GREEN WITH ENVY, RIPE FOR TROUBLE—Genesis 37
A few years ago, a shampoo commercial on TV featured a beautiful woman, with long flowing hair, saying, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.”
Why would anyone hate a person who is beautiful, or charming, or successful, or popular, or rich, or smart, or powerful? Envy. Envy is resentment of what others have, and discontentment with what we have.
Envy destroys. Proverbs 14:30 says, “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.’
Envy drains away the joy of life. It undermines satisfaction with life, and it destroys self-confidence. It affects relationships with others, poisoning friendships and sabotaging partnerships. Envy can have negative effects in marriage, in the church, and in the workplace.
Yet envy tempts us all.
[Note to preacher: At this point, I told a personal story, of a time when I envied someone. A story like that might help listeners engage with their own envy, on more personal level.]
WHERE DOES ENVY COME FROM?
-ENVY ARISES OUT OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF LIFE
The circumstances in Jacob’s family were a setup for envy.
Jacob (whom God had renamed Israel, meaning “father of many”) had 11 sons at this point in his life, by four different women. Rachel was the woman Jacob truly loved, and she had given birth to only one son, the youngest, Joseph. (Later, Rachel had another son, Benjamin; she died in childbirth.)
[Note to preacher: The birth of Benjamin is in 35:16-18. If Benjamin was born before the events of chapter 37, he was too young to figure in the story. However, since Jacob speaks to Joseph of “your mother and I” in 37:10, it is more likely that the writer chose to finish the story of Jacob’s life first, so that the story of Joseph’s life could proceed uninterrupted.]
Read Genesis 37:3-4.
Of course Joseph’s brothers were jealous! Jacob’s obvious favoritism, flaunted by giving Joseph a “richly ornamented robe” (coat of many colors, or, in the title of a Broadway musical, “amazing technicolor dreamcoat”) was a setup for envy.
Joseph didn’t help the situation, as he shared his dreams of being superior to his brothers. In one dream, sheaves of grain, representing the 11 brothers, bowed down to his sheaf of grain. In the second dream, the son and moon and eleven stars, symbolizing his entire family, bowed down to Joseph. That was too much for even Jacob to accept.
Did God send those dreams to Joseph, or were they generated in Joseph’s conceited mind? Either way, Joseph did not have to tell his dreams! He was an arrogant teenager, and he set up his brothers for envy, even hatred.
Sometimes life sets us up for envy.
We may or may not have a “Joseph” in our lives, but life circumstances can be a setup for envy. There are always people who are richer, better looking, more popular, or more successful. Some might flaunt their superiority, or even provoke us in their arrogance. Everyone seems to fawn over them, anxious to please them. And yes, we might envy their assets, the attention they get, and their influence.
Envy arises out of the circumstances of life. Yet outward circumstances are not the only factor in envy…
-ENVY FEEDS ON INSECURITY
Insecurity was rooted in the history of Jacob’s family.
Jacob fell in love with Rachel, but her father, Laban, tricked him into marrying her sister Leah first. When Jacob finally married Rachel seven years later, it created a love triangle. Insecure in their relationship, Rachel and Leah were desperate to provide sons to Jacob, so they gave their maidservants to Jacob as surrogates. The sister wives were constantly seeking love and validation from Jacob, and the sons were pawns in the game.
The sibling rivalry of the brothers was extreme. Reuben was the oldest, but as a son of Leah, his firstborn status was jeopardized by the fact that his mother was not the wife Jacob loved most. In a power play, Reuben snuck into the tent of one of his surrogate stepmothers, Bilhah, to have sex with her, and put himself on an equal footing with his father. It was a sordid tale of insecurity and intrigue.
Imagine growing up in that large household, clawing for attention! As the only son of the wife Jacob loved most, Joseph became the lightning rod for all of the insecurity, ambition, and manipulation in the family. (Experts in family dynamics say that one person in the family is often the lightning rod, “the problem child,” or the center of the family drama.)
Envy feeds on insecurity.
Our insecurities may be superficial: the way we look, the abilities we wish we had, or lack of confidence in relationships. Insecurities may be reinforced by mistakes, failure, unfulfilled goals, or rejection.
Some insecurities have roots in the past. Maybe our parents were always telling us to “measure up,” and we felt like we were never good enough. Maybe we are bearing scars of sibling rivalry, or bullying at school. Maybe we are still trying to prove ourselves: in the gym, in the workplace, or with our neighbors and friends.
Envy arises from outward circumstances, but it is fed by our inward insecurities. Jesus said in Mark 7:21-22 “It is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly.”
Outward circumstances set us up for envy. Our own insecurities feed it.
-ENVY TAKES OVER WHEN THERE IS A SPIRITUAL VACUUM
Joseph’s brothers were destined to be the patriarchs of the tribes of Israel! They were the heirs of God’s covenant with Abraham:
Genesis 22:17-18 “I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed…”
The names of Joseph’s brothers would be forever remembered in the fulfillment of God’s covenant. In the vision of heaven found in Revelation 21, “the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,” has 12 gates, and “on the gates are written the names of the 12 tribes of Israel.” The names of the 12 tribes were the names of these brothers!
