Transcript: Episode 0066

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Welcome to the Stone Choir Podcast.

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I am Corey J.

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Mahler.

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And I'm still Woe.

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On today's Stone Choir, we're going to be discussing jealousy.

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Before we get into the meat of the episode, just a couple brief minutes of housekeeping.

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First, I apologize that we did not have an episode last week.

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We had originally planned last week to do an episode on inheritance.

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And towards the end of preparing for that, as I was thinking of my remarks, to introduce one of the things necessary for inheritance, which was jealousy, my first 15-minute preamble got to be 30 and 35 and 40 minutes, and I started talking to Corey about it, and we realized there's an entire episode there just about jealousy, and it's actually really important to do it before the inheritance one.

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So we try to get an episode out every week, but at the same time, when we lay down an episode, we're putting something in a library.

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That's really how we see it, because it's how almost everyone ends up listening to our episodes.

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We love that people are listening live, but most of the people who listen to this episode won't be listening to it.

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You know, the day after we record it, they'll be listening to it months or years later.

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So as a result, it's more important for us to have each episode be deserving of being in that library than hitting an arbitrary schedule.

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So I apologize for the recent unreliability.

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It's not us being flaky.

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It's just that sometimes doing it right means putting it off a little bit.

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So this week is jealousy, and next week will be about inheritance.

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Second brief housekeeping item, the challenge coins.

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We mentioned those a few weeks ago and then haven't said anything.

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Haven't said anything, A, because there's no news and B, because I don't want to clutter up these library episodes with kind of housekeeping things that aren't relevant.

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Sorry that we don't have any new news.

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Cory is waiting for the proof to come back because we're doing Moai head.

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It's going to have a 3D effect.

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We need to make sure that actually looks right because you can't really photograph it.

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So as soon as that is, as soon as he gets a proof and we have final news, we'll be saying a lot more about it.

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We didn't initially intend to make the announcement when we did.

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We didn't want to like keep people in limbo.

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But when Cory put up the test site for ordering, people started discovering and started ordering and asking questions.

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And so that's the reason that we did it before we were really quite completely ready to go.

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So if you've ordered and you're wondering for news, apologize for that.

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It's not that we're again being flake.

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It's just we're trying to make sure we get it right.

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And that's more important than getting it as quickly as possible.

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This is not a place where things get done fast.

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They got done properly.

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And hopefully that can happen at the same time.

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But when one gives, it's not going to be quality.

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So on the subject of jealousy, I want to first point back to an example that I've given in the past.

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I'm going to reiterate here.

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The term itself, the word in the English language, is one that most people don't really think about properly, which is part of the impetus for doing this episode at all.

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But it's not simply a lack of understanding of a definition of a word.

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It's a misunderstanding of the polarity or the vector, of the mechanics of what's being said when you use a term like jealousy.

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When I talk about vector, you know, there's a direction.

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There's a thing, and that's moving in a direction.

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Polarity, there's an orientation between two things.

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I've said before, one of the very most important things I've ever learned in my entire life was how to diagram sentences in sixth grade, because it visually laid out the structure of the English language mechanically, like every word in a sentence is part of a machine that's doing something.

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And unfortunately, that's not how people today think about language.

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Our language, even though a lot of our communication is now written on the Internet, it's not properly written language.

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It's not proofread, it's not grammatically correct, and I'm certainly guilty of that too.

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I will take advantage of the fact that there are things that are informal, and that's fine.

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But the problem is that most people fundamentally treat the English language as though it's just an oral language.

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And the flow of language is one thing, but when you forget about the structure, it's very easy to miss crucial details.

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So what we're talking about today with jealousy, I'm going to give a couple other words that are typically treated as synonyms that are absolutely not synonyms.

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That would be the troika of jealousy, envy and covetousness.

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We typically use those interchangeably, and probably most people listening wouldn't be able to tell you the difference between them, but each of them is fundamentally different.

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And before we give the definitions, I want to just give a very simple heuristic that you can use to remember from now on which one you should use in which sense.

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Jealousy is first person, it's internal.

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You can only be jealous of that which you already possess.

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Envy applies to another person.

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So you envy that someone else has something.

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You're jealous of what you have.

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You envy that they have something.

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And then when you covet what they have, you're coveting an object.

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So those are the three distinctions.

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And it might seem very fiddly, but the reason that we're laying this out up front is that when we talk today about jealousy, and not to bury the lead, but jealous is one of the names of God that's revealed in Scripture.

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So we're not talking about a bad thing that we're trying to make good.

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Jealousy properly understood, the term jealous is a neutral term, like hatred.

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When we did the episode on Perfect Hatred, we made the scriptural case that hatred itself is neutral, even though it sounds terrible.

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But to properly understand it, you understand there are cases where things are rightly hated.

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That's also the case with jealousy.

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When you properly understand jealousy, there are things of which you are rightly jealous, the things which are yours, which are supposed to be yours.

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And then having that jealousy, there are good and bad ways to handle it, and that's what this episode is going to be about.

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But that is distinct from envy and from covetousness.

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So I'll give an example that I've also given before.

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It's deliberately inflammatory, it's deliberately a bit salacious, specifically because it's going to bypass in some people the reasonable comprehension and trigger an emotional response, which is the reason I'm using this example.

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Because in part of what we're talking about today, just as in the Perfect Hatred episode, part of what we're talking about is a feeling.

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Jealousy is a feeling, it's an orientation.

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It's not simply a thought, something that's explained.

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So the salacious example is you, dear listener, have a pretty wife.

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You are rightly jealous of her.

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She is yours.

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And we'll go into detail about what that means.

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Because I think we all understand, you know, maybe it's from police procedurals or from hearing people talk.

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When you hear the word jealous, one of the most common things, especially watch things like Law and Order, your brain is naturally going to autocomplete it with jealous husband or jealous boyfriend.

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Who's the first suspect whenever there's a murder?

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It's the jealous boyfriend.

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So today there's this completely negative opinion of what the word means.

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And to be frank, we're not saying you should be a jealous husband, you should be a jealous boyfriend.

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We're saying that there are ways that this jealousy will either be good or evil.

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And just like with hatred, most examples in the world are evil.

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But the question is not whether the thing is always evil.

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The question is, are there examples where it is actually appropriate?

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And so if you have a pretty wife, she's yours.

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There's a possessory interest there where you are naturally jealous of your wife.

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This is, she's yours.

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You say, she's mine.

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If I'm being wicked, what would I be doing in interfering with your marriage?

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I can't be jealous because I have no possessory interest in either of you.

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I can't be jealous of you because you're not mine.

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I can't be jealous of her because there's no relationship of possession from me outside of your marriage into something that is godly.

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I can envy.

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I can envy you because she's yours.

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So if I am sinning and I am inserting envy into your marriage, that is how it works.

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I'm not jealous of you.

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I'm envious.

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And I'm envious of you because I want your wife, because I'm coveting.

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So two of those are basically always going to be sins.

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The envy and the covetousness are basically always going to be sins.

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In the historic Western numbering of the Ten Commandments, you have commandments nine and ten.

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Nine is about real property and ten is about chattels.

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If I covet your wife, I'm coveting something that's not mine.

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I'm coveting something that's yours.

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I'm saying I want the thing that's yours.

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And then separately, I would envy you because you have it.

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And so I want to just lay out this distinction, because as we talk today about jealousy, we're not talking about envy and we're not talking about covetousness at all.

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When we use the term jealousy, it completely excludes the idea that I see that you have something and I want it, or that I want the thing that you have, which are two very closely related but completely distinct types of things, because there's a polarity.

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There's a degree of possession.

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What is the order of operations there?

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One more superficial example before we move on.

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Corey and I both have beards.

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Corey has a great big bushy beard, a full manly beard.

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Half the guys follow me on Twitter have fantastic beards.

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I do not have a great big manly beard.

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I keep it short because if I tried to grow it out, it would look like crap.

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I like my beard.

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I keep it short because it's easy to maintain.

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I don't want a long beard.

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I look better with it.

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It keeps me warm in the winter, which is about half the year where I live, and it's basically zero maintenance.

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So I'm very happy with my beard.

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But at the same time, I envy Corey for his ability to grow a full beard.

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So I don't covet his beard or any of the beards of the guys who follow me online because I wouldn't want to have their beard.

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So I don't covet anyone else's beard.

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I like mine.

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But I envy their ability to grow it.

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Yeah, I'm not confessing a senior.

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I don't think like it's this isn't Vanna.

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It's just it's an example of the structure of the words that we're talking about here.

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And am I jealous of my own beard?

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I mean, I'm not going to shave it because again, there's their upsides to the way it is.

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I wish I could be fuller and thicker and that would be cool.

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But even if that were possible, I still wouldn't do it.

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So everything that we're talking about here today has to do with possession.

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It has to do with what's mine, what's yours, what's God's, and how we treat those things in those relationships.

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So throughout this time here today, as you hear us talking about jealousy, please remember, we are not talking about envy.

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We're not talking about covetousness.

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That is to say, we are not talking about reaching outside of that, which is ours, to someone else's.

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Jealousy is completely internal, whether it's good or it's bad.

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You can only be jealous of that for which you have a possessory interest.

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To dwell on the language aspect a little more, prepositions are one of those things in really any language, at least any language of which I am aware, that can get a little fuzzy.

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They can be a little difficult because they don't really have an essential meaning, as it were.

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They are really specific to the language that uses them, and that's why different prepositions will be used across languages for the exact same thing, but a totally different preposition.

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The lexical scope of a preposition from one language to the next is basically not predictable.

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And that plays into this because obviously the word jealous, to be jealous, is always paired with one of essentially two prepositions in English.

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You're either jealous of or jealous for.

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And I want to distinguish those, even though they are used not entirely consistently for all writers in English.

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They use them somewhat interchangeably.

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But the sense we are discussing is to be jealous of.

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One is jealous of one's wife.

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And the reason this can be a little misleading to most modern English ears is that this usage, while not unique, is an outlier.

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Because usually when something is, you know, verb of, the referent for that is something wholly external.

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So if you'd said, this room smells of lavender.

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Well, that's wholly external to smell.

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The lavender part of that.

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That's not the case with of.

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With the referent for jealous of, it's really internal, because that jealousy is a wholly internal matter.

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Yes, the thing of which you are jealous is external, but it is different in kind from the way in which we usually use that construction in English.

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And so we've sort of been misled by, as Will mentioned, police procedurals and other things, where they really emphasize this negative sense of jealousy.

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And this is something when we were doing research for this episode, obviously I knew that in German, jealousy in the positive sense and the negative sense, you don't need the words, they're not relevant here, but in the positive sense and the negative sense, are distinguished in German.

