Envy

Envy. Envy can cause people to do some very wicked things. Satan himself is envious of our heavenly father, and look at the wickedness that he causes. You could think of envy as someone else having something that we want. We might envy an object or a possession, such as a car or a home. You might also envy someone else's characteristics or qualities, such as popularity or attractiveness.

Inevitably, envy leads to wickedness. In the beginning, we're fraternal twins, born to Eve. A fraternal twin means that there were two of them, impregnated by two separate sperm. And as most of you know, Cain and Abel had quite different fathers. The Lord was pleased once they reached the age of accountability. The Lord was pleased. They both brought their offering at the same time. The Lord was pleased with Abel's offering, but he was not accepting of Cain's offering. What happened? Well, Cain became wroth. He was envious of Abel and Abel's offering, and something very wicked and evil happened.

Open your Bibles to Genesis chapter 4 as we begin our study concerning envy today. We ask that word of wisdom, and yeshua's precious name. Father, we ask it. Open eyes, open ears. These days, this day. Chapter 4 of Genesis, verse 1, and it reads, "And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord." Now, Adam knew his wife. All right, but Cain wasn't the result. Cain was not conceived as a result of Adam knowing his wife. You see, there were two ova, two eggs. We talked about one of those eggs had already been fertilized back in chapter 3. If you read verse 16 of the preceding chapter, under the woman, he said, the Lord said, "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception." You know what conception is? You know what causes conception. The serpent impregnated Eve with one egg, and then Adam impregnated her with the other. They were twins, in other words, Cain and Abel.

Verse 2, "And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground." Check out this word again in the Hebrew language. It means "continued." So, let me ask you, if a woman has a child and she continues in labor and has another child, what has just happened? They're twins. Cain would not be a tiller of the ground for much longer. And in process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. Now, did it say he brought his first fruits? No, it doesn't say first fruits. First fruits are indicative of love. Always. There's no love here. And Abel, he also brought of the first things. Now, there you have the first fruits. That's indicative of love, of his flock. The flock can either be sheep or goats, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. Note, they both came of age at the same time, which again indicates that they were twins, the same age. But unto Cain and to his offering, he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. He was envious. He was angry, and he was envious of his brother Abel and Abel's offering. He wasn't a happy camper.

And the Lord said unto Cain, "Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen?" The Lord knew, "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." Now, watch what envy is capable of bringing about. And Cain talked with Abel his brother. And it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him. Murdered his own brother because of envy. You know what happened? The Lord was very angry with Cain, ran him out of the Garden of Eden. When he went east into the Land of Nod, and he took a wife there. And if you think Adam and Eve were the first people on Earth, tell me where that wife came from. If Adam and Eve were the first people on Earth, they weren't. You go on in chapter 4 and you find Cain's genealogy, the seed line. You know that it has nothing to do with Adam because Adam's genealogy is given in chapter 5 of Genesis. So, but envy can cause people to do very wicked things.

Saul, the first man king of Israel, was very envious of David and the successes that David was having and the resulting admiration of the people of Israel. Turn with me to First Samuel chapter 18. First Samuel chapter 18. Chapter 17 of First Samuel is where David slew the giant Goliath. So, not a man in Israel would stand up to Goliath, but David, being a youth, did and slew the giant. Chapter 18 of First Samuel, verse 1, and it reads, "And it came to pass when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul." Now, all of you know that Jonathan, of course, was Saul's son. He was a prince, if you will. Jonathan would have been about 40 years of age at this point, David but a youth.

Verse 2, "And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house." Now, this is not to be understood that he never allowed him to go back to his father's house in Bethlehem. This means that he would not go back to tend sheep as his previous occupation would be. This partially fulfills First Samuel chapter 8, verse 11, where God tells the people of Israel through the prophet Samuel what a man king would do. And in chapter 8, verse 11, we learn that the king will take your sons and your daughters and put them to his own business, to his work.