The brothers had an important role in God’s plan to save the world, but they did not step up to their role in God’s plan and purpose. Their role was humble, yet significant: to be great shepherds and great fathers, so that God’s family would thrive. Unfortunately, they weren’t doing either of those things very well. The “bad report about them” that Joseph brought to Jacob was probably not without substance. The brothers were quite cozy with the ungodly people around them. Sometime later, Judah moved into Canaanite territory, and married an ungodly wife. The unfortunate death of his firstborn son led to a sordid tale, in which Judah had sex with his daughter-in-law, who was posing as a prostitute.
The spiritual malaise of the brothers created an environment where envy took over, and consumed them. “Here comes that dreamer!...Let’s kill him…Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.” Yes, Joseph’s dreams were hard to stomach, and Joseph was a real pill. Yet when Jacob heard Joseph’s dreams, he “kept the matter in mind”—he wondered how the dreams might fit into God’s covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. As it turned out, the dreams were a prophecy, as Joseph’s father and brothers did bow before him in Egypt, and they were saved because Joseph was lifted up to a position of power.
The brothers were clueless about God’s great purpose for them, and because of that, they lost their moral compass. They sold their brother into slavery, and concocted a wild story to deceive their father. The result was predictable: Genesis 37:34-35.
Envy takes over when we lose our sense of purpose in God’s plan.
We can see how this works in a church. When a church is laser-focused on God’s purpose, there is little room for envy. If some people have successful careers and make more money, everyone rejoices, because the church can meet its budget. If some have attractive personalities, everyone is glad to see that they are attracting people to the church. If people have musical talent or wisdom, others are glad to benefit from their abilities. If some have a great deal of influence, the church celebrates their godly leadership.
But when the purpose of the church is lost, envy takes over. Some resent the success and possessions of others. People struggle for recognition, and resent those whom everyone seems to love. There may be power struggles, rumors and backstabbing, and animosity.
If we forget our role in God’s plan, life becomes all about us, and it is never enough. We never have enough, we are never good enough, and we can never achieve enough to make our lives what we want them to be. Our achievements suffer by comparison with others. Our mistakes and failures cause us to look for failures in others, so that we can say that we are not any worse. Our unfulfilled hopes and dreams cause resentment, when we look at what others appear to have.
Envy thrives in a spiritual vacuum.
HOW CAN WE OVERCOME ENVY?
-TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR OWN ATTITUDE
It is easy to blame circumstances, or other people, for causing envy. They may set up the conditions for envy, but we are responsible for how we respond to them. Envy is a sinful response, which is accompanied by other sins:
1 Peter 2:1 Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
It is not wrong to desire good things that others have, or to ask God to bless us in the same way. Envy goes beyond that: It is accompanied by resentment, malice (wishing for others to lose what they have), and sometimes slander (putting others down).
When we recognize envy, we should identify it as sinful, repent, and ask God to help us overcome it.
-FIND SECURITY AND VALUE IN CHRIST
A TV ad for an automotive manufacturer plays on the insecurities of men. It asks, “How do you want to live? As a decent person—a fine human being? As a good father, friend, son? Is that it? Good? Of course not! Parent of the year, better. Employee of the month, absolutely. Making her heart skip a beat. One of a kind, the center of their world, the linchpin, undeniable. Like a boss, like a rebel, like a standard bearer. Like a pro.” The implication is that a $50,000 SUV will help a man be all of those things.
Envy is not only about what the other person has; it is about what we think we need to be happy, worthy of respect, and fulfilled. But what do we really need to be happy, worthy, and fulfilled?
Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Is God enough to satisfy our need for affirmation? If God created us just the way we are, to glorify him, can we do that by simply being the best we can be? If God loved us enough to redeem us, can we be secure in his love? Can we trust him enough to believe that he will give us all that we need, even when he does not give us all that we want?
Find security and value in Christ.
-EMBRACE OUR PURPOSE IN GOD’S PLAN
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”
We are chosen by God: holy, royal, valuable to him. We are chosen, and we are special to God. God’s purpose in choosing us is for us to represent him in the world. We are holy, different from the world, in a good way. We are like priests, who connect people to God. By our actions and words, we declare the goodness and greatness of God.
Our role in God’s plan may be humble: to be a good husband or wife, a good parent, a reliable employee, a person of integrity. It may involve overcoming our limitations, or facing hardship or loss. It may be rising to the challenge of being content with what we have, and yet sharing with those in need. It may involve attempting great things for God, and being quite success. That is up to God.
When we are focused on our purpose, there is no place for envy. Others might have more money, or influence, or abilities—but our money and influence and abilities have a place in God’s glorious plan to save the world and declare his glory. We have everything we need to fulfill God’s calling.
