What is the difference between envy and jealousy? Jealousy is more directed at a person, while envy is directed more at possessions, positions, or what they have. The original sin in Genesis 3 was actually jealousy – that of Satan himself in the heavenlies before God created man.
Satan is God’s creation and he was not created evil; he became evil. The prophet Isaiah was given a glimpse as to what happened. Called ‘morning star’ (‘Lucifer, son of the morning’), Satan fell from heaven after jealousy took over. He said, I will ascend to heaven….I will make myself like the Most High (see Isaiah 14:12–14).
His first effort to seek revenge against God was when he tempted Eve to eat the fruit. When she saw that the fruit was ‘good for food and pleasing to the eye … She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it’ (see Genesis 3:1-6).
It was covetousness and envy that led to their downfall. Eve coveted what she felt she did not have, which led to envy. The devil deceived Eve in the Garden to rebel against God and in turn, Eve seduced Adam to rebel against God. Adam is punished in relation to his work, and Eve in relation to bearing children. The reptile becomes a snake-even today there are very small legs on the underside of a snake.
Their former relationship with God is destroyed. Their relationship with each other is also affected: they hide from each other and God pronounces a curse over them. Then sin brought death and chaos into God’s perfect creation and turned Cain against God and against his brother Abel.
It was the first murder that took place within the family, as envy gave way to defiance against God’s warning. Somebody has pointed out that the sin committed by the first man caused the second man to kill the third. Here we have Adam’s own family. His eldest son kills his middle son, and it was for the same reason that they killed Jesus centuries later. Envy was responsible for the first murder in history and the worst murder in history.
Abel and Cain-Sibling Rivalry
The first human account of jealousy described in the Bible stems from sibling rivalry. When Adam and Eve sinned their sinful nature was passed on to their children. Eve gave birth to Cain, then later gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel kept flocks, Cain worked the soil. In the course of time both of them presented offerings to the Lord.
We learn from the Hebrews 11:4 that it was by faith Abel offered an acceptable sacrifice and his name stands first in the record of those whom the Bible calls believers. He had this witness given to him “that he pleased God” (Hebrews 11:5).
A principle was being established: blood was shed so that their shame could be covered (it began there and continues through to Calvary). God became man and was the perfect man substituting for sinful man. When God himself became man, “He who knew no sin was ‘made sin’ for us, ‘so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).
The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour. So Cain was very angry and became jealous of his brother Abel (see Genesis 4:4–5).
In bringing the offering, Cain denied that he was a sinful creature under the sentence of divine condemnation. He insisted on approaching God on the ground of personal worthiness. Instead of accepting God’s way, he offered to God the fruits of the ground, which God had cursed. He presented the product of his own toil, the work of his own hands, and God refused to receive it. And this is why people remain blind to the gospel of Jesus Christ by trusting in themselves.
To this very day people resent God’s way of salvation, namely, that we are saved through the sacrifice of Jesus dying on the cross for us. People are naturally jealous that we are saved through the righteousness of Christ and not our own good works.
Abel had learned from his parents that the only sacrifice worthy of God was a blood sacrifice – the result of a life being taken. God had already covered the sin and shame of his parents by killing animals and providing a skin covering for them. (Gen. 3:21).
There is much more to this story than sibling rivalry. The gospel not only gives the believer a new family; it will divide families. Jesus said, ‘A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household’ (Matt. 10:36).
The historical account of Cain’s jealousy of Abel is a lesson on what jealousy can lead to if not brought under control. Jealousy is capable of causing one to do extremely horrible things. When we have feelings of envy, towards our siblings or anyone we must be extremely careful lest Satan seize the moment and exploit it to his advantage. The moment he sees jealousy in us, he is merely waiting for the chance to exploit us, to do as he wishes.
Miriam, Aaron and Moses
The saga of jealousy and envy continues throughout scripture. Miriam was Moses’ and Aaron’s sister. She was known as a prophetess. She sang and danced with joy when the Egyptians were drowned in the sea.
Miriam also had a problem with jealousy. She desired honour for herself. She wanted to speak with God as Moses did. In addition, she was critical of his choice of wife. Miriam was punished with ‘leprosy’ for seven days until she repented. She was among those who died at Kadesh. The next to drop out of the leadership picture was Aaron.