Verse 3, "Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul." They made a compact, a friendship. This compact of friendship would endure longer than beyond Jonathan's life. Jonathan had a son by the name of Mephibosheth, and a grandson by the name of Micah. They fell on hard times, and David took them in, and they ate at his table, the king's table. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was upon him and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. This was custom of the time. It was quite an honor to David for the prince to do this. And friends today do this, you know, they swap out clothes if they're the same size.

Verse 5, "And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him." In other words, to battle, and behaved himself wisely. He used common sense, and he was courageous as well. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul's servant. David's reputation increasing with many that he will one day rule. He might even becoming more popular than Saul among the people. And it came to pass as they came when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing. It was a great celebration of victory to meet King Saul with tablets, with joy, and with instruments of music. Saul's about to be shot down. Envy and jealousy and an evil spirit will eventually drive Saul mad. And the women answered one another as they played, and said, "Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands."

Now, this was trouble to put the servant ahead of the king. What they're saying here is David is 10 times better than King Saul. Saul only killing thousands, David killing tens of thousands of the Philistines. The envy starts to grow. And Saul was very wroth, just as Cain became wroth with the acceptance of Abel's offering, and the saying displeased him. And he said, "They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but or only thousands. And what can we have more but the kingdom?" Question: Why don't you just give David the kingdom? You see, somebody else had already given David the kingdom, and Saul doesn't know it. God gave David the kingdom. Oversee why? Because Saul was rejected twice. He disobeyed the Lord. He sought out a familiar spirit with the witch of Endor. God had already rejected Saul as the king. Samuel had already anointed David the king. And Saul, this weird with the word "eyed" means to watch with jealousy. David from that day and forward, the spirit of jealousy and envy upon him.

And it came to pass on the morrow that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul. God allowed it, in other words. And he prophesied, better, he raved in the midst of the house. And David played with his hand. David played the harp. He was skilled as a musician, even. And oftentimes, this spirit of anger or jealousy that came upon Saul would be calmed when David played. Wouldn't calm him this time, as at other times. And there was a javelin in Saul's hand. A javelin is a spear. And Saul cast the javelin, for he said, "I will smite David even to the wall with it." And David avoided out of his presence twice. Another attempt by Satan to stop God's plan of Genesis chapter 3, verse 15, the prophecy there that the seed of woman, the woman Eve, would bruise the head of Satan, that would be through Jesus Christ. In other words, if David had been killed, he wouldn't have had any children at this point in time, so the prophecy of Jesus Christ could not have come to pass. This won't be the last time that Saul tried to run pin somebody to the wall with a spear. He'll even attack his own son, Jonathan, soon after this.

And Saul was afraid. And this word means apprehensive of David because the Lord was with him and was departed from Saul. The Lord had rejected Saul as the king. Verse 13, "Therefore Saul removed him, as being David from him, and made him his captain over a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people." He removed David from his immediate presence, in other words. And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. God's blessings bring success. Wherefore, when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him. Now, this is a different word, afraid, in verse 15 than what we saw in verse 12. In verse 12, we had the Hebrew word "yare," which means apprehensive, as I said. Here, the Hebrew word is "chathath," which means to shrink. And so, fear. What we see here is Saul's rejection by God manifested in his fear of David. But all Israel and Judah loved David because he went out and came in before them. He was a good leader. They respected him. They trusted him.

And Saul said to David, "Behold, my older daughter Merab, her will I give thee to wife." Now, he'd already promised whoever killed the giant Goliath would get his daughter, the oldest. "Only be thou valiant for me and fight the Lord's battles." For Saul said to himself, "Let not thine mine hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him." Sound like a nice guy, Saul? No, he's not. He's setting David up to be killed by the Philistines. He's telling you, go fight against the Philistines, and they'll kill you, and then I won't have to. My problem is solved. And David said unto Saul, "Who am I? Question. And what is my life or my father's family in Israel, that I should be the son-in-law to the king?" David was fit to be the king himself, as I said earlier. Samuel had already anointed David, but David really doesn't know why, and he's being very humble at this point in his life.

