May, 1941
TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
173
W h e t h e r in men or in nations, jealousy is as cruel as the grave, as devastating as fire.
“We all deplore the fact that Europe is an armed camp, and trem ble lest the signal of war be given. What is the influence w h i c h maintains this intoler able bondage and may yet fling these masses of men at each other’s throats? Whatever the politicians may say, it is not patriotism. The next great European war will not be an out burst of patriotism to cast off a yoke or to secure liberty for the slave—it will be a duel between n a t i o n s in flamed and blinded by racial jealousy.” . The words were fear fully fulfilled. It was national j e a l o u s y which turned the sun into darkness and the moon into blood, and poured out the tears of mankind like an ocean. The dark history of the past is repeating itself.
Q e
O NE OF THE pleasant memories of my boyhood days is of a visit that we used to make, my River. There were two dogs on the farm, a fine shepherd and a mongrel close skinned dog. They were boon compan ions. Together they hunted for ground hogs and rabbits, and together they trod the treadmill of the dog chum. The dogs were good friends; but if you put your hand down and patted one of- them, im mediately the bristles began to rise on the back of the other and a warning growl proceeded from his jaws. Jeal ousy! Its empire extends from the brute creation to man, the prince of creation. In the Song of Solomon, it is written, “Jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire.” To un derstand the force of this comparison of jealousy with the grave, walk with me through the grassy aisles of the ceme tery and read the names and the dates that are graven, on the tombs. Here is the grave of a man who lived to be al most a hundred years old; there the grave of one who died in middle life; and yonder the tomb of an infant who “did but yesterday suspire.” Brief in scriptions tell the story of the life that here was rounded in a sleep. Some were men and some were women; some were poor and some were rich; some were ignorant and some were learned; some died b e l i e v i n g in Jesus Christ; and some died without faith and without hope. Now we begin to see the truth and power of comparing jealousy with the grave. Like the grave, jealousy preys upon all ages and sexes and kinds and conditions of men. Jealousy is as cruel as the grave! . Nor is the second comparison of the text any the less forceful: “The coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame.” Many and fierce *Pastor nf the First Presbyterian Church .
brother and I, to a farm across the Ohio
By CLARENCE EDWARD MACARTNEY* Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
are the flames which leap out of the furnace of the heart of man; but most vehement of all, scorching unto death every good thing that comes within its path, is the flame of jealousy. The first crime that stained the his tory of the race—the first blow that man ever struck against man—was the blow of a jealous man. Alas! how many crimes since then jealousy has com mitted; what eminent careers it has wrecked; what nations it has drenched with blood; what cities it lias consumed with fire; what hopes it has blasted; what hearts it has broken, and what homes it has blighted with its withering curse! Jealousy Among Nations The flaming torch of jealousy is a light which helps one to read and un derstand the pages of human history. A few years before the last great war, a distinguished Scottish preacher wrote these words;
Again the world is darkened with the tragedy of great nations engaged in a bitter war which will bring sorrow and destruction to untold millions. In one sense, this war is a war of international jealousy. One nation wants to take an other’s place in the sun. Jealousy Between Individuals The first case of jealousy in the world was the jealousy of the evil for the good. Cain slew Abel because his own works were evil and Abel’s righteous. Goodness will always invite scorn and persecution on the part of evil. The ac cuser of his brethren is ever abroad. Satanic malignity is often called into action by purity of heart and meekness of life in another person. The eruption of evil passions which took place when Christ appeared on earth is the crown ing illustration of how purity of char acter, which we like to think will evoke [Continued nn Page 206]
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