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They're different terms.

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I could not find a single other language that does that, which I thought was odd.

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I figured that maybe one of the other Germanic languages would do it, but no.

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And I checked some Asian languages, and I checked many European languages.

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I could not find another language that distinguishes in that way.

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And so this is not a problem that is, or not even really a problem, but a potential problem, a point to which we have to pay particular attention, but it's not unique to English.

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And it occurs in Greek as well.

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So we do have this also in the underlying words, as it were, in Scripture with regard to the Greek, this positive and negative sense of jealousy.

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And so obviously the positive sense is to be jealous of one's wife.

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It is to have that proper orientation toward the possessory interest that you have in your possession.

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And that's true whether it's your water bottle, your phone, or your wife, your oxen, whatever you happen to have, or whatever things are listed in the Ninth and Tenth Commandment, for instance.

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You are to be jealous of those things because they have been given to you by God.

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But this negative sense that we also have that the word carries along with it in basically every language, German accepted, for some reason of which I'm not aware, probably related to Scripture, quite frankly, but this negative sense that comes along with the word jealous is a separate thing.

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That is when it turns into a negative emotion.

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That is when you're dealing with suspicion and hatred and anger.

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Essentially, what that negative sense is, is when due to some sort of fear of the loss of a thing of which you are rightly jealous, you experience this other negative emotion, this other negative reaction.

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And in English, we also call that negative reaction jealousy.

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And so we are speaking of in this episode, we are focusing on that positive sense.

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There is no other term in English for the negative sense.

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I was tempted to create one.

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I may do so at some point, but jealousy encompasses both.

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I would say we should focus on the positive aspect, not just in this episode, but in our usage of it in our daily lives, because the preponderant usage in the negative sense has basically led to almost the erasure of the positive sense of jealousy.

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And as Christians, we need that positive sense of jealousy, because as Woe said, it is one of the names of God, first and foremost.

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But second, it relates to many parts of Scripture.

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It relates to the Ten Commandments.

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It relates to all sorts of gifts and blessings from God.

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We should be jealous of these things, because they have been given to us by God or created by God.

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And I also mentioned that it is not necessarily just jealous of, but jealous for.

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I'll go over the jealous for part now.

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Jealous for is when you are expressing rightful jealousy on behalf of another.

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And the reason we have to distinguish this and pay attention to this is because that form also occurs in Scripture.

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There are men who are praised because they were jealous for God's honor.

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Now, obviously, God's honor does not belong to any man, except for Jesus Christ.

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But God's honor does not belong to any one of us.

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And so we cannot be jealous of God's honor.

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However, when we see others abusing God's name, blaspheming, whatever it happens to be, we can be jealous for God's honor, jealous for God's rightful praise and glory.

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That is jealousy rightfully expressed on behalf of another.

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And so, obviously, God rightfully is jealous of his honor, his glory, his name.

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When we do something that is in pursuit of the rightful expression of that in human relations and in human actions, we are being jealous for those things.

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And so it's important to bear in mind some of these moving parts of how the language works.

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One of the things that has become very common in modern language usage, particularly in English, for a number of reasons, not just because English speakers have become lazy, but because English is the lingua franca, a slightly ironic term at this point, but it is the universal language, as it were, of the world.

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And so you have a lot of different groups pulling on it in different directions.

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And it's very easy to let some of these structural components that are necessary for the language to remain useful at a high level, we can sort of let those slip away if we're not careful.

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So we have to pay attention to what it is we're saying, and why we're saying it, and what it actually means.

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Because if we don't do that, this bleeds over into the written language as well, because of course languages are first and foremost spoken.

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You learn to speak before you learn to write.

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You learn to speak before you learn to read.

00:20:24.771 --> 00:20:27.571
But those are two connected things.

00:20:27.591 --> 00:20:31.691
Yes, for most people, they're going to speak and write differently.

00:20:31.711 --> 00:20:38.211
You are going to sound different in your written words from your spoken words, some of us a little less so.

00:20:38.911 --> 00:20:41.231
But most people sound different.

00:20:41.291 --> 00:20:44.051
However, the one informs the other.

00:20:44.071 --> 00:20:45.131
There's a feedback loop there.

00:20:45.151 --> 00:20:55.111
If you start to get lazy about these things in the way you speak, that will bleed over not just into how you write, but into how you read.

00:20:55.951 --> 00:21:06.511
And so if you don't pay attention to these things when you are discussing them, when you are speaking about them, you will start to slip in what you do when you are reading.

00:21:07.371 --> 00:21:15.391
And so you'll read scripture, and you'll see some of these words, some of these formulations, some of these phrases, and you'll miss what they actually mean.

00:21:16.431 --> 00:21:21.011
You'll see jealous, and you'll think it's a negative thing, but then it says it's of God.

00:21:21.331 --> 00:21:22.631
Well, now you have a problem.

00:21:23.451 --> 00:21:35.771
Because if you think that jealousy is wholly negative, or solely negative, and yet it is positive of God, for whom there is no such thing as a negative attribute, well, now you have a very real problem.

00:21:37.311 --> 00:21:55.151
And so as Christians, we need to pay attention to these moving parts, and we need to be more careful about how we use these things, particularly when it is something as core as a word that is used as a name of God in Scripture, something that is explicitly said to be one of His attributes.

00:21:55.791 --> 00:21:57.371
He is a jealous God.

00:21:58.691 --> 00:22:03.671
God is not guilty of some sin, as the modern world would have us believe jealousy is.

00:22:04.671 --> 00:22:08.811
God is rightfully jealous of the things that are rightfully His.

00:22:09.151 --> 00:22:15.071
And in His case, of course, that's everything, because everything belongs to the Creator, because everything is created.

00:22:16.751 --> 00:22:30.531
I think probably the best illustration of the point you just made about the difference between jealous of and jealous for is that jealousy and zeal are effectively synonyms.

00:22:31.091 --> 00:22:32.351
It's the same root word.

00:22:33.151 --> 00:22:41.231
And although you have zeal and jeal, we don't have a word jeal or gel, but we do have zeal.

00:22:42.031 --> 00:22:46.231
And the crucial thing to understand is that they mean the same thing.

00:22:46.611 --> 00:22:53.131
There's a very subtle nuance in English between them, but it's a nuance of the same meaning.

00:22:53.871 --> 00:22:57.211
So typically we would say we are zealous for.

00:22:57.551 --> 00:23:15.931
We are zealous for the Lord, which I realized earlier today is humorously one of the things that Corey and I were denounced for by the LCMS a year ago when Harrison put out that screed that denounced us, that damned us for absolutist ideologies.

00:23:16.731 --> 00:23:26.651
That was half a step removed from damning zeal, which if it's zeal for being evil, yeah, then it's the evil part that's bad.

00:23:27.211 --> 00:23:32.131
But zeal in and of itself is a good thing, even when it's for God.

00:23:32.651 --> 00:23:35.431
And I think that we're seeing a lot of that play out today.

00:23:36.811 --> 00:23:45.591
Certainly we see it happening on the internet, but I think it's happening really in a lot of men's lives where men are finally becoming zealous for the Lord.

00:23:46.531 --> 00:23:55.771
And it's something that gets accused by many pastors as immaturity, that this is childish, that this is...

00:23:56.431 --> 00:23:58.251
It's childish zeal.

00:23:58.271 --> 00:24:00.711
It's youthful zeal in a negative sense.

00:24:01.051 --> 00:24:06.391
That only a child, only someone immature, would actually have zeal for the Lord.

00:24:06.891 --> 00:24:19.491
Because by the time somebody gets through seminary and they've been frocked, they've kind of turned into something else, where the idea of having zeal is potentially a threat if it's not coming from them.

00:24:20.151 --> 00:24:23.471
That's something that I'm seeing happen all the time on the internet.

00:24:23.831 --> 00:24:28.451
The men who are actually zealous, who are trying to get things right, are seen as a threat.

00:24:28.871 --> 00:24:35.491
Whether or not what they're saying is true or not, it's threatening that a man would be zealous for the Lord.

00:24:35.871 --> 00:24:39.931
And I think that's a real spiritual problem that all of our churches are facing.

00:24:40.391 --> 00:24:47.391
If they're men who are zealous for the Lord, even if it's coming in part from a spiritual immaturity, that's something that should be channeled.

00:24:47.611 --> 00:24:53.931
That's something that should be refined and turned into something that's the beautiful essence of what's there.

00:24:54.291 --> 00:24:55.751
Because zeal for the Lord is good.

00:24:56.231 --> 00:25:05.431
It's when you stop worrying about for the Lord and just want to be zealous, when you turn into a zealot, which again is another completely negative word today.

00:25:05.931 --> 00:25:09.371
But zealot is basically one who is jealous.

00:25:10.071 --> 00:25:14.651
And then, of course, our fundamental point here is, of what are you jealous?

00:25:15.011 --> 00:25:16.931
For what are you zealous?

00:25:18.151 --> 00:25:20.611
What is the animating force behind the thing?

00:25:20.631 --> 00:25:27.391
So it's just interesting that when you look back, those words both enter into the English language from the same origin point.

00:25:29.251 --> 00:25:32.751
As we mentioned, I want to give the exact citation so that you can see for yourself.

00:25:33.791 --> 00:25:43.271
In Exodus 34, it is said, for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous god.

00:25:44.211 --> 00:25:52.871
As Corey just said, when God says he's jealous, it doesn't need a modifier, and it's unique to him that he doesn't need a modifier.

00:25:53.311 --> 00:25:56.691
When you're talking about God, you don't need to worry, well, what is he jealous of?

00:25:57.031 --> 00:26:00.351
If to say that I am jealous doesn't make any sense.

00:26:00.891 --> 00:26:06.931
There has to be some operant upon which my jealousy is acting.

00:26:07.251 --> 00:26:09.171
That's not the case with God because he's a creator.

00:26:09.931 --> 00:26:12.131
Everything is created by God.

00:26:12.391 --> 00:26:12.991
It's his.

00:26:13.191 --> 00:26:14.831
So he's jealous because it's all his.

00:26:15.631 --> 00:26:29.051
And this is crucial because I think that our ability to even think about these things today is almost completely dominated by psychological terms, psychological thought.

00:26:29.651 --> 00:26:42.111
There are people who will actually make fun of the Triune God for creating us to worship him and say, well, that's a symptom of low self-esteem, or this guy's got some problems.

00:26:42.411 --> 00:26:44.831
Why does he need to create people just to worship him?

00:26:45.591 --> 00:26:58.471
When we try to think of it in human terms and then evilly, because this is not simply a human perception, a human neutrally perceiving that the Almighty is acting should be terrified.

