Please let me know if you are aware of a better Biblical examination of Jealousy (particularly on helping wives understand why they want to get past it) - this one has some good points, but wanders a bit. We've been discussing this topic lately (i.e. how to get past it, how to understand that it's always a bad thing when directed towards your head, but not necessarily when coming from the head). I haven't really seen what I'd call a 'great' article on Jealousy - perhaps someone here can do better.
Nathan
'The Spirit of Polygamy'
© 1999 Jeffrey Brian White
»Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.« (Mt 22:36-39, KJV)
One of the sect of the Sadducees (those who claimed to be descended from Zadok) asked Jesus this question and received this response. And so today we believe that to love God and our neighbor is to fulfill the intent of the law. What he was really saying, though, is that the law and the prophets, the Torah and the Neviim, depend on the these two commandments. Fulfilling these two commandments is a challenge, requiring the work of the Holy Spirit to change us within, so that we can love God and our neighbor from the Christ nature within us. And we encounter many problems in moving to do these commandments. We can see this in John's first epistle:
»For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.« (1J 3:11-24, KJV)
John mentions several problems to fulfilling the Great Commandment: evil works, hate, abiding in death, shutting up bowels of compassion, loving in word rather than loving in deed and truth. However, if we love as John describes loving here, we become assured of a couple of things: that we have passed from death unto life and that we are of the truth. And this is connected with experientially knowing that he abides in us.
One problem not often well addressed is that of JEALOUSY. Although is very easy that jealousy is a very destructive disposition, it is not very well understood. What makes matters worse is that jealousy, to many people, is indicative or evidential of love. How many lives and souls have been destroyed or injured by jealousy, both those having it within their hearts and those afflicted by jealous men and women? I am certain that only Yahweh really knows the exact toll, but we've all seen its damage. Although Yahweh's jealousy is just and righteous, because he is just and righteous, jealousy within men mostly takes a turn for the worse, and in women it is always destructive, both to the woman and those around her. People, moved by jealousy, have murdered and abused others. While Yahweh hates divorce, many have divorced their spouses because jealousy existed in their hearts.
One of the reasons why jealousy is not normally dealt with and repented of, is that most of the Body of Christ has for many centuries embraced the pagan concept of monogamy. I am not saying that monogamy, according to its most sense as a descriptive term, is wrong, but rather the pagan definition of it. The pagan concept is not merely a term describing the marital structure of a household, but rather a whole belief system which originally descended from religions in which a husband god and a wife god were worshipped, which do not appear to have supported any kind of polygyny of the kind we find recorded in the Old Testament of the Bible. (Maybe some did.) Pagan Rome set their concept of a strict egalitarian monogamy in law. When the Israelites moved away from the Yahwist worship they received from the Patriarchs and Moses, they adopted a religion in which the chief male deity, Baal, had only one consort, his sister Anath. Eventually this was converted into a religion, attested in inscriptions from the time, which revolved around the notion of 'Yahweh and his Asherah'. (Incidentally, in the Epic of Baal, Asherah is his mother.) This kind of strict egalitarian monogamy, although clothed in Christian garments, actually functions to protect jealousy, especially in women, from ever being properly addressed in that it inclines toward an egalitarian family order as a substitute for the patriarchal family order displayed in the Scriptures. It also ignores the fundamental differences (apart from the sexual) which exist between men and women, differences which are intrinsic within each sex as a direct result of Yahweh's designs for them.
But as I said, the biggest contributing factor in preserving jealousy is in its incorporation in man's definitions of what love is. The Scriptures never teach that jealousy is a component of love at all, but rather that it is, like fear, just the opposite of love. In the Song of Songs, the Shulamite, after making her way through her betrothal period with Solomon, comes to this realization:
»Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; JEALOUSY is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.« (SS 8:6, KJV)
The word translated as »jealousy« in this verse is qin'âh and means "from 7065; jealousy or envy", translated as »envy, envied, jealousy, sake, zeal« [#7068H]. (Note the phonological resemblance of qin'âh to English queen and Greek gunê which means 'woman, wife'.) qin'âh in turn comes from qânâ' which means "to be (caus. to make) zealous, i.e. (in a bad sense) jealous or envious" [#7065H].
Paul specifically taught that »love is not jealous« (1C 13:4, JNT). In the Simple English Bible, this phrase is rendered »A loving person... is not jealous« and in the King James Version, »charity envieth not«. So it is not Scriptural at all, or spiritual, to believe that jealousy is any part of love at all, or that love would ever be the cause of jealousy, as some do. And when we operate out of jealousy in speech or in deed, we are missing God, not obeying the commandments given to us by Jesus and elaborated by John.
some words related to qin'âh and qânâ'
(from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance)
qenâ' = "to purchase" [#7066H]
qannâ' = "jealous; comp. 7072" [#7067H]
qânâh = "to be erect, i.e. create; by extens. to procure, espec. by purchase (caus. sell); by impl. to own", translated as »provoke to jealousy« [#7069H]
qannôw = "jealous or angry" [#7072H]
Note that the concepts of buying (qenâ'), selling (qânâh) and ownership (qânâh) are also inherent in jealousy. (This points toward prostitution, that is fornication, being related to jealousy when it exists in a sexual relationship.) We need recognize these things if we are to have a truly Scriptural perception of what jealousy is, and we need to define jealousy or envy from the Scriptures, if we are to understand it in truth.
examples of qin'âh and qânâ'
That jealousy is a very serious matter is attested by the fact Moses gave commandment concerning it, providing both a »law of jealousies« and an »offering of jealousy«:
»And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner; And the spirit of jealousy (qin'âh) come upon him, and he be jealous (qânâ') of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy (qin'âh) come upon him, and he be jealous (qânâ') of his wife, and she be not defiled: Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy (qin'âh), an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD: And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water: And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy (qin'âh) offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse: And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse: But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband: Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen. And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water: And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter. Then the priest shall take the jealousy (qin'âh) offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar: And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water. And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people. And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed. This is the law of jealousies (qin'âh), when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled; Or when the spirit of jealousy (qin'âh) cometh upon him, and he be jealous (qânâ') over his wife, and shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law. Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.« (Nu 5:11-31, KJV)
This passage reveals several important things about jealousy. It was not anointed and most definitely provided no sweet savour in Yahweh's nostrils, for no oil was poured on the Offering of Jealousy, nor was frankincense put upon it (Nu 5:15). This offering was meant to »bring iniquity to remembrance« and reveal whether a man's wife had had sexual intercourse with another man. Thus, the offering itself, like the spirit which motivated the man to accuse his wife to the priests, functioned as an accuser. From this we can see that accusation in one of the components of jealousy. The application of the Law of Jealousies could either bring destruction upon the woman, or make her fertile, depending on whether or not she was defiled. And then there is a spiritual component to jealousy. This passage shows quite clearly that an evil spirit, called the SPIRIT OF JEALOUSY exists and can come upon a person in a fashion similar to that of the Spirit of God coming upon a person. Therefore, the spirit of jealousy is an aspect of the spirit of antichrist. (antikhristos means both 'in place of Christ' and 'against Christ', also 'in place of the Anointing' and 'against the Anointing'.) That this spirit was evil is borne by the fact that the Law of Jealousies required that a test or trial be performed to either verify or nullify the husband's accusation. In other words, the spirit of jealousy could not be trusted to speak truth. Therefore, this spirit is not the Spirit of Yahweh, whom Jesus called the Spirit of Truth. Note also that the Law of Jealousies provided no revenge for the husband, but only for determining the guilt or innocence of the wife, and a judgment against her is the accusation of her proved to be true.
This Law of Jealousies then is helpful in understanding the many references to jealousy or envy which occur in other parts of the Scripture.
»Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and Yahweh blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: For he had possession of flocks, and possessions of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied (qânâ') him. For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.« (Gn 26:12-17, KJV-OTR)
Here we see that envying is something which uncircumcised Philistines do. In type, it points to an uncircumcised heart and its jealous disposition. Paul wrote, »For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God« (Ro 2:28-29, KJV). The Philistines worshipped a god called »Dagon« (who is the father of Baal in one version of his epic). They represent to old nature, the image of the »earthy« (1C 15:45-49). Isaac represents the »heavenly«, the image of Christ. Isaac's name means "laughter" or "mockery" [#3327H] and speaks of the old nature mocking the new on the one hand and the joy of Yahweh on the other. The fact that Isaac received »an hundredfold« points to hundredfold fruitbearing (Mt 13:8), the realm of the Most Holy Place. The old nature envies the new, even as the Philistines envied Isaac. And notice their deeds: they stopped Isaac's wells and filled them with earth. Beloved, we are supposed to have the Spirit of the Living God in us springing up unto everlasting Life (Jn 4:10-14; 7:37-39). You need to understand that the old nature, out of jealousy, will attempt to fill the Lord's well in you with earthy things and prevent that living water within you from flowing. It will move to prevent the moving of the Holy Spirit in your life. And this precisely what happens when we are envious or jealousy. This jealousy ultimately caused division between Isaac and Abimelech, who had previously been at peace with him. Note that Abimelech finally said, »Go from us...«, Abimelech's party was the jealous one, the one which was wrong, and Abimelech is telling Isaac, who had not done any evil to Abimelech, to leave!
