About jealousy or Story about Laban

Is jealousy wrong? The Lord himself is God who loves jealously (Deut 4:24, 5:9, 6:15), but in the same time he commands: “Do not envy anybody anything!“ (Deut 5:21). So what about the jealousy? Is it possible, that God simply said can envy, because he just can control himself?

Look at the story of Laban. When Laban first appeared, he was just a young man (Gn 24). I must say I edmired him in few things. He really looked like man. He served and cared about his guest Isak, he fed his animals without asking. It was his duty at that time, however, Laban seemed to me like a man of self-reliance and reliability.

We don’t read about Laban for a while then; we meet him later, when Jacob, the son of his sister asks him for his daughter Rachel (Gn 29). Laban was a quite dissapointment for me. Suddenly, he looked like some kind of jealously despot – hiding behind his nice face. I would blame him for his feelings though. He had to say goodbye to his youngest daugther and that’s never easy. You need to know that at that time, when a father married his daugther, he would probably never see her again. So I don’t wonder that he wanted to keep her close so deeply. I get it at least in the beginning.

At first, Laban tries to walk on the path of honor, Jacob must serve him for 7 years, before he marries Rachel. However, after that Laban offers to Jacob his elder daughter – Lea. Jacob refuses, then Laban secretly changes Rachel for Lea and so cheats on Jacob (Gn 29:23). After that, Jacob wants his real wife. In stead of that, Laban steals cows and sheep which are Jacob’s and he forces him to serve him for another seven years! Laban did all of this to keep his daugther Rachel in his house for the longest time he could.

But in the moment, when those seven years passed, Jacob leaves. Laban’s daughters also leave with him saying: “ Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father's house? Are we not counted of him strangers? For he hath sold us, and hath quite devoured also our money.“ (Gn 31:14-15). Did Laban gain what he wanted to? Instead of being the old Laban, being man, having honor, giving Rachel to Jacob – he tried to decieve Jacob and act to her like she was a possession. At the end, he ended up much worse then he would have ended up if he had given his daughter to Jacob in the first place.

So, jeylousy does not have to be wrong all together. I suppose we understand Laban at first, his first worries. God is jealous in the same way – he is worried that he’s gonna lose us. The difference is, that he is not possessive and he leaves us the free will. And that is something what Laban – and sometimes we – cannot do.