00:26:58.491 --> 00:26:59.751
Like, okay, the Almighty's here.

00:26:59.771 --> 00:27:01.331
I'm going to not screw around.

00:27:02.011 --> 00:27:09.691
But the atheist, when he's confronted with the Almighty, wants to mock and deride and psychologize and say, well, something's wrong with God.

00:27:09.711 --> 00:27:11.291
Why does he need to be jealous of anything?

00:27:11.711 --> 00:27:25.211
That's part of what the threat is to our Christian faith that we're addressing in this episode, because suddenly when God is talking about himself in a certain way, saying, I'm the creator of all things, you're mine, we should give thanks.

00:27:25.231 --> 00:27:27.411
We should say, yeah, amen, that's true.

00:27:27.911 --> 00:27:34.111
Thank God, and oh boy, I'm in trouble, and I need salvation, and God has the answer to that too.

00:27:34.611 --> 00:27:39.651
That's the correct response to hearing that God, his name is jealous.

00:27:40.571 --> 00:27:55.551
The sinful response is the one that has really kind of been baked into the modern psyche, which is that anyone who says that anything is mine is somehow defective, that it's a sign of weakness to say this is mine.

00:27:56.511 --> 00:27:59.871
So, you know, we're talking about a husband being properly jealous.

00:28:00.291 --> 00:28:02.851
Obviously, there are terrible ways that that manifests.

00:28:03.331 --> 00:28:17.511
It's probably the more common case at this point for a husband who, even if his jealousy of his wife maybe at some point it came from a good place, it turns into something evil because he's a sinner.

00:28:18.291 --> 00:28:21.571
And we're not justifying that in the slightest.

00:28:21.991 --> 00:28:22.811
We'll make that clear.

00:28:22.831 --> 00:28:25.411
We're not saying all jealousy is always good all the time.

00:28:25.691 --> 00:28:31.051
Jealousy is a neutral term, but a husband's wife is his.

00:28:31.711 --> 00:28:32.751
Not mine, not yours.

00:28:33.111 --> 00:28:35.631
One wife to one man, she belongs to him.

00:28:35.931 --> 00:28:39.651
And anyone who interferes with that is his problem.

00:28:40.031 --> 00:28:47.971
And he is right to be jealous of that relationship, but the manner in which that jealousy manifests can either be good or evil.

00:28:48.631 --> 00:28:57.811
The appropriate manifestation of a husband's jealousy for his wife is to protect her, to care for her, to do all the good things a husband is supposed to do.

00:28:58.311 --> 00:29:04.551
And that includes guarding her from men who would seek to interfere with their relationship that God has ordained.

00:29:06.051 --> 00:29:06.951
It can also go wrong.

00:29:06.971 --> 00:29:07.951
It can go horribly wrong.

00:29:08.171 --> 00:29:17.231
It can lead to the point that it does end up as a plot on a procedural drama, where a man's jealousy becomes disordered and then hateful and murderous.

00:29:17.371 --> 00:29:18.711
And that's wicked.

00:29:18.931 --> 00:29:19.851
She's your wife.

00:29:19.871 --> 00:29:20.791
You don't injure her.

00:29:20.831 --> 00:29:25.071
You don't harm that which is yours, frankly, because it's yours.

00:29:26.411 --> 00:29:28.871
Why would you harm that which is a blessing to you?

00:29:29.211 --> 00:29:30.711
That's evil.

00:29:31.091 --> 00:29:32.291
And that's also jealousy.

00:29:32.431 --> 00:29:34.091
It's the evil form of jealousy.

00:29:34.571 --> 00:29:36.531
So the neutrality is crucial.

00:29:36.931 --> 00:29:45.231
There's another verse that uses exactly the same word that the Greek does in Exodus, in Galatians, in Galatians 5.

00:29:45.911 --> 00:29:47.771
Now the works of the flesh are evident.

00:29:48.251 --> 00:30:01.091
Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.

00:30:01.591 --> 00:30:06.611
I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

00:30:07.331 --> 00:30:13.371
Jealousy is right in the middle of that, and it's exactly the same word that God uses as his own name.

00:30:14.151 --> 00:30:23.671
So as Corey said, like, it's crucial that we understand that there's a distinction between that which is good and that which is evil, because unfortunately in our language, it's the same word.

00:30:24.371 --> 00:30:36.731
And so part we're doing this episode is that by the end, we want to be able to make the case that it is a Christian exhortation to say that you should be jealous of certain things.

00:30:37.051 --> 00:30:39.131
You should be zealous for certain things.

00:30:39.511 --> 00:30:52.111
But the only way we can get there, and you can listen to that with a clean conscience in view of things like Galatians 5, is if you understand it, we're not talking about the sinful type of jealousy, which is why at the outset we excluded envy and covetousness.

00:30:52.231 --> 00:30:53.391
It's got nothing to do with that.

00:30:53.851 --> 00:30:55.831
It doesn't have to do with what anyone else has.

00:30:56.091 --> 00:30:57.911
It has to do with what you have.

00:30:58.591 --> 00:31:05.171
As Corey said, the things that we have are functions of stewardship, whatever they are.

00:31:05.411 --> 00:31:10.311
Maybe your home or your body, your wealth, you name it.

00:31:10.391 --> 00:31:13.291
Anything that you have is a gift from God.

00:31:13.331 --> 00:31:14.771
They're blessings from God.

00:31:15.551 --> 00:31:21.791
When we did the episode on the Fair Lord, I talked about when I had a stroke and suddenly my arm died.

00:31:21.811 --> 00:31:23.931
I'm like, well, that's not my arm anymore for a while.

00:31:24.171 --> 00:31:25.111
I hope to get it back.

00:31:25.451 --> 00:31:32.151
But in that moment, I realized that something that was physically attached to me was also a temporary gift.

00:31:33.011 --> 00:31:37.051
And that, you know, as a good reminder of mortality, someday all this goes away.

00:31:37.071 --> 00:31:37.451
I'm dead.

00:31:37.811 --> 00:31:38.611
There's nothing left.

00:31:39.151 --> 00:31:40.191
I have to trust in God.

00:31:40.211 --> 00:31:42.271
We have to trust in God all the time.

00:31:42.811 --> 00:31:48.071
And understanding that the gifts that we have, whatever they are, are ours to be good stewards.

00:31:48.751 --> 00:31:55.391
And so, you know, having a stroke, looking at a dead arm, it crossed my mind some of the sins that I committed with that arm.

00:31:55.411 --> 00:31:56.391
Like, well, it's dead now.

00:31:56.471 --> 00:31:59.371
You know, if I get it back, am I going to do a better job next time?

00:32:01.391 --> 00:32:25.351
The stewardship that we have of the things that are given to us is the reason that jealousy matters, because if it's not my body, if it's not my house, if it's not my community, my family, if those things are, if I can't say mine, then the relationship that I have with my possessions relative to what God has said is fundamentally broken.

00:32:26.031 --> 00:32:30.531
God has given us all these things in our lives to do His will with them.

00:32:30.811 --> 00:32:34.951
Whatever good works He prepared for us, He gives us stuff to do it.

00:32:35.391 --> 00:32:36.571
And we're given different things.

00:32:36.831 --> 00:32:42.171
Some men are given more intelligence, some men are given more strength, more wisdom, more courage, more wealth.

00:32:42.731 --> 00:32:46.851
Whatever you have, most men are just completely boring, normal guys.

00:32:47.051 --> 00:32:48.111
That's a blessing too.

00:32:48.411 --> 00:32:50.291
That's what gets the whole world done.

00:32:50.651 --> 00:32:54.111
Guys who don't have anything in particular, but they show up every day.

00:32:54.451 --> 00:32:56.131
That is a blessing from God too.

00:32:56.491 --> 00:33:07.831
It's something that has to be revered and respected, and recognize that that stewardship of whatever they have is equally important as anything for some guy who has something bigger and flashier.

00:33:08.331 --> 00:33:20.831
The stewardship of the things of which you are jealous, the things you can say, these are mine, the Christian understands that when I say this is mine, at the same time, that's a confession that God gave it to me.

00:33:21.631 --> 00:33:27.131
And so when we think about jealousy, it cannot simply be in terms of mine, mine, mine.

00:33:27.551 --> 00:33:28.751
That becomes evil jealousy.

00:33:28.991 --> 00:33:34.731
That's how you end up in a state where you're only sinning with the jealous possession of a thing.

00:33:35.571 --> 00:33:44.551
When on the other hand, you look jealously at the things that God has given you for which you are a steward, then that jealousy is also zeal.

00:33:44.811 --> 00:33:48.651
It's the favorable in English notion of the thing.

00:33:49.551 --> 00:34:01.571
If you are zeal for the energy that you have for sharing the Gospel or roofing houses or whatever thing that you do that benefits your neighbor, if you're zealous about that, that's something that God has given you.

00:34:01.591 --> 00:34:07.451
It's your gift, and you're a steward of it because God wants you to be, and you know it, and you recognize it.

00:34:08.011 --> 00:34:09.711
That's the good version of it.

00:34:10.031 --> 00:34:23.911
But in either case, whether it's the negative one where you're thinking, mine, mine, mine, or the positive one, you're like, this is mine, I have to do something good with it, both of those are coming from jealousy, from understanding this belongs to me.

00:34:24.591 --> 00:34:27.251
The thing that God has given me, no one else can do anything with.

00:34:27.671 --> 00:34:38.911
If you're given particular gifts, and you're so lazy that you never do anything with them, if you just bury them in the ground, so that when God shows up, you can say, well, here he is, I'm giving you back what you gave me.

00:34:39.471 --> 00:34:42.071
He's going to call you wicked and say, why didn't you do anything with it?

00:34:42.191 --> 00:34:43.251
There's a parable about that.

00:34:43.271 --> 00:34:44.391
It's probably ringing some bells.

00:34:44.851 --> 00:34:45.951
That's what we're talking about here.

00:34:46.271 --> 00:34:49.311
When we're given things and we're stewards of them, they're ours.

00:34:49.531 --> 00:34:53.211
We're to be jealous of them, but we're to use them in God's service.

00:34:53.631 --> 00:35:03.471
And so for men, the distinction between evil jealousy and good jealousy is understanding where the stuff's coming from in the first place.

00:35:04.091 --> 00:35:16.391
When we look at the second table of the law, you have in the Western numbering, fifth commandment, don't kill, sixth commandment, don't commit adultery, seventh, don't steal, eighth, don't slander, and the ninth and tenth are about coveting.