»And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied (qânâ') her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.« (Gn 30:1, KJV)
Out of envy, Rachel made an impossible demand of Jacob (»give me children«), combining it with a threat (»or else I die«). It is significant that it is a woman who is a wife who says this. In Proverbs 21:19, it is written, »It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman«.
The word translated as »contentious« is mâdôwn, which means "a contest or quarrel" [#4066H]. Its root, the verb dûwn, means "to rule; by impl. to judge (as umpire); also to strive (as at law)" [#1777H]. Rachel attempted to command Jacob to give her children. She attempted to rule her husband. This contrasts with Peter's instructions for wives to be in subjection to their own husbands »even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord« (1P 3:1,6, KJV). What did Yahweh say to Ishshâh? »...thy desire shall be to thy husband, he shall rule over thee« (Gn 3:16, KJV). So Rachel became a contentious woman, competing with her sister, and attempting to rule the roost, moved by jealousy.
The word translated as »angry« is ka'as which means "vexation" [#3708H]. ka'as comes from the verb kâ'as which means "to trouble; by impl. to grieve, rage, be indignant" [#3707H]. Note the phonological resemblance of ka'as to English chaos. Jacob was troubled by her demand, for his »anger was kindled against Rachel« (Gn 30:2, KJV).
We should mention in passing that the jealousy and rivalry which existed between Rachel and her sister Leah is expressed also in Leah when she says to Rachel, »Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband?« (Gn 30:15, KJV). There is no record of Rachel having done this. Nor could she have done it, for she was the one Jacob wanted from the beginning. Nevertheless, their mutual jealousy and competition was nonetheless sinful, and manifested later in their descendants.
»And his brethren envied (qânâ') him; but his father observed the saying.« (Gn 37:11, KJV)
Joseph's brethren later sold him into slavery out of their jealousy (Gn 37:26-28) and then lied to Jacob to cover it up, breaking the old man's heart (Gn 37:29-25). They inherited this from Leah.
»For jealousy (qin'âh) is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.« (Pr 6:34, KJV)
Jealousy is characterized as masculine rage. The word translated as »man« in this verse is geber which means "a valiant man or warrior" [#1397H]. A warrior's rage. geber comes from the verb gâbar which means "to be strong; by impl. to prevail, act insolently" [#1396H]. In the context, the writer is warning his son to avoid adultery. In women, jealousy is even more disruptive than in men, because it is a masculine attribute. Jealousy in a woman causes her to be defeminized, making her more masculine. It is the rage of a man, and not a woman. Note that it knows no mercy, but rather revenge. As with the Law of Jealousies, we see here that there is really no place for a woman to be jealous, nor is the jealousy itself justified.
»For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy (qin'âh) slayeth the silly one.« (Jb 5:2, KJV)
Although Eliphaz (here speaking to Job) was among those who spoke wrongly about Yahweh, that doesn't mean that everything he said was wrong. Jealousy slays the silly.
»Envy (qânâ') thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.« (Pr 3:31, KJV)
Note that the implication is that jealousy is one of the ways of the oppressor. This reveals the oppressive character of jealousy.
»A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy (qin'âh) the rottenness of the bones.« (Pr 14:30, KJV)
Jealousy negatively affects one's health, causing rottenness of the bones (osteoporosis?). If one's bones become rotten, they will weaken, eventually break, and the inner structure of the person will disintegrate so that they cannot stand (compare Ez 37:1-11). If jealousy or envy can destroy a person's bones, what then does it do their spirit or soul?
»Let not thine heart envy (qânâ') sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.« (Pr 23:17, KJV)
The heart is the inner person. Being in the fear of Yahweh is here presented as the alternative to being jealous within. And not just with regard to sinners alone, but with regard to brethren also, for we are instructed to love Christian brethren, as well as our enemies, and love is not jealous. »Charity envieth not«.
»Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy (qin'âh)?« (Pr 27:4, KJV)
Why? As Moses brings out in the Law of Jealousies, jealousy is driven by a spirit, and that not the Spirit of God, and can therefore move men to do things moreso than their natural emotions might otherwise incline them. We know from the Gospel according to Mark about the man in tombs, whom Jesus healed, that an evil spirit can impart physical strength beyond human ability (Mk 5:1-20), similar in principle to the supernatural strength which manifested in Samson when the Spirit of Yahweh came upon him (Jd 14:6; 15:14-17). And because there is a spirit which drives envy or jealousy, there is also a demonic wisdom which accompanies it (Ja 3:14-15; Ep 2:1-3).
»Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied (qin'âh) of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.« (Ec 4:4, KJV)
Here Solomon associates envy or jealousy with »vanity and vexation of spirit«. Vanity is the action of going through cycles and always returning to where one began without making any real progress in God. Jealousy will definitely hinder spiritual progress. Note the association of envy with spirit, as we saw in the Law of Jealousies. Because jealousy can affect your spirit, you should not entertain it in any form. Put off jealousy, which is of the old man, and put on love, which is of the New Man, created in the image of Christ.
»Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy (qin'âh), is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.« (Ec 9:6, KJV)
When Solomon says this, he is speaking about natural men who have died. Note also that Solomon distinguishes very clearly between love and jealousy, the same distinction which the Shulamite and the apostle Paul recognized.
»The envy (qin'âh) also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy (qânâ') Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.« (Is 11:13, KJV)
Ephraim (Rachel's grandson) is associated with fruitfulness (Gn 41:52) and Judah with praise (Gn 29:35). Note here that the departure of jealousy in those who are fruitful is associated with the cutting off of the adversaries of praise and the cessation of vexation from those who inspire praise.
»LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy (qin'âh) at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.« (Is 26:11, KJV)
Those who envy or are jealous shall be ashamed. The »they« here are the »wicked« mentioned in Isaiah 26:10, who will not learn righteousness, even when shown favour. We can see then that envy or jealousy is an attribute of the wicked.
»Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy (qin'âh) which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.« (Ez 35:11, KJV)
This is a judgment of Yahweh against Mount Seir, the mount of the Edomites, who were the descendants of Esau who sold his birthright. Esau sold his birthright to Jacob and then envied Jacob when the time came for their father Isaac's blessing. Later, Esau forgot all about the birthright swindle, really, because his birthright was not truly important to him.
»They envied (qânâ') Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.« (Ps 106:16, KJV)
It is instructive to remember that the earth swallowed those who envied and a fire consumed them. Beloved, do not envy or be jealous of those whom Yahweh sets in authority over you.
»I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied (qânâ') him.« (Ez 31:9, KJV)
It is an interesting concept to think that trees could become jealous. But the »trees of Eden« here are symbolic. One has to wonder if they represent Îysh and Ishshâh. The one who was envied is one called »the Assyrian« (Ez 31:3), who was apparently a ruler. Yahweh's word, however, was going out against the Egyptian Pharoah.
moving into the New Testament
Thus far we have looked at several things said about jealousy in the Torah, the Kethuvim and the Neviim:
1. it is inspired by a spirit.
2. it is the opposite of love.
3. it will move a woman to make an impossible request of her husband.
4. it is part of the character of any uncircumcised heart.
5. it will cause a woman to accuse another woman of something she did not do.
6. it will cause brethren to hate their brother and do evil against them.
7. it is masculine rage.
8. it slays the silly one.
9. it is rottenness of the bones.
10. it is the opposite of the fear of the Lord.
11. it is vanity of spirit.
12. it is vexation of spirit.
13. it can be passed from generation to generation.
14. it can be a cause of Yahweh bringing judgments against those who are jealous.
15. even »trees of Eden« can have it.
Remember, I am only dealing with human envy or jealousy in this writing, not Yahweh's. What is called »jealousy« in Yahweh is righteous, because he is righteous, and is not the same as what appears within man. As we have seen, it is something more than mere emotion, energized by an evil spirit, which gives it its power.
As we move into the New Testament Scriptures, we need to keep in mind the Old Testament understanding of it and recognize that understanding as the foundation for understanding what the New Testament writers were thinking when they wrote about it.
the equivalents of qin'âh and qânâ' in the New Testament
Stephen, the martyr, said this during his message before he was killed:
»And the patriarchs, moved with ENVY (zêloô), sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him...« (Ac 7:9, KJV)
By »the patriarchs«, he meant the sons of Jacob. This phrase, »moved with envy«, is based on a verse which we have already looked at:
»And his brethren envied (qânâ') him; but his father observed the saying.« (Gn 37:11, KJV)
Stephen's usage of the Greek word zêloô in Acts 7:9 corresponds exactly to the Hebrew words qânâ' in Genesis 37:11.
