Monday, March 11, 2019

Jealous Like God


Jealousy is generally considered a bad thing. Most people understand that we are not supposed to be jealous of others and even non-believers will teach their kids not to be jealous. Yet the Bible talks about God being a jealous God. Can God sin? Can He do something that is wrong? If it is ok for Him to be jealous is it still wrong for us to be jealous?


Exodus 34:14 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
for you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God

God calls Himself jealous, that is His name. We already know that God is holy, He cannot do anything wrong or sinful, so how is this jealousy ok? The answer is in what He is jealous for. In this verse He is telling the Israelites how they should live and renewed His covenant with them. Part of that instruction was telling them that they were not to worship other gods. In those days, it was common for people to worship many gods, but the Lord God was making it clear He would suffer no rival. He would not tolerate any other idol to pull at His people’s hearts.

He wants us all for Himself in the same way that a husband is jealous for his wife’s love and affection, which is right and fitting. Marriages where one spouse is not jealous for their partner’s love and affection fall apart. So it is with faith. We can have no other god. Our worship and praise should be for God alone. That is part of the covenant. Marriage is meant to be a reflection of our relationship with God. Spiritually, He is our husband and we are to be faithful to Him.

2 Corinthians 11:2 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
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.

This is Paul talking to the Corinthians and in a sense making himself their spiritual matchmaker. He has betrothed them to God as a father would betroth his daughter to a man to marry. We are still in that engagement period and we are to remain faithful to our espoused as we would to our earthly fiancĂ©. Paul was jealous for his spiritual children, wanting them to be faithful to God. It is God’s right to be jealous for our love and worship just as it is a husband’s or wife’s right to be jealous for their spouse’s love and affection. We need to be jealous for God’s relationship with us and with others. If we see someone immersed in idolatry (not just foreign religions but anything that a person loves more than God) we need to lovingly try to bring them back to their “first love.”

Ezekiel 39:25 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
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.

God is not only jealous for our love, but also for His name. His name is holy and powerful, and it should be revered and respected as well as glorified. That is part of His holiness. He is jealous for His holiness. He punished the Israelites because they turned away from their covenant with Him, but also because they dishonored His name with their wicked actions. They were causing the surrounding nations to curse God so He disciplined them. Then, when they had been properly chastised and repented He restored them, because their suffering was beginning to cast a bad light on God. He restored them to show the nations that He was the all-powerful God, the only One to be worshipped. He will not tolerate His name being desecrated, and we shouldn’t either.

We should be jealous for God’s name in the same way we would be jealous for the reputation of our spouse. We need to stand against blasphemy of any kind, stand up when people use His name as a swear word. We also need to be careful that we don’t do anything that would cause others to think ill of God as a result of our actions or lifestyles. We are His ambassadors to the world and we need to live as lights for Him rather than living for ourselves.

Are you jealous for God? Are you passionate for His name and holiness? Are you willing to stand up for Him?

No comments:

Post a Comment