The Bible boldly states that our God is a Jealous God. It even tells us that His name is Jealous. What exactly does that mean? What are the implications for the Christian? Listen in!
[powerpress]
The Jealousy Of God
Exodus 34:14
This morning we are going to study an attribute of God that you might wonder about – the jealousy of God. You’re probably wondering how jealousy could be an attribute of God. After all, you understand that God is holy, and His holiness pervades every one of His attributes. You also know that human jealousy is usually sinful. And you’re absolutely right! Romans 13:13 says, “Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.” 1 Corinthians 3:3 says, “for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly and are you not walking like mere men?” And Galatians 5:20 identifies jealousy as a deed of the flesh. So, how in the world can we say that God is jealous?
We say that, most importantly, because the Bible does. I was able to discover 26 different passages in the Bible that explicitly teach that our God is a jealous God. Let me just read a quick sampling:
Exodus 34:14, “you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God”
Deuteronomy 4:24, “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”
Deuteronomy 32:16, “They made Him jealous with strange gods; with abominations they provoked Him to anger.”
Over and over the Bible bluntly states that God is a jealous God. So, what are we to make of this? When we think of a jealous husband, we might get the picture of an insecure, abusive husband who flies off the handle in a fit of rage. Why does the Bible use the word “jealous” to speak of our Creator?
1) Is this an outdated view of God that is no longer true when we come to the New Testament?
2) Is this just a human way of talking about God that we should not take too literally?
3) Is the word jealous a bad translation from the original Hebrew word?
The answer to those questions are “No, No, and No!”
The dictionary has two different definitions of jealousy:
1) Intolerant of rivals or unfaithfulness
2) Vigilant in guarding a possession
As we are going to see, both of these definitions fit God’s character. God is intolerant of rivals or unfaithfulness; and God is vigilant in guarding a possession.
1. God is Intolerant of Rivals or Unfaithfulness
When we think of someone being jealous, we automatically think of a spouse, or someone who has a romantic relationship with someone else. Jealousy is something that lovers sometimes feel, when their covenant relationship is being threatened. For example, when a man begins flirting with his wife, the husband becomes jealous, and rightfully so. Why? Because in a marriage relationship it is right to be intolerant of rivals or unfaithfulness. What would you think of a husband who didn’t care if some other man was hitting on his wife, or whether his wife was going out to clubs drinking and dancing without him? We would conclude that he didn’t love his wife or value their marriage. Well, God does love His wife, and He does value His covenant with us.
Israel is the Wife of Jehovah
Isaiah 54:5, “For your husband is your Maker, whose name is the Lord of hosts; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, who is called the God of all the earth.”
In the Old Testament, Israel is seen as the wife of Jehovah. God entered into covenant with Israel, as a man enters into a covenant with his wife when he marries her. Well, since Israel is married to God, God expects her to be faithful. God will not tolerate unfaithfulness.
Jeremiah 3:20, “Surely, as a woman treacherously departs from her lover, so you have dealt treacherously with Me, O house of Israel,” declares the Lord.”
So, how did Israel treacherously depart from God? How was she unfaithful? The answer is very clear in Scripture. Israel worshiped idols! In almost every passage in the Bible where it speaks of God being jealous, you will find references to idol worship. Let me show you some of them.
Exodus 20:3-5, “You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me”
Exodus 34:12-14, “Watch yourself that you make no covenant with the inhabitants of the land into which you are going, or it will become a snare in your midst. But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim – for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God”
Deuteronomy 4:23-24, “So watch yourselves, that you do not forget the covenant of the Lord your God which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image in the form of anything against which the Lord your God has commanded you. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”
God’s jealousy means that He will not tolerate rivals or unfaithfulness. What are the rivals? Idols! What is the unfaithfulness? Worship of idols, rather than the worship of the true and living God.
