There is a saying “know thyself”. Interestingly David did not quite agree with that statement as he wrote: Psa 139:23 Examine me, and probe my thoughts! Test me, and know my concerns! Only God knows us and we fool ourselves before we fool anyone except God alone. We fool ourselves because our heart is desperately wicked: Jer 17:9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else.." But, God has a way of bringing home His revealed pearls of wisdom and although we would rather keep those pearls hidden in our oyster of protection, He opens it and drops in a grain of sand to show us the falseness of what we think and how we act. He is gracious to reveal it in glaring color so that we may be “taught, reproved, corrected and/or trained in righteousness" to be more Christ-like.
There are two stories that are similar in length, ideas, and patterns and from those we see how this truth of 2Tim 3:16 is so very true. Analysis shows us two very similar families with two brothers under the same roof. The first set of sons in the OT are about 15 yrs apart in age. The age of the set of sons in the NT is not revealed. Age is really irrelevant in either story. What is relevant is the outcome, the unrevealed and then revealed behaviors with similar reactions. What is also intriguing is what triggered that same reaction.
In Gen 21 we meet the two boys who have the same father, but different mothers. The parentage again is irrelevant to the outcome but God has given us that nugget of information to reveal to us that one was called the son of the flesh and the other the son of promise. We know very little of the first 15 yrs of the oldest son’s life other than he was the son of a man of God and a Egyptian handmaid. We also know that this son was born when the man of God was very old and his first wife was barren. A third detail is that he was circumcised at age 13. Since he was the son of a later life we can make some assumptions: he was pampered and was the delight of his father’s life. Enter into the equation a son of promise that the man of God had clearly heard spoken of in conversations between he and God and yet had not yet been revealed. He enters the scene at approximately 15 yrs after the first son’s birth. Move ahead approximately 3 yrs when the second son is weaned and a huge celebration is held in his honor. Now the pampered first son reveals what perhaps had been hidden due to the sole attention he had received prior. He begins to mock and ridicule the little one. In fact the mocking was serious enough to gather the attention of God who spoke to the man of God and said listen to your first wife and send the son away. And without a word, the man of God obeys.
Fast forward to the NT and we see a similar situation in a home of a doting father and two sons. The one is a rebel and he insists on his inheritance early and he leaves the home and wanders the world, squandering his inheritance until none is left. The second son has remained at home, obediently tending the farm day after day. But, one day the “rebel” appears on the scene as a rag-a-muffin, dirty, unshaven, and hungry. The father seeing him afar off runs and draws him into an embrace. Next we see the father planning a huge celebration. As the older son returns from the field he hears music and asks a servant: what is going on? The servant reveals that his brother has returned and the father has planned a huge celebration. Now we see the true character revealed as he angrily speaks to his father: Look! These many years I have worked like a slave for you, and I never disobeyed your commands. Yet you never gave me even a goat so that I could celebrate with my friends! But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your assets with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ Luke 15:29
What do we see in each of these older brothers? Both had been submissive to their parents, had been obedient and had received the sole attention of the father while the other son was not a part of the family scene. But, when the second son arrives and receives attention the pampered son reveals what was truly in his heart: jealousy, anger and selfishness.
What do these two stories have to teach us? First we all have that carnal nature within and we cover it with a false façade. But, when attention is given to another when we feel it should be given to us, our false façade falls away and reveals what is truly within us. James tells us the fruit of jealousy: Jam 3:16 "For where there is jealousy and selfishness, there is disorder and every evil practice." May we beware of the sin of jealousy and learn from these stories so that we do not fall victim as these two brothers did. Where today have you felt the spark of jealousy in your heart? Slay the enemy of jealousy so that there is peace and harmony.
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