marrying a Cushite (Ethiopian) woman. However, it seems that they were jealous. Instead of telling Moses, “We want the authority that you have; give us a share,” they charged Moses with hoarding the authority for himself:

·       And they said, “Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?” And the LORD heard it. (Numbers 12:2; ESV)

Instead of jealousy honestly saying, “I want this, because I am jealous,” it makes its claim based on an egalitarian principle, and these are not hard to find. After all, the Bible claims that we are all equally created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27), we all have been given precious gifts, and all the Israelites were equally the children of their God.

In essence, Miriam and Aaron were arguing:

·       We are just as entitled as you are, Moses. God has also spoken through us, and so you have unrighteously hogged all the glory for yourself. The problem is not with us but with you!

Sometimes jealousy can even disguise itself in the form of a utopian vision for social change. Korah, a Levite, was not satisfied with the role that God had bestowed upon him and led a broadly-based revolution against Moses:

·       And they rose up before Moses, with a number of the people of Israel, 250 chiefs of the congregation, chosen from the assembly, well-known men. They assembled themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far! For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them. Why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the LORD?” (Numbers 16:2-3)

Moses hadn’t exalted himself. It was God who had appointed Moses to this position after having prepared Moses for the job through 40 years of discouragement:

·       Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. (Numbers 12:3)

Moses required great humility to prepare him for the role God had given him. He would not be able to trust in his own opinions but in every word that would proceed from the mouth of God (Deut. 8:3). In contrast, jealousy is convinced that it is entitled to more. Korah and his band were convinced that they were entitled to more and therefore weren’t satisfied with God’s “daily bread.” They were also proud, but they disguised their pride and jealousy in a utopian vision for the entire Israelite nation: “For all in the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them.”

The deceit of pride and jealousy are always wrapped in a veneer of the truth. It was true that all Israel was holy and that the LORD was among them. However, it was not true that Moses had “gone too far.” Nor was it true that there should be no role distinctions, as the revolution had insinuated.

While we are all created in the image of God, there is nothing in the Bible that would eliminate role or wealth distinctions. In fact, so many of the Bible’s teachings are predicated on role distinctions – parent/child, wife/husband, employer/employee, priest/commoner. Even the priests had been divided into three groups, each having its own responsibilities.

Certainly, Korah and team would not have been satisfied once they established their “workers’ paradise.” However, this is the ruse of jealousy, disguising itself in the robes of idealism. However, Moses saw through them:

·       And Moses said to Korah, “Hear now, you sons of Levi: is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you from the congregation of Israel, to bring you near to himself, to do service in the tabernacle of the LORD and to stand before the congregation to minister to them, and that he has brought you near him, and all your brothers the sons of Levi with you? And would you seek the priesthood also? Therefore it is against the LORD that you and all your company have gathered together.” (Numbers 16:8-11)

Korah and team should have known better that they weren’t merely revolting against Moses but against God Himself. However, sin is blinding, especially jealousy. It convinces us that we are totally justified, even in rebelling. The fault is always with the other person, as Scripture repeatedly warns:

·       All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the spirit. (Proverbs 16:2)

However, sin is so powerful and deceptive that, once given room, it will not allow us to hear the voice of reason and repent. Therefore, in response to Moses’ chilling revelation that they were sinning against God, the rebels merely stiffened their neck and rationalized their rebellion by blaming Moses for their rebellion:

·       “Is it a small thing that you have brought us up out of a land flowing with milk and honey, to kill us in the wilderness, that you must also make yourself a prince over us? Moreover, you have not brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey, nor given us inheritance of fields and vineyards. Will you put out the eyes of these men?” (Numbers 16:13-14)

According to Korah and his crowd, Moses was at fault. How? Because he hadn’t made good on his promise to Israel! Moses hadn’t yet brought Israel “into a land flowing with milk and honey.” They had conveniently forgotten about Israel’s rebellion against God at Kadesh Barnea. This was why Israel now had to wonder in the desert for 40 years. However, the rebels found it easier to blame Moses – the 1% -- for their problems.

However, Moses had warned them that, ultimately, their rebellion was against God. However, they did not have ears to hear. Their sin had hardened them. They should have been terrified by the prospect that they were in rebellion against God, but they weren’t and repentance had no place in their thinking.

Even after God opened the ground to consume the leadership, and their followers fled in terror:

·       On the next day all the congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and against Aaron, saying, “You have killed the people of the LORD.” (Numbers 16:41)

How is it that after seeing God’s terrifying judgment on their esteemed leaders, the people of Israel were still so infected with confidence in the “righteousness” of their rebellion that they would still accuse Moses and Aaron of doing wrong?

Entrenched, unconfessed sin causes us to believe in the “righteousness” of our cause, even in the face of overwhelming evidence against it. They too had become infected with egalitarian jealousy against Moses and Aaron. They still felt entitled to share in Moses “glory.”

