8 Roots of Sickness

7. Envy

Why do we envy anybody? Because we are not satisfied with who we are and what we have, and we want what that other person is and have. It is that simple! In a way, envy is a slap in the face of God, it is letting Him know that we are not pleased with the way He created us. Proverbs 14:30b tells us,

 “… but envy makes the bones rot.” (ESV)

The word envy is the Hebrew word qinʾāh: “A feminine noun meaning zeal, jealousy. This word comes from the verb qānāʾ (7065), meaning to be jealous or zealous, and describes an intense fervor, passion, and emotion that is greater than a person’s wrath and anger.”^[1]

8. A Crushed Spirit

We have seen adverse emotions that affect our vision (Psalm 31:9) and our bodies in general (Psalm 31:9). We have seen how our iniquities causes our bones to waste away and it debilitate our energy levels (Psalm 31:10). We have seen that we can develop heart problems when we embrace certain adverse emotions (Proverbs 13:12). We have seen the devastating effects of envy as it causes our bones to rot (Proverbs 14:30). Lastly, a crushed spirit finished the work; Proverbs 17:22b tells us 

“… but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” Proverbs 17:22b (ESV)

The word Crushed is the Hebrew word nāḵāʾ: “An adjective meaning broken, beaten, crushed. It describes the life, the vitality, the drive, the spirit of a person that has been oppressed, broken by a grieved heart. A spirit broken, crushed, renders a person hopeless (Prov. 15:13; 17:22; 18:14).”^[2] A crushed spirit is the end of life. I can see a person having problems walking, health deteriorating in such a way that the person ends up in a wheelchair. I see this person with a deep sadness, not eating, not drinking, not engaging, isolating, and eventually dying a horrible and lonely death. Beloved, this is the description of a crushed spirit.

In our next articles we are going to look at the ministry of healing and at divine prescriptions.

To be continued…

^[1] Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament(Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 1000.

^[2] Warren Baker and Eugene E. Carpenter, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament(Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2003), 731.