The Epistle of James - Godly Values
Part 29 - God is Jealous
James 4v5
30th November 2018
Last time we read:
James 4v5
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God?
Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
That verse is the key to the whole letter. James wants us to refuse worldly thinking and fully embrace the kingdom of God, spiritually, mentally and practically. It's challenging and difficult but, I hope, easy to understand. The next verse, though, is difficult to understand. Even the best theological minds can't be sure what it means:
James 4v5
Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to dwell in us envies intensely.
There are two interpretive problems. Firstly, which "spirit" is James talking about, the Holy Spirit or the human spirit? Secondly, what does he mean by "envies"?
In Greek, as in English, some people think "envy" and "jealousy" are synonyms. It seems the NIV translators think this, becuase they translate as "envies" a word that usually means "is jealous". Others think "envy" and "jealousy" are different things, that "envy" is "I want what you've got", and jealously is "I don't want you to have what I've got". For example, an envious husband is someone who wants your wife, but a jealous husband in someone who doesn't want you to have his wife.
At the time, most Greek-speaking people saw it that way - that envy and jealousy are different. And in the Ten Commandments, God says through Moses "the Lord your God is a jealous God". But it's hard to imagine him saying "the Lord your God is an envious God".
God is jealous. That's why he speaks so much through the Old Testament prophets about idolatry - which He calls spiritual adultery. He wants his people to be wholly committed to him, and not to other gods, be they Baal, Asherah, Molek, money, privilege, position, ambition, or anything else. He wants the only God you worship to be Him. He's a jealous God, but He's not an envious God.
So this verse could mean one of two things. Either it means "Do you think Scriptures says without reason that the Holy Spirit is intensely jealous", or it means "Don't you realise that the human spirit is intensely envious". We can't be sure. I don't know which James meant, but I know they're both true.
Interpretation 1
The Holy Spirit dwells within you. The Holy Spirit gives you peace, joy, patience, gentleness, righteousness and self-control, but the Lord your God, which includes the Holy Spirit, is a jealous God. The Holy Spirit who lives within you hates it when you run after other priorities than God. The Holy Spirit inspired Jesus to say "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness" (Matthew 6v33) and to promise that, if we will do that, then the other stuff will come. And He hates it when we prioritise worldly pleasures or worldly success over our love for Him.
Interpretation 2
Envy is a great human sin. Many of us are envious, and many of us refuse to admit that it's a sin at all.
Many people can be really upset because somebody else has more than they have, or are better looking than they are, or have a bigger car than they have, or has more holidays than they have, or whatever. If that's how you feel, don't you realise that there's sin in your heart?
We often attempt to justify our envy by claiming it's a demand for "fairness". But God isn't fair, and He doesn't expect us to be fair. God is just, and He expects us to be just, but justice is a very different thing from fairness.
Both these interpretations are true, both are helpful, and both fit well with the context.
James has described double-minded Christians as "you adulterous people" and told us that friendship with the world is hatred towards God. Perhaps he's now telling us how much God hates this spiritual adultery.
On the other hand, James has been warning us about "bitter envy and selfish ambition". Perhaps he's now warning us that we might be more infected with these sins that we realise.
I can't be certain which James meant when he wrote this. But I do know that we're all sinners, and that God is absolutely faithful to us, and He wants us to be faithful to Him.