Jealousy's Terrible Toll
We should never underestimate
the insidious power of jealousy.
Here's Gene:
I would like to underscore this phrase
in this Principle.
The insidious power of jealousy.
And sadly, Solomon succumbed to this power.
This power of jealousy.
We read about this in 1st Kings
chapter 11, verse 40:
Therefore, Solomon tried to kill
Jeroboam, but he [that is Jeroboam]
fled to Egypt, to Shishak king of Egypt,
where he remained until Solomon's death.
Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. Why?
Because of jealousy. Jealousy.
You see this takes us back to a passage earlier
where the prophet Ahijah met Jeroboam.
Now Jeroboam, really, was not a very
spiritual guy himself.
But God used what he had.
And this prophet, it's a fascinating--
it's a fascinating metaphor because this
prophet had a new cloak.
A brand new beautiful cloak.
And I was asking myself, as I was looking at that:
Why does the Holy Spirit mention to us
that this prophet Ahijah--
why does it mention he had a new cloak?
This is speculation.
But I think it represents what God
wanted Israel to be.
God wanted Israel to be this new people.
This new nation.
This group of people that would reflect
who God is.
And of course, they failed miserably.
And one of the reasons they failed
because they had bad leaders.
Men like Solomon who led them astray
with his own unfortunate witness.
And so what happened was that this
prophet Ahijah, actually took his cloak--
this beautiful cloak and he just tore it
into twelve pieces.
And he took ten of the pieces and
he gave it to Jeroboam.
And of course, the Scriptures are very clear
that these ten pieces represents the ten tribes.
Which eventually became the northern tribes.
The other two pieces represent,
actually, Judah but also Benjamin.
And that's the southern kingdom.
The kingdom is going to be ripped in two.
And clearly it came in this prophecy that
what would happen is that the Lord
was going to do this.
But He was also going to give this section
that Solomon--where Solomon actually lived
in Judah, was going to give this to
Rehoboam and to Jeroboam.
Now Solomon knew who Jeroboam was
because he was one of His servants.
And because this prophecy, this information
got back to Solomon, he tried to kill him.
And the "therefore," if you look at that verse again.
Therefore, in view of that prophecy that
Jeroboam was going to get ten of those tribes.
Solomon was threatened and he tried
to kill Jeroboam.
But Jeroboam fled to Egypt.
Jeroboam fled to Egypt.
Now this is an incredible illustration of jealousy.
The insidious power of jealousy.
And it really reminds us of
what happened to King Saul.
And Solomon should have learned
a lesson from King Saul but he didn't.
Sadly, he didn't.
Remember King Saul? When he discovered
really that David was going to replace him.
He was going to be anointed.
He tried to kill him.
He tried two times--he tried to pin him
to the wall with his spear.
And when Jonathan, Saul's own son,
tried to protect David,
Saul actually tried to kill his own son.
Now if that isn't the insidious power of jealousy.
Tried to kill his own son.
In both of these situations, the motivation--
with Saul, with Solomon--was jealousy.
In fact, there's a Principle to Live By that
grows out of Saul's experience.
And I've called it "Self-destructive Behavior."
It's another way of illustrating jealousy's terrible toll.
And this is a little more specific.
Self-destructive behavior:
We must never allow jealousy and
anger to go unchecked since both emotions
can lead to very sinful and destructive behaviors.
It was destructive behavior in
both of these men's lives.
Think for a moment about the arrogance
that's involved in these feelings of jealousy.
You see, rather than humbling
themselves before God.
Before having true brokenness and repentance.
Both Saul and Solomon later tried to kill
their God-appointed successors.
These were God-appointed successors.
And they knew that.
And still they tried to take on God
with this insidious power of jealousy.
Ephesians chapter 4, a great lesson for all of us
as believers as we come to the New Testament.
Where the apostle Paul had said to the Ephesians:
Therefore [I], the prisoner of the Lord,
[I] urge you to walk worthy of the calling
you've received...
But before he develops what it means to walk worthy.
Notice the foundation of being able to
walk worthy, with all humility.
That's the opposite of what Saul
and Solomon demonstrated.
...with all humility and gentleness,
with patience, accepting one another in love,
diligently keeping the unity of the Spirit
with the peace that binds us.
And so here, Paul gives us instructions
on how to avoid allowing jealousy to
take control of our lives.
Leading to this self-destructive behavior.
This leads to a Reflection and Response question:
What causes jealousy among Christians today,
and how can we avoid allowing this
powerful emotion to take control of our lives?
