ENVY & JEALOUSY - ATTRACTING "EVERY EVIL THING"

To begin with, I have a lot of stuff that I would say are 'issues' in my life - stuff I struggle with and things I tend to consider weaknesses. Until the Lord revealed it to me the last week of December, I would not have put envy/jealousy on that list. At least not in the Top 10!

But that is when the Lord showed me that I was self-deceived and that they were an issue, something He wanted to work on/address in my life. 

Don't get me wrong; I realize that I am often not in touch with stuff going on. I think I have forgiven someone and I haven't. I am unrighteously judging someone and don't realize it. I've got blind spots for sure. And that is one of the reasons God gives us spouses - to help us see what we do not see! And I would say as well, it is one of the primary reasons we must be connected in Christian community (and NO, simply attending a large church doesn't accomplish this). We MUST be connected into fellowship where their lives can be seen and are known! This is God's Will for His children and yet many Christians believe they can live the Christian life without it. They cannot. They will not grow!

RELATED WORDS/CONCEPTS to address our “self-deception” if somehow we think envy/jealousy is not an issue in our lives. 

Envy - Definition: painful or resentful awareness of an advantage or possession (situation) enjoyed by another and the desire to possess the same thing. 

Theological Definition: Sin of jealousy over the blessings and achievements of others. 

Jealousy – synonym of envy

Covetousness - the feeling of having a strong desire for the things that other people have (situations/circumstances/ministries) 

Discontentment

FOMO – Fear of Missing Out Resentment

Bitterness

Let's assume now that we are no longer "self-deceived" - if envy/jealousy are a struggle in our lives, we are acknowledging it. We are agreeing with God that this is a battle of sorts in our lives. 

But now let us ask ourselves if we are somehow unaware of the seriousness of this sin.

We all have a hierarchy of sins in terms of the worst ones. I don't need to go into this here but we would all agree that things like murder, rape, adultery, idolatry and pride/arrogance are high up on the list. And they all should be.

But I propose that if you could roll back time and ask a Christian leader in the 2nd or 3rd century what the most grievous sins are, they would put envy/jealousy in the top 2 or 3. 

That is NOT where Christians today would place the sin of envy and jealousy.

Having lived in the Middle East for 30+ years, I can assure you that it is well-known that envy is considered the most insidious of sins. The attempts to protect oneself and one's family from the "Evil Eye" (The Eye of Envy) are endless. 

However, in our culture, we've turned envy into a way of life. It is almost like we've accepted it as an operating system. We joke about how envious we are of someone's new car, new job, or latest vacation. 

And the people with the new "purchase", the new accomplishment, the new circumstance that everyone is envying, are plastering it all over Social Media to make sure as many people know about whatever it is as possible. 

How different it is in the Middle East where people will go to extreme lengths to hide something that others would envy. Why? Because they know that envy is not something neutral, but rather it is something that attracts the demonic. It can/does open the door to curses.

I remember when I moved to the Middle East initially, I thought it was all so silly, so superstitious. 

And yet, the Bible reveals it to be just what they all believed it to be. It was my western, unbelieving/secular worldview that was conflicting with one that was/is far more Biblical. 

EVERY EVIL THING??

James, the Lord's brother, writes that where envy is present, EVERY EVIL THING is also present. 

James 3:16  - For where jealousy/envy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. (NASB) 

Other translations help us get a fuller picture.

For where you have envy (jealousy) and selfish ambition (selfishness), there you find disorder and every evil practice. (NIV)

“evil of every kind” (NLT) “confusion and every evil work.” (KJV) 
“every vile practice” (ESV) 

“every kind of evil.” (HCSB) “chaos and every evil thing.” 

“confusion and every perverse work.” “insurrection and every evil matter”

How far we have drifted by tolerating so much envy in our lives and even glorifying it somehow in our culture!

Let us dig a bit deeper. Where did it begin?

ORIGIN of DEMONIC REALM - Satan / Satan’s Fall – Who? When? What?

To take down some of our prized Christian 'traditions', Satan did NOT fall before creation. Revelation 12:4 is not speaking of 1/3rd of the angels falling before the world began. The context of that passage speaks about when Christ was coming to earth.

Many of us have been taught that Satan's first sin was pride and that he fell from heaven due to it. 

But now, let us see what the Scriptures say and what the ancient commentators both Jewish and Christian say about these issues. 

Ezekiel 28:13-15 – 13 You were in Eden, the garden of God...14 You were an anointed guardian Cherub; I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God. 15 You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you.

Isaiah 14:12-14 - “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star/shining one/O Lucifer, son of Dawn!

According to Ezekiel, Satan was IN EDEN. He was a Throne Guardian. He was sin-free there UNTIL something happened.