The Church is the Bride of Christ
When we get to the New Testament, we discover that the Church is the bride of Christ. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:2, “For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.” God identified Himself as jealous in the Old Testament. We should not think that He has changed when we get to the New Testament. He is the same God. Jesus Christ is jealous for His church. He is intolerant of rivals or unfaithfulness.
Is it possible for the Church to be unfaithful to Christ? Absolutely! If the Church worships idols, she is unfaithful to Christ. But how can the Church worship idols, without bowing down to images or molten gods?
Philippians 3:18-19, “For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.” Now this is a very interesting passage. Paul speaks about the enemies of the cross of Christ who will be destroyed by God. And he says that these people’s god is their appetite. The King James Version says “their god is their belly.” I take that to mean that these people had given their appetites the devotion and attention that God alone deserves. They were living to satisfy their appetites. I think an obsession with food can be idolatry. I think that gluttony can be a manifestation of idolatry. Other bodily appetites can be included as well, including obsessing over drugs, alcohol, or illicit sex. If you have given these things the devotion that God alone should have, your god is your belly, and you have engaged in idolatry.
Colossians 3:5 speaks of “greed, which amounts to idolatry.” Why would greed amount to idolatry? Because we are longing for something more than we long for God. We are giving the thing we covet more attention and devotion than we give to God. The longing for more and more things, then, can be a form of idolatry.
I guess you could say that whatever is the Master Passion of your life is your god. If that Master Passion is not the true and living God, you are worshiping idols.
My friend, let me ask you, “Does God have reason to be jealous concerning you?” Does His anger burn because you are being unfaithful to Him? Are you tolerating rivals in your life? Is it obvious and clear that you worship and serve God alone? These are extremely important questions for us to ask. May we be able to give the right answer to those questions!
2. God Is Vigilant In Guarding A Possession
Think of that soldier who has been commanded to vigilantly guard a prisoner of war. Or the royal policeman who is charged to guard the palace. God is something like that. If jealousy is to vigilantly guard a possession, how would this apply to God? What does God vigilantly guard? What does He fiercely protect?
The Church
The Lord will not allow His children to wander or stray away from Him and give their love to someone or something else. When the Lord saves us, He doesn’t just walk away and say, “Now it’s up to you. I hope you persevere to the end!” No, the Lord begins the work of grace in our lives, and then perfects that work of grace in our lives all the way until we arrive in His presence in glory. The Lord loves His church far too much to allow them to stray away and end up in hell. No, those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives (Heb.12:6).
Charles Spurgeon said, “He can’t endure that you should love the world. His love is as strong as death towards you. If you don’t love Him with a single heart, He will take away that husband, smite that child, bring you from riches to poverty, from health to sickness, even to the gates of the grave because He loves you so much He can’t endure that anything should stand between your heart’s love and Him. Remember, Christian, you are married to a jealous husband!”
Jeremiah 32:40, “I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me.”
Jude begins his short letter by describing the ones he is writing to – “to those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ” (Jude 1).
In 1 Peter 1:5, Peter tells us that believers are “protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”
Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:8 that Christ will “confirm us to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
My friend, if you give your devotion, worship, heart, commitment, and attention to someone or something other than your God, depend on it – He will not stand for it. The Lord will act in holy jealousy. He will vigilantly guard His church.
His Honor
Not only will the Lord vigilantly guard His people, but He will also vigilantly guard His honor.
Ezekiel 39:25, “Therefore thus says the Lord God, “Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name.” You see, God is not just jealous for His church. He is also jealous for His holy name. He is vigilantly guarding His honor and His glory.
You see, our worship and service belong to God alone. Jesus said in Luke 4:8 to the devil, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.” When we give our worship or service to someone or something else, we dishonor God. We are in effect saying, “this thing or this person is what is really worthy of my attention and devotion, not God.”