00:35:16.691 --> 00:35:18.291
Those are all property interests.

00:35:18.671 --> 00:35:21.631
Those are all things that are given to us individually.

00:35:21.951 --> 00:35:23.291
God says, this is yours.

00:35:23.751 --> 00:35:25.251
No one else is supposed to mess with it.

00:35:25.511 --> 00:35:30.751
And the law of God and the law of man is supposed to preserve those property interests.

00:35:31.451 --> 00:35:32.071
Jealousy.

00:35:32.191 --> 00:35:37.411
We're supposed to jealously guard that, which is ours, which, as I said, is not mine, mine, mine.

00:35:37.751 --> 00:35:39.171
It's God gave this to me.

00:35:39.491 --> 00:35:40.611
Therefore, this is mine.

00:35:40.911 --> 00:35:41.671
I will guard it.

00:35:41.691 --> 00:35:44.951
I will be zealous for it because it's from the Lord.

00:35:46.091 --> 00:35:55.851
When it comes to the two terms that we have, as mentioned in English, jealous and zealous, essentially the reason is because the former passed through French.

00:35:56.031 --> 00:36:00.131
So we can blame the French for changing that Z to a J over time.

00:36:00.531 --> 00:36:04.391
I believe first it was a G in French, but at any rate, that's why we have that.

00:36:04.411 --> 00:36:10.251
We just took them from two different languages, ultimately from Latin and Greek.

00:36:11.591 --> 00:36:21.291
But as Woe said, they are essentially the same term with a little bit of different nuance, and that's important and worth restating, so you can bear that in mind.

00:36:21.611 --> 00:36:31.111
But when someone tries to denigrate being zealous for the faith, immediately what should come to mind, of course, is Psalm 69.

00:36:32.091 --> 00:36:38.371
For zeal for your house has consumed me, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

00:36:38.991 --> 00:36:46.111
And of course, that is also cited, quoted in John 2, of Christ, incidentally.

00:36:46.211 --> 00:36:52.211
So those who would attack zeal as being a negative thing should fear if they think that it is.

00:36:52.851 --> 00:37:01.731
Because again, it is one of the names of God, Jealous, and zeal is mentioned as an attribute of Christ.

00:37:03.391 --> 00:37:06.031
And yes, we are supposed to emulate Christ.

00:37:06.631 --> 00:37:10.951
No, we can't emulate him perfectly, but we are supposed to emulate Christ.

00:37:11.411 --> 00:37:14.671
I know that there are those who will try to argue that, oh, you think you're Jesus.

00:37:14.671 --> 00:37:15.531
No, that's not it.

00:37:16.011 --> 00:37:17.411
He's the perfect example.

00:37:18.051 --> 00:37:23.491
We are supposed to attempt to live up to the example, and part of that is zeal.

00:37:25.131 --> 00:37:41.291
And I know that Woe just went over the Ten Commandments briefly there, but I would actually like to go over them in a little greater length, because there are a number of different ways that you can assess the Ten Commandments, as it were.

00:37:41.311 --> 00:37:42.591
Go through the Ten Commandments.

00:37:42.611 --> 00:37:45.411
There are different lenses you can use to examine them.

00:37:45.951 --> 00:37:51.951
One, of course, would be theft, because essentially all of the commandments relate to theft.

00:37:53.311 --> 00:38:00.371
The ninth and the tenth relate to thinking about theft, desiring to thieve, but they all relate to theft.

00:38:01.211 --> 00:38:07.231
Another way that you can look at them is through the lens of jealousy, because they all relate to jealousy.

00:38:08.531 --> 00:38:11.131
I will use the traditional numbering of the commandments.

00:38:11.151 --> 00:38:15.711
I trust that those who do not follow that numbering can change the numbers in their mind while they listen.

00:38:16.611 --> 00:38:19.311
The first commandment, of course, Thou shalt have no other gods.

00:38:21.091 --> 00:38:25.951
God is jealous of his honor and glory, and he will not have it shared.

00:38:26.491 --> 00:38:28.211
He will not have it misdirected.

00:38:29.751 --> 00:38:34.051
The second commandment, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.

00:38:34.771 --> 00:38:38.571
God is jealous of his name and of the use of his name.

00:38:38.911 --> 00:38:40.271
He will not have it abused.

00:38:40.291 --> 00:38:41.731
He will have it rightly used.

00:38:43.091 --> 00:38:46.491
The third commandment, Thou shalt sanctify the holy day.

00:38:47.451 --> 00:38:57.091
God is jealous of his public honor and praise and of his ordering of creation and how that order plays out in the lives of his creatures.

00:38:58.611 --> 00:39:02.231
The fourth commandment, Thou shalt honor thy father and thy mother.

00:39:03.191 --> 00:39:16.831
God is jealous of his ordering of human affairs and parents are to be jealous of their honor, which is rightly theirs because of the office, because of the station given them by God in his ordering of creation.

00:39:18.051 --> 00:39:20.651
The fifth commandment, Thou shalt not kill.

00:39:21.671 --> 00:39:33.651
We are to be jealous of the life God has given us, and we are to be jealous for the lives of others because God has given those to them and they are rightly jealous of their own lives.

00:39:35.251 --> 00:39:38.131
The sixth commandment, Thou shalt not commit adultery.

00:39:38.151 --> 00:39:39.471
We've gone over this one, of course.

00:39:39.751 --> 00:39:44.491
We are to be jealous of the wife God has given us, if you have a wife, of course.

00:39:45.671 --> 00:39:50.871
And we are also to be jealous for the wives, the spouses of others.

00:39:51.311 --> 00:39:58.111
We are not to sin against those others by being envious, by injecting strife into their marriages.

00:39:58.691 --> 00:40:05.311
We are supposed to help our neighbor keep his wife, not subvert that marriage, not destroy it.

00:40:06.551 --> 00:40:09.751
Let not man separate what God has brought together.

00:40:11.311 --> 00:40:13.971
The seventh commandment, Thou shalt not steal.

00:40:14.851 --> 00:40:23.211
We are to be jealous of the goods God has given us, of the things that He has given us in this life, of the blessings that He has bestowed upon us.

00:40:23.831 --> 00:40:27.091
We are to be jealous of those because they are from God.

00:40:28.511 --> 00:40:33.371
Similarly, the eighth commandment, Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

00:40:34.011 --> 00:40:37.291
We are to be jealous of the name or reputation God has given us.

00:40:37.951 --> 00:40:47.531
As God is jealous of His name, His reputation, His honor, His glory, we are to be jealous of the lesser version of those that He has bestowed on us in this life.

00:40:50.011 --> 00:40:53.611
And then the ninth and tenth commandments are, of course, both.

00:40:53.891 --> 00:41:01.831
Thou shalt not covet the first, the ninth, having to deal with real property, and the tenth having to deal with personal property or chattels.

00:41:02.471 --> 00:41:03.571
It's all that chattel means.

00:41:03.591 --> 00:41:04.531
It's personal property.

00:41:06.071 --> 00:41:07.891
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.

00:41:08.131 --> 00:41:14.131
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his cattle, nor anything that is his.

00:41:15.871 --> 00:41:22.351
We are not to be envious of our neighbor or covetous of his property, real or personal.

00:41:22.871 --> 00:41:26.971
And the reason for that, of course, is that he is rightfully jealous of those things.

00:41:27.711 --> 00:41:31.351
And so it is a repetition, to some degree, of the earlier commandments.

00:41:32.311 --> 00:41:36.671
But, of course, there's a difference in what is being prohibited by these commandments.

00:41:36.871 --> 00:41:43.331
But when it comes to jealousy, this is really sort of envy for the ninth and tenth commandment.

00:41:43.551 --> 00:41:44.971
It's not exactly jealousy.

00:41:45.691 --> 00:41:48.711
Our neighbor is jealous of those things because they are rightfully his.

00:41:49.231 --> 00:41:51.051
We are not to be envious of them.

00:41:51.251 --> 00:41:52.691
We are not to be covetous of them.

00:41:52.711 --> 00:41:55.051
We are not to desire to have those things.

00:41:55.071 --> 00:41:57.931
And so, envious of him and covetous of the things.

00:41:58.551 --> 00:42:03.151
That's the distinction between those two terms, to use them carefully, which is what we should be doing.

00:42:03.171 --> 00:42:10.311
And so we can look at these commandments from God, the Ten Commandments, and see that they all relate to jealousy.

00:42:12.311 --> 00:42:14.011
This is a central matter.

00:42:14.031 --> 00:42:21.131
This is a matter of importance in the Christian faith and in the Christian life, which is really what we are focusing on.

00:42:21.151 --> 00:42:22.611
How do you live as a Christian?

00:42:22.631 --> 00:42:26.131
What do you do as a Christian in this world, in this life?

00:42:26.651 --> 00:42:27.471
How do you behave?

00:42:27.491 --> 00:42:28.371
What do you believe?

00:42:28.731 --> 00:42:29.671
What do you oppose?

00:42:31.251 --> 00:42:33.851
Jealousy is central to this.

00:42:33.871 --> 00:42:37.971
And it's one of the reasons that Satan has been attacking it for so long and so consistently.

00:42:37.991 --> 00:42:39.611
And quite frankly, he's done a very good job.

00:42:40.751 --> 00:42:49.591
Because if you ask almost anyone, any modern English speaker, and I suspect it's the same for most other languages as well, is jealousy good or bad?

00:42:50.511 --> 00:42:51.731
Most people will say bad.

00:42:52.771 --> 00:42:57.431
Except that's false, because jealousy is actually primarily good.

00:42:58.111 --> 00:43:02.051
It does have that minor subsidiary negative sense that was already mentioned.

00:43:03.451 --> 00:43:05.451
But jealousy is a good thing.

00:43:05.991 --> 00:43:07.411
It cannot be otherwise.

00:43:07.651 --> 00:43:09.331
It is one of the names of God.

00:43:10.511 --> 00:43:12.251
God is a jealous God.

00:43:15.571 --> 00:43:36.931
Another way that this plays out, and this is in regard to living the Christian life and opposing things that are anti-Christian, if you look at essentially all of the modern so-called sins, and look at them through the lens of jealousy, virtually all of them are condemnations of rightful jealousy.

00:43:38.071 --> 00:43:51.191
And so, for instance, accusations of racism are virtually always a condemnation of the rightful jealousy that one has for one's nation, ancestry, heritage, history.

00:43:52.931 --> 00:44:08.251
Condemnations of nationalism are similar to the condemnations of racism, but with the slight distinction there being that it is also a condemnation of the rightful jealousy that one feels for one's country in addition to nation, ancestors, etc.