The verb zêloô is defined "from 2205; to have warmth of feeling for or against." [#2206G]. zêloô is derived from zêlos which means "prop. the heat, i.e. (fig.) "zeal" (in a favorable sense, ardor; in an unfavorable one, jealousy, as of a husband (fig. of God), or an enemy, malice" [#2205G]. zêloô and zêlos are in turn derived from the verb zeô which means "to be hot (boil, of liquids; or glow, of solids), i.e. (fig.) be fervid (earnest)" [#2204G], as is also the noun zêlôtês, which means "a zealot" [#2207G]
So, when we look at the New Testament examples of zêloô, zêlos, and zêlôtês, we read many where these words mean exactly the same thing as qin'âh and qânâ'.
examples of zêloô, zêlos and zêlôtês
The essential characteristics of envy or jealousy (qin'âh/qânâ') are expanded in the New Testament. As we go through these verses, keep in mind that zêloô, zêlos and zêlôtês all carry the same meanings as qin'âh and qânâ'. Also bear in mind that I am only looking at jealousy within man. We must likewise bear in mind that the Scriptures make no distinction at all between the terms »envy« and »jealousy« in their original languages. As with the Old Testament references we looked at, »envy« means »jealousy«, and »jealousy« means »envy«.
»But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy (zêlos), and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.« (Ac 13:45, KJV)
As with those who opposed Moses out of envy, they do the same here with Paul. Like Moses, Paul had a word of the Lord to bring forth under the Anointing. The flesh lusts against the Spirit (Ga 5:17). Jealousy will move people to speak against the word of the Spirit that is being declared. Note that they were »filled« with jealousy. Given the existence of a spirit of jealousy, we could say that they were filled with the spirit of jealousy. Note that in this also, the spirit of jealousy substitutes itself for the Spirit of God. This spirit of antichrist manifest itself both in opposing the Spirit of Christ and in standing in the place of Spirit of Christ, setting himself up in the temple of God and deifying himself, that is, pretending to be God, pretending to be the voice of Spirit of God. When people are filled with the Holy Spirit, they speak (both in tongues and prophesy) according to that filling. Here we see something similar, but with an evil spirit. To 'contradict' means to speak against a thing. To 'blaspheme' means to speak evil of a thing. And they were contradicting and blaspheming the very word, which, if received, would have begotten them again (1P 1:22-25). In essence, they were prevented from partaking of the life of the Spirit by jealousy.
»But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy (zêloô), took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.« (Ac 17:5, KJV)
Unbelief is here associated with jealousy, and I assure you, that if we are being jealous, it is because we are not believing. Note that this »assault« on Jason's house started with jealousy. Have we not all heard of assaults which came from jealousy?
»Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous (zêlôtês) toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.« (Ac 22:1-9, KJV)
Paul admits that jealousy prompted his own persecution of the Body of Christ. The Lord took it personally. Beloved, when we move against other believers out of jealousy, Jesus takes it personally. Although Paul's 'zeal' was toward God, it was prompted by the same spirit of jealousy which worked in the Jews who persecuted him later on. Would we persecute the Christ within our brother or sister in Christ, who is our »hope of glory«? We might if we walk in the flesh or in unbelief, being jealous.
»And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying (zêlos) But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.« (Ro 13:11-14, KJV)
Jealousy is a »work of darkness« that we are instructed to cast off. Awake to righteousness, Beloved, and Christ shall give thee light! (1C 15:34; Ep 5:15) As Paul says here »put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof«. That provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts, is any belief or idea which encourages us to be jealous as well as any attempt we make to justify it with our logic, reasoning, or desires. Note here also that envying is a lust of the flesh.
»For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying (zêlos), and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?« (1C 3:3, KJV)
In this verse, we learn that envying or being jealous is carnal. Remember what Paul wrote about the carnal mind? »5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.« And this is what jealousy is all about. When we are jealous, we are minding the things of the flesh, participating in death, hostile toward God, and cannot please him in that disposition. Nor will we respond rightly to his law, either to the Law of Moses or to the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, while we are being jealous or envious. Remember, it was envying, jealous people who persecuted Paul and the Church.
»Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth (zêloô) not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up...« (1C 13:4, KJV)
Love and jealousy are opposites, Beloved. If we are being jealous, we are not loving at all. The Shulamite had to learn this before she could truly live up to her name, which means 'peaceful' and be an appropriate match for Solomon. The same is true of us if we are going to become an holy bride of Christ without spot or wrinkle.
»For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings (zêlos), wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults: And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.« (2C 12:20-21, KJV)
Note that envyings or jealousies are sins and equated here with uncleanness, fornication (prostitution), and lasciviousness. Real repentence includes a change of mind away from jealousy toward love. As we saw in 1.Corinthians 3:3 and in Genesis 26:12-17, jealousy causes divisions, carnal divisions and turmoil. In a marriage, jealousy in the husband or the wife will cause a division between them. But Yahweh's intention in a marriage is unity. That's why Paul wrote the Corinthians, »...to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other...« (1C 7:2-5, KJV). The word translated as »fornication« in both of these verses is the Greek noun porneia, which means "harlotry" [#4202G]. It comes from the verb pernêmi which means "to sell". This corresponds to Hebrew qenâ' which means "to purchase" [#7066H] and qânâh which means "to be erect, i.e. create; by extens. to procure, espec. by purchase (caus. sell); by impl. to own", translated as »provoke to jealousy« [#7069H]. Jealousy will demand a price. Paul wrote to husbands and wives what he did »to avoid fornication«. The principle that he put forth was that husbands and wives owe one another »benevolence«. And »benevolence« is the Greek noun eunoia which appears in Strong's as "from the same as 2132; kindness; euphemistically conjugal duty" [#2133G]. 2132 is eunoeô which means "to be well-minded, i.e. reconcile" [#2132G]. Paul calls this »due benevolence« not only something which is owed, but 'kindness'. So, coitus is a kindness which husbands and wives owe one another. eunoia also appears »good will« in Ephesians 6:7, wherein it is written »With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men«. So, coitus is really meant to be an expression of good will or wellmindedness in a marriage. When either party in a marriage approaches the other with a disposition which says, "I will only sleep with you, if...", demanding that the other fulfill some requirement first, that person commits fornication. And jealousy will lead to this. In effect, the person is saying that he/she doesn't owe their spouse what the Spirit says they owe. The same thing is paralelled in the church when people say, "I will only serve God, if...". Beloved, we cannot approach the Lord or our brethren with a spirit of jealousy and expect that to be okay.
»And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous (zêlôtês) of the traditions of my fathers.« (Ga 1:14, KJV)
In the world, jealousy is rewarded. For example, have you not noticed that TV almost always presents jealous women as though they were righteous? Do not they not use envy in their commercials to sell things to you? Beloved, love not the world.
»Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying (zêlos) and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying (zêlos) and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.« (Ja 3:13-18, KJV)
Earthly, sensual, devilish wisdom, like the kind the serpent offered to the woman in Genesis 3. The presence of jealousy brings with it confusion and every evil work. And note that he said »where«. In any area of your heart or mine, where jealousy is, there is CONFUSION and EVERY EVIL WORK. Get rid of the jealousy, and the confusion and evil works will evaporate with it. Remember, as I said before, jealousy is prompted by an evil spirit, the spirit of jealousy. And jealousy can be bitter.
withering
As I said before, the Scriptures make no distinction between envy and jealousy as we do speaking English. But there is another a word for jealousy in the Greek language of the New Testament which in its very definition displays an even worse form of jealousy than we have looked at. In Matthew 27:18, the evangelist tells us this about the people who delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate to be crucified:
»For he knew that for ENVY they had delivered him.« (Mt 27:18, KJV)
The word translated as »envy« in this verse is phthonos which Strong defines as "prob. akin to the base of 5351; ill-will (as detraction), i.e. jealousy (spite)." [#5355G]. It is derived from phtheirô which he defines as "prob. strength. from phthiô (to pine or waste); prop. to shrivel or wither, i.e. to spoil (by any process) or (gen.) to ruin (espec. by mor. influences, to deprave)" [#5351G]. The verb form phthoneô means "to be jealous of" [#5354G].
So, unlike zêloô, which can also mean 'be zealous', phthoneô always means "to be jealous of" with that jealousy or envy being ill-willed (instead of God-willed), detracting, wasting, shriveling, withering, spoiling, ruining and depraving.
examples of phthonos and phthoneô
»For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy (phthonos).« (Mk 15:10, KJV)
The chief priests (who in type correspond to the five-fold ministry), were jealous of Jesus, so malicious that they delivered him to be put to death. Here phthonos is used as a synonym for zêlos.
»And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy (phthonos), murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.« (Ro 1:28-32, KJV)
Here we see jealousy associated with a »reprobate mind« and we learn that the judgment of God is that those who do this (and the other things in the list) are »worthy of death«. In the larger context of Romans 1, we find out that the fullness of jealousy is a result of practicing idolatry. Thus, jealousy arises from an idolatrous nature.
»Envyings (phthonos), murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.« (Ga 5:21, KJV)
Beloved, if we are or remain jealous and envying, we will not inherit the kingdom of God, that is, righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, nor authority in ages to come.
»Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying (phthoneô) one another.« (Ga 5:26, KJV)
Envying one another or being jealous is something we are not supposed to be.
»Some indeed preach Christ even of envy (phthonos) and strife; and some also of good will...« (Ph 1:15, KJV)
As we saw that jealousy is the opposite of love, here we find that it is the of good will.
