Saturday, February 13: Judges 12-jealosy in the house.

Forty-Two Thousand, that’s a lot of people. 42,000 deaths is not far from the number of US soldiers who died in the Vietnam war (58,000). 42,000 in one battle! And this was 42,000 deaths within the family of Israel, one family killing members of another family. Needless deaths that stemmed from jealousy…

Ephraim grew jealous of Gilead’s victory. Ephraim fed its jealousy by distorting the facts of what happened, like a camper stoking and adding wood to her campfire, Ephraim began to blaze with jealousy and related emotions until words were exchanged and swords were drawn and 42,000 brothers needlessly died.

Sad days in Israel. And to make matters worse the text never hints that anyone even mourns this atrocity. The sin of Israel continues to spiral down at an alarming rate.

Jealousy is a dangerous emotion… my mind scans my life for seeds of this sin. It is too easy to allow jealousy to sneak into the soul.

It can be personal:

Bob got a better raise than I…

Jane got the promotion I deserved…

It brews within families:

Sally is mom’s favorite…

Harold got a better slice of the estate in the will…

It can even show up spiritually

John can sing, I wish got to stand and sing for everyone…

Why did Margaret get picked to be an elder (deacon) and not me…

XYZ church gets all the breaks…

Jealousy left unattended and untreated brews a dark reality… thoughts and impressions are distorted; words are exchanged personally or behind the scenes; wrongful actions are delivered. 42,000 may not die, but friendships do, families are torn apart, neighboring churches stop relating…

“Bill, God speaks, check your soul for jealousy…”

O Lord, help me look inside my life. It is dark in there and I often don’t like what I see. Help me Lord to not only look inside, but to treat the sin if find by taking it to the cross of Jesus, allowing Jesus my Lord to cut it out. May it be so O Lord, may it be so… amen.