Root of All Evil & Key to All Success

Tikkun Global

Jerusalem, Israel

When his brothers saw that their father loved him best of all his brothers, they hated him so much that they could not say a kind word to him… So his brothers were furious at him.” (Genesis 37:4, 11)

Jealousy leads to being offended, to hatred and even murder. 

Let’s remember that God is totally-sovereign and totally-good. He wants to bless each of us with good things. So, what could possibly go wrong? Well… if He gives each one of us good things, then you could look at mine and say, “Hey, how come you got that?” And I could look at yours and say, “How come you got that?”

It would be stupid if it wasn’t so true! 

Joseph’s brothers were jealous of him because their father loved him more. It started with Leah and Rachel – the two mothers. They were both jealous of each other! Rachel was jealous of Leah because she had more kids. And Leah was jealous of Rachel because she was prettier! Their mutual offense impacted their children's lives. In fact, they called their children by names that reflected this tension. What a horrible thing. 

A generation before that – Jacob and Esau had a similar dynamic. 

And before that, Isaac and Ishmael. 

And all the way back to Adam and Eve.  

They owned all of creation, and they had two sons - 50% of all the wealth on planet earth would go to one son, and 50% to the other. How could you mess it up?! Cain became jealous of Abel, then angry, and then killed him. God warned Cain, saying, “Look. You could overcome this. You’re becoming offended. Evil is waiting to pounce on you. You can say no to it, but you’ve got to make that decision” (Genesis 4:5-6 paraphrased).

It all started with an archangel who became jealous of God and said, “I ought to be worshiped, too.” (Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28:12-18) His jealousy caused offense and rebellion, and he became Satan the enemy. Then he came down to tempt humans to worship him instead of God. Sin is the stupidest thing you can do, because sin makes you submit to Satan's will and worship him without even realizing it. Despite how foolish that is, every human being has continued to sin through the generations.

If you’re offended, you look at the whole world as if you’re the victim of everything that happens (victimization). In response, you start to hurt everybody else (weaponizing). And you feel you have the right to do so (entitlement). That’s a demonic pattern. 

One who succeeded in overcoming it was Joseph. When Joseph was sent down into Egypt, he was tested with two hard challenges:

     1. The temptation to take offense: his brothers had betrayed him and tried to kill him; then sold him into slavery. In Egypt he was falsely accused and put in a dungeon. 

       2. The daily temptation of sexual seduction by Potiphar’s wife. 

Today these are still two huge challenges: the murderous spirit exemplified in jihadism, and the harlot spirit of sexual immorality. 

It’s amazing that Joseph passed the tests. Most people would have secretly nursed their offense until it turned into murder and adultery. But Joseph turned it into character-building. All those experiences were training him to become his generation’s greatest leader, ultimately saving his family and the whole region from starvation. 

Years later, after Jacob died, the brothers thought “That’s it. He’s been waiting all these years to take his revenge. We’re gonna get it.” Joseph’s reply was totally different from what they expected. He told them:

“You intended evil toward me, but God intended it for good in order to do as it is this day to give life to a great many people.” (Genesis 50:15-20)

That’s the attitude to have! Joseph had to believe these two things deep down: that God is totally sovereign and totally good. It’s a simple concept to understand, but so difficult to put into action when something goes totally wrong in your life.

Apply this principle to whatever situation you find yourself in. Pause and say, “God is in control of my life. He’s all powerful and He’s for me. Therefore, if I just stay with Him and maintain the right attitude, what looks like evil, what was meant for evil, God will turn to good.” 

During the hard times God is building your character. Your struggle to believe that God is good and all powerful when people are mistreating you or bad things are happening is building the character qualities of Yeshua in you. 

The disciples of John the Baptist came to him expecting John to be jealous and offended that more people were following the “ministry” of Yeshua. That was a demonic temptation. Thank God John resisted. This is the amazing thing he said: “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven... He must increase and I must decrease” (John 3:27-30). 

This is a radical theological statement: total sovereignty and total benevolence. It’s not easy to believe. This is the key to not being jealous: even if somebody got something undeservedly, God temporarily allowed it to happen. No one can steal what God intends for you. 

Like John, we must remember we’re not the Messiah. Yeshua is the focus, not you. So, there’s no reason to be offended, because it’s not about you. I’m here serving the One who’s going to get all the credit. I’m not a victim. I can take part in the joy of Yeshua and of other people. When others are blessed, I can rejoice together with them. 

Yeshua must increase and I must decrease. That’s the right attitude, the key to a blessed life. What appears to be a bad situation is an opportunity for Yeshua to increase and for me to decrease. Ultimately the purpose of our life is to become more like Him. So, the worse the situation is, the greater the opportunity. All I need to do is let Him increase a bit and myself decrease. 

In the terrible moments when Yeshua was carrying His cross towards His death, women were weeping for Him. He looked at them and said in effect, “Why are you weeping? Don’t weep for me. I’m not having a bad day. If this is what’s happening to me, it’s in God’s hands; and it will turn out for great good!” (Luke 23:28 paraphrased) 

“All things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) We ought to proclaim every day, “All things are working together for my good because I surrender myself to Yeshua and turn myself over to God’s plan, His goodness, His light, His love.” And everything in the universe begins to synergize and work together for our good.