Posts tagged ‘Jealousy’
Sermon Extra – Grace Is Why
This past weekend in worship at Zion, we looked at Numbers 12 and the jealousy of Moses’ siblings, Miriam and Aaron.
Miriam and Aaron were key leaders among God’s people. Miriam was a prophetess. Aaron was Israel’s high priest. God had spoken through them and used them profoundly and powerfully. But, in Numbers 12, instead of rejoicing in how God had used them, they became resentful of how God was using Moses.
They grumbled, “Has the LORD spoken only through Moses? Hasn’t He also spoken through us?” (Numbers 12:2).
In response, God explained:
“When there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, reveal Myself to them in visions, I speak to them in dreams. But this is not true of My servant Moses; he is faithful in all My house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD.” (Numbers 12:6–8)
God does not deny that He has spoken through other prophets. He has. But He makes it clear that Moses’ calling is unique.
When God speaks through other prophets, He usually does so mystically — through dreams, visions, and riddles. But with Moses, God speaks “face to face, clearly and not in riddles.” With Moses, there’s not a foggy divine impression to interpret, but a clear divine Word to proclaim.
God’s meeting with Moses on Mount Sinai is proof positive of this. In Exodus 20–31, Moses receives the very words and commands of God for the people of Israel. Moses is not just one more voice among many. He is the Lord’s chosen servant through whom God directly gives His very Word.
As God explains Moses’ unique calling, He also offers this compelling compliment: “He is faithful in all My house” (Numbers 12:7).
Miriam and Aaron may have been faithful in their respective callings within areas of God’s house, but Moses was entrusted with a responsibility that extended to all of God’s house. He was called to lead, shepherd, intercede for, and speak God’s Word to the whole Israelite community.
Some 1,500 years after God calls Moses to be a servant in all of God’s house, the preacher of Hebrews explains that, as lofty as Moses’ calling was, there is One whose calling is even greater:
“Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house.” (Hebrews 3:5–6)
With one preposition, the preacher draws an important distinction. Moses was faithful in God’s house. Jesus is faithful over God’s house. Moses was born into God’s house as a son of Israel. Jesus was born over God’s house as the Son of God.
And then, the preacher of Hebrews adds this prodigious promise: “And we are His house” (Hebrews 3:6).
In the book of Numbers, God’s house is centered on the children of Israel. But now, the preacher of Hebrews declares that anyone — whether or not they are a son or daughter of Israel by birth — can be part of God’s house because they have been invited not merely as a son of Israel, but by the Son of God.
Jesus has created a whole new household. He takes sinners who were far from God and brings them near. He takes people estranged from God and makes them members of His family.
Miriam and Aaron were jealous because they did not have the same role, authority, or intimacy with God that Moses had. But Moses was not jealous that, one day, another would come whose role, authority, and intimacy with God would far surpass his own.
Instead, Moses demonstrated humility. As Numbers 12 reminds us: “Now Moses was a very humble man, more humble than anyone else on the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3).
Jealousy always leads to misery because it looks at what I do not have and complains, “Why not me?”
Humility leads to joy because it looks at what God has given and asks, “Why me?”
The question of jealousy never finds a satisfying answer. Why does someone else have that gift, that role, that opportunity, that recognition, that authority, that blessing? That is something that we simply cannot know.
But the question of humility has a clear answer.
Why has God shown me mercy? Why has Christ brought me near? Why am I part of His house?
Grace is why.
And grace gives us more than enough reason to rejoice.
ABC Extra – Hey, Jealousy!
One of the things I’ve always wished for is more hand-eye coordination. From the time I was a child, I have never been particularly adept at doing anything that required my hands and eyes to work coordinately. This comes out especially in the arena of sports. A baseball – I cannot hit it. A basketball – I cannot dribble it. A football – I cannot catch it. This is why, to stay fit, I run and lift weights. There is no hand eye coordination required.
I have always marveled at those who could crush a baseball or swish a basketball or catch a football. After all, these athletes can do things I could never hope to do. Honestly, I am more than a little jealous of some of these folks.
Jealousy is a strange emotion. We usually think of jealousy as a strident yearning of the heart after something someone else has. We can be jealous of someone else’s talent. Or we can be jealous of someone else’s wealth. We can even be jealous of someone else’s piety – his self-control, her gentle spirit, his ability to be content rather than jealous!
In the Bible, the word “jealousy” has both a positive and a negative use. In its negative sense, it describes “envy.” Solomon warns, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones” (Proverbs 14:30). In its positive sense, jealousy describes “zeal.” As Isaiah famously prophesies concerning the birth of the Messiah: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over His kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:6-7). So what is the difference between sinful envy and holy zeal? Envy is jealousy of someone while zeal is jealousy for someone.
Envy sees something someone else has and says, “I want it,” and either seethes with resentment because what is desired cannot be had, or uses dishonest or even diabolical means to attain what is desired. King Ahab is the poster child for this kind of jealousy. When the king tries to cut a deal with one of his subjects, Naboth, to purchase from him a vineyard, Naboth refuses. When he is turned down, the story says Ahab “lay on his bed sulking” (1 Kings 21:5). So Ahab hatches a plan. He has Naboth stoned and commandeers his vineyard. Ahab’s envy knows no bounds.
Zeal, on the other hand, is a deep desire and affection for something with which God has entrusted you. As such, you are jealous for it, desiring to protect it and keep it from harm. In Numbers 5, the law speaks of the jealousy a man has for his wife. And indeed, a man should be jealous for his wife. For God has given a man a great gift in a wife – and he should honor and protect her. As Solomon says, “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord” (Proverbs 18:22).
Jealousy is not all bad. When God prohibits all forms of idolatry in the First Commandment, He explains His reasoning thusly: “I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep My commandments” (Exodus 20:5-6). God is jealous for us. Beautifully, this simply means He loves us.
What kind of jealousy marks your life – jealousy for someone or jealousy of someone? Do you seek to honor and protect those you love or do you seek to take that which you do not have? One kind of jealousy flows from love. The other flows from greed. May you, as God’s child, be jealous with a “godly jealousy” (2 Corinthians 11:2).
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