»If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy (phthonos), strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.« (1Ti 6:3-5, KJV)
Note the SOURCE of jealousy: PRIDE and IGNORANCE, »doting about questions and strifes of words«. This is like reading an elaboration of James' statement, »For where envying (zêlos) and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work«. Pride, Beloved. Pride goeth before destruction... just the opposite of the fruit of Spirit called »meekness«.
»For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy (phthonos), hateful, and hating one another.« (Ti 3:3, KJV)
Note that there is a state of being (indicated by »were«) which forms the foundation for living in malice and jealousy, and Paul says we were all like that! A state of being consisting of foolishness, disobedience, and deception (including self-deception). And there is a service which goes with it, a serving of lusts and pleasures. And from that state of being and service arises living in malice and jealousy. The result is that man becomes hateful and hates his neighbor.
the image of jealousy
The following is a good example of what James meant when he wrote, »For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work«:
»And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of Adonai Yahweh fell there upon me. Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber. And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of Elohim to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the IMAGE OF JEALOUSY, WHICH PROVOKETH TO JEALOUSY. And, behold, the glory of the Elohim of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain. Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar THIS IMAGE OF JEALOUSY IN THE ENTRY. He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations. And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall. Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up. Then said he unto me, Sc. He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. And he brought me into the inner court of Yahweh's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of Yahweh, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.« (Ez 8:1-8, KJV-OTR)
This chapter in Ezekiel sheds some light on the problem of goddess worship in the Temple of Yahweh in Ezekiel's day. Ezekiel was a priest, one of the sons of Levi. Yahweh, in calling Ezekiel as a prophet, comes to Ezekiel as the »word of Yahweh« several times in the book. In the NT, Jesus is called the »Word of God«. So, really, whenever we see Yahweh approaching Ezekiel using this name, it Jesus who is coming to him. so we should not be surprised to find the visions and words Yahweh gives to him to relate to the Body of Christ. One thing we can say about the Spirit's working is that he will his people using things they understand out of their natural existence and activity. In the Psalms, we see this in David, originally a shepherd, receiving revelation about Yahweh as a Shepherd and the Israelites as the sheep of his pasture. So Yahweh brings Ezekiel revelation using the priestly office and temple, the very things we would expect Ezekiel to know about and understand.
The time when he receives this revelation is very important to comprehending its prophetic significance. In Moses, »the sixth year« was the year before a tract of farmland was to lie fallow and REST. In Moses, »the sixth month« was the month before the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, which was subdivided into three parts, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths. In Moses, »the fifth day of the month« was the day before Adam was created. We need to understand here that the Spirit is using the date and time of this word as symbols and cues to relate to us the prophetic timing of revelation given.
»as I sat in mine house« - Ezekiel could not leave Chaldea to go to the House of Yahweh, so Yahweh came to his. This is called 'visitation'.
»the elders of Judah sat before me« - They came, as was the custom, to the prophet in order to learn what the word of Yahweh was.
»...that the hand of Adonai Yahweh fell there upon me« - This is akin to the Spirit falling on the believer in the Holy Ghost Baptism. Note that the »hand« speaks of the fivefold ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. And it speaks of the beginning of the Storm to come (Elijah saw a cloud the size of a man's HAND!). "Spirit fall fresh on me..."
The first thing which the prophet sees in the temple is »the seat of the image of jealousy«. Many believe this was an Asherah or some other goddess image. Paul called the body of the believer the »temple of the Holy Spirit« and the church »an habitation of God in the Spirit«. So Ezekiel's vision of the temple really expresses something about the individual saint and the Body of Christ as a whole. In the individual, since we have all borne the image of the Earthy Man, and acted in accordance with that image, energized by the prince of the power of the air, alienated in our minds by wicked works, this represents the inward nature of jealousy which arises out of the beast nature. Paul wrote the Galatians that jealousy (»envy« in the KJV) was a work of the flesh. As the flesh lusts against the Spirit, so does the jealousy move contrary to the Spirit of God. Note that Ezekiel did not write that it provoked Yahweh to jealousy, but that it simply »provoketh to jealousy«. Paul talked about provoking others to good works. Similarly, this image of jealousy within the heart of the believer or the natural man provokes to jealousy in one's disposition and is part of the character of the man of sin, who SITS in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember, Ezekiel saw the SEAT of the image of jealousy, that is, a throne upon which this nature rests and rules.
Note that it was »at the door of the inner gate«, at the door to the holy place, at it were, like a sentry. Ezekiel sees the image of jealousy itself in the entry. Imagine if you will a goddess image standing as the sentry of the gate. This image of jealousy guards the entry, keeping out intruders, those unlike itself. It jealously guards the altar. We know from Jeremiah, who was roughly a contemporary of Ezekiel, that the people in Jerusalem did worship a goddess whom they called the »Queen of Heaven«, according to some, the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. Perhaps she was the goddess whose statue was called the »image of jealousy«. In any case, we do know that Manasseh had set up an image, an idol, in Yahweh's temple (2Ch 33:7), which was removed under Josiah (2Ch 34:3-7), and that after his reign, the chief priests and the people in Jerusalem »transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of Yahweh which he had hallowed in Jerusalem« (2Ch 36:14, KJV-OTR). Keep in mind that Ezekiel is seeing something about goddess worship/idolatry within the people of God, not in the foreign peoples round about them and this speaks of goddess worship/idolatry within the Body of Christ. Having observed that the Christians (the men of Jerusalem) have set up this image of jealousy in the Body of Christ, Yahweh assures Ezekiel that he will see yet greater abominations.
The point that I am after here is that jealousy in a person's character acts as a sentry to keep out anything that would begin to touch the greater abominations tucked away in the recesses of their hearts. From the outside, all one may see is a jealous disposition. But dig a little deeper, make a hole in that jealousy wall, and greater abominations are there to be seen.
The demonic aspect of jealousy (e.g the spirit of jealousy) combined with its association with goddess suggests (quite strongly) that this may have been part of Ishshâh's corrupted nature after she and then Îysh sinned. The other thing it suggests is that jealousy is another component of a false female image, based on the reality that idols were made according to imaginations of people's hearts, the Asherim themselves representing wrong or distorted concepts of what 'feminine' either is or should be in its ideal manifestation.
In Genesis 5:1-2, it is written, »...In the day that Elohim created man, in the likeness of Elohim made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created« (KJV-OTR). Even as the man entered into the beginnings of goddess worship, renaming the woman Ishshâh 'Eve' ('Mother of All Living', a title of several mother goddesses), the notion that the man and the woman were created became distorted into a deification of sinful man and woman. The resultant religion was ultimately made up of male and female gods based on people once lived.
What does this have to do with jealousy? Well, as I pointed out above, jealousy is specifically identified as masculine characteristic in the law of Moses. While the law of Moses does not justify jealousy as a righteous or anointed thing (there was no oil in the offering of jealousy in Numbers 5), Moses did write a regulation forbidding men and women to wear the garments of the opposite sex (Dt 22:5). That regulation has to do with preserving sexual distinctions. It also reveals a difference in the manifestation of the righteousness of God in the male and in the female.
»chambers of his imagery« - Moses wrote that the imagination Adam's heart was only evil continually (Gn 6:5). Imaginations and high things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God (1C 10:5). Remember, both Rachel and Leah thought unreal things out of jealousy. I won't make a list, but the point is that the image of jealousy functioned to obscure the fact that they were alienated in their minds by wicked works. Note was Paul said about this alienation:
»This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ...« (Ep 4:17-20, KJV)
The fact that Paul says, »that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk«, shows that some of them were in fact walking in this manner.
»For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.« (Co 1:19-29, KJV)
Yahweh has purchased a reconciliation and redemption for us through the Blood of Christ shed on the Cross. We need to repent of our jealousy. That's part of the foundation of »repentence from dead works«. The Blood of Christ is meant to cleanse the consciousness from dead works to serve Yahweh. Now note what Paul says about this reconciliation, it will occur, »If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel... Christ in you, the hope of glory«.
»that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus« - Paul described love as the »more excellent way«, telling us, among other things, that love is not jealous, not envious. And I have pointed out that jealousy is the opposite of love. Paul called love »that which is perfect« (1C 13:10). We will never come to full maturity in Christ Jesus so long as we remain jealous or envious.
At this point, there is no need for me to go on about the spirit of jealousy, although there is much more which I could say. Let us end this writing with John's writing, whose name, Iôannês in Greek, Yehôwchânân in Hebrew, incidently, means 'Yahweh-favored' or 'Yahweh is a gracious giver' (See John 3:16!)
»Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.« (1J 4:7-21, KJV)
Beloved, keep yourself from idols.
Nathan
'The Spirit of Polygamy'
© 1999 Jeffrey Brian White
»Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.« (Mt 22:36-39, KJV)
One of the sect of the Sadducees (those who claimed to be descended from Zadok) asked Jesus this question and received this response. And so today we believe that to love God and our neighbor is to fulfill the intent of the law. What he was really saying, though, is that the law and the prophets, the Torah and the Neviim, depend on the these two commandments. Fulfilling these two commandments is a challenge, requiring the work of the Holy Spirit to change us within, so that we can love God and our neighbor from the Christ nature within us. And we encounter many problems in moving to do these commandments. We can see this in John's first epistle:
»For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.« (1J 3:11-24, KJV)
John mentions several problems to fulfilling the Great Commandment: evil works, hate, abiding in death, shutting up bowels of compassion, loving in word rather than loving in deed and truth. However, if we love as John describes loving here, we become assured of a couple of things: that we have passed from death unto life and that we are of the truth. And this is connected with experientially knowing that he abides in us.