Maybe it was the Isaiah passage along with a misunderstanding of Revelation 12 that fueled the rest of the 'tradition' that many of us (myself included) were taught. 

What was the devil’s 1st sin? Pride or Envy??

Like most of you, I was assured that it was Satan's pride that caused him to fall. Surely, the Scriptures reveal his pride. 

BUT...that was NOT the position of Second Temple Judaism nor the Early Church.

How do we know? We have their writings.

ANCIENT JEWISH COMMENTARY - But by the envy of the devil, death entered the world, and they who are allied with him experience it.  Wisdom 2:24

Ancient Judaism taught that Satan's envy was the sin that caused death to enter the world.

Before you dismiss their testimony, don't forget that many ancient Jews and early Christians considered the above quote as canonical Scripture. And many Christian churches today still do. 

COMMENTARY OF THE EARLY CHURCH FATHERS

The Early Church was far clearer in its convictions. 

Read for yourselves:

Irenaeus (AD 180) - For he [the devil] was envious of God's workmanship...becoming envious of man, he was rendered an apostate from the divine law. 

The devil was one of those angels who are placed over the spirit of the air. ...However, becoming envious of man, he was rendered an apostate from the divine law. ...The Word of God, however, the Maker of all things, conquered him by means of human nature. So, showing him to be an apostate, Christ has, on the contrary, put him under the power of man. 

Tertullian (AD 210)  - the malignant being who, in the beginning, regarded them with envious eye. 

Cyprian (AD 250) - he broke forth into jealous and malevolent envy. ...How great an evil it was... that caused an angel to fall!

Lactantius (AD304-313) - God made another being, in whom the disposition of the divine origin did not remain. Therefore, he was infected with his own envy, as with poison. So, he passed from good to evil. Through his own will, which had been given to him by God unfettered, he acquired for himself a contrary name. From this, it appears that the source of all evils is envy. For he envied his predecessor [i.e., the Son], who through His steadfastness is acceptable and dear to God the Father. This person, who from good became evil by his own act, is called by the Greeks diabolos [i.e., slanderer]. We call him the Accuser, for he reports to God the faults to which he himself entices us.

Lactanius' quote is revealing. He considers envy as the source of all evil! 

But the universal position of early Christianity was that Satan fell IN THE GARDEN when he envied God's creation of mankind. And clearly, envy was believed to be amongst the worst, if not the worst of all sins!

To topple our 'tradition' - Satan's fall was not before the foundation of the world, it was not with 1/3rd of the angels of heaven, and it was not because of his pride. Yes, I believe in other angelic falls, including the reference in Revelation 12. And yes, I believe that Satan was/is consumed by pride. 

Maybe now it makes more sense why ENVY is such a big deal in the ancient world. Why James says that it is related to "every kind of evil". Why to this day many of the cultures in and around the Middle East consider it to be a door to great demonic darkness.

And NOW, today, why we as Biblical Christians should take more seriously what the Bible teaches about it AND come into agreement with the original Jewish and Christian beliefs about its nature.

I preached this past week on this very topic - here is the link to that podcast entitled, "Envy & Jealousy - the doorway to "every evil thing": LINK

THE SECRET OF THE AGES - CONTENTMENT  

Philippians 4:11 - ...I have learned to be content (to be satisfied) regardless of my circumstances 

Contentment is one of antidotes to the poison of envy. Contentment is something LEARNED. Let us ask the Lord to teach us how to be content!

ENVY = HATE

1 Corinthians 13:4 - ...love does NOT envy (therefore envy = hate)

Rightfully so, Christians emphasize being loving. Maybe we need to realize more clearly that envy is the antithesis of love. If we are envying, we are not loving. 

ENVY & JEALOUSY are listed by Paul as "works of the flesh"

Galatians 5:19-21 - Jealousy & Envy = works of the flesh

He teaches that those who practice these works of the flesh, and jealousy and envy are included in that list, will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

I don't think most Christians view these sins as ones that are deal breakers when it comes to salvation. Paul has a different view. I think we should all go with Paul over and against the watered-down ideas of today's Church!

So - How can we overcome envy?

This is my current list. I've added to it in recent years.
 
1. Agree that envy is SIN, is it MY SIN? (the devil’s original sin). Not trivial - Serious, demonic.
2. Know/Believe = open door for ALL evil. Source of all evil??
3. Learn to be content (wage war on discontentment)
4. Grow in love (love does NOT envy!) 
5. By the Spirit...STOP - Galatians 5:25-26 - ²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. 

6. Put it away/Get rid of it (1 Pet. 2:1) – So, put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander 

7. Fixing our eyes upon Jesus! (not on others) – Social Media? CHANGE YOUR FOCUS. Whatever is causing us to stumble here needs to be addressed!!

8. Thankfulness (a radical weapon of spiritual warfare)