Hebrews 1:1-2 says, “God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son…” (NKJV) This reveals something very important to us, that God has revealed Himself to us through the Scriptures. There is much we could never have known about Him had He not chosen to do so. We could probably surmise some things about Him just by looking at creation, like the fact that He must be very wise and powerful. But we could never have known that the God of creation is among other things, completely holy, righteous and just in all His ways; that He is faithful to keep all His promises, and that He is gracious, merciful, longsuffering and One who loves us.
But there is one attribute that He declares about Himself that some may struggle with, one that He especially wanted His people to understand, and it is the fact that He is a ‘jealous God’. How important was it that His people understand this? Evidently very important, because the first place He declares it is tied to the second of the 10 commandments. There, His people are warned not to make any idols to worship or serve in place of Him, “for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God,” (Exodus 20:5) and that, if they disobey this commandment, the judgment that would follow would be so severe that it would even affect their children to the third and fourth generation. So, what does He mean when God declares that He’s a jealous God?
Well, obviously it doesn’t mean that He is jealous like we are when we become envious of someone’s achievements or certain advantages they may have over us, because in God’s case, there is no one like Him. And that’s the point. Because He alone is God, He will not share His glory with anything. He is fiercely protective of His property (His people) and His possessions, those that are His own. Because He is God, He is incomparable and He will tolerate no rivals, no idols.
Over and over we see Him referred to this way in the Old Testament, especially when it comes to His people’s tendency to wander off and serve other gods. Deuteronomy 4:24 declares God to be a consuming fire, a jealous God, that brings wrath and judgment on anyone who dares offer up a rival to Him. We have a good example of this in Numbers 25:11, where Phinehas’ actions turned away God’s wrath, as he was “jealous with God’s jealousy” (NKJV) so that God did not destroy all Israel for going a-whoring after ‘Baal of Peor’ in the land of Moab prior to entering the promised land. Again, in Deuteronomy 6:10-15, He warned them not to turn away from Him after they settled in the Promised Land, as His jealousy for them would lead to their destruction if they refused to honor Him alone as God.
We could go on, but for lack of space, let’s just be aware that we find God either describing Himself, or being described, as a jealous God in every genre of the Old Testament; in the Pentateuch, the Psalms, the historical literature and the prophets, and something we best not ignore.
Well, you may say, “That’s the Old Testament, and I’m so glad that this God that tolerates no rivals for His affection ends there.” Well, as Lee Corso is known to say, “Not so fast.” Another attribute of God is that He is immutable (He never changes). And another thing to consider, isn’t Jesus God? If both of these statements are true, shouldn’t we find this characteristic also in the New Testament concerning Jesus? Yes, and we do.
In Matthew 10:37-39 Jesus said, “He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it.” Sounds to me like Jesus is declaring that He also will tolerate no rivals when it comes to our affection toward Him. Why? Because there is none like Him. When it comes to our relationship with Him, He is a jealous God.
For God’s glory and His alone,
Pastor Terry