One problem not often well addressed is that of JEALOUSY. Although is very easy that jealousy is a very destructive disposition, it is not very well understood. What makes matters worse is that jealousy, to many people, is indicative or evidential of love. How many lives and souls have been destroyed or injured by jealousy, both those having it within their hearts and those afflicted by jealous men and women? I am certain that only Yahweh really knows the exact toll, but we've all seen its damage. Although Yahweh's jealousy is just and righteous, because he is just and righteous, jealousy within men mostly takes a turn for the worse, and in women it is always destructive, both to the woman and those around her. People, moved by jealousy, have murdered and abused others. While Yahweh hates divorce, many have divorced their spouses because jealousy existed in their hearts.
One of the reasons why jealousy is not normally dealt with and repented of, is that most of the Body of Christ has for many centuries embraced the pagan concept of monogamy. I am not saying that monogamy, according to its most sense as a descriptive term, is wrong, but rather the pagan definition of it. The pagan concept is not merely a term describing the marital structure of a household, but rather a whole belief system which originally descended from religions in which a husband god and a wife god were worshipped, which do not appear to have supported any kind of polygyny of the kind we find recorded in the Old Testament of the Bible. (Maybe some did.) Pagan Rome set their concept of a strict egalitarian monogamy in law. When the Israelites moved away from the Yahwist worship they received from the Patriarchs and Moses, they adopted a religion in which the chief male deity, Baal, had only one consort, his sister Anath. Eventually this was converted into a religion, attested in inscriptions from the time, which revolved around the notion of 'Yahweh and his Asherah'. (Incidentally, in the Epic of Baal, Asherah is his mother.) This kind of strict egalitarian monogamy, although clothed in Christian garments, actually functions to protect jealousy, especially in women, from ever being properly addressed in that it inclines toward an egalitarian family order as a substitute for the patriarchal family order displayed in the Scriptures. It also ignores the fundamental differences (apart from the sexual) which exist between men and women, differences which are intrinsic within each sex as a direct result of Yahweh's designs for them.
But as I said, the biggest contributing factor in preserving jealousy is in its incorporation in man's definitions of what love is. The Scriptures never teach that jealousy is a component of love at all, but rather that it is, like fear, just the opposite of love. In the Song of Songs, the Shulamite, after making her way through her betrothal period with Solomon, comes to this realization:
»Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm: for love is strong as death; JEALOUSY is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.« (SS 8:6, KJV)
The word translated as »jealousy« in this verse is qin'âh and means "from 7065; jealousy or envy", translated as »envy, envied, jealousy, sake, zeal« [#7068H]. (Note the phonological resemblance of qin'âh to English queen and Greek gunê which means 'woman, wife'.) qin'âh in turn comes from qânâ' which means "to be (caus. to make) zealous, i.e. (in a bad sense) jealous or envious" [#7065H].
Paul specifically taught that »love is not jealous« (1C 13:4, JNT). In the Simple English Bible, this phrase is rendered »A loving person... is not jealous« and in the King James Version, »charity envieth not«. So it is not Scriptural at all, or spiritual, to believe that jealousy is any part of love at all, or that love would ever be the cause of jealousy, as some do. And when we operate out of jealousy in speech or in deed, we are missing God, not obeying the commandments given to us by Jesus and elaborated by John.
some words related to qin'âh and qânâ'
(from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance)
qenâ' = "to purchase" [#7066H]
qannâ' = "jealous; comp. 7072" [#7067H]
qânâh = "to be erect, i.e. create; by extens. to procure, espec. by purchase (caus. sell); by impl. to own", translated as »provoke to jealousy« [#7069H]
qannôw = "jealous or angry" [#7072H]
Note that the concepts of buying (qenâ'), selling (qânâh) and ownership (qânâh) are also inherent in jealousy. (This points toward prostitution, that is fornication, being related to jealousy when it exists in a sexual relationship.) We need recognize these things if we are to have a truly Scriptural perception of what jealousy is, and we need to define jealousy or envy from the Scriptures, if we are to understand it in truth.
examples of qin'âh and qânâ'
That jealousy is a very serious matter is attested by the fact Moses gave commandment concerning it, providing both a »law of jealousies« and an »offering of jealousy«:
»And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner; And the spirit of jealousy (qin'âh) come upon him, and he be jealous (qânâ') of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy (qin'âh) come upon him, and he be jealous (qânâ') of his wife, and she be not defiled: Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy (qin'âh), an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD: And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water: And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy (qin'âh) offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse: And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse: But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband: Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen. And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water: And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter. Then the priest shall take the jealousy (qin'âh) offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar: And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water. And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people. And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed. This is the law of jealousies (qin'âh), when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled; Or when the spirit of jealousy (qin'âh) cometh upon him, and he be jealous (qânâ') over his wife, and shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law. Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.« (Nu 5:11-31, KJV)
This passage reveals several important things about jealousy. It was not anointed and most definitely provided no sweet savour in Yahweh's nostrils, for no oil was poured on the Offering of Jealousy, nor was frankincense put upon it (Nu 5:15). This offering was meant to »bring iniquity to remembrance« and reveal whether a man's wife had had sexual intercourse with another man. Thus, the offering itself, like the spirit which motivated the man to accuse his wife to the priests, functioned as an accuser. From this we can see that accusation in one of the components of jealousy. The application of the Law of Jealousies could either bring destruction upon the woman, or make her fertile, depending on whether or not she was defiled. And then there is a spiritual component to jealousy. This passage shows quite clearly that an evil spirit, called the SPIRIT OF JEALOUSY exists and can come upon a person in a fashion similar to that of the Spirit of God coming upon a person. Therefore, the spirit of jealousy is an aspect of the spirit of antichrist. (antikhristos means both 'in place of Christ' and 'against Christ', also 'in place of the Anointing' and 'against the Anointing'.) That this spirit was evil is borne by the fact that the Law of Jealousies required that a test or trial be performed to either verify or nullify the husband's accusation. In other words, the spirit of jealousy could not be trusted to speak truth. Therefore, this spirit is not the Spirit of Yahweh, whom Jesus called the Spirit of Truth. Note also that the Law of Jealousies provided no revenge for the husband, but only for determining the guilt or innocence of the wife, and a judgment against her is the accusation of her proved to be true.
This Law of Jealousies then is helpful in understanding the many references to jealousy or envy which occur in other parts of the Scripture.
»Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and Yahweh blessed him. And the man waxed great, and went forward, and grew until he became very great: For he had possession of flocks, and possessions of herds, and great store of servants: and the Philistines envied (qânâ') him. For all the wells which his father's servants had digged in the days of Abraham his father, the Philistines had stopped them, and filled them with earth. And Abimelech said unto Isaac, Go from us; for thou art much mightier than we. And Isaac departed thence, and pitched his tent in the valley of Gerar, and dwelt there.« (Gn 26:12-17, KJV-OTR)
Here we see that envying is something which uncircumcised Philistines do. In type, it points to an uncircumcised heart and its jealous disposition. Paul wrote, »For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God« (Ro 2:28-29, KJV). The Philistines worshipped a god called »Dagon« (who is the father of Baal in one version of his epic). They represent to old nature, the image of the »earthy« (1C 15:45-49). Isaac represents the »heavenly«, the image of Christ. Isaac's name means "laughter" or "mockery" [#3327H] and speaks of the old nature mocking the new on the one hand and the joy of Yahweh on the other. The fact that Isaac received »an hundredfold« points to hundredfold fruitbearing (Mt 13:8), the realm of the Most Holy Place. The old nature envies the new, even as the Philistines envied Isaac. And notice their deeds: they stopped Isaac's wells and filled them with earth. Beloved, we are supposed to have the Spirit of the Living God in us springing up unto everlasting Life (Jn 4:10-14; 7:37-39). You need to understand that the old nature, out of jealousy, will attempt to fill the Lord's well in you with earthy things and prevent that living water within you from flowing. It will move to prevent the moving of the Holy Spirit in your life. And this precisely what happens when we are envious or jealousy. This jealousy ultimately caused division between Isaac and Abimelech, who had previously been at peace with him. Note that Abimelech finally said, »Go from us...«, Abimelech's party was the jealous one, the one which was wrong, and Abimelech is telling Isaac, who had not done any evil to Abimelech, to leave!
»And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied (qânâ') her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die.« (Gn 30:1, KJV)
Out of envy, Rachel made an impossible demand of Jacob (»give me children«), combining it with a threat (»or else I die«). It is significant that it is a woman who is a wife who says this. In Proverbs 21:19, it is written, »It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman«.
