How can a Holy God be Jealous?

How can a Holy God be jealous?

A few days ago, a young man asked me how God can be jealous when jealousy is sinful?

Let me explain with a hypothetical situation. Suppose you met a beautiful girl and you both loved each other and got married.  After a while, if your wife is flirting with a friend of yours, will you be jealous?  Is it wrong for you to be jealous? It is not wrong for you to be jealous, because she belongs to you and you only, and you belong only to her. It would help if you were jealous so that you can help her and correct the situation in any way possible. Instead, if you are not jealous, you are harming your marriage and your family. Jealously is not always a bad thing as righteous anger is not bad.

 Although jealousy and envy are interchangeably used in our modern English language, they mean different things.  Sinful jealousy (or envy) is coveting something that does not belong to you. Here is an example of sinful jealousy about King Saul. "So from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye  (to watch with jealousy) on David (1 Samuel 18:9, HCSB). Another example of sinful jealousy about Rachel. "Now when Rachel saw that she bore Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister, and said to Jacob, "Give me children, or else I die!" (Genesis 30:1)

 The right kind of jealousy is appropriate when someone takes what is rightly belongs to you. God created us in His image. We are His children and His prized possession. We need to understand that there is only one God and no rival or equal. Even the so-called opponent, satan, is a created being nothing to be compared to God. Apostle Paul writes, "...we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other God but one" (1 Corinthians 8:4). But when God's people who were created in His image turn to idols, which are not gods, God should be jealous. 

 Apostle Paul was also jealous of the church at Corinth, but he expressed it as "godly jealously."  "For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!" (2 Corinthians 11:2-4). This jealousy is the same kind that God revealed in the Scriptures. God's jealously is love in action.

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Are you worshiping an Idol?

Buckingham Palace

Imagine, if you are invited to the Buckingham Palace by an exclusive invite from the queen. When the special day arrived, you dressed up in your best attire and brought a special expensive gift for the queen. The butler welcomes you into the palace. You are delighted to meet the butler as he is very helpful in the new place. You started talking to the butler for a long time, and you liked him. But then, the butler announced to you that her majesty would be anticipating him any moment. You tell the butler I am not interested in meeting the queen as we are having a good time looking around the palace and having a pleasant conversation. You say to the butler I will give you the gift I brought for the queen and in a short while I will take leave. After reading this, you are thinking; I would never do such a thing. It is a great honor to be the guest of the queen.

As a Christian, if you believe truly that Jesus Christ is the King of kings and Lord of Lords, you would consider spending time with Him a great honor. You will take delight in the Lord. "Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass (Psalms 37:4-5)." The great King of kings said, "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28)."

Unfortunately, we are busy with our little world. We are busy with the things that will perish. The things you can touch and feel. Jesus said, "Don't collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don't break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:19-21). For some, it may be their job, car, house, boat, bank account, stock market, games, and even ministry. These things can become an idol when we worship them more than the King, who provided these. You may say I am not worshiping any of these. The word worship means that you are evaluating the worth of a person or a thing. If you value anybody or anything more than our Lord and Savior Jesus, you are not worshiping Jesus. You may say, I worship Jesus also, I consider him of some value to me. Jesus said, "No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money (Matthew 6:24)" Some are devoted to building their "own" ministry or church and forgot to worship Jesus in a real sense.

How is your prayer life? How much you love God and His Word? "If you love Me, you will keep My commands" (John 14:15) You cannot keep His commands if you do not spend time with Him. You may have to make some hard decisions to remove your "idols" in your life, even if it cost you much. "Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned (John (15:4-6)" As we see the day approaching, let us cling to our Lord and Savior more and more.

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