But it came to pass at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given unto Adriel the Meholathite to wife. Now, Adriel is never mentioned again in God's word, nor is an explanation given to us of why Saul broke his promise and gave Merab to someone else. And because Saul's daughter loved David, and they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. And Saul said, "I will give him her, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be against him." Wherefore Saul said to David, "Thou shalt this day be my son-in-law in the one of the twain." Again, he's setting David up. And Saul commanded his servants, saying, "Commune with David secretly, and say, Behold, the king hath delight in thee, and all his servants love thee. Now therefore be the king's son-in-law." Always test the fruit. Saul had already tried to kill David on more than one occasion. Don't trust someone that has an evil spirit.

And Saul's servants spake these words in the ears of David. And David said, "Seemeth it to you a light thing to be the king's son-in-law, saying that I am a poor man and lightly esteemed? I don't have the sufficient dowry to pay the king for his daughter." And the servants of Saul told him. They went back and told Saul, saying, "On this manner spake David." David said, "I don't have the dowry sufficient to pay for the daughter of the king." And Saul said, "Thus shall ye say to David, The king desireth not any dowry, but an hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies." But Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. You see, the Philistines were uncircumcised, and 100 Philistines would not line up and volunteer to donate the foreskins of a part of their anatomy to help fill David's dowry fund. In other words, he'd had to kill these people to take their foreskin.

And when his servants told David these words, that pleased David. Well, to be the king's son-in-law. And the days were not expired. In other words, there was a time limit, and it had not passed yet. Wherefore David arose, went he and his men, and slew of the Philistines 200 men. He did twice what Saul had requested. And David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full tail, that's full count, to the king, that he might be the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him. He called his daughter to wife. He kept his promise this time.

Verse 28, "And Saul saw and that and knew that David, excuse me, that the Lord was with David, and that Michal, Saul's daughter, loved him." God's protection over David, making things difficult for David's enemies, including Saul. And Saul was yet the more afraid of David. And Saul became David's enemy continually. Hatred of David growing, and the envy growing as well. Then the princes of the Philistines went forth. And it came to pass after they went forth that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul, so that his name was much set by. Set by means it was precious in the eyes of the servants of Israel. You know what happened? It would continue to grow worse. David would be on the lamb. He'd be running for his life as Saul continued to try and kill David. It would not be safe for David in Israel until Saul was dead. David would become king over Judah and Horeb first for seven years, and then it would go on to become the king of all of Israel.

We're warned not to be envious of the wicked who always seem to prosper. In an acrostic Psalm, turn with me to Psalm 37 as we continue our study on envy. Psalm 37. Now, an acrostic Psalm usually has to do with the Hebrew alphabet. You may or may not know that there are only 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, whereas we have 26 in our English alphabet. But the way an acrostic works is that it starts off with the equivalent of our letter A, I'm going to say, because most of you probably wouldn't understand if I said it in Hebrew, and then B, and then C, so on forth through the 22 letters of the alphabet. Now, what's unusual about this Psalm 37 is that every single letter of the Hebrew alphabet begins a quatrain, which is four lines in the Hebrew, except for three verses. And I hope I don't confuse you by going back and forth between verses on the acrostic, but this way you can see what we're talking about. Verse 7, verse 20, and verse 34 are triplets in the original language, and I'm talking about Hebrew, not in English, but they have three lines rather than four lines, and that makes them stick out like a sore thumb. And so I want you to pay particular attention to verses 7, 20, and 34.

Verse 37, excuse me. Psalm 37, verse 1, and it reads, "Fret not thyself because of evil doers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity." Now, younger kids, they might see someone who's a drug pusher in their school, and man, that cat is always dressed nice, he's always got money, he's got the nicest car of any teenager in school, and Usher would like to be like him. We don't want to do that. Young people, that's what this is saying. Don't envy those who have ill-gotten gains, is what we're talking about here. This person obtained these things at the suffering of other people by getting people hooked on drugs, so to speak.