00:44:09.391 --> 00:44:20.791
Sexism is a condemnation of the rightful jealousy for God's created order with regard to the sexes and jealousy of our place in it.

00:44:21.891 --> 00:44:30.471
Because each of us, according to his or her sex, has a proper place, a proper role, a proper set of duties in this life.

00:44:32.071 --> 00:44:39.851
Accusations of sexism are always designed to subvert that because they are a condemnation of that rightful jealousy.

00:44:41.311 --> 00:44:43.991
Opposing immigration is condemned.

00:44:44.151 --> 00:44:44.571
Why?

00:44:44.891 --> 00:44:49.671
Because it is rightful jealousy for one's country, countrymen, borders.

00:44:49.691 --> 00:44:51.531
Remember, borders are set by God.

00:44:51.551 --> 00:44:53.351
Scripture is explicit on that point.

00:44:54.791 --> 00:45:06.571
And on the inverse of that, supporting immigration is a wrongful lack of jealousy for one's country and countrymen and borders, for the things that God has given to us.

00:45:07.951 --> 00:45:12.111
Because we are not just supposed to be jealous of the things that are ours.

00:45:13.011 --> 00:45:16.671
We are also supposed to be jealous for the things that are rightfully others.

00:45:18.311 --> 00:45:27.711
And so with regards to our countrymen, our nation, our country, the land that God has given us, we are to be jealous of and for that.

00:45:28.651 --> 00:45:37.551
Of insofar as it is ours, because God has given it to us, and for insofar as it belongs to our fellows.

00:45:40.191 --> 00:45:43.171
We are not supposed to just be concerned for ourselves.

00:45:43.191 --> 00:45:44.611
That's not the Christian life.

00:45:44.631 --> 00:45:46.251
That is not how God has created us.

00:45:47.771 --> 00:45:59.511
If God wanted us to be some sort of individual, some sort of standalone entity, an island unto ourselves, he would have raised us all up individually from the soil.

00:46:00.351 --> 00:46:03.491
Humans would just spring up from the ground and start walking around.

00:46:03.871 --> 00:46:04.671
He didn't do that.

00:46:05.571 --> 00:46:21.091
He designed it so that each and every one of us is innately and inseparably linked to others in a chain back through time, all the way to the sons of Noah, through Noah, back to Adam, through Adam to God.

00:46:22.851 --> 00:46:24.351
That is the way God designed it.

00:46:26.391 --> 00:46:31.371
We have duties that flow from that, and we have jealousies that flow rightfully from that.

00:46:31.731 --> 00:46:32.651
Good jealousies.

00:46:33.691 --> 00:46:38.651
Because these are things God has given us, and we are supposed to defend them in this life.

00:46:39.271 --> 00:46:42.111
And so, no, I don't have some sort of pass.

00:46:42.131 --> 00:46:45.771
I just am concerned for myself and not for the rest of my nation.

00:46:46.811 --> 00:46:49.291
No, that's not how God designed things.

00:46:49.911 --> 00:46:56.191
I should be jealous of the things that are mine for the things that belong to others.

00:46:56.911 --> 00:47:02.191
And yes, there are concentric circles here with regard to the level of concern that I should have.

00:47:02.631 --> 00:47:15.591
I should be more concerned, more jealous for the things that belong to my immediate family, and then for the things that belong to my cousins, otherwise known as a clan or tribe, up to the level of nation.

00:47:16.891 --> 00:47:21.911
That is how God has designed it, and that is how we are to live as Christians in this life.

00:47:22.411 --> 00:47:29.771
And we see all sorts of perversions of this that are essentially denials of the existence of rightful jealousy.

00:47:30.231 --> 00:47:43.771
Another prime example would be pacifism, because pacifism is a denial of the rightful jealousy that one feels for one's nation and for one's fellow citizen, for one's fellow countrymen.

00:47:45.031 --> 00:47:50.071
Because the pacifist refuses to defend the things that God has given him, and that is sin.

00:47:51.111 --> 00:47:52.851
Christians cannot be pacifists.

00:47:53.331 --> 00:47:55.811
That is high-handed, impenitent sin.

00:47:57.791 --> 00:48:07.551
Particularly when it comes to men, there are things that God has given you, and not only are you to be thankful for them, jealous of them, but you are to defend them.

00:48:07.571 --> 00:48:10.211
You have duties with regard to them.

00:48:11.671 --> 00:48:17.951
And if we deny the role that jealousy plays in this, then essentially we are doing a number of things.

00:48:17.971 --> 00:48:20.971
We're telling God, I don't care about the gifts you have given me.

00:48:21.891 --> 00:48:24.271
We're saying we won't defend the gifts he has given us.

00:48:25.251 --> 00:48:28.691
And really what we're doing is we're risking apostasy.

00:48:29.471 --> 00:48:35.711
And I know that there are those who will say that you guys always mention apostasy, and you make all of these issues into a big deal.

00:48:38.431 --> 00:48:40.431
There are a number of things that I could say about that.

00:48:40.431 --> 00:48:43.611
First, I would start with there are no small sins.

00:48:44.071 --> 00:48:47.291
Yes, there are sins that are greater than others, and there are sins that are lesser than others.

00:48:47.311 --> 00:48:48.651
It's very clear from that.

00:48:48.671 --> 00:48:51.871
We see Christ explicitly saying that when he is speaking to Pilate.

00:48:53.531 --> 00:49:00.911
But no sin is a small matter, because every sin incurs an infinite debt on behalf of the sinner against God.

00:49:03.271 --> 00:49:04.391
That's not a minor matter.

00:49:05.231 --> 00:49:11.011
If there were one sin, even the smallest of sins, perhaps taking an apple from a tree.

00:49:11.031 --> 00:49:14.211
Of course, there's the attached sin to that of defying God.

00:49:14.231 --> 00:49:24.471
But if it were just the apple, just that, one of the smallest sins imaginable, stealing a stick of gum would be probably the modern equivalent that's often used as an example.

00:49:26.011 --> 00:49:31.511
That would be enough to separate that man and his line from God.

00:49:32.431 --> 00:49:36.931
Now, in the case of the apple or the forbidden fruit, it's Adam, so it separated all of humanity.

00:49:37.811 --> 00:49:39.091
And so that's the first point.

00:49:39.791 --> 00:49:41.591
There's no such thing as a minor sin.

00:49:43.091 --> 00:49:53.671
But the other point is that what we discuss on this podcast, what we're discussing in this episode with regard to jealousy, is how you live a Christian life.

00:49:55.451 --> 00:50:04.991
And ultimately, maybe you would not become apostate if you reject jealousy, if you ignore these matters.

00:50:06.591 --> 00:50:08.011
But that isn't the concern.

00:50:08.151 --> 00:50:15.211
And quite frankly, there's almost an irony here, because it's directly jealousy that guards against the outcome I'm going to describe.

00:50:17.131 --> 00:50:24.651
The question is what happens to your son or your grandson or your great-grandson or your great-great-grandson?

00:50:25.231 --> 00:50:30.291
What happens not tomorrow, but next decade, next century, a thousand years in the future?

00:50:30.811 --> 00:50:36.171
Christians shouldn't be thinking in terms of, well, this won't affect my life.

00:50:36.971 --> 00:50:38.771
No Christian thinks that way.

00:50:39.471 --> 00:50:42.811
You are not a Christian insofar as you are thinking in that way.

00:50:43.831 --> 00:50:45.471
Can you still be a Christian ultimately?

00:50:45.491 --> 00:50:47.311
Of course, because you can still believe in Christ.

00:50:49.451 --> 00:50:55.631
But you are not behaving and thinking as a Christian insofar as you are thinking only of yourself.

00:50:56.671 --> 00:51:00.731
And so, for instance, to go back to the issue of immigration, you may think, oh, what does it matter?

00:51:00.751 --> 00:51:07.571
It's not affecting the country, it's not a big deal, there's just a slight change in the demographics and these other things, etc.

00:51:09.231 --> 00:51:12.791
The problem is what happens a hundred years in the future?

00:51:13.611 --> 00:51:17.791
What kind of world are you passing on to your great-grandchildren?

00:51:18.871 --> 00:51:20.671
Because that is the Christian mindset.

00:51:20.891 --> 00:51:38.171
The Christian mindset is generational, and you should be jealous of the things that are yours, which includes your family line in both directions, and you should be jealous for the things that will be the inheritance of those who come after you.

00:51:38.651 --> 00:51:44.271
And we will obviously be doing inheritance very soon as a separate but related matter.

00:51:47.351 --> 00:51:57.731
And so when some would say that these issues are minor, and so we shouldn't say there's a risk of apostasy, quite frankly it makes us just have to double down.

00:51:59.091 --> 00:52:09.251
Because any sin, if you ignore it, if you claim it as your own, if it becomes a high-handed, impenitent sin, that is now a damning sin.

00:52:11.371 --> 00:52:17.311
Yes, when we pray for forgiveness of sins, we obviously pray for all the sins we commit of which we are unaware.

00:52:17.631 --> 00:52:23.071
And there are undoubtedly many of those who can number his sins, as the psalmist says.

00:52:26.051 --> 00:52:44.211
But there is a fundamental difference between a sin of which one is unaware, which one does not recognize as sin, and something of which one has been made aware that it is sin and yet holds on to it, keeps practicing it, does not repent of it.

00:52:44.231 --> 00:52:45.971
Go and see the episode on repentance.

00:52:48.791 --> 00:53:07.311
And so if you listen to what we're saying in this episode, and you recognize the reality of what jealousy is, or you just read scripture and see that one of the names of God is jealous, and yet you decide, well, no, I'm going to continue believing that jealousy is always negative and always a sin.

00:53:08.811 --> 00:53:15.511
It has become impenitent sin, and that is why it rises to the level of risking apostasy.

00:53:17.291 --> 00:53:19.511
So you may think, well, why would I want to learn these things?

00:53:19.531 --> 00:53:25.571
Because if I'd learn these things, then I'm on the hook, as it were, because now I know that it's sin.

00:53:26.211 --> 00:53:41.911
And the reason for that is, as a Christian, you should desire to gain a deeper understanding of God's truth, to continue your walk with God, and to continue removing sins from your life as you recognize them.

00:53:42.231 --> 00:53:45.191
That is in large part what sanctification is.

00:53:46.151 --> 00:53:55.251
The Spirit leads you, through God's Word, to recognize more and more things in your life that need work.

00:53:56.011 --> 00:54:02.611
Either they're sin in themselves, or they're being conducted in a sinful way, or you haven't considered some aspect of it.

00:54:03.511 --> 00:54:07.911
Whatever it happens to be, that is sanctification, that is the Christian life.

