Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy? ~Proverbs 27:4
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, showing love to a thousand (generations) of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” ~Exodus 20:2-6
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell my people this: “You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven. Do not make any gods to be alongside Me. Do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.” ~Exodus 20:22-23
Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. ~Exodus 34:12-14
Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.) Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him. He was successful in whatever he undertook. ~2 Kings 18:3-7A
We usually think of jealousy as a bad thing, and when it exists in humans it usually is. It is different from anger in that it is focused on one issue. Let’s define the term. Today “jealousy” generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgust. But aside from all the negative emotions and connotations that have made “jealousy” a bad thing, jealousy is really only the name for our correct response to whoever would take what rightfully belongs to the jealous person.
It is right for a spouse to be jealous for the marriage. When another person interferes with that relationship, anger is the appropriate response to betrayal and feeling robbed and all that goes with dashed hopes and broken dreams. But humans have a very difficult time handling their anger appropriately in that situation. The hurt and anger can lead us into sin.
Let’s make a distinction between jealousy, a fierce devotion to right relationships, versus envy, or coveting which are a fierce desire to get what belongs to someone else. The way the words are used today, one could “say” that jealousy is the cause behind satan’s fall and the subsequent temptation of Adam and Eve. The satan was jealous of the praise that God, his creator rightfully received. But really, that was sinful envy or coveting. The satan wanted praise for himself that rightfully belongs to God alone. So satan caused a rebellion that led to his desire to ruin everything God created so that it wouldn’t be praiseworthy.
Jealousy, as it is understood today, can be defined as a laser beam of focused, passionate hatred, full of vengeance and a desire to destroy the subject. Who can stand against it? Yet, scripture says that our loving Father is jealous. He refers to Himself in the first commandment as, “a jealous god.” He ordered that the people of Israel should have no other god before Him. If jealousy is bad, how is it good in Him? Jealousy, in the Biblical sense would be more correctly understood as a laser beam of focused, passionate hatred of sin, full of a ferocious desire to restore whatever right relationship has been broken or robbed.
The truth is that God has a right to be jealous. In Him, because He is good and the rightful owner of everything, because He made it in love and loves all He has made, God being jealous is justice. And all His emotional response to satan’s rebellion is positively protective of us, not of Himself. Nothing else deserves the praise and honor He deserves from all He has made. He has a right to our affections, our honor, our devotion, and our loyalty. Nothing and no one else deserve any of those claims on us. And in fact, our devotion to anything other than Him is harmful to us.
In all other beings, jealousy is usually selfish. When I am jealous, I am outraged at my loss. But in God, his jealousy is really “fierce devotion.” He is outraged at your loss.
Yet, we foolishly arouse God’s jealousy when we give to created things all that God deserves, without giving God any consideration at all. Created things are of so much less value and importance. Yet, there are many cultures in which people worship actual idols that they call gods. We moderns are “more sophisticated” and we understand that idolatry is wrong, and even foolish. So, we know better so we would never do it.
We can understand God being jealous for His people when, after all He had done for them, the people would look at a silly golden calf and say, “You are the one that brought us out of Egypt.” They would do this right in God’s face, as if He couldn’t see, which was even more insulting since He was the one who created the ability to see in the first place. He was jealous of the praise He justly deserved for all He had done. He endured watching what He loved, giving that love to a dead object, or to an evil demon. This hurt Him and He was rightly jealous for their love.
As sophisticated as we think we are, we still play those kinds of games with His affections today. Yes, those who don’t know any better do it all the time. They may have a favorite sport team, or politician, or hobby that they are truly passionate about. The lack of statues to these lesser “gods” only means that we are the more easily deceived into thinking we are not idolaters. So much for our sophistication! Even atheists are tacitly worshipping a god of self-determination. They don’t know any better. And while God would love to have their affection and devotion turned toward Him, He can be patient with their ignorance because they just don’t realize that there is someone who really loves them and truly deserves all of their praise and honor.
What hurts more is that those who call themselves Christ followers can do the same. We are not unaffected by the results of the great Fall from God’s design. I don’t think it would be good to label anything here because it could serve as a distraction and possibly get you to miss the point. The truth is, we all have little things, traditions, material possessions, habits, that can distract us from giving God the praise only He deserves. In fact, something that might replace God for you, may be no problem for me, and vise versa, so listing anything here just isn’t useful. There are too many options!
What is useful is to humbly go before your heavenly Father and ask Him to show you what that something is, if you don’t know already. He is jealous for you because He loves you. He doesn’t not want anything to come between you and Him. Hopefully, you don’t want that either.