Verse 2, "For they shall soon be cut down like the grass. The wicked will, in other words, and wither as the green herb." Now, let me ask you, that you might envy what they have, their car, their money, their nice clothes, but you sure don't want to envy what their end is. You don't want what their end is for yourself, do you? That is, they're going to be cut off completely. That means they're going to die. "Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed." Fed with truth. Trust in the Lord, and He will feed you. He will lead you. "Delight thyself also in the Lord; and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart." He'll give you blessings. And the wicked are going to get cursings. Commit this word means roll thy burdens thy way unto the Lord. Trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass. Don't overlook that. Roll your burdens to the Lord. A lot of people have difficulty doing that. They want to do it themselves. They don't want to turn it over to anybody else, including the Lord. When you've done all you can about a situation, roll your burdens over to the Lord. Turn it over to Him, as Paul would teach in the New Testament. That's when you become strong, is when you're weak and you turn it over to the Lord, because you then not only have your strength, you have the strength of the Lord rolling with you too.

Verse 6, "And he," this is the Lord, "shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noon day." In other words, sure as noon follows sunup, that is what you can count on, that God will bring forth the righteousness as the light. Now we come to the first of the acrostics. Excuse me, they're all acrostics, but the one that sticks out because it's three lines in the Hebrew. Verse 7, "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass." Don't worry about it, in other words. God keeps very good records. And on judgment day, whether it's rewards or punishment, you're going to get exactly what you deserve, what you have coming. If you do things righteously, you're going to receive rewards. If you are a drug pusher, you're going to be cut off.

Verse 8, "Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself, in any wise, to do evil." Don't let envy cause you to become wicked. For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. "For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be." You'll observe where he was, but he won't be there. The wicked, why? Because he's in the Lake of Fire. But the meek, or the humble, shall inherit the earth, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Rest in the Lord, and patiently wait for the Prince of Peace. The wicked ploteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. You can expect that if you teach God's word. The wicked don't want to hear God's word, and you better have pretty thick skin if you're going to teach the word. Expect it. The Lord shall laugh at him; for he seeth that his day is coming. Psalm 2, verse 4. That second Psalm starts off, "Why did the heathen rage and the kings and their the earth take counsel amongst each other against the Lord and his anointed?" In verse 4, it goes on to say, "The Lord laughs at them." Here again, the Lord laughs at the wicked. He knows what their end is going to be. Everyone receives exactly what they deserve, rewards or the Lake of Fire. The choice is yours. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and have bent their bow to cast down the poor, that's the needy or the afflicted and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken. It's God's war, and God wins it. It states in the Book of Ezekiel that God's going to put hooks in their nose and turn them around. The enemy, he wins. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken. That's arms always symbolic of power. But the Lord upholdeth the righteous. The Lord knoweth the days of the upright, and their inheritance shall be forever. Not so with the wicked. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, in the time of tribulation, and in the days of famine, they shall be satisfied. Amos chapter 8, verse 11. The famine of the end times is not for bread or water, but for hearing the word of God. But those who are righteous will be fed. Psalm 23, verse 5 states, "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." He feeds very well.

Now we come to that second triplet, verse 20. "But the wicked shall perish: and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs: they shall consume into smoke shall they consume away." Hebrews chapter 12, verse 29. Our Lord is a consuming fire. The wicked are going to be like the fat of a lamb on a spit. That's a barbecue grill. You ever grilled, and a little bit of fat falls off of what you're cooking and goes down into the and hits the coals or the charcoal? It goes up in smoke and goes up in smoke forever and ever, blotted out, in other words. That's what comes of the wicked. "The wicked borroweth and payeth not again; and he won't repay or not able to repay because of God's cursings. But the righteous showeth mercy and giveth." Why? The wicked receive cursings. God's righteous receive blessings. "For such as be blessed of him," that's the Lord, "shall inherit the earth: and they that be cursed of him shall be cut off." Well, I am never, you mean the Lord curses? You better believe he curses. You're not familiar with Leviticus chapter 26 or Deuteronomy 28 if you don't think the Lord curses. He blesses, and he curses. What you get depends on how you behave yourself.

