The Prophetic Telegraph No 68
THE EVIL
EYE
(A study in the Sermon on the Mount. Matt.6:19-34)
Our Lord spoke about "the
evil eye" in Matthew 6, and I began to wonder what He meant by
the expression. I was aware that it is sometimes used today, so I looked it up
in "Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable", and
this is what I found:-
EVIL EYE. It was anciently
believed that the eyes of some persons darted noxious rays on objects which
they glared upon. The first morning glance of such eyes was certain destruction
to man or beast. Virgil speaks of an evil eye making cattle lean.
But was this the thought in
the Lord's mind when He uttered the words? I sensed the only way to find out was
to see whether the O.T. had reference to the expression. Was the Lord using
words that had been in common parlance amongst the Israelites? It occurs in
Deut.15:9, Prov.23:6, & 28:22. And it is RA AYIN. RA takes on its base
meaning of a "noisy, clamorous, adventurous, ambitious, self-seeking
person, one who seeks riches which come from his own efforts of achievement,
and which he is proud of." (Please refer back to PT 66,67 for details of
RA.) The context shows this very clearly in Proverbs 23:6-8. Literally
translated it reads:-
6.Do not eat the
bread of him who has an evil eye, neither desire his dainty meals, for as he
estimates himself in his soul, so he is, "Eat and drink," he says to
you, But his heart is not with you. The morsel which you have eaten you will
vomit up, and lose your pleasant words.
But clearly the
"food" mentioned in these verses is intended to be a figure of speech
for "doctrine, lifestyle." Retranslating it becomes:-
6.Don't listen
to the false-logic of him who has an evil eye (i.e. an ambitious fleshly
drive), nor crave his apparently desirable life-style, For he has a high
estimation of himself, a self-made man, he encourages you to follow his
example, by flattery, but he doesn't really need you at all. You will be his
pawn. After giving his ways a try for a short time, you'll wish you hadn't,
you'll take back all that you said in his favour, all the kind words you
lavished on him.
The other passage in
Proverbs (28:22) speaks in the same vein:- He who is ambitious to be
rich has an evil eye, he considers not that poverty will come upon him.
And in the N.T., in
Matt.20:15 (The parable about the men who were hired to work in the master's
vineyard, some of whom grumbled when they received their wage-packet,) "Is
it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own things? Is your eye evil
because I am good?"
The Evil Eye, the Lord
says, produces "darkness for the whole body."
It is the equivalent of serving Mammon. The Lexicon tells us that Mammon was
the Syrian god of wealth, the god whom
The man with an evil eye is
an ambitious man, a vigorous and self-disciplined man, who visualises a goal
and sets out to achieve it by the force of his own unbroken, fleshly character.
He has plenty of self-esteem, and his goals are self-centred in that he fools
himself that they are "good" and worth while achieving, but the end
result is entirely of his own efforts. Hence, when the goal is apparently
reached, he is proud, and expects the applause of others for the good work he
has done. "Lord, I have done this, that, and the other in your
name." But instead of getting a crown he gets a dismissal.
On the other hand, the man
who has a clear eye, and whose body is "full of light",
has a "let-go-and-let-God" attitude. He knows that he cannot add
another cubit to his stature (lift himself up by his own bootstraps, as we say
today), he has but little substance to rely on, and looks to God for his food and
clothing. He lets his tomorrows take care of themselves, knowing that all
necessities will be provided. The one driving force in his life, a life of
faith, is to "seek God's kingdom and His righteousness"
rather than his own kingdom and self-righteousness.
Our Lord gave an example of
an evil eye in his parable of the man who wanted to break down his barns and
build bigger ones. (Luke 12:15-20) "Fool, this night your soul
shall be required of you."
Kipling saw the distinction
between these two types of men depicted in Martha and Mary. In his poem "The
Sons of Martha" he described Martha's sons as those who are
always active DOING things to achieve, whereas Mary's sons are those who sit at
the Lord's feet and listen, to know how the promise runs. (This is not to
favour inactivity, but to see the hidden motives behind people's behavioural
patterns.) "The Sons of Mary seldom bother, for they have inherited
that good part, But the Sons of Martha favour their Mother of the careful soul
and the troubled heart."
