God, Envy & World Peace

Bemoaning the ignorance of people who suffer from envy, Luzzatto writes:

If they only knew and if they only understood that man is incapable of touching even a hairsbreadth of what has been reserved for his fellowman and that every single thing comes from Hashem, in accordance with His wondrous counsel and His unfathomable wisdom, they would have absolutely no cause for distress at their friend's success. 

In an apparent non sequitur, Luzzatto continues with a prophecy from Isaiah.

This is what the prophet promises us about the future. In order for the good fortune of Israel to be perfect, God will first remove this ugly trait [of envy] from our hearts. Then no one will be distressed when someone else does well and the successful man will have no need to hide himself and his business from others, for [fear of arousing] envy. This is what the verse states, "The envy of Ephraim will be removed... Ephraim will not envy Yehuda" (Yeshaya 11:13).

What is the relevance of this prophecy to the discussion at hand? Luzzatto may be bolstering his contention that people lead happier lives when they are free of envy, but surely that is an obvious point which is in little need of evidence from Scripture. I believe Luzzatto has something else in mind here, a point based on a different prophecy by the same prophet.

The verse states about the future: "Together, all flesh will see that the Mouth of Hashem has spoken" (Yeshaya 40:5). This means that our comprehension will be refined to the extent that we will merit to discern and see - even with our eyes of flesh - the expansion of God's words [of creation] into every thing in the universe. (Nefesh HaChaim 3:11)

In the future, Yeshaya tells us, the fact that God created the world will be clear and obvious to everyone. The mere act of looking at an object will betray its divine origin.

Luzzatto told us that the antidote for envy is the knowledge that "every single thing comes from Hashem." If in the future everyone will recognize the Creator, it follows that envy will disappear. Yeshaya's two prophecies are thus united and together they provide the perfect proof for Luzzatto's first point: faith kills envy. 

Luzzatto's next point is that the death of envy will bring peace in its wake.

This is the peace and tranquility of the administering angels, all of whom happily perform their service, each one in his position, no one feeling the slightest envy of his fellow. For they all know the ultimate truth and are [thus] delighted with the good that they have and are happy with their lot. 

Luzzatto uses the angels in heaven to illustrate the kind of society destined for mankind in the envy-free future. This peace and tranquillity happens to be another prophecy of Isaiah, his most famous vision of the Messianic Era. 

The wolf will live with the sheep and the leopard will lie down with the kid... for the earth will be as filled with the knowledge of Hashem as water covers the seabed." (Yeshaya 11:6,9)

This prophecy is a metaphor for world peace (cf. Rambam, Melachim 12:1,5). Peace will reign when envy disappears and envy will disappear when the knowledge of Hashem fills the earth. Just as Luzzatto said.