00:54:08.511 --> 00:54:13.251
And so recognizing these things that are sin is an important part of that.

00:54:14.131 --> 00:54:23.311
And when you recognize something that is sin, yes, of course, there's going to be the lament over the fact that I've been sinning, and I didn't even know it.

00:54:23.331 --> 00:54:30.031
It's like when they found the Scriptures hidden in a wall in the temple, the king had no idea.

00:54:30.831 --> 00:54:40.991
He should have known for some of the things, certainly, but he had no idea about some of the things he was doing, and his nation was doing, that were sin, and he lamented that fact.

00:54:42.071 --> 00:54:44.271
But he repented because he turned from it.

00:54:44.731 --> 00:54:45.871
And that's the important part.

00:54:45.891 --> 00:54:57.311
You learn about it, you repent, which is to turn from it, to think differently about it, and then you amend your ways, and you continue in that process of sanctification.

00:54:58.051 --> 00:55:04.811
Because with regard to sanctification, Christianity, the Scriptures, teach synergism.

00:55:05.891 --> 00:55:09.291
With regard to justification, the Scriptures teach monergism.

00:55:10.071 --> 00:55:13.051
You are justified by God's act alone.

00:55:13.851 --> 00:55:15.291
You play no role in it.

00:55:15.831 --> 00:55:22.091
In fact, you are, if anything, an obstacle, because you oppose God before you are converted.

00:55:23.091 --> 00:55:33.771
But once you are converted, once you are walking with God, once you are participating in the Christian life and growing in that Christian life, you are being sanctified.

00:55:34.711 --> 00:55:40.451
And part of that is recognizing things that you didn't actually believe beforehand were sin.

00:55:40.871 --> 00:55:41.771
You just didn't notice them.

00:55:41.791 --> 00:55:42.711
You didn't think about them.

00:55:42.971 --> 00:55:46.811
You weren't paying close attention when you read through whatever book of Scripture.

00:55:47.991 --> 00:55:53.051
And now that you know, you repent, you turn from that evil, and you amend your ways.

00:55:53.751 --> 00:55:54.891
That's the Christian life.

00:55:55.311 --> 00:55:57.591
And that's why these things are important.

00:55:59.151 --> 00:56:06.711
I want to spend just a couple more minutes talking about the specific word that's used in Scripture when God gives His name as Jealous.

00:56:07.691 --> 00:56:13.571
The word that's used both in Exodus and in Galatians in Greek is zealos.

00:56:13.991 --> 00:56:20.011
That's the root of the word that is used there, which is in English zeal.

00:56:20.451 --> 00:56:24.611
So zeal, jealousy, again, they're all coming from the same place.

00:56:25.911 --> 00:56:27.991
Zeal is interesting.

00:56:28.011 --> 00:56:35.031
The definition of the Greek word here is interesting because the root literally means hot enough to boil.

00:56:35.851 --> 00:56:40.831
It's metaphorically used in burning anger, love or zeal to burn in spirit.

00:56:42.051 --> 00:56:43.511
It's a passion.

00:56:43.971 --> 00:56:46.371
It is not simply thinking.

00:56:47.251 --> 00:56:57.771
And this is again important when we're evaluating the modern context where we see things for which God commands us to be zealous or jealous.

00:56:58.291 --> 00:57:09.231
As Corey just went through a number of examples, including things like national borders and opposing immigration, we are to be jealous of the land that God has given us.

00:57:09.511 --> 00:57:10.271
It's ours.

00:57:10.851 --> 00:57:15.631
It is entirely morally illicit for me to say, this place is mine.

00:57:15.651 --> 00:57:17.531
It is not yours.

00:57:18.311 --> 00:57:20.451
Just as you can say that about your pretty wife.

00:57:20.891 --> 00:57:25.771
And if some jerk comes along and tries to interfere with your relationship, you step in and you deal with it.

00:57:26.471 --> 00:57:32.671
And if you demonstrate zeal, if you demonstrate passion, well, that means you're obeying God.

00:57:33.151 --> 00:57:33.691
And you know what?

00:57:33.711 --> 00:57:39.691
If you do the opposite, if you're not jealous of your wife in that circumstance, if you're passionless, she's going to stop loving you.

00:57:39.971 --> 00:57:40.911
Your marriage will end.

00:57:41.531 --> 00:57:47.911
It is a test, and it is one that has past fail both in life and morally.

00:57:49.951 --> 00:57:57.071
Looking back to the passage in John 2, which referenced Psalm 69, this is a perfect example of what I'm talking about.

00:57:58.491 --> 00:58:02.131
The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

00:58:02.371 --> 00:58:07.671
In the temple, he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons and the money changers sitting there.

00:58:08.131 --> 00:58:12.691
And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple with the sheep and the oxen.

00:58:13.091 --> 00:58:16.851
And he poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.

00:58:17.191 --> 00:58:20.311
And he said to those who sold the pigeons, take these things away.

00:58:20.531 --> 00:58:23.471
Do not make my father's house a house of trade.

00:58:23.971 --> 00:58:28.731
His disciples remembered that it was written, zeal for your house will consume me.

00:58:30.491 --> 00:58:40.751
Now, when you know that God's name is Jealous, for Christ to behave jealously in his father's house makes perfect sense.

00:58:41.411 --> 00:58:47.351
And as Psalm 69 says and is quoted here, zeal for his house consumed him.

00:58:47.611 --> 00:58:48.631
This was passion.

00:58:48.991 --> 00:58:56.891
This was violent passion enacted by God in that place in that moment against brazen wickedness in the Lord's house.

00:58:57.611 --> 00:59:01.711
Those wicked money changers were trespassers in a holy place.

00:59:02.231 --> 00:59:13.351
When Christ overthrew those tables and drove them off with a whip, he did it violently because they were trespassing on what belonged to him, because it belonged to his father.

00:59:15.091 --> 00:59:17.311
That's jealousy, pure jealousy.

00:59:17.591 --> 00:59:18.491
It's zealous.

00:59:18.751 --> 00:59:23.291
It's pure everything that we're talking about here, and it's righteous.

00:59:24.251 --> 00:59:39.391
I think this is crucial for us again, and when we're looking at current year and we're looking at all the things that are happening along all these various axes in the world, in our lives, in our churches, what's the one common thing that everyone's always going to say?

00:59:40.111 --> 00:59:40.891
Calm down.

00:59:41.171 --> 00:59:42.291
Let's talk about it.

00:59:42.731 --> 00:59:44.031
We need to be peaceful.

00:59:44.411 --> 00:59:45.431
Don't get upset.

00:59:46.111 --> 00:59:48.311
You can't be zealous for this stuff.

00:59:48.371 --> 00:59:49.171
That's immature.

00:59:49.471 --> 00:59:50.471
You settle down.

00:59:50.831 --> 00:59:51.891
You simmer down.

00:59:51.911 --> 00:59:54.971
Don't let yourself get worked up about this stuff, right?

00:59:55.391 --> 00:59:56.451
That's always the case.

00:59:56.731 --> 00:59:59.811
Whatever is going on, you have to remain calm.

01:00:00.451 --> 01:00:05.071
Now, me, chiefly among all men, am perfectly fine with remaining calm.

01:00:05.371 --> 01:00:07.191
I'm calm in the worst situations.

01:00:07.471 --> 01:00:09.931
I get more calm the worse the situation gets.

01:00:12.031 --> 01:00:19.231
That doesn't change the fact that it is entirely permissible in certain circumstances for men to get fired up.

01:00:20.011 --> 01:00:38.131
And one of the things that we're seeing in the world is that men who maybe don't have all the moral ducks in a row, maybe they don't understand the theology, they don't have the proof texts for whatever they're feeling, whatever their passion is for their homeland, they still have a zeal for the thing that God has given them that they know is their inheritance.

01:00:38.451 --> 01:00:40.691
Even if they're not Christians, they don't know any of this stuff.

01:00:41.171 --> 01:00:48.731
They still know that they were born here, that their parents have been here for 10 generations, this is theirs, and they're fired up about defending it.

01:00:49.411 --> 01:00:52.331
And the world is saying, oh, that's evil, that's bad, that's wicked.

01:00:52.611 --> 01:00:56.531
Some dude who just came from Somalia and landed in Columbus, he's just like you.

01:00:56.731 --> 01:00:58.071
He has every right to be here.

01:00:58.091 --> 01:00:59.271
He's just as American.

01:01:00.011 --> 01:01:03.511
You are rightfully angry at that, if that's your response.

01:01:03.971 --> 01:01:07.191
You are sinfully passive, if that doesn't make you angry.

01:01:07.471 --> 01:01:10.231
Because this is ours, it is not theirs.

01:01:10.591 --> 01:01:11.531
That's a real thing.

01:01:11.971 --> 01:01:15.071
And it's the chief message, I think, of this episode.

01:01:15.271 --> 01:01:16.911
There's a such a thing as mine.

01:01:17.351 --> 01:01:19.151
And there's also such a thing as not mine.

01:01:19.631 --> 01:01:22.191
If I'm making eyes at your wife, I'm wicked.

01:01:22.411 --> 01:01:23.191
She's not mine.

01:01:23.211 --> 01:01:23.991
She's yours.

01:01:24.351 --> 01:01:29.111
I have no business thinking or doing or saying anything that would in any way interfere with that.

01:01:29.131 --> 01:01:35.091
You know, if you have a friend who has a wife, girlfriend, whatever, you're still his wingman.

01:01:35.411 --> 01:01:39.871
You make sure that you prop up his relationship, even if that means you don't look as good.

01:01:40.071 --> 01:01:41.351
Don't try to flex on him.

01:01:41.591 --> 01:01:51.751
Don't try to be funny, or don't try to beat him in her eyes, because the worst case is she might notice, and then you've given some reason to be strife in a relationship.

01:01:52.071 --> 01:01:52.971
Don't ever do that.

01:01:53.431 --> 01:01:54.351
Do the opposite.

01:01:54.371 --> 01:01:59.111
Be zealous for what God has given him and her, because they're a blessing to each other.

01:02:00.131 --> 01:02:01.471
The same is true of our country.

01:02:01.731 --> 01:02:02.831
Same is true of our neighborhoods.

01:02:03.491 --> 01:02:08.431
If people are moving in and destroying them, we are rightfully zealous in opposing that.

01:02:09.111 --> 01:02:17.311
And at some point, just like Jesus and his zeal in the temple, it is going to boil over, and it's not going to be a matter for discussion.

01:02:18.071 --> 01:02:20.991
And everything in the world is telling it that's completely impermissible.

