Isaiah 11:13
13 The envy [qin'ah] also of
Ephraim ['Ephrayim] shall depart, [cuwr] and the adversaries [tsarar]
of Judah [Yahuwdah] shall be cut off: [karath] Ephraim ['Ephrayim] shall
not envy [qana'] Judah, [Yahuwdah] and Judah [Yahuwdah] shall
not vex [tsarar] Ephraim. ['Ephrayim] KJV-Interlinear
13 Then the
jealousy of Ephraim will depart, And those who harass Judah will be cut off;
Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, And Judah will not harass Ephraim. NASB
Envy here is written in
two ways.
The first, ‘qinah,’
refers to a jealousy of someone who wants something that you have, or that they
perceive that you have, and they want.
The second, ‘qana,’
refers to a hatred which is driven by jealousy.
It has no truthful basis or justification, but is just there because
they simply do not like you.
When you deal with lots
of people, and especially when you deal with lots of people in what may be considered
a competitive situation, then sooner or later you will become the object of their
hate. And that hate is driven by their
jealousy and further fueled with their gossip against you, neither of which are
right, but they just want you to hurt or be hurt and therefore fail in anything
or everything. It matters not what your
failure is, they just want you to fail in order to justify their hate against
you.
And this principle will
apply to everyone, even you, since you live in a world that is populated with
people. Whether it comes through your
work, through your hobby, through your social life, whatever, sooner or later you
will become a target.
And if you happen to be
advancing in your spiritual life, in the correct way, and thus you learn that
you need not compete in this world because it is really the Lord who is driving
your life, then others, who are not so inclined in their spiritual life, will
hate you because they have to work and you seem to be getting somewhere, even
if you are not, so they hate you.
Their hate is not based
on logic or even facts, it is simply an emotional reaction of someone who lacks
a spiritual life. With no spiritual life
or with an ineffective spiritual life, then there are no certainties, no
confidences in life that are resident within their soul.
When you lack a spiritual
life, then insecure emotion makes up a great deal of all that you have.
Whereas, the growing believer
has or should have confidence in Gods care for himself.
And so we now have the
relationship between the two nations that were created when Israel split. Samaria, also called Israel, also called
Ephraim, was the northern kingdom, and Judah was the southern kingdom.
Their struggle between
them was intense and demonstrates those who struggled for their own plan for
life as was the case for Samaria, and then there was Judah which represented
the nation of Gods choice and therefore blessing.
Samaria was thus jealous,
which led to hate, which led to their attempts to destroy Judah.
Now that was back in
Isaiah’s day.
This principle also
applies to all people, including you, who will come face to face with those who
would destroy them over nothing. And that is a lot of what jealousy is. A lot to do about nothing. A struggle for removing someone when no
removal is needed or even necessary.
Ephraim rejected God but wanted
Gods approval. They wanted to be the
chosen of God, even as they rejected God.
Judah on the other hand
was Gods chosen, and even when Judah was disobedient, they still received Gods
favor. More than enough to upset
Ephraim.
Judah on the other hand, became
an adversary of Ephraim. Vex, ‘tsarar,’
means adversary, afflict, distress, oppress, oppose, upset, irk, annoy. And Judah, being Gods chosen, would not let
Ephraim forget that. Kind of like gloating over ones position or presumed
importance. A nose stuck in the air, or
a holier than thou sort of attitude.
Therefore, both of these
descriptions are of inner hostilities within the Jewish nation.
When Christ takes the
reigns of His kingdom, which begins at the second advent, then these emotional
and behavioral and even overt hostilities and attitudes will cease.
If you have not yet begun
to fit the pieces of this puzzle together, when Christ returns, the world will not
be the same. Not by a long shot.
Life will change in the
animal kingdom, in the philosophy realm, as well in the human realm.
But we still need to deal
with the gentiles, as well as the geographic makeup of the world. Both of which will see dramatic changes, too.
And how do these future
changes relate to what we have now?
Why do we have what we
have now, and why will things change in the future?
What do you suppose the
difference is between the two times in history and why will we never be able to
achieve what Christ will achieve?
