Rēad to Read …Again
Daily Reading: Ezekiel 31-33
Ezekiel 31:9
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 him.
Know more, have more or do more; by these three actions envy grows. The Pharaoh of Egypt was the envy of the lesser leaders of smaller territories. Herein God gives Ezekiel a parable of the two trees. One of the trees was Egypt, one was Assyria. Assyria was, at one time, greater than Egypt, yet had fallen to Babylon. Egypt too would soon fall to Babylon. God was warning Egypt to take heed, yet they did not and were crushed by Babylon in the spring of 584 B.C., about 20 months after Jerusalem experienced the same plight.
Of Assyria two things are clear from today’s verse. One, God made that nation fair, it had many branches (provinces). Two, all of the other trees, great and wonderful in their own right, envied Assyria. Again, all a person has to do to create envy in lesser individuals is to know more, have more, or do more. That’s it.
All the way back in the mid 1600’s an Earl in England by the name of John Rochester wrote, “Envy is a passion so full of cowardice and shame, that nobody ever had the confidence to own it.” In life it seems that almost every sin known to humanity, has some pleasure attached to it. Of this truth there are two great exceptions: unforgiveness and envy. These eat away at a person’s soul and spirit the same way that leprosy will eat away the flesh. In fact, Proverbs 14:30 echoes this sentiment by recording: A sound heart is the life of the flesh: but envy the rottenness of the bones.
The patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt (Acts 7:9) and the religious rulers delivered the Lord Jesus to be crucified because of envy (Matthew 27:18 and Mark 15:10). Envy makes people do things they ought not.
How bad is envy? In Romans 1:29-31 twenty-two of the most awful sins a person can commit are listed. One of these is “full of envy.”
There is nothing good to say about envy. Yet, it is so prevalent in society that most probably think it a virtue. But it is not. What is it? It is an outgrowth of an inferiority complex that so controls a person’s estimation of others it results in the attempt to tear the others down. Yet, tearing another down never builds one up.
Concerning envy, there are always two extremes that emerge from those who harbor envy in their being. One is the pain of hearing of another’s good fortune, the other is the joy of hearing of another’s misfortune.
For all the productive and hard-working souls who achieve some measure of success in life. for those who know more, have more and do more understand this: no matter how gracious you may be, the envious will only grow more envious. That is until they realize their own standing and worth in Jesus Christ.
Dr. William T. Howe
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