Once again his problem was jealousy and desire for honour. Miriam and Aaron were together in criticizing Moses. Their excuse was that Moses had married someone of whom they did not approve (he married a Kushite woman who had come out of Egypt with them, and who was not even a Hebrew).
God did not criticize him for doing that, but Miriam and Aaron did. Aaron thus died at Mount Hor, a little further on from Kadesh, when he was over 100 years old. Soon after they expressed jealousy and desire for honour, both Aaron and Miriam died.
Jacob and Esau
Someone said, ‘Sibling rivalry is inevitable. The only sure way to avoid it is to have one child.’ Yet the rivalry between Isaac and Esau was not personally with each other, but with their parents and then their offspring in future generations.
The Edomites were direct descendants of Esau who, of course, had sold his birthright to Jacob and was in conflict with his twin brother for most of his life. Here began a feud that was to cost countless lives throughout succeeding centuries. Esau’s descendants, the Amalekites, were the first enemies to obstruct the flight of Jacob’s descendants from Egypt (Exod. 17:8).
In Deuteronomy God forbade Israel to have a wrong attitude to Edom because Esau was Jacob’s brother. We read in Numbers that they refused to let their uncle Jacob’s children pass through their land (Num. 20:17-20). Doeg, an Edomite, who stood with Saul’s servants murdered eighty-five priests and almost caused the death of Christ’s chosen ancestor David (I Sam. 21-22). All this was due to Saul’s insecurities that led to being jealous of the gifted people around him including David.
Bloody battles were fought between the two nations in the centuries that followed. The last Edomites were known by the name of Herod and it was a descendant of Esau who was King of the Jews when Jesus was born. He killed all the babies in Bethlehem to try to get rid of this descendant of Jacob who was born to be King and Messiah (Matt. 2:16). Satan needs no better medium for his evil plans than a family feud, a “mere quarrel” between two brothers.
Rachel and Leah
Now Laban had two daughters. The older daughter was named Leah, and the younger one was Rachel. There was no sparkle in Leah’s eyes but Rachel had a beautiful figure and a lovely face. Since Jacob was in love with Rachel, he told her father, “I’ll work for you for seven years if you’ll give me Rachel, your younger daughter, as my wife.” There was another custom of the land that Laban did not tell Jacob.
The older daughter had to be married first. When it was dark, Laban took Leah to Jacob, and he slept with her. Jacob was enraged when he learned that Laban had tricked him. Sin has a way of coming back to haunt us. The deceiver of Esau was now deceived as well.
Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah and when the LORD saw that Leah was not loved, he opened her womb. Leah gave birth Levi, for out of Levi came the priesthood. He also gave birth to Judah. From Judah came Israel’s greatest king, David, son of Jesse; and, most important of all, came God’s promised Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, born of the seed of David.
When Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, she envied her sister, and said to Jacob ‘Give me children, or I’ll die!’ (Genesis 29:17; 30:1) God eventually remembers Rachel and gives her two children and one them ends up being the favourite son of his father to becoming a household slave, until he went all the way up from being a prisoner to being Prime Minister of Egypt.
In between, we have the envy and jealousy of his brothers, which brought him low. Little did Joseph know that his brothers were capable of doing what they did when he shared his dream with them. One of my greatest shocks has been to have nobody with whom to share the good news to rejoice with you or even bad news to mourn with you (Romans 12:15).
The only people we might be reasonably sure will always rejoice in our successes are your wife or husband if married or your own father and mother if you still have parents! Another important lesson is the witchcraft and the Jezebel spirit is attracted to those who walk in envy and jealousy because they provide it with reasons to launch evil attacks.
Have you ever had something really good about to happen to you and you speak in confidence to someone about it and the next thing you know, the thing never happens after that? For instance, you might go on a job interview and you are given an assurance that the job will be yours.
You make a mistake and go home and speak to a relative or a friend, and after that, you get a phone call that the job has been offered to someone else. What happened is that the devil eavesdropped on your good news through someone who carries the witchcraft spirit in his or her bloodline and is filled with envy and jealousy.
So be warned that anything is good and pleasant because it is connected to Him (Christ). Use it apart from its Source, and it will become bitter. And be very careful with whom you share your good or even bad news because most people are motivated to success because they envy the neighbours which is all meaningless like chasing the wind.
Image credit: Heavens Call