The word translated as »contentious« is mâdôwn, which means "a contest or quarrel" [#4066H]. Its root, the verb dûwn, means "to rule; by impl. to judge (as umpire); also to strive (as at law)" [#1777H]. Rachel attempted to command Jacob to give her children. She attempted to rule her husband. This contrasts with Peter's instructions for wives to be in subjection to their own husbands »even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord« (1P 3:1,6, KJV). What did Yahweh say to Ishshâh? »...thy desire shall be to thy husband, he shall rule over thee« (Gn 3:16, KJV). So Rachel became a contentious woman, competing with her sister, and attempting to rule the roost, moved by jealousy.
The word translated as »angry« is ka'as which means "vexation" [#3708H]. ka'as comes from the verb kâ'as which means "to trouble; by impl. to grieve, rage, be indignant" [#3707H]. Note the phonological resemblance of ka'as to English chaos. Jacob was troubled by her demand, for his »anger was kindled against Rachel« (Gn 30:2, KJV).
We should mention in passing that the jealousy and rivalry which existed between Rachel and her sister Leah is expressed also in Leah when she says to Rachel, »Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband?« (Gn 30:15, KJV). There is no record of Rachel having done this. Nor could she have done it, for she was the one Jacob wanted from the beginning. Nevertheless, their mutual jealousy and competition was nonetheless sinful, and manifested later in their descendants.
»And his brethren envied (qânâ') him; but his father observed the saying.« (Gn 37:11, KJV)
Joseph's brethren later sold him into slavery out of their jealousy (Gn 37:26-28) and then lied to Jacob to cover it up, breaking the old man's heart (Gn 37:29-25). They inherited this from Leah.
»For jealousy (qin'âh) is the rage of a man: therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance.« (Pr 6:34, KJV)
Jealousy is characterized as masculine rage. The word translated as »man« in this verse is geber which means "a valiant man or warrior" [#1397H]. A warrior's rage. geber comes from the verb gâbar which means "to be strong; by impl. to prevail, act insolently" [#1396H]. In the context, the writer is warning his son to avoid adultery. In women, jealousy is even more disruptive than in men, because it is a masculine attribute. Jealousy in a woman causes her to be defeminized, making her more masculine. It is the rage of a man, and not a woman. Note that it knows no mercy, but rather revenge. As with the Law of Jealousies, we see here that there is really no place for a woman to be jealous, nor is the jealousy itself justified.
»For wrath killeth the foolish man, and envy (qin'âh) slayeth the silly one.« (Jb 5:2, KJV)
Although Eliphaz (here speaking to Job) was among those who spoke wrongly about Yahweh, that doesn't mean that everything he said was wrong. Jealousy slays the silly.
»Envy (qânâ') thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.« (Pr 3:31, KJV)
Note that the implication is that jealousy is one of the ways of the oppressor. This reveals the oppressive character of jealousy.
»A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy (qin'âh) the rottenness of the bones.« (Pr 14:30, KJV)
Jealousy negatively affects one's health, causing rottenness of the bones (osteoporosis?). If one's bones become rotten, they will weaken, eventually break, and the inner structure of the person will disintegrate so that they cannot stand (compare Ez 37:1-11). If jealousy or envy can destroy a person's bones, what then does it do their spirit or soul?
»Let not thine heart envy (qânâ') sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.« (Pr 23:17, KJV)
The heart is the inner person. Being in the fear of Yahweh is here presented as the alternative to being jealous within. And not just with regard to sinners alone, but with regard to brethren also, for we are instructed to love Christian brethren, as well as our enemies, and love is not jealous. »Charity envieth not«.
»Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy (qin'âh)?« (Pr 27:4, KJV)
Why? As Moses brings out in the Law of Jealousies, jealousy is driven by a spirit, and that not the Spirit of God, and can therefore move men to do things moreso than their natural emotions might otherwise incline them. We know from the Gospel according to Mark about the man in tombs, whom Jesus healed, that an evil spirit can impart physical strength beyond human ability (Mk 5:1-20), similar in principle to the supernatural strength which manifested in Samson when the Spirit of Yahweh came upon him (Jd 14:6; 15:14-17). And because there is a spirit which drives envy or jealousy, there is also a demonic wisdom which accompanies it (Ja 3:14-15; Ep 2:1-3).
»Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied (qin'âh) of his neighbour. This is also vanity and vexation of spirit.« (Ec 4:4, KJV)
Here Solomon associates envy or jealousy with »vanity and vexation of spirit«. Vanity is the action of going through cycles and always returning to where one began without making any real progress in God. Jealousy will definitely hinder spiritual progress. Note the association of envy with spirit, as we saw in the Law of Jealousies. Because jealousy can affect your spirit, you should not entertain it in any form. Put off jealousy, which is of the old man, and put on love, which is of the New Man, created in the image of Christ.
»Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy (qin'âh), is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.« (Ec 9:6, KJV)
When Solomon says this, he is speaking about natural men who have died. Note also that Solomon distinguishes very clearly between love and jealousy, the same distinction which the Shulamite and the apostle Paul recognized.
»The envy (qin'âh) also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy (qânâ') Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.« (Is 11:13, KJV)
Ephraim (Rachel's grandson) is associated with fruitfulness (Gn 41:52) and Judah with praise (Gn 29:35). Note here that the departure of jealousy in those who are fruitful is associated with the cutting off of the adversaries of praise and the cessation of vexation from those who inspire praise.
»LORD, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy (qin'âh) at the people; yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.« (Is 26:11, KJV)
Those who envy or are jealous shall be ashamed. The »they« here are the »wicked« mentioned in Isaiah 26:10, who will not learn righteousness, even when shown favour. We can see then that envy or jealousy is an attribute of the wicked.
»Therefore, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, I will even do according to thine anger, and according to thine envy (qin'âh) which thou hast used out of thy hatred against them; and I will make myself known among them, when I have judged thee.« (Ez 35:11, KJV)
This is a judgment of Yahweh against Mount Seir, the mount of the Edomites, who were the descendants of Esau who sold his birthright. Esau sold his birthright to Jacob and then envied Jacob when the time came for their father Isaac's blessing. Later, Esau forgot all about the birthright swindle, really, because his birthright was not truly important to him.
»They envied (qânâ') Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the LORD.« (Ps 106:16, KJV)
It is instructive to remember that the earth swallowed those who envied and a fire consumed them. Beloved, do not envy or be jealous of those whom Yahweh sets in authority over you.
»I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied (qânâ') him.« (Ez 31:9, KJV)
It is an interesting concept to think that trees could become jealous. But the »trees of Eden« here are symbolic. One has to wonder if they represent Îysh and Ishshâh. The one who was envied is one called »the Assyrian« (Ez 31:3), who was apparently a ruler. Yahweh's word, however, was going out against the Egyptian Pharoah.
moving into the New Testament
Thus far we have looked at several things said about jealousy in the Torah, the Kethuvim and the Neviim:
1. it is inspired by a spirit.
2. it is the opposite of love.
3. it will move a woman to make an impossible request of her husband.
4. it is part of the character of any uncircumcised heart.
5. it will cause a woman to accuse another woman of something she did not do.
6. it will cause brethren to hate their brother and do evil against them.
7. it is masculine rage.
8. it slays the silly one.
9. it is rottenness of the bones.
10. it is the opposite of the fear of the Lord.
11. it is vanity of spirit.
12. it is vexation of spirit.
13. it can be passed from generation to generation.
14. it can be a cause of Yahweh bringing judgments against those who are jealous.
15. even »trees of Eden« can have it.
Remember, I am only dealing with human envy or jealousy in this writing, not Yahweh's. What is called »jealousy« in Yahweh is righteous, because he is righteous, and is not the same as what appears within man. As we have seen, it is something more than mere emotion, energized by an evil spirit, which gives it its power.
As we move into the New Testament Scriptures, we need to keep in mind the Old Testament understanding of it and recognize that understanding as the foundation for understanding what the New Testament writers were thinking when they wrote about it.
the equivalents of qin'âh and qânâ' in the New Testament
Stephen, the martyr, said this during his message before he was killed:
»And the patriarchs, moved with ENVY (zêloô), sold Joseph into Egypt: but God was with him...« (Ac 7:9, KJV)
By »the patriarchs«, he meant the sons of Jacob. This phrase, »moved with envy«, is based on a verse which we have already looked at:
»And his brethren envied (qânâ') him; but his father observed the saying.« (Gn 37:11, KJV)
Stephen's usage of the Greek word zêloô in Acts 7:9 corresponds exactly to the Hebrew words qânâ' in Genesis 37:11.
The verb zêloô is defined "from 2205; to have warmth of feeling for or against." [#2206G]. zêloô is derived from zêlos which means "prop. the heat, i.e. (fig.) "zeal" (in a favorable sense, ardor; in an unfavorable one, jealousy, as of a husband (fig. of God), or an enemy, malice" [#2205G]. zêloô and zêlos are in turn derived from the verb zeô which means "to be hot (boil, of liquids; or glow, of solids), i.e. (fig.) be fervid (earnest)" [#2204G], as is also the noun zêlôtês, which means "a zealot" [#2207G]
So, when we look at the New Testament examples of zêloô, zêlos, and zêlôtês, we read many where these words mean exactly the same thing as qin'âh and qânâ'.
examples of zêloô, zêlos and zêlôtês
The essential characteristics of envy or jealousy (qin'âh/qânâ') are expanded in the New Testament. As we go through these verses, keep in mind that zêloô, zêlos and zêlôtês all carry the same meanings as qin'âh and qânâ'. Also bear in mind that I am only looking at jealousy within man. We must likewise bear in mind that the Scriptures make no distinction at all between the terms »envy« and »jealousy« in their original languages. As with the Old Testament references we looked at, »envy« means »jealousy«, and »jealousy« means »envy«.