01:02:21.011 --> 01:02:21.571
It's sinful.

01:02:21.691 --> 01:02:22.251
That's bad.

01:02:22.411 --> 01:02:23.171
Don't ever do that.

01:02:24.151 --> 01:02:33.591
If you believe what God says about these things, then the men who are experiencing zeal today in the face of these assaults, it's a godly passion.

01:02:34.191 --> 01:02:42.331
It's not necessarily completely godly, because they may well turn it into something very sinful, because they don't understand all the other things that God says.

01:02:42.851 --> 01:02:49.111
But the impetus for saying this is mine, and I'm not going to let someone else take it from me, that's Christian.

01:02:49.531 --> 01:02:50.731
It's completely Christian.

01:02:51.331 --> 01:02:53.351
The Ten Commandments establish that.

01:02:53.891 --> 01:03:05.771
And once we consider the world and the state of things within this framework of possessory interest and of property rights, it kind of makes sense, all the things that are under attack.

01:03:06.491 --> 01:03:21.051
Because suddenly you look at the map of all the various ideas that are being shut down, where masculinity and property rights are under attack with the WEF saying, you'll own nothing and you'll be happy.

01:03:21.711 --> 01:03:23.451
That's a direct assault on this.

01:03:24.411 --> 01:03:30.751
It's not saying, you know, live a simpler life where you're not obsessed with physical things.

01:03:31.131 --> 01:03:31.791
That's fine.

01:03:31.931 --> 01:03:32.751
That's a good thing.

01:03:33.011 --> 01:03:34.291
Downsizing is a good thing.

01:03:34.311 --> 01:03:35.271
We have too much crap.

01:03:36.771 --> 01:03:42.951
On the other hand, when someone else comes along and says, yeah, this thing that you thought was yours, we're going to take it from you.

01:03:43.231 --> 01:03:50.851
We're going to anesthetize you with proof text or government programs or whatever it takes to keep you calm long enough that we can take it all away.

01:03:51.771 --> 01:03:57.211
They're not trying to make us more godly when they say things like, you will have nothing and you'll be happy.

01:03:57.971 --> 01:04:00.151
They're trying to destroy what God has given to us.

01:04:00.751 --> 01:04:07.231
And a zealous response to that, a fiery response boiling over, is entirely appropriate.

01:04:07.531 --> 01:04:10.671
And any man who comes along and tells you different is an enemy of God.

01:04:10.991 --> 01:04:13.251
And unfortunately, most of them are going to be pastors.

01:04:15.411 --> 01:04:17.211
I hate to say that sort of thing.

01:04:17.611 --> 01:04:26.371
It makes me deeply unhappy that we are in a situation where most of the men who are getting this stuff wrong in God's name are the very men who are supposed to be getting this stuff right.

01:04:26.751 --> 01:04:34.051
But even in the circumstances where men who are supposed to say what God says lie about it, as Christians, we have to keep going.

01:04:34.551 --> 01:04:41.871
And if we have to put them behind us, or if we have to shut them up, or if we have to exclude them, or if we have to run them over, that's what's going to happen.

01:04:42.311 --> 01:04:48.311
Because the Christian duty doesn't end with some other guy lying to you about what God says.

01:04:49.291 --> 01:04:55.291
These are incredibly dangerous times, because there's not a rule book for a lot of this stuff.

01:04:55.311 --> 01:05:03.071
There's not 16th century Reformation doctrine that says, well, when these things happen, here's what's appropriate.

01:05:03.091 --> 01:05:08.771
And people have been arguing over it for centuries, and we can all point and decide which guys we want to go with.

01:05:09.651 --> 01:05:10.731
There's really none of that.

01:05:10.751 --> 01:05:22.231
The civilizational point that we're at today, the one where we are told we cannot be jealous of anything, that there's no such thing as mine, it's never happened before.

01:05:22.571 --> 01:05:24.811
It has historically been unthinkable.

01:05:25.231 --> 01:05:36.411
And frankly, the devolution and then destruction of jealousy is being exclusively evil, and zeal being immature and fundamentally wicked in its own way.

01:05:37.551 --> 01:05:38.911
That's a satanic attack.

01:05:39.531 --> 01:05:41.031
Both of those things can be bad.

01:05:41.271 --> 01:05:44.411
We're not saying that jealousy is always good.

01:05:44.531 --> 01:05:46.951
Clearly, jealousy is frequently evil.

01:05:47.091 --> 01:05:47.391
Why?

01:05:47.411 --> 01:05:48.911
Because men are frequently evil.

01:05:49.291 --> 01:05:51.251
We'll screw up anything that God gives us.

01:05:51.811 --> 01:06:00.151
But the bottom line is that there's a time and a place for every good man to be jealous, to demonstrate zeal for that which God has given him.

01:06:00.551 --> 01:06:09.471
And we're entering a period of time where all it's going to take is a little bit more hesitation before we've lost everything that was ours.

01:06:10.191 --> 01:06:12.531
And God will permit that.

01:06:13.311 --> 01:06:16.491
God has given us these things as stewards.

01:06:17.251 --> 01:06:20.371
You know, the things that I have, the things that you have, they're temporary.

01:06:21.251 --> 01:06:23.951
Eternal life is the only thing that God gives us that's eternal.

01:06:24.311 --> 01:06:27.111
And when we're resurrected, like everything gets put back together.

01:06:27.731 --> 01:06:30.871
But prior to resurrection, everything that we have is temporary.

01:06:30.911 --> 01:06:32.011
It's all going to go away.

01:06:32.271 --> 01:06:34.391
And so while we have it, we're stewards of it.

01:06:34.811 --> 01:06:48.391
If we abdicate that stewardship, if we just torch it, if we give it away, if we don't treat what we received as an inheritance, and then pass it on to the next generation, God's going to be like, fine, he'll take it away, and he's going to give it to someone else.

01:06:48.871 --> 01:06:51.151
That happens over and over again in Scripture.

01:06:51.591 --> 01:07:01.391
If we want to be evil, if we want to abdicate our stewardship of God's gifts, instead of being jealous of them, He will replace us with men who will be faithful.

01:07:02.691 --> 01:07:04.091
That's not what we should want.

01:07:04.111 --> 01:07:05.511
That's not what we should tolerate.

01:07:05.831 --> 01:07:11.971
We should be jealous of what has been given to us, because God gave it to us, and no man can take it from us.

01:07:12.611 --> 01:07:14.031
That's a Christian thing to say.

01:07:14.291 --> 01:07:15.671
It's a Christian thing to think.

01:07:16.151 --> 01:07:24.311
And it's completely antithetical to all the politics, almost everything you hear in church, but it's not inconsistent with Scripture.

01:07:25.011 --> 01:07:27.811
And that should be terrifying.

01:07:28.351 --> 01:07:33.451
The fact that this is just basically absent from thought for a long time.

01:07:34.151 --> 01:07:38.651
When you go back and look at Scripture, you can search on BibleHUD for jealousy, zeal.

01:07:38.971 --> 01:07:40.231
Look at all the passages.

01:07:40.711 --> 01:07:41.851
They're very consistent.

01:07:42.311 --> 01:07:51.231
That most of these things are, frankly, in Scripture, most of them is generally a good thing, because it's generally talking about God or about men who are faithful servants of God.

01:07:52.291 --> 01:08:01.511
The fact they can be abused does not change that there is a good, proper and holy form of jealousy in as Christians we are called upon to demonstrate it.

01:08:01.531 --> 01:08:19.331
And as Woe said, there are a lot of issues that we are having to address, having to face these days, for which we do not have canned answers, as it were, from our forefathers in the faith, because these were not issues that they faced in their time.

01:08:20.831 --> 01:08:23.671
However, I would like to raise one exception to that.

01:08:24.851 --> 01:08:35.631
We have the Magdeburg Confession from which we get the full treatment of the doctrine of the lesser magistrate and of resistance to tyranny.

01:08:36.631 --> 01:08:44.091
And I do recommend, I've recommended before, and I still recommend that the men on our side of these things read that.

01:08:44.691 --> 01:08:45.731
It is worth your time.

01:08:45.771 --> 01:08:46.391
It should be read.

01:08:46.411 --> 01:08:47.591
I'll put a link in the show notes.

01:08:49.451 --> 01:08:59.151
But in the Magdeburg Confession, there are four levels of tyranny that are broken down, and the Christian response to each is given.

01:09:00.971 --> 01:09:04.051
The fourth level is essentially the incurable tyrant.

01:09:05.371 --> 01:09:18.271
The tyrant who has set himself contrary to God, acts against God, seeks to destroy the Church of God, and is generally the worst sort of tyrant.

01:09:21.251 --> 01:09:31.651
If you read the description of that tyrant in The Magdeburg Confession, we are well and truly far beyond that now, with how far we have permitted things to go.

01:09:32.651 --> 01:09:36.271
And so there is a Christian response, and it is in The Magdeburg Confession.

01:09:37.031 --> 01:09:40.531
But I'll leave that for you listeners to read.

01:09:42.831 --> 01:09:54.391
All of these issues with regard to jealousy, they really go against the way that the modern world wants us to think about things.

01:09:55.651 --> 01:10:01.051
Because everything in the modern world is designed to subvert God's order.

01:10:02.091 --> 01:10:09.971
And all of these are related to how God has ordered things, from the most basic sort of order, being alive versus being dead.

01:10:09.991 --> 01:10:15.271
And so we are to be jealous of the life that God has given us, and jealous for the lives God has given others.

01:10:15.271 --> 01:10:24.671
It's just the fifth commandment again, to the foundational order of the family, which is the sixth commandment and also the fourth commandment.

01:10:25.231 --> 01:10:36.071
All of these things, all of these ways in which God has ordered human life, our culture and our society, they are trying to tear them down and destroy them.

01:10:36.711 --> 01:10:45.091
And again, one of the ways that Satan has done this is by essentially removing the positive sense of jealousy from the minds of most men.

01:10:46.231 --> 01:10:49.591
They hear the word, they think, oh, that's negative, we can't be jealous, that's a bad thing.

01:10:50.071 --> 01:10:54.311
A jealous husband is a husband who keeps too tight of a leash on his wife.

01:10:55.311 --> 01:11:04.391
When the exact opposite is true, as Woe said, if you are not jealous of your wife, and if you do not act in that way, you are not going to keep her.

01:11:05.651 --> 01:11:16.211
And quite frankly, you shouldn't, because you are neglecting to act properly, to believe properly, to feel properly about the things that God has given you.

01:11:17.411 --> 01:11:20.471
As Scripture says, one of the greatest blessings is a faithful wife.