Well first of all, it can take control.
And we read this in no uncertain terms
when we read about the Corinthians.
In fact, in 1st Corinthians chapter 3,
these believers that came to Christ
out of this very pagan culture.
And Paul wrote to them and he said:
Brothers [sisters], I was not able to
speak to you as spiritual people...
And there he's referring now to the fact
he spent a year-and-a-half with them.
And all the time he was with them,
he couldn't address them as spiritual people.
That is, people who were what?
Reflecting the fruit of the Holy Spirit.
Walking in the Spirit.
...but as people of the flesh...
You see, here are Christians that are
reflecting the works of the flesh.
And the Corinthians are Exhibit A.
And he describes them, he says:
...as babies in Christ. ...
That's how babies act.
In essence, he's saying: You're still on milk.
You're not on solid foods.
You're still in diapers, if you want to
take the metaphor a little bit further.
They refused to grow up. He says:
...I gave you milk to drink, not solid food,
because you were not yet ready for it.
In fact, you are still not ready...
And that, I think refers to the fact
he's writing the letter.
And this is, probably,
another year-and-a-half or two later.
After he'd spent a year-and-a-half with them.
He said: You're still not ready. You're still immature,
You're still babies. Why?
...because you are still fleshly. ...
Still walking in the flesh.
...For since there is envy...
that's another word for jealousy.
...For since there is envy and strife among you,
are you not fleshly and living like unbelievers?
In other words, he's saying it's possible
for Christians to live like unbelievers.
In essence, he's saying: If it weren't for
the fact that I know that you really came to Christ,
I wouldn't even know that you're believers.
Now thankfully, they began to grow and mature.
And you see that in the second letter
that he wrote to them.
So if we continue to walk in the flesh,
we're going to continue to allow these
behaviors to come into our life.
Which are out of the will of God.
And in essence, in answering that
question about what causes jealousy
among Christians today?
We get our eyes on our self rather than on Jesus.
And when we start getting our eyes on
ourself rather than on Jesus, we're in trouble.
We're going to walk out of the will of God.
We focus on our own insecurities.
So easy to do that.
And by the way, insecurity is just
another side of pride.
A lot of pride is based on insecurity.
A lot of arrogance is rooted in our own insecurity.
Because of our insecurity we
compensate with arrogance.
Now, not all arrogance is related to that
but frequently you see that.
When that happens we can't rejoice
in other people's successes.
I'm appalled at times when I see
how Christians attack other Christians.
Particularly Christian leaders.
They literally attack, and you know
what the world says about that?
I've literally heard statements
from people who are unbelievers.
They say that's jealousy.
And they see that in Christian leaders.
That's a turf war.
The world recognizes that because
the world is filled with it.
They don't expect that out of Christian leaders.
Or another word that they use is that's "sour grapes."
You know, using that metaphor that
you know, it's jealousy.
Really the root of it is jealousy.
Now some of these concerns are legitimate.
Some of them are indeed legitimate.
And it's the kind of thing that--
things need to be said. We need to warn people.
But I'm talking about this kind of conflict
between Christian leaders--that basically believe
the same basic truths about who Jesus is--
are taking issue with each other.
Attacking each other.
And I think that's literally related to pride
rather than to humility.
I love what the apostle Paul said
when he was in prison.
He wrote the Philippians. He said:
Some of the people here are actually
preaching Christ in order to add to my burden.
It must have been some jealousy involved there.
I don't understand it completely--
what was involved there.
But Paul said: Thank God that the gospel
is being preached.
That's the most important thing even
though their motives are wrong.
Yet Jesus Christ is being preached.
And I think the apostle Paul gives us
an incredible illustration there.
Now we're all tempted,
aren't we? At times to be jealous.
But I want you to understand that
feelings of jealousy, per se,
are not wrong in themselves.
It's a pretty normal emotion.
In fact, you can see this literally
developing in children as they grow,
and as their brain matures.
And they can easily reflect this
as very young children in pushing off.
And you see jealousy beginning to develop.
You see that, particularly as it develops
along with affection.
You see this in children.
And when affection develops in children,
also feelings of jealousy come in.
And so it's a normal emotion, just like anger.
So we're not to allow anger to become sin.
So we must not allow jealousy
to become sin.
And when we act on feelings of jealousy
in wrong ways, it's sinful.
The temptation then becomes sinful behavior.
So I have to be on guard.
So here's the Principle that emerges
from the life of Solomon:
We should never underestimate
the insidious power of jealousy.