»But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy (zêlos), and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming.« (Ac 13:45, KJV)
As with those who opposed Moses out of envy, they do the same here with Paul. Like Moses, Paul had a word of the Lord to bring forth under the Anointing. The flesh lusts against the Spirit (Ga 5:17). Jealousy will move people to speak against the word of the Spirit that is being declared. Note that they were »filled« with jealousy. Given the existence of a spirit of jealousy, we could say that they were filled with the spirit of jealousy. Note that in this also, the spirit of jealousy substitutes itself for the Spirit of God. This spirit of antichrist manifest itself both in opposing the Spirit of Christ and in standing in the place of Spirit of Christ, setting himself up in the temple of God and deifying himself, that is, pretending to be God, pretending to be the voice of Spirit of God. When people are filled with the Holy Spirit, they speak (both in tongues and prophesy) according to that filling. Here we see something similar, but with an evil spirit. To 'contradict' means to speak against a thing. To 'blaspheme' means to speak evil of a thing. And they were contradicting and blaspheming the very word, which, if received, would have begotten them again (1P 1:22-25). In essence, they were prevented from partaking of the life of the Spirit by jealousy.
»But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy (zêloô), took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.« (Ac 17:5, KJV)
Unbelief is here associated with jealousy, and I assure you, that if we are being jealous, it is because we are not believing. Note that this »assault« on Jason's house started with jealousy. Have we not all heard of assaults which came from jealousy?
»Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous (zêlôtês) toward God, as ye all are this day. And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders: from whom also I received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were there bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. And it came to pass, that, as I made my journey, and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.« (Ac 22:1-9, KJV)
Paul admits that jealousy prompted his own persecution of the Body of Christ. The Lord took it personally. Beloved, when we move against other believers out of jealousy, Jesus takes it personally. Although Paul's 'zeal' was toward God, it was prompted by the same spirit of jealousy which worked in the Jews who persecuted him later on. Would we persecute the Christ within our brother or sister in Christ, who is our »hope of glory«? We might if we walk in the flesh or in unbelief, being jealous.
»And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying (zêlos) But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.« (Ro 13:11-14, KJV)
Jealousy is a »work of darkness« that we are instructed to cast off. Awake to righteousness, Beloved, and Christ shall give thee light! (1C 15:34; Ep 5:15) As Paul says here »put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof«. That provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts, is any belief or idea which encourages us to be jealous as well as any attempt we make to justify it with our logic, reasoning, or desires. Note here also that envying is a lust of the flesh.
»For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying (zêlos), and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?« (1C 3:3, KJV)
In this verse, we learn that envying or being jealous is carnal. Remember what Paul wrote about the carnal mind? »5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. 8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.« And this is what jealousy is all about. When we are jealous, we are minding the things of the flesh, participating in death, hostile toward God, and cannot please him in that disposition. Nor will we respond rightly to his law, either to the Law of Moses or to the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus, while we are being jealous or envious. Remember, it was envying, jealous people who persecuted Paul and the Church.
»Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth (zêloô) not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up...« (1C 13:4, KJV)
Love and jealousy are opposites, Beloved. If we are being jealous, we are not loving at all. The Shulamite had to learn this before she could truly live up to her name, which means 'peaceful' and be an appropriate match for Solomon. The same is true of us if we are going to become an holy bride of Christ without spot or wrinkle.
»For I fear, lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings (zêlos), wraths, strifes, backbitings, whisperings, swellings, tumults: And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed.« (2C 12:20-21, KJV)
Note that envyings or jealousies are sins and equated here with uncleanness, fornication (prostitution), and lasciviousness. Real repentence includes a change of mind away from jealousy toward love. As we saw in 1.Corinthians 3:3 and in Genesis 26:12-17, jealousy causes divisions, carnal divisions and turmoil. In a marriage, jealousy in the husband or the wife will cause a division between them. But Yahweh's intention in a marriage is unity. That's why Paul wrote the Corinthians, »...to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other...« (1C 7:2-5, KJV). The word translated as »fornication« in both of these verses is the Greek noun porneia, which means "harlotry" [#4202G]. It comes from the verb pernêmi which means "to sell". This corresponds to Hebrew qenâ' which means "to purchase" [#7066H] and qânâh which means "to be erect, i.e. create; by extens. to procure, espec. by purchase (caus. sell); by impl. to own", translated as »provoke to jealousy« [#7069H]. Jealousy will demand a price. Paul wrote to husbands and wives what he did »to avoid fornication«. The principle that he put forth was that husbands and wives owe one another »benevolence«. And »benevolence« is the Greek noun eunoia which appears in Strong's as "from the same as 2132; kindness; euphemistically conjugal duty" [#2133G]. 2132 is eunoeô which means "to be well-minded, i.e. reconcile" [#2132G]. Paul calls this »due benevolence« not only something which is owed, but 'kindness'. So, coitus is a kindness which husbands and wives owe one another. eunoia also appears »good will« in Ephesians 6:7, wherein it is written »With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men«. So, coitus is really meant to be an expression of good will or wellmindedness in a marriage. When either party in a marriage approaches the other with a disposition which says, "I will only sleep with you, if...", demanding that the other fulfill some requirement first, that person commits fornication. And jealousy will lead to this. In effect, the person is saying that he/she doesn't owe their spouse what the Spirit says they owe. The same thing is paralelled in the church when people say, "I will only serve God, if...". Beloved, we cannot approach the Lord or our brethren with a spirit of jealousy and expect that to be okay.
»And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous (zêlôtês) of the traditions of my fathers.« (Ga 1:14, KJV)
In the world, jealousy is rewarded. For example, have you not noticed that TV almost always presents jealous women as though they were righteous? Do not they not use envy in their commercials to sell things to you? Beloved, love not the world.
»Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying (zêlos) and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying (zêlos) and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.« (Ja 3:13-18, KJV)
Earthly, sensual, devilish wisdom, like the kind the serpent offered to the woman in Genesis 3. The presence of jealousy brings with it confusion and every evil work. And note that he said »where«. In any area of your heart or mine, where jealousy is, there is CONFUSION and EVERY EVIL WORK. Get rid of the jealousy, and the confusion and evil works will evaporate with it. Remember, as I said before, jealousy is prompted by an evil spirit, the spirit of jealousy. And jealousy can be bitter.
withering
As I said before, the Scriptures make no distinction between envy and jealousy as we do speaking English. But there is another a word for jealousy in the Greek language of the New Testament which in its very definition displays an even worse form of jealousy than we have looked at. In Matthew 27:18, the evangelist tells us this about the people who delivered Jesus to Pontius Pilate to be crucified:
»For he knew that for ENVY they had delivered him.« (Mt 27:18, KJV)
The word translated as »envy« in this verse is phthonos which Strong defines as "prob. akin to the base of 5351; ill-will (as detraction), i.e. jealousy (spite)." [#5355G]. It is derived from phtheirô which he defines as "prob. strength. from phthiô (to pine or waste); prop. to shrivel or wither, i.e. to spoil (by any process) or (gen.) to ruin (espec. by mor. influences, to deprave)" [#5351G]. The verb form phthoneô means "to be jealous of" [#5354G].
So, unlike zêloô, which can also mean 'be zealous', phthoneô always means "to be jealous of" with that jealousy or envy being ill-willed (instead of God-willed), detracting, wasting, shriveling, withering, spoiling, ruining and depraving.
examples of phthonos and phthoneô
»For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy (phthonos).« (Mk 15:10, KJV)
The chief priests (who in type correspond to the five-fold ministry), were jealous of Jesus, so malicious that they delivered him to be put to death. Here phthonos is used as a synonym for zêlos.
»And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy (phthonos), murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.« (Ro 1:28-32, KJV)
Here we see jealousy associated with a »reprobate mind« and we learn that the judgment of God is that those who do this (and the other things in the list) are »worthy of death«. In the larger context of Romans 1, we find out that the fullness of jealousy is a result of practicing idolatry. Thus, jealousy arises from an idolatrous nature.
»Envyings (phthonos), murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.« (Ga 5:21, KJV)
Beloved, if we are or remain jealous and envying, we will not inherit the kingdom of God, that is, righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, nor authority in ages to come.
»Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying (phthoneô) one another.« (Ga 5:26, KJV)
Envying one another or being jealous is something we are not supposed to be.
»Some indeed preach Christ even of envy (phthonos) and strife; and some also of good will...« (Ph 1:15, KJV)
As we saw that jealousy is the opposite of love, here we find that it is the of good will.
»If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy (phthonos), strife, railings, evil surmisings, Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.« (1Ti 6:3-5, KJV)
Note the SOURCE of jealousy: PRIDE and IGNORANCE, »doting about questions and strifes of words«. This is like reading an elaboration of James' statement, »For where envying (zêlos) and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work«. Pride, Beloved. Pride goeth before destruction... just the opposite of the fruit of Spirit called »meekness«.