"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord:" they're established, in other words, by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. And of course, we only have one way, and that is Jesus Christ. "Though he," this being the righteous or the good man, "fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand." Have you ever seen a young father walking along beside a three-year-old, and the three-year-old might stumble and start to go down, and the young father reaches down and grabs him by the hand before he goes all the way to the ground? The Lord will do the same thing for you. If you're a good person, you know, we all mess up, we all fall short if we're honest with ourselves. But when we stumble and start to go down, the Lord won't go to let us go all the way down. He'll grab our hand and hold us up. "I have been young, and now am old;" in other words, my whole life, "yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." A spiritual level, I think of bread, the bread of life, Jesus Christ. No famine for the righteous. He is ever merciful and lendeth, and his seed is blessed. That's a promise from the Lord. The righteous are ever merciful and lendeth, and his seed is blessed. His children receive blessings as well. "Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore." That's your choice. You can have eternal life, or you can have God's cursing and the Lake of Fire. The choice is yours. For the Lord loveth judgment, the Lord loves justice, probably better translated, and forsaketh not his saints: they are preserved for ever. "But the seed of the wicked shall be cut off." Eternal life or the Lake of Fire. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever. The righteous, the stock of Ezekiel chapter 44. What does it say in verse 28? God said, "Don't give them an inheritance in eternity because I, the Lord, speaking, am their inheritance." He owns everything. "The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom: and his tongue talketh of judgment of justice." What's what's right. The righteous knows what's right and what's wrong and does their best to do right. "The law of his God is in his heart," or in his mind. "None of his steps shall slide." The wicked watches the righteous and seeketh to slay him. Satan wants company in the Lake of Fire and seeketh to slay him. You know, don't worry about your flesh body. In Matthew chapter 10, verse 28, Jesus says, "Don't fear those who can kill your flesh body. Fear He," that's a capital H, "who can destroy both your flesh and your soul in hell." There's only one entity that can do that, that's your heavenly Father. "The Lord will not leave him in his hand," the Lord won't leave a righteous, a good man, in the wicked's hand, "nor condemn him when he is judged."

The last of the triplets, verse 34, "Wait on the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it." Some might say, well, I don't know if I'd want to see people going into the Lake of Fire or not. I sure do. I want a front row seat when Satan goes into the Lake of Fire. I've seen what he has done to my brothers and sisters. I want to see him go into the Lake of Fire, never to be thought of again. But we're told here in this chapter, 37, Psalm 37, don't be envious of the wicked. Their end is death. You, on the other hand, have eternal life.

In because the chief priests and elders to plot to kill Jesus Christ, turn with me to Matthew chapter 27. New Testament. Matthew chapter 27, verse 1, and it reads, "When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death." By their own law, it was illegal for them to meet in the morning. And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. You see, at this time, the area was controlled by the Romans, and you could not put someone to death without the Romans' permission. That's what they were after, was his death.

"Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw he," that's Jesus, "was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders." Now, do you think returning the 30 pieces of silver would gain forgiveness for Judas? No, it's too late. The only thing that would gain forgiveness for Judas was the other word that he did. He repented, saying, "I have sinned, and that I have betrayed the innocent blood." And they said, "What is that to us? See thou do that." In other words, get out of here. We don't care. They're ignoring the Lord's innocence and Judas's guilt. And he, that's being Judas, cast down the pieces of silver in the temple. You could hear those pieces of silver ringing from one end of the temple to the other as he threw them down, and departed, and went and hanged himself. He had a lot of help. Acts chapter 1, verse 18, states that Judas fell headlong, bursting apart in the midst, and his bowels gushing out. That doesn't happen when someone hangs themselves with a rope. You see, he knew too much. The Kenites could not afford to let him live. He was a dead man walking.