Seeing the power of sin and jealousy, we must practice humility and vigilance. Lord, grant us this vigilance – the hatred of darkness and the love of your light.

SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS AND ITS CONSEQUENCES

 I never understood how profound and life-controlling that spiritual blindness could be. Let me try to illustrate this by using the account of Jesus' miraculous feeding of the multitudes. They weren't so blind that they failed to see that a great miracle had just taken place:

• When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” (John 6:14 ESV)

They even recognized Jesus as the Prophet that Moses had prophesied would come (Deut. 18:15-18) and even wanted to make Him king! 

So far, this seems reasonable. However, after they had time to think and had found Him on another side of the Sea of Galilee, their thinking had radically changed. After Jesus instructed them to believe in Him instead of another free meal:

• So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” (John 6:14, 30-31)

Jesus had just performed a great sign! Had they forgotten that they had declared Him the Prophet and wanted to make Him king? Demonstrating their near-complete blindness, they demanded the sign of Moses and his feeding the people with manna from heaven! However, this had been the very sign that Jesus had ALREADY performed in the miraculous feeding of the multitudes!

Then, they degraded Jesus from Prophet-hood to a mere Galilean:

• They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” (John 6:42)

Eventually, they rejected Him entirely and wandered off. 

As perplexing as this biblical account might seem, there are many like it highlighting spiritual blindness. They are jarring because, ordinarily, we don't think of our peers, especially the educated ones, as blind. We tend, instead, to regard them as reasonable. 

Therefore, I had been troubled by these many accounts of irremediable evil and blindness, especially in the Psalms. I was convinced that their view of humanity was a little too dismal. Even Jesus' teachings were troubling:

• “They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.” (John 16:2)

How could people kill the righteous and believe that they are serving God? Spiritual blindness! And it seems that we are now surrounded by it. Our world leaders continue to call Islam a "religion of peace," while all of the evidence - Koran, Hadiths, history, and nearly everywhere Islam has gone - proclaims otherwise. 

Even now, as Islam rapes and beheads its way across the West, our leaders - the ones elected to protect us - continue to chant the same mantra, a reflection of spiritual blindness.

A Gift and a Rejected Gift-Giver

The speaker described how he endured a most horrific plane crash and fire. His burns were so serious that portions of his skin were hanging free. After three years, he is still recuperating. However, he regards the entire experience as a great “blessing,” which he  would not exchange for anything. Through it, he perceived the beauty of life – “gratefulness, forgiveness, and grace.”

Meanwhile, he has returned to teaching and to the meditation center, which he manages. After his talk, I approached him:

• You’ve learned some valuable lessons. You’ve learned about grace, gratitude, and forgiveness. As a Christian, I cannot help seeing my Savior in what you have described and learned. Do you feel that you’ve had an encounter with Deity?

He smiled and acknowledged that it’s possible. However, he then added something that really surprised me. He gently and graciously explained that it didn’t matter how he interpreted his experience. Instead, the important thing was the experience and the lessons he took away from it.

In my mind, it was like receiving a beautiful gift with a card, which he discarded, as if it didn’t matter from whom the gift came. Would he have said, “The gift is the important thing and not the card or the giver?” Of course not, but this was what he was saying about the gift he had just received.

I shared this with him and suggested that he needed to explore the origins of his gift - who sent it to him. He asked, “How would I do that?” I told him that he needed to pray about it and quoted Jesus’ words:

• "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)

I felt that such advice was appropriate, but I also felt the curtain going down on our conversation. He had no intention of praying or seeking the identity of his Benefactor. But why wouldn’t he? Perhaps he intuitively knew that the answer might place restrictions on his life. Would he be able to continue with his own philosophy of life? His meditation center? His friends? His respect within his community? Who wants such restrictions placed on their lives! No one!

Who could blame him? I couldn’t! Besides, it wouldn’t do any good. Nevertheless, before God, he remains blameworthy. God had called his name, “blessed” him, shook him out of life’s stupor, but he refused to come into the light. Instead, he chose darkness – a refusal to see beyond the gift that had God’s name written all over it. I can only pray for him.

Bible Interpretation: More than a Seminary Degree

For many reasons, Bible interpretation can be challenging. I was talking to bright lawyer about the Patriarchs. Although she doesn’t believe in the God of the Bible, she likes the Patriarchal accounts and appreciates the way that the Bible portrays Patriarchs and their wives as very morally flawed humans:

• Through revealing their moral lapses, the Bible is giving us permission to also cheat and lie. 

I protested, but she seemed to like this interpretation. She argued that through these accounts, God was also giving us the green light to act immorally.

I was horrified by this interpretation, but I could see that if we regard these Patriarchal accounts apart from the light of the rest of the Scriptures, it would be easy to make such a mistake. However, when we encounter the “thou shall nots” in Exodus through Deuteronomy, it becomes impossible to conclude that God is okay with cheating and lying.

