Envy, Have you felt it? Do you look at someone with a bigger house, a great job, or the perfect family and wish you were as fortunate?
In Genesis 37 there is a story of envy that caused pain and suffering for everyone concerned. The story is of how Jacob loved Joseph more than any of his other sons– “because he had been born to him in his old age.” The story does not say that Jacob did not love his other sons, just that he loved Joseph more. This favoritism became painfully obvious when he gave Joseph a richly ornamented robe. Joseph’s brothers envied the special relationship with his father and became jealous of the special gift. The Bible says that they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
They hated him so much that they threw him into a pit with murderous intent, sold him into slavery and told their father that he had been killed, causing Jacob intense grief for many years. Read the rest of this entry »