This is exactly what is happening in Romans 1:22-25 where Paul writes, “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures… for they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
God vigilantly guards His church, not only because He loves her and doesn’t want her to be harmed by the seduction of idols. He also vigilantly guards the church to protect His own honor. He is not willing that His church should degrade and dishonor Him by turning away from Him to lesser rivals.
Listen to the word of the Lord in Isaiah 42:8, “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images.”
Isaiah 48:11, “for My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; for how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.”
God has two predominant motives in what He does: the good of His church and the glory of His name.
Conclusion
Since the Lord is a jealous God, what does that mean for you and me?
- Realize you dishonor God when you serve idols. Brothers and sisters, when we give our service and worship to someone or something other than the Lord, He is dishonored. We are really saying, “this thing is more valuable than God.” Food, sex, entertainment, hobbies, sports, money are better than God. They fulfill me more. They give me more joy and satisfaction. Do you see how dishonoring that is to your Creator? What we are doing in that moment is worshiping the gifts, and ignoring the Giver. We are worshiping and serving the creature rather than the Creator who is blessed forever. That is the essence of sin. It is preferring something to God.
- Refuse to tolerate rivals in your life. The greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” How are you doing in your obedience to the greatest of all commandments? What does your life show that you love supremely?
We face potential rivals everywhere!
Your cell phone can be a rival to God. You have an appointment to meet with God, worship Him and commune with Him. As soon as you sit down to read His Word, you get a notification on your phone. Before you know it you are engrossed in texting people, checking emails, or looking at this or that, and your time with the Lord has disappeared!
Food can be a rival to God. You can actually think about food more than God. It can occupy your mind and heart, to where it could be said that you worship and serve it rather than your Creator.
Money can be a rival to God. It is possible for you to get so caught up in trying to make money that you neglect the Lord.
Entertainment can be a rival to God. I think entertainment has become a problem in a Christian’s life when he is more excited about TV, video games, and Netflix than He is about the truth of God’s Word. When you are neglecting time communing with God and serving Him, and you are wrapped up in entertainment, I think there is a problem in your life. Entertainment has become a rival to God.
Hobbies and sports can be a rival to God. When a Christian chooses to be out on the lake rather than meeting with the Church on Sunday, that’s a problem. When a Christian is more excited about the football game than the church gathering, that’s a problem.
So, if we realize that we are entertaining rivals to God in our life, what should we do about it? Exodus 34:13, “But rather, you are to tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and cut down their Asherim – for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God.” Maybe the answer as simple as leaving our phone in the other room when we spend time with God. Maybe it is increasing the time we spend reading edifying books or watching edifying videos and decreasing the amount of time we spend on entertainment. Maybe it is to make a decision that Sunday is a holy day to the Lord, and nothing comes before your commitment to gather with the Church.
- Demonstrate a godly jealousy for God’s church and His honor. What do I mean by that? I’m talking about emulating your God. He is jealous of His church and His honor. So should we! How? Well, let’s look at how Paul emulated the Lord in this regard. 2 Corinthians 11:2-3, “For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” What did Paul mean by being jealous for them with a godly jealousy? I believe he meant that he was fiercely protective of this church, that they not be led astray from Christ by false teachers. Paul did not want any rivals rising up and drawing disciples after themselves. Paul didn’t want the church to become unfaithful to the Lord.
So too, brothers and sisters, we should have the same concern and desire for Christ’s church. He should demonstrate a godly jealousy for the church. If you see anyone starting to stray from Christ, go after them! Bring them back to the Lord. Intercede for them. Plead with them.
If you see the church begin to dishonor the Lord by valuing the things of this world more than Christ, humbly and respectfully bring this up to the attention of the elders. We all need to be jealous for the honor and glory of Christ.
Saints, we have a jealous husband! Let’s be faithful to Him and honor Him above all! Let’s pray.
______________________________
© The Bridge
Permissions: You are permitted and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. For web posting, a link to this document on our website is preferred. Any exceptions to the above must be approved by The Bridge.
Follow Us!