What is the lesson here? Just as we have often heard it said – we must interpret Scripture by Scripture. This means that we have to have a command of the entire body of Scripture in order to be able to competently interpret. It helps us understand why God has given pastors and teachers to the church for its edification.

This doesn’t mean that we cannot understand a verse that tells us to love our neighbor as ourselves. However, as we grow into the entirety of Scripture, we will also grow in our understanding of the nature of love.

There is also another challenge to interpretation that was illuminated by this exchange. We often see what we want to see. If we want to start a revolution, we see Jesus as a revolutionary. If we want freedom to live our lives that way we want, we emphasize the point that Jesus received everyone who came to Him and leave out the repentance part.

This is the way I too had been. I wanted to find in Scripture those verses which would make me feel good about myself, and I therefore would avoid the uncomfortable verses. What ultimately made the difference? The Spirit, and it required many years! Through many painful circumstances, He taught me to read His Words with a different eye. Now that I just want His Word and understanding, I can see what I had been unable to see.

Jesus claimed that before we judge another, we first have to judge ourselves and remove the plank (blindness) from our eyes:

• "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:3-5)

What is this plank? It is our self-imposed blind spots. We can’t judge others, since we refuse to see, let alone judge, ourselves. And if we are so blind in regards to ourselves and others, we are also blind in regards to Scripture. We only see what we want to see, what fits into our purposes.

Well, what do we do about our all-controlling blindness? After admonishing us to not throw our wisdom before those who have no regard for it, Jesus then returns us to the Spirit:

• "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8)

Sound interpretation requires far more than a seminary degree. It requires the work of the Spirit. Without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:4-5)! Let our continual prayer be, “Lord, you teach me!”

Why Didn’t God Provide Stronger Proofs

 

I am often confronted with this argument:

• If god wanted to "prove" the faith he could certainly do that without effort.

However, He has proved it! Paul argues that the evidence is so compelling that we are “without excuse” if we deny it (Rom. 1:20). However, we have erected selective filters against the light of this evidence (John 3:19-21), refusing to see the evidence. It is almost like trying to talk to a bulimic. It doesn’t matter how many times that we tell her that she is thin, she is convinced that she is fat.

Humanity is also bulimic. We are surrounded by the evidence of God but refuse to see it. As a seven-year-old, I was exposed to the Lord’s prayer in public school. Consequently, when I got into bed at night, I would clasp my hands together and pray in Jesus’ name. Astonishingly, many incredible things happened for this seven-year-old. However, once I turned eight, I learned that I was Jewish and that Jews didn’t do that kind of thing. Therefore, I quit praying entirely. I had placed my ethnicity above what I knew about God, reaping disastrous consequences!

Admittedly, even we Christians can become insensitive to the evidences around us. As a result, we too cry out to God, “Why don’t You strengthen my faith? Reveal yourself to me in a miraculous manner!”

However, we are in good company. Surrounded by Jesus’ miracles, even His disciples asked Him to increase their faith (Luke 17:5). When John the Baptist was languishing in prison, racked with doubts about Jesus, He instructed John’s disciples to tell John about the many miracles they had seen Jesus perform (Mat. 11).

However, Jesus responded to His own disciples in a different manner, appropriate to those who had already seen many miracles:

• “So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” (Luke 17:10)

This cryptic response suggested several things. Faith is granted more abundantly to those who will not abuse it. If we think that we are righteous enough to deserve greater levels of confidence in the faith, faith can be dangerous. It can enable higher levels of self-righteousness:

•  Look at me! I trust God completely, and look at the blessings I am deriving as a result of this!

Instead, we need to first learn that way to faith-confidence is through the knowledge that we are “unworthy servants” who don’t deserve this valuable gift. Despite all of the evidence around us, such confidence must come from above, but will only come to those who will not abuse it.

We think that require more miracles as a foundation for our faith-confidence. However, according to Jesus, the next step in our growth requires humility – a firm understanding of our un-deservedness!

We think that we know what we need. However, Paul instructed us that we don’t even know what to pray for, and therefore, the Spirit must intervene for us according to God’s will (Rom. 8:26-27).

In general, humanity doesn’t know what they need. Convinced that they will be happy if they win the Lotto, they buy tickets. However, studies show that, more often than not, winning is actually loosing. Many lives become unraveled.

Yes, we need evidences, but we need far more. We also need the character that will enable us to profitably use the confidence that the evidences provide. Therefore, we must first undergo afflictions and even doubts (2 Cor. 4:7-11) to cause us to despair of ourselves and to trust in Him alone (2 Cor. 1:8-9). We need to first be emptied of our self-confidence before we can be filled with a God-confidence. And when we are emptied, we hungrily and dependently seek understanding from Scripture, as the Psalmist David confessed

• Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word… It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. (Psalm 119:67, 71)