He concludes the poem by
saying of the Sons of Mary, "They have cast their burden upon the
Lord, and - the Lord He lays it on Martha's Sons!" The evil eye lays
up treasure on earth by self-effort (usually for a godly end!), whereas the one
who trusts in God for his daily needs, and walks by faith, lays up treasure in
heaven. The man who lays up treasure on earth usually has something to SHOW for
his efforts, but the man who lays up his treasure in heaven may have nothing
here to show - in fact he may be censured for his lack of effort. But in the
next life there will be a role-reversal. The Jews considered our Lord's life to
be pointless, with nothing to show (that THEY could admire.) They also thought
the same of the Apostle Paul. But to a man with spiritual understanding,
everything is the other way up.
The man with the evil eye
says, "I am rich, I have need of nothing." (Rev.3
- the Laodicean church.) But the Lord's own estimation of him is that he is "miserable,
poor, blind, wretched and naked." Blind, yes, because his
whole body is in darkness. The prosperity movement of the present day has
fallen into this trap.
The man who follows the
Lord, and seeks His righteousness will receive the Lord's commendation - "Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven."
The evil eye is equivalent
to lawlessness, because it will not conform to God's own character, or to the
words of the Lord, but seeks to emulate the character of Lucifer. "The
lawless are like a troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire
and dirt. There is no peace, says my God, to the lawless."
Isa.57:20-21.
But the man of God takes
note of the Lord's words in Matt.11:28. "Learn of me, for I am
meek and lowly in heart and you shall find rest for your souls."
The word "rest"
contains the thought of "quietness" as well as "ceasing from
labour." Hence it is the opposite of RA, "noisy."
And Matt.12:19-20 "My
Chosen, my Beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased; I will put my spirit upon
Him - - He shall not strive, nor cry out, neither shall any man hear His voice
in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax He shall
not quench."
And 2 Cor.10:1 "Now
I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ - -."
And the whole of Psalm 131
-
"Lord my
heart is not haughty, nor my eyes lofty, Neither do I exercise myself in great
matters, Or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself
As a child that is weaned of its mother. My soul is even as a weaned child. Let
No wonder the Lord spoke so
firmly about the need for His followers to become "like little
children." As we grow up we tend to think of little children as charming
but irrelevant to the weightier matters of life. But the Lord had to correct
this impression. He wants us to observe the ways of a small child, and learn of
the simplicity, the trust, the craving for affection, and the willingness to
accept parents as "god". A surrogate God perhaps, but family life was
intended to be this way. As the child grows, the affections of the heart can
easily be transferred to the Unseen God, because it has been tutored towards
those who are "seen." A child's RELATIONSHIP with his parents, and
his TRUST in his parents should then be transferred in adult life to one's
RELATIONSHIP with God and a TRUST in Him. This counters the
"Do-it-yourself" tendency of many "grown-ups" in the
Christian community.
The Bible uses the
symbolism of
The whole of Revelation 18
is a picture of what will happen when the truth finally emerges about God's
character, the One who is meek, quiet, lowly, unostentatious, shy, retiring,
embarrassed by sin, giving rest to the weary, bringing salvation to the sinner,
having infinite patience and longsuffering towards the rebellious and lawless.
When the "
Many today, even in the
churches, might smile with slight patronism or even scorn at the words of this
children's hymn, but maybe it does have the truth after all - (words by Charles
Wesley.)
Gentle Jesus, meek and
mild, look upon a little child, Pity my simplicity, suffer me to come to Thee.
Fain I would to Thee be
brought, Blessed Lord, forbid it not, In the Kingdom of Thy grace, give a
little child a place.
Fain I would be as Thou
art; give me Thy obedient heart; Thou art pitiful and kind, let me have Thy
loving mind.
Let me above all fulfil
God my heavenly Father's will; Never His good Spirit grieve, only to His glory
live.
Lamb of God, I look to
Thee, Thou shalt my example be, Thou art gentle, meek and mild, Thou wast once
a little child.
Thou didst live to God
alone, Thou didst never seek Thine own; Thou Thyself didst never please, God
was all Thy happiness.
Loving Jesus, gentle
Lamb, In Thy gracious hands I am, Make me, Saviour, what Thou art, live Thyself
within my heart.
I shall then show forth
Thy praise, serve Thee all my happy days; Then the world shall always see
Christ, the Holy Child, in me.