A friend of mine recently asked me: Is God a jealous God? Isn’t jealousy a sin? If we are not supposed to be jealous of one another, what does the Bible mean when it says God is jealous?
I thought, “Wow! This is a challenging question, isn’t it? But it is a very good question.
Several times in the Old Testament the Bible says God is a jealous God. Consider these verses.
Deuteronomy 4:24 - “For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.”
Exodus 20:5 - “You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God”
Exodus 34:14 - “for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”
So, this is a bit confusing, right? What does all of this mean?
When we think of the sin of jealousy we define it as resentment at what some one else has. When we want what someone else has we might covet, be envious, and be jealous in a desire to have what they have. Instead of being grateful for what God has given us, we want what someone else has whether that be their house, their car, their vacation time, or whatever.
Sinful human jealousy has been the cause of countless difficulties and heartache in human relationships.
But this is not the jealousy God experiences. God is not jealous or envious of anything we possess.
The jealousy of God is seen when someone gives to another something that rightly belongs to Him.
When God tells the Israelites in Exodus to not worship other gods because He is a jealous God, He is saying do not give the the worship and allegiance that belongs solely to Him to false idols.
He is saying that it is sin to worship or to serve anything or anyone else but God. Worship, praise, honor, and adoration belong to God alone, for only He is truly worthy of it.
Pastor John Piper explains it this way… “God is not jealous like an insecure employer who fears that his employees might get lured away by a better salary elsewhere. God's jealousy is not the reflex of weakness or fear.
Instead God is jealous like a powerful and merciful king who takes a peasant girl from a life of shame, forgives her, marries her, and gives her not the chores of a slave, but the privileges of a wife—a queen. His jealousy does not rise from fear or weakness but from a holy indignation at having his honor and power and mercy scorned by the faithlessness of a fickle spouse.”
Because of His love for us, God is not content to allow us to worship and serve false gods, whether they be other religions, materialism, or even ourselves. If he does not care when we love idols more than him, he would allow himself to be dishonored and let us settle for so much less than he intends us to have from life.
God is a jealous God meaning that we belong to Him. He has a rightful claim to the highest level of our love, attention, affection, and especially our worship.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”
Today’s Challenge: Let’s make time to today to give God the glory, honor, and praise that belongs to Him. Let’s give him our allegiance and make him the Lord of our lives.