And the chief priest took the silver pieces and said, "It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood." They knew that was blood money, and it couldn't therefore be put back into the temple treasury. And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter's field to bury strangers in. Now, a potter's field would be where they would take broken pieces of pottery, pop shirts, if you would, and throw them out on the ground. And this field, purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ, 30 pieces of silver for that, would heal our broken bodies. That was 30 pieces of silver bought a lot. Verse 8, "Wherefore that field was called the field of blood unto this day." Acts chapter 1, verse 19, it's called Akeldama. Akeldama is an Arabic word that simply means the field of blood. "Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy," that's Jeremiah the prophet, "saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value." Now, you know what? I've studied Jeremiah quite a few times. Jeremiah doesn't have anything written about this 30 pieces of silver. Jeremiah only spoke about it, he didn't write it. One of the minor prophets did write about it, Zechariah chapter 11, verses 12 and 13. The 30 pieces of silver, the price of a slave. Jesus served us all by what he did and gave them for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me.

And Jesus stood before the governor, Pontius Pilate. And the governor asked him, saying, "Art thou the king of the Jews?" And Jesus said unto him, "Thou sayest." In other words, I didn't say that, you said it. And he wasn't king of just Judah, he was king of all of Israel. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Isaiah 53, verse 7, "As the sheep delivered to the slaughter, as a lamb delivered before her shears, he opened not his mouth." Not a whimper. Then said Pilate unto him, "Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee?" You better defend yourself. These are some pretty serious accusations they're making. And he answered him to never a word, insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.

Now, at that feast, the Passover, the governor was want to release unto the people a prisoner whom they would. It was a customary practice that Pontius would release a prisoner of the people's choosing. And they had then a notable prisoner called Barabbas. Barabbas, translated, means son of the father, just as Jesus was the Son of God. Historically, Barabbas was a murderer, and he didn't kill just one, he was guilty of 400 murders. Therefore, when they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, "Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus which is called Christ?" For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. There's our word. They envied what Jesus was able to do, healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead to life again. They couldn't compete. They envied what Jesus was doing. He was hurting them in the pocketbook too. They wanted him dead.

When he was set down on the judgment seat, his wife, this is Pilate's wife, sent unto him, saying, "Have thou nothing to do with that just man." Jesus is innocent. "For I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him." Verse 20, "But the chief priest and elders persuaded the multitude that they should ask Barabbas, and destroy Jesus." The governor answered and said unto them, "Whether of the twain," the two, "will ye that I release unto you?" They said, "Barabbas." Pilate saith unto them, "What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ?" They all say unto him, "Let him be crucified." And the governor said, "Why, what evil hath he done?" But they cried out the more, saying, "Let him be crucified." Another example where envy brought about wickedness, about evil.

In conclusion, I want you to quickly turn over to First Timothy with me, just before Hebrews. You've got a little book called Philemon and Titus, and then you've got Timothy. We want First Timothy chapter 6, verse 1. "Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed." If you work for someone, give them their money's worth every day. That's what this is saying to your boss, whether he's a Christian or not. You owe him eight hours of work for eight hours of pay. Be the very best at what you do. "And they have, and they that have believing masters, Christian bosses, let them not despise them because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit." These things teach and exhort.

Verse 3, "If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words," that's the words of God, "even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness, he is proud," this is puffed up in himself, "knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, without any truth, supposing that gain," monetary gain, "is godliness from such withdraw thyself." Don't ever associate righteousness with riches and wealth. Oftentimes, those riches and wealth are ill-gotten gains. "But godliness with contentment is great gain." Be content with what you have. Don't envy that which others have. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Job would say in Job chapter 1, verse 21, "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and when I leave this world, I'll be naked as I was when I came out of my mother's womb." And having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. Be happy with what you have.