»For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy (phthonos), hateful, and hating one another.« (Ti 3:3, KJV)
Note that there is a state of being (indicated by »were«) which forms the foundation for living in malice and jealousy, and Paul says we were all like that! A state of being consisting of foolishness, disobedience, and deception (including self-deception). And there is a service which goes with it, a serving of lusts and pleasures. And from that state of being and service arises living in malice and jealousy. The result is that man becomes hateful and hates his neighbor.
the image of jealousy
The following is a good example of what James meant when he wrote, »For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work«:
»And it came to pass in the sixth year, in the sixth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I sat in mine house, and the elders of Judah sat before me, that the hand of Adonai Yahweh fell there upon me. Then I beheld, and lo a likeness as the appearance of fire: from the appearance of his loins even downward, fire; and from his loins even upward, as the appearance of brightness, as the colour of amber. And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the Spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of Elohim to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the IMAGE OF JEALOUSY, WHICH PROVOKETH TO JEALOUSY. And, behold, the glory of the Elohim of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain. Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar THIS IMAGE OF JEALOUSY IN THE ENTRY. He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations. And he brought me to the door of the court; and when I looked, behold a hole in the wall. Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about. And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand; and a thick cloud of incense went up. Then said he unto me, Sc. He said also unto me, Turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations that they do. Then he brought me to the door of the gate of Yahweh's house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. Then said he unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations than these. And he brought me into the inner court of Yahweh's house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of Yahweh, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of Yahweh, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east. Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this, O son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? for they have filled the land with violence, and have returned to provoke me to anger: and, lo, they put the branch to their nose. Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity: and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them.« (Ez 8:1-8, KJV-OTR)
This chapter in Ezekiel sheds some light on the problem of goddess worship in the Temple of Yahweh in Ezekiel's day. Ezekiel was a priest, one of the sons of Levi. Yahweh, in calling Ezekiel as a prophet, comes to Ezekiel as the »word of Yahweh« several times in the book. In the NT, Jesus is called the »Word of God«. So, really, whenever we see Yahweh approaching Ezekiel using this name, it Jesus who is coming to him. so we should not be surprised to find the visions and words Yahweh gives to him to relate to the Body of Christ. One thing we can say about the Spirit's working is that he will his people using things they understand out of their natural existence and activity. In the Psalms, we see this in David, originally a shepherd, receiving revelation about Yahweh as a Shepherd and the Israelites as the sheep of his pasture. So Yahweh brings Ezekiel revelation using the priestly office and temple, the very things we would expect Ezekiel to know about and understand.
The time when he receives this revelation is very important to comprehending its prophetic significance. In Moses, »the sixth year« was the year before a tract of farmland was to lie fallow and REST. In Moses, »the sixth month« was the month before the celebration of the Feast of Tabernacles, which was subdivided into three parts, the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Booths. In Moses, »the fifth day of the month« was the day before Adam was created. We need to understand here that the Spirit is using the date and time of this word as symbols and cues to relate to us the prophetic timing of revelation given.
»as I sat in mine house« - Ezekiel could not leave Chaldea to go to the House of Yahweh, so Yahweh came to his. This is called 'visitation'.
»the elders of Judah sat before me« - They came, as was the custom, to the prophet in order to learn what the word of Yahweh was.
»...that the hand of Adonai Yahweh fell there upon me« - This is akin to the Spirit falling on the believer in the Holy Ghost Baptism. Note that the »hand« speaks of the fivefold ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. And it speaks of the beginning of the Storm to come (Elijah saw a cloud the size of a man's HAND!). "Spirit fall fresh on me..."
The first thing which the prophet sees in the temple is »the seat of the image of jealousy«. Many believe this was an Asherah or some other goddess image. Paul called the body of the believer the »temple of the Holy Spirit« and the church »an habitation of God in the Spirit«. So Ezekiel's vision of the temple really expresses something about the individual saint and the Body of Christ as a whole. In the individual, since we have all borne the image of the Earthy Man, and acted in accordance with that image, energized by the prince of the power of the air, alienated in our minds by wicked works, this represents the inward nature of jealousy which arises out of the beast nature. Paul wrote the Galatians that jealousy (»envy« in the KJV) was a work of the flesh. As the flesh lusts against the Spirit, so does the jealousy move contrary to the Spirit of God. Note that Ezekiel did not write that it provoked Yahweh to jealousy, but that it simply »provoketh to jealousy«. Paul talked about provoking others to good works. Similarly, this image of jealousy within the heart of the believer or the natural man provokes to jealousy in one's disposition and is part of the character of the man of sin, who SITS in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember, Ezekiel saw the SEAT of the image of jealousy, that is, a throne upon which this nature rests and rules.
Note that it was »at the door of the inner gate«, at the door to the holy place, at it were, like a sentry. Ezekiel sees the image of jealousy itself in the entry. Imagine if you will a goddess image standing as the sentry of the gate. This image of jealousy guards the entry, keeping out intruders, those unlike itself. It jealously guards the altar. We know from Jeremiah, who was roughly a contemporary of Ezekiel, that the people in Jerusalem did worship a goddess whom they called the »Queen of Heaven«, according to some, the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. Perhaps she was the goddess whose statue was called the »image of jealousy«. In any case, we do know that Manasseh had set up an image, an idol, in Yahweh's temple (2Ch 33:7), which was removed under Josiah (2Ch 34:3-7), and that after his reign, the chief priests and the people in Jerusalem »transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of Yahweh which he had hallowed in Jerusalem« (2Ch 36:14, KJV-OTR). Keep in mind that Ezekiel is seeing something about goddess worship/idolatry within the people of God, not in the foreign peoples round about them and this speaks of goddess worship/idolatry within the Body of Christ. Having observed that the Christians (the men of Jerusalem) have set up this image of jealousy in the Body of Christ, Yahweh assures Ezekiel that he will see yet greater abominations.
The point that I am after here is that jealousy in a person's character acts as a sentry to keep out anything that would begin to touch the greater abominations tucked away in the recesses of their hearts. From the outside, all one may see is a jealous disposition. But dig a little deeper, make a hole in that jealousy wall, and greater abominations are there to be seen.
The demonic aspect of jealousy (e.g the spirit of jealousy) combined with its association with goddess suggests (quite strongly) that this may have been part of Ishshâh's corrupted nature after she and then Îysh sinned. The other thing it suggests is that jealousy is another component of a false female image, based on the reality that idols were made according to imaginations of people's hearts, the Asherim themselves representing wrong or distorted concepts of what 'feminine' either is or should be in its ideal manifestation.
In Genesis 5:1-2, it is written, »...In the day that Elohim created man, in the likeness of Elohim made he him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created« (KJV-OTR). Even as the man entered into the beginnings of goddess worship, renaming the woman Ishshâh 'Eve' ('Mother of All Living', a title of several mother goddesses), the notion that the man and the woman were created became distorted into a deification of sinful man and woman. The resultant religion was ultimately made up of male and female gods based on people once lived.
What does this have to do with jealousy? Well, as I pointed out above, jealousy is specifically identified as masculine characteristic in the law of Moses. While the law of Moses does not justify jealousy as a righteous or anointed thing (there was no oil in the offering of jealousy in Numbers 5), Moses did write a regulation forbidding men and women to wear the garments of the opposite sex (Dt 22:5). That regulation has to do with preserving sexual distinctions. It also reveals a difference in the manifestation of the righteousness of God in the male and in the female.
»chambers of his imagery« - Moses wrote that the imagination Adam's heart was only evil continually (Gn 6:5). Imaginations and high things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God (1C 10:5). Remember, both Rachel and Leah thought unreal things out of jealousy. I won't make a list, but the point is that the image of jealousy functioned to obscure the fact that they were alienated in their minds by wicked works. Note was Paul said about this alienation:
»This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ...« (Ep 4:17-20, KJV)
The fact that Paul says, »that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk«, shows that some of them were in fact walking in this manner.
»For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.« (Co 1:19-29, KJV)
Yahweh has purchased a reconciliation and redemption for us through the Blood of Christ shed on the Cross. We need to repent of our jealousy. That's part of the foundation of »repentence from dead works«. The Blood of Christ is meant to cleanse the consciousness from dead works to serve Yahweh. Now note what Paul says about this reconciliation, it will occur, »If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel... Christ in you, the hope of glory«.
»that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus« - Paul described love as the »more excellent way«, telling us, among other things, that love is not jealous, not envious. And I have pointed out that jealousy is the opposite of love. Paul called love »that which is perfect« (1C 13:10). We will never come to full maturity in Christ Jesus so long as we remain jealous or envious.
At this point, there is no need for me to go on about the spirit of jealousy, although there is much more which I could say. Let us end this writing with John's writing, whose name, Iôannês in Greek, Yehôwchânân in Hebrew, incidently, means 'Yahweh-favored' or 'Yahweh is a gracious giver' (See John 3:16!)
»Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.« (1J 4:7-21, KJV)
Beloved, keep yourself from idols.