01:11:21.071 --> 01:11:26.751
If you aren't jealous of that, then you don't deserve the gift that God gave you, and you will lose it.

01:11:30.311 --> 01:11:37.011
A quote from Chrysostom comes to mind related to what Woe was saying in The Magdeburg Confession as well.

01:11:37.711 --> 01:11:44.291
He who is not angry whereas he has caused to be sins, for unreasonable patience is the hotbed of many vices.

01:11:44.871 --> 01:11:49.291
It fosters negligence and incites not only the wicked, but the good to do wrong.

01:11:52.071 --> 01:11:55.851
And that last part is important.

01:11:55.871 --> 01:11:56.851
We should focus on that.

01:11:58.571 --> 01:12:05.611
When good men refuse to stand up and oppose evil, well, one, they cease to be good men or they prove that they never were.

01:12:07.591 --> 01:12:20.171
But it also weakens other men, because there will always be those who are stronger in this way or that way, whether it's physically stronger or stronger in the faith.

01:12:20.731 --> 01:12:29.551
You have a firmer faith, and so you can weather the attacks of the enemy more consistently, more thoroughly, and for a longer period of time.

01:12:30.671 --> 01:12:34.731
God knows that, so God will not throw something at you that you cannot withstand.

01:12:35.151 --> 01:12:37.111
We have His promise of that in Scripture.

01:12:37.911 --> 01:12:52.611
But if those men to whom God has given those gifts do not use them, do not stand up when it is required of them, they will weaken other men, because those other men may not have gifts at the same level.

01:12:53.251 --> 01:12:59.271
But if they see that man who does have those gifts stand up, it may give them what they need to stand up.

01:13:00.391 --> 01:13:01.491
And that is how this works.

01:13:01.511 --> 01:13:04.071
That's how it works in basically everything in life.

01:13:04.891 --> 01:13:11.691
You need someone to stand up and be the first person over the ridge, over the trench.

01:13:12.831 --> 01:13:14.371
That's just the nature of the beast.

01:13:15.111 --> 01:13:25.871
And if God has given you the talents, the abilities to be that man in some way, it is incumbent on you to do so, because not to do so is sin.

01:13:30.071 --> 01:13:34.291
And again, it weakens all of the other men around you.

01:13:34.311 --> 01:13:35.611
It has a domino effect.

01:13:37.051 --> 01:13:54.251
If the men who have been given the talents, the abilities, the attributes, the resources, do not use them appropriately, the downstream consequences are even more disastrous than the consequences of that man himself not standing up and doing what needs to be done.

01:13:58.091 --> 01:14:09.371
And Woe mentioned the zeal of young men and the fact that zeal is usually described as being, in our culture, immaturity, which is of course absurd.

01:14:10.951 --> 01:14:16.571
Even more absurd given how many men are praised for having zeal about things that actually are childish.

01:14:17.571 --> 01:14:19.671
I will deliberately neglect to list them here.

01:14:21.671 --> 01:14:29.831
But zeal for the things of God, for things that are actually important, is a vital aspect of being a Christian man.

01:14:30.271 --> 01:14:35.411
However, there is a relationship to age, admittedly.

01:14:36.811 --> 01:14:47.331
Older men are going to have not necessarily less zeal, but less energy to use the zeal, to exercise the zeal.

01:14:47.751 --> 01:14:55.371
If you're 96 years old, you are not going to be going out and doing the things that a 20-year-old man can do.

01:14:56.011 --> 01:15:01.611
In fact, that is usually how older men injure themselves, is by failing to realize they are no longer young men.

01:15:04.291 --> 01:15:18.271
And so that's one of the reasons that one of the duties of older men is to train, is to teach younger men, and part of that is to teach them to be jealous for the things of God, to be zealous for the things of God.

01:15:19.531 --> 01:15:24.911
Passing on that fire is one of the most important tasks for older men.

01:15:26.391 --> 01:15:30.071
And unfortunately, that has not happened in the last handful of generations.

01:15:30.251 --> 01:15:39.011
And that is one of the reasons we're having to rebuild and in some cases rediscover these things, because they were not passed down to us as they should have been.

01:15:40.411 --> 01:15:42.991
We need not to make the same mistakes.

01:15:43.931 --> 01:15:58.911
And so the men who are now in their late 30s, 40s, 50s, whatever it happens to be, these are the ages where some of this information, some of these things need to be passed on to the younger generation.

01:15:58.931 --> 01:16:01.731
Of course, that's part of what we're doing with this podcast.

01:16:01.751 --> 01:16:09.471
I'm not saying we're necessarily old yet, but I guess for some of the younger members of the audience, I'm nearly 40, so I guess that counts as old.

01:16:11.411 --> 01:16:22.151
But the point is, we have to do our duty as men, and part of that duty is training the next generation, because these things can be lost.

01:16:22.991 --> 01:16:27.391
Sometimes in a generation, sometimes in one generation, you can lose these things.

01:16:28.811 --> 01:16:29.771
And what does Scripture say?

01:16:29.771 --> 01:16:34.251
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

01:16:34.531 --> 01:16:35.811
That is a promise from God.

01:16:36.671 --> 01:16:44.691
That is how you maintain civilization longitudinally, how you maintain it over a course of centuries or longer, if God blesses you.

01:16:46.611 --> 01:16:55.811
But if you neglect to do these things, if you neglect to teach the next generation to have zeal for the things of God, well, they won't have it.

01:16:57.071 --> 01:17:02.851
Maybe God will bless them and it will be rediscovered, but why would you put that curse on them?

01:17:04.911 --> 01:17:06.351
You were given good things.

01:17:06.811 --> 01:17:10.211
If you happen to have had faithful teachers, pass those on.

01:17:10.551 --> 01:17:23.971
And if you didn't have faithful teachers, and you're learning those things now instead, and you had to learn them through blood, sweat and tears, however it happens to have been that you managed to acquire those things by the blessing of God, pass them on.

01:17:25.191 --> 01:17:31.711
The goal is not to make each generation have to build up the foundation again for itself, have to rediscover these things.

01:17:31.991 --> 01:17:36.111
That's not how civilization works, it's not how families work, it's not how anything works.

01:17:37.111 --> 01:17:39.931
And we'll get into that, of course, more in the inheritance episode.

01:17:40.991 --> 01:17:46.351
But passing these things on is a vitally important part of the Christian life.

01:17:47.031 --> 01:17:50.431
And that is, in and of itself, zeal.

01:17:51.191 --> 01:18:15.571
Because part of having zeal for the things of God is to want to transmit them to others, particularly to those with whom one has a special relationship, so sons or nephews or just anyone God has placed under you, has made you ahead of that person, has given you a duty to train that person in the faith.

01:18:17.451 --> 01:18:26.411
And again, because it bears repeating, part of that is transmitting that zeal for the things of God.

01:18:27.051 --> 01:18:37.111
And if you don't have it, the people you are attempting to teach, you are attempting to train up in the way they should go, will notice it.

01:18:38.931 --> 01:18:50.271
If you don't believe the things you're teaching, if you don't have zeal for the things you're teaching, they will not take them seriously, because they will recognize that you don't take them seriously.

01:18:51.911 --> 01:18:56.891
And that is why we go over issues that some will think, well, that doesn't seem like it's central to the faith.

01:18:56.911 --> 01:18:57.911
That's not the point.

01:18:58.391 --> 01:19:01.211
The point isn't centrality to the faith.

01:19:01.231 --> 01:19:04.571
This one just so happens to be central to the faith.

01:19:06.131 --> 01:19:19.591
But even issues that are not central to the faith are important, because if you let the things at the periphery fall away, well, now the things that were adjacent to the things that were the periphery are the periphery.

01:19:20.411 --> 01:19:21.411
Will you fight for those?

01:19:21.631 --> 01:19:22.891
Well, no, they're peripheral.

01:19:22.911 --> 01:19:25.811
I can let those fall away, and so on and so forth.

01:19:27.711 --> 01:19:35.711
The question is always what you're going to yield, how far you're going to let the enemy encroach.

01:19:37.471 --> 01:19:46.491
Sometimes you can't fight over absolutely everything, because again, limited energy, limited time, particularly as you get older.

01:19:47.531 --> 01:19:55.571
However, we should not be yielding any of the things of God, any of the truth of God.

01:19:56.851 --> 01:20:04.291
And so older men who have properly learned these things can teach younger men who have the zeal to defend these things.

01:20:04.711 --> 01:20:20.071
And for those who still have the energy, who still have the time on this earth to do so, it is incumbent on us to have a zeal for these things that actually does boil over into something meaningful and concrete.

01:20:21.911 --> 01:20:26.171
These are not just issues to discuss or things to think about.

01:20:26.191 --> 01:20:28.611
These are not mental exercises.

01:20:31.071 --> 01:20:34.311
There is a very real war between good and evil.

01:20:35.211 --> 01:20:44.311
And if you are of Christ, you are a soldier on the side of good, that comes with duties, that comes with things that you are required to do.

01:20:45.651 --> 01:20:57.491
And you need to have a zeal for those, not just because it is your duty to have that zeal, but because that zeal is what will carry you through, regardless of what sort of persecution may come.

01:20:59.291 --> 01:21:03.711
And part of that is that persecution gives you the opportunity to display your zeal.

01:21:04.951 --> 01:21:07.831
Because those who fall away were those who didn't have zeal.

01:21:09.011 --> 01:21:17.271
Those who didn't take these things seriously, those who weren't really jealousy, those who weren't really jealous for God's honor and glory and name.

01:21:18.751 --> 01:21:26.331
And that is not what we want for any Christian, particularly for those who are listening to this podcast.

01:21:27.111 --> 01:21:37.691
Because to some degree, of course, as teachers, we will be judged according to not just the truth of what we taught, but the consequences of it.

01:21:38.851 --> 01:21:42.731
Because that is the fruit of the tree, and the tree is judged by its fruit.

01:21:44.491 --> 01:21:54.611
And so yes, of course, there's, I guess you could call it self-interest, but it's not in the negative sense, because again, it's one of those terms that we attach a negative sense to in English.

01:21:55.151 --> 01:21:56.251
It's not self-dealing.

01:21:56.911 --> 01:22:18.811
It's jealousy for the things of God, and an earnest desire that those who actually listen, those who learn from what we are teaching, will gain something from it, will care about the things of God, will have a zeal for the things of God, and will benefit from them, because God does reward the faithful.

01:22:19.671 --> 01:22:21.171
God is not an absent God.

01:22:21.351 --> 01:22:22.711
He's not an absent Father.

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He's not the God of deism.

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God is actually involved in His creation, and He does punish the wicked, and He does reward the righteous.