"But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition." Will wind you up in the Lake of Fire right along the side of Satan. "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." You might think that the rich are happy. Does it sound like that one that's pierced through with many sorrows is happy? No, it doesn't to me. "But thou, O man of God," that's Timothy, "flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, and meekness." That's kind of the opposite of all the ills of verse 4 and 5. But thou argue with that verse 12. To conclude, "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, wherein thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." Choose eternal life. Don't get caught up in envying what others have.

Psalm 37, verse 16, we learn there, "A little that a righteous man hath is better than all the riches of all the wicked." So be content with what you have. You know, we have a lot. We may not be all that wealthy and have that much money, but what did Jesus say to the Church of Smyrna in Revelation chapter 2, verse 9 and 10? He said, "I know thy poverty, but thou art rich." What, what did he mean by that? You see, they knew the truth. They knew the difference between Judah and those who claimed to be of our brother Judah, but did lie and were of the synagogue of Satan. So I don't care if you're not wealthy with money, you're wealthy with knowledge of God's word. Don't get caught up in envying what the wicked have.

Let's go to His throne. Yahweh, Heavenly Father, we thank you for your written word. Father, let us be content, Father, this day with You, with Your word, with what we have, Father. Let us be satisfied, Father, knowing that we're Your servants, Father. You have a group here that wants to accomplish Your will. Give us knowledge. Continue to reveal Your will to us, Father. It's Your will that's important, not our own. Let everything that we do the rest of this day be to the honor and glory of Your name, in Jesus Christ's precious name. Amen.

The Mark of the Beast on CD is our free introductory offer to you. What is the Mark of the Beast? Many false teachers would have you believe it will be a tattoo on your forehead or a computer chip implanted under your skin. It is getting late in the game. You need to know what the Mark of the Beast is, as it's written in Revelation chapter 13, verse 8. Many will be deceived. There is no need for you to be deceived. Christ said in Mark 13:23, "Behold, I have foretold you all things." Jesus indeed told us how not to be deceived, and Pastor Arnold Murray takes you on a step-by-step study of God's word concerning this critical subject, the Mark of the Beast. The telephone call is free. The CD is free. We don't even ask for the shipping and handling. It is free as well. All you need to do is call 800-643-4645 to request your one-time, one per household copy of the Mark of the Beast. You may also request your free CD by mailing your request to Shepherd's Chapel, Post Office Box 416, Gravette, Arkansas 72736. Don't be deceived by Satan.

This Israel, you'll find many races of people who call themselves Israelites because they live in the borders of the nation of Israel. The ones you need to be particularly aware of are the good and bad figs of Jeremiah chapter 24. You see, there are good figs in Jerusalem and in the rest of Israel today. They are of our brother Judah, descendants of our brother Judah. You also have bad figs there who claim to be of Judah, as is written in Revelation chapter 2:9 and 3:9, but do lie and are of the synagogue of Satan. My words? No, that's the words of Jesus Christ. That's Revelation 2:9 and 3:9. The bad figs are the Kenites.

And thank you for your kind comments, Beverly from Georgia. "Why was John the Baptist beheaded? Keep up the good work, and God bless you all." And thank you, and we will keep up the labor of love. Matthew chapter 14, read verses 1 through 12, and you learn there that Herod wanted his brother's wife, but it was unlawful for him to go into her. The sister-in-law's name was Herodias. And what happened was John the Baptist made it very clear to Herod that it was unlawful for him to go into his brother's wife, Herodias, because it was against the law. And it kind of made Herod mad, but Herod was afraid to do anything about it because the people saw John for what he was, a prophet, and he was afraid of the reaction of the people. Well, what happened there? There was a feast, and Herod kind of got on a toot with the drinks, and he saw Herodias's daughter dancing, and it pleased him very much. And he was kind of like Samson at times, he got all wrapped up in lust, and he told Herodias's daughter, "Ask what you will of me." And she said, "I want the head of John the Baptist in a charger, in a basket, in other words." Excuse me. Herod gave Herodias's daughter what she wanted. But we knew that was going to happen. But they rejected Jesus Christ. They rejected John the Baptist at the first advent. He would have been, he came in the spirit of Elijah, but again, they rejected him.

