The Evil of Jealousy

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

THE EVIL OF JEALOUSY

Acts 7:9-10

9 "Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him 10 and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace.

NIV

Once again, we see jealousy rear its ugly head. We are working our way through this long answer of Stephen, which is to the question of the High Priest of whether the charges against him are true. These charges were brought against him because of jealous men. This was all because Stephen was full of faith and of the Holy Spirit and he was also full of God’s grace and power. It isn’t that they could not be the same as Stephen, but they were so stuck in their traditional thinking they preferred the thoughts of men, rather than the thoughts of God. Stephen reminds them that men before them acted in an unrighteous way due to jealousy. Joseph was not that unlike Stephen. Although Joseph was one of twelve and Stephen one of seven, they both had a relationship with God that appeared to be special, although God desires that kind of relationship with all of His creation. God certainly wants us all to be full of faith. He also desires that we all are full of the Holy Spirit. We cannot conceive that God would not want us all to be full of His divine influence, grace, and full of His power. However, it seems right that this would be our choice whether to accept all God has for us. Stephen and Joseph were two men who did accept all that God offered them. This is why the eleven brothers of Joseph were so jealous and acted upon their jealousy and sold Joseph into slavery. However, it did not matter, for God continued to have his righteous right hand upon Joseph as he did on Stephen in giving him all the right words in his answer in front of the whole Sanhedrin. Although the outcomes for both men were quite different. God lifted Joseph up to become the second command in all of Egypt and thus provided for the survival of Israel. Stephen, on the other hand, was killed by jealous men, yet God revealed the kingdom of heaven to Stephen, as we must believe, God, lifted Stephen directly into the kingdom at that very moment. We will see Stephen repeat the very words of Jesus the moment just before his last breath. A man full of faith, the Holy Spirit, God’s grace, and power lived and died a righteous man before God. Yet, for now, God was revealing His wisdom through Stephen through all the right words. What we know is that God does not change and therefore all that was available to Stephen and Joseph is still available to us. Let us shed any of the thinking of men and hear only the thinking of God. Let us allow God to hold us with his mighty righteous right hand and lift us up and reveal the kingdom of heaven to us. Let us see the vision of God within us. In the process, we will undoubtedly rid ourselves of any jealousy that might linger within.