Prayer: Father, I love You and only You! I really mean it! But my heart is so deceitful I only know that I can still have a hard time living up to my desire to be totally devoted to You. Help Lord, purify my heart. And thank you for being ferociously devoted to me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: How He Loves
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, showing love to a thousand (generations) of those who love Me and keep My commandments.” ~Exodus 20:2-6
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell my people this: “You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven. Do not make any gods to be alongside Me. Do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.” ~Exodus 20:22-23
Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. ~Exodus 34:12-14
Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.) Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him. He was successful in whatever he undertook. ~2 Kings 18:3-7A
We usually think of jealousy as a bad thing, and when it exists in humans it usually is. It is different from anger in that it is focused on one issue. Let’s define the term. Today “jealousy” generally refers to the thoughts or feelings of insecurity, fear, and concern over a relative lack of possessions or safety. Jealousy can consist of one or more emotions such as anger, resentment, inadequacy, helplessness or disgust. But aside from all the negative emotions and connotations that have made “jealousy” a bad thing, jealousy is really only the name for our correct response to whoever would take what rightfully belongs to the jealous person.
It is right for a spouse to be jealous for the marriage. When another person interferes with that relationship, anger is the appropriate response to betrayal and feeling robbed and all that goes with dashed hopes and broken dreams. But humans have a very difficult time handling their anger appropriately in that situation. The hurt and anger can lead us into sin.
Let’s make a distinction between jealousy, a fierce devotion to right relationships, versus envy, or coveting which are a fierce desire to get what belongs to someone else. The way the words are used today, one could “say” that jealousy is the cause behind satan’s fall and the subsequent temptation of Adam and Eve. The satan was jealous of the praise that God, his creator rightfully received. But really, that was sinful envy or coveting. The satan wanted praise for himself that rightfully belongs to God alone. So satan caused a rebellion that led to his desire to ruin everything God created so that it wouldn’t be praiseworthy.
Jealousy, as it is understood today, can be defined as a laser beam of focused, passionate hatred, full of vengeance and a desire to destroy the subject. Who can stand against it? Yet, scripture says that our loving Father is jealous. He refers to Himself in the first commandment as, “a jealous god.” He ordered that the people of Israel should have no other god before Him. If jealousy is bad, how is it good in Him? Jealousy, in the Biblical sense would be more correctly understood as a laser beam of focused, passionate hatred of sin, full of a ferocious desire to restore whatever right relationship has been broken or robbed.
The truth is that God has a right to be jealous. In Him, because He is good and the rightful owner of everything, because He made it in love and loves all He has made, God being jealous is justice. And all His emotional response to satan’s rebellion is positively protective of us, not of Himself. Nothing else deserves the praise and honor He deserves from all He has made. He has a right to our affections, our honor, our devotion, and our loyalty. Nothing and no one else deserve any of those claims on us. And in fact, our devotion to anything other than Him is harmful to us.
In all other beings, jealousy is usually selfish. When I am jealous, I am outraged at my loss. But in God, his jealousy is really “fierce devotion.” He is outraged at your loss.
Yet, we foolishly arouse God’s jealousy when we give to created things all that God deserves, without giving God any consideration at all. Created things are of so much less value and importance. Yet, there are many cultures in which people worship actual idols that they call gods. We moderns are “more sophisticated” and we understand that idolatry is wrong, and even foolish. So, we know better so we would never do it.
We can understand God being jealous for His people when, after all He had done for them, the people would look at a silly golden calf and say, “You are the one that brought us out of Egypt.” They would do this right in God’s face, as if He couldn’t see, which was even more insulting since He was the one who created the ability to see in the first place. He was jealous of the praise He justly deserved for all He had done. He endured watching what He loved, giving that love to a dead object, or to an evil demon. This hurt Him and He was rightly jealous for their love.
As sophisticated as we think we are, we still play those kinds of games with His affections today. Yes, those who don’t know any better do it all the time. They may have a favorite sport team, or politician, or hobby that they are truly passionate about. The lack of statues to these lesser “gods” only means that we are the more easily deceived into thinking we are not idolaters. So much for our sophistication! Even atheists are tacitly worshipping a god of self-determination. They don’t know any better. And while God would love to have their affection and devotion turned toward Him, He can be patient with their ignorance because they just don’t realize that there is someone who really loves them and truly deserves all of their praise and honor.
What hurts more is that those who call themselves Christ followers can do the same. We are not unaffected by the results of the great Fall from God’s design. I don’t think it would be good to label anything here because it could serve as a distraction and possibly get you to miss the point. The truth is, we all have little things, traditions, material possessions, habits, that can distract us from giving God the praise only He deserves. In fact, something that might replace God for you, may be no problem for me, and vise versa, so listing anything here just isn’t useful. There are too many options!
What is useful is to humbly go before your heavenly Father and ask Him to show you what that something is, if you don’t know already. He is jealous for you because He loves you. He doesn’t not want anything to come between you and Him. Hopefully, you don’t want that either.
Prayer: Father, I love You and only You! I really mean it! But my heart is so deceitful I only know that I can still have a hard time living up to my desire to be totally devoted to You. Help Lord, purify my heart. And thank you for being ferociously devoted to me. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Song: How He Loves
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