Gary from Michigan, "Thank you in Shepherd's Chapel for answering my questions in the past, and thank you for telling the truth from God's word." Well, you're welcome. "My question: Does someone who has eyes to see and ears to hear have the Holy Spirit, or do you need to feel the Comforter?" Well, the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God. And if Jesus Christ is in you, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, is in you as well. Wherever God and the Son Jesus Christ are, the Holy Spirit is there as well. Now, I know many churches teach falsely that you have to do this to indicate you have the Holy Spirit, or you have to do that to indicate you have the Holy Spirit, or you have to speak in tongues, gibberish, that you have to have someone standing there beside you to interpret what you said is proof that you have the Holy Spirit. That's false teaching, beloved. In Acts chapter 2, we learned that the speaking in tongues, what it really means, and it's that cloven tongue that everyone understands. I don't care what language you speak from where you're from, you understand the cloven tongue. That's what the disciples, the apostles, were speaking in Acts chapter 2. Everyone understood. You didn't have someone standing there that needed to interpret what they said, because everyone understood.

Peyton, and Peyton is seven years old. "When you go to heaven, will you be the same age as you were when you went to heaven?" Uh, I watched Shepherd's Chapel with my grandparents when I stay at their house, and my sister Morgan watches the show too. And at my preschool, they taught me about Jesus and God. Well, Peyton, we're glad you learned about Jesus and God, and we're glad that your grandparents are raising you up in the word, or exposing you to the word. And Mark chapter 16, verse 5, the women mentioned in Matthew 16:1 went to the tomb where they had laid the body of Jesus, and they saw a young man sitting on the side of the tomb. That young man was an angel. And any time that you see an angel described, it's as a young man. So I believe that we will all appear to be approximately 30 years old. I say appear to be, because, you know, age really is irrelevant when we're in our spiritual bodies. I know it's important now because you're seven years old, and then you're going to be eight, and then you're going to be nine. In spiritual bodies, age really is insignificant.

Catherine in Tennessee, "Can I suggest to all who have wondered, could I really be of God's elect? Tell them to order CD 30742, Family." I hope it's like me and gives me an aha moment. Okay, she recommends Family 30742 if you wonder if you're one of God's elect. I'm out of time. I want you all to know that I love you a great deal because you enjoy studying God's word in depth. God loves you for it too. We're brought to you by your tithes and offerings. If we've helped you, help us keep coming to you and bring the word to others as well. One thing that's most important, though, beloved, and it's this: you stay in His word every day. Every day. In Father's word is a good day, even with trouble. You know why? Because Jesus is the Living Word. Hearing God's word with understanding will change your life. We hope you have enjoyed studying God's word here on the Shepherd's Chapel Family Bible Study Hour with Pastor Dennis Murray. If you would like to receive more information concerning Shepherd's Chapel, you may request our free introductory offer. Our introductory offer contains the Mark of the Beast CD, our monthly newsletter with a written Bible study, a CD catalog, and a list of written reference works available through Shepherd's Chapel. To request our free introductory offer by telephone, call 800-643-4645, 24 hours a day. You may also request our introductory offer by writing to Shepherd's Chapel, P.O. Box 416, Gravette, Arkansas 72736. Once again, that's Shepherd's Chapel, P.O. Box 416, Gravette, Arkansas 72736. We invite you to join us for the next in-depth Bible study each weekday at the same time. Thank you for watching today's program, and God bless you.