| “The Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14). |
| “For I [Paul] am jealous over you with godly jealousy” (2 Corinthians 11:2). |
| “Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?” (Proverbs 27:4). |
| We find the words “envy” and “jealousy” in the Bible, but often people use them in the wrong way, and do not see the big difference in meaning between them. It is important to see this difference, for in the Bible, jealousy is almost always used in a good sense, while envy is always used in a bad sense. |
| To be jealous about something is to want to keep what is mine. If someone tries to take something from us that is rightfully ours, we are quite right in wanting to keep it. For this reason we see that God is a jealous God; He will not give His glory to others, nor will He allow anyone to take away something, or someone, that belongs to Him. In our first verse today, we read that His name is Jealous, and Israel had to learn that if they worshiped idols, God was very jealous about this. He was the only one entitled to worship from them, and He did not like it if they worshiped false gods. |
| Also, we see that the Apostle Paul was jealous over the believers in Corinth. He had preached the gospel to them, and after they were saved, he led them along in the truth of God. But later, others came in and tried to teach them different things than what Paul had taught them, and Paul was jealous about that. He had taught them the truth, and he was upset when others tried to teach them wrong things. |
| Envy, however, is wanting something that the Lord has given to someone else; it is wanting something that is not rightfully mine. It is one of the most serious sins recorded in the Bible, and it has been around for a long time. Right at the beginning of man’s history, Cain murdered his brother Abel because of envy. Joseph’s brothers envied him and sold him into Egypt. Finally, the leaders of the Jews envied the Lord Jesus, and demanded that He be crucified. |
| As we see in our third verse today, envy is very bad, but it is a very strong force in this world. It has caused people to do some awful things. If you and I sense that bad feeling in our hearts, let us ask the Lord to help us get rid of it right away. If we allow it to go on, it will make a lot of trouble for us. |
