Have you ever heard the phrase “green with envy”? The phrase originated from Shakespearean’s play Othello. Iago warns Othello, “Beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on.” So, the play itself is all about envy and jealousy. Iago jealous and angry Othello promoted Cassio. So, Iago deceives Othello into believing Desdemona (Othello’s wife) is having an affair with Cassio. Consume by his own envy and jealousy, Othello kills his wife and then commits suicide. Green had long been associated with a pale complexion and was often linked with illness, fear, jealousy, sickness, etc. due to the overproduction bile in the stomach. Anyway, the play Othello is an excellent story to teach the dangers of envy.
Sometimes we become so jealous and envy others, we are blinded to the reality of what we are actually believing and desiring. We fail to see reason. We refuse to see the truth. All we see is our desire clouded by anger and jealousy.
Solomon tells us frankly not to let our hearts envy sinners and the wicked. Do not desire their life. Do not secretly want to engage in their activities and life choices. Do not look on their actions with concealed regret and anger that you are not with them. Eventually, we give in to that envy and act on it like Othello. We commit sin. We engage in the actions we’ve been secretly wanting to try for so long. And just like Othello, we almost always immediately regret it once our mind has cleared of the envy. It’s cloud over our reason is gone because we’ve given into it and now can see clearly what it was hiding from us. The truth about the actions we’ve just engaged in. And there’s no going back – we’ve given in and now like Othello have to deal with the consequences.
Instead, Solomon says to continue in the fear of the Lord ALL DAY! Keep your fear and respect of the Lord in the forefront of your mind. Let it consume your thoughts. Let it drive out any seeds of envy toward ungodly lives the Devil has planted in your mind. Let it help you see the truth about the lives of the wicked and the truth about the consequences of sin.
Solomon tells us there is reward in that life approach. There is a future of hope and that hope will never die. It will not be cut off because God is the source of that future.
Othello couldn’t cope with the consequences of his actions so he killer himself. We are blessed to live in a world where God has created a pathway for forgiveness when we allow envy to cloud our actions. If we turn our hearts to God, acknowledge our mistakes, work to try not to do them again, and are baptized into Jesus’s death. We have a secured future hope that will never be cut off.
We are not hopeless like Othello…IF you have Jesus. He is our hope.
So, don’t envy the wicked. Don’t let envy cloud your judgments and actions. But fear and obey the Lord because in that choice our future hope in Jesus will never be cut off.
Adonai's Appeal 