JEALOUSY
CHAPTER NINE
Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. --- Ex 34:14 (NIV)
In Children’s Letters to God, little Jane wrote, “Dear God, what does it mean you are a jealous God? I thought you had everything.” Little Jane isn’t the only one baffled by the jealous nature of God; many adults are as well.
In an online new age class with author Eckhart Tolle, Oprah Winfrey received this question from a caller:
I had a Catholic upbringing, I married a Catholic, and we’re
raising our children this way. In reading books such as Tolle’s … it’s really opened my eyes up to a new way of thinking: a new form of spirituality that doesn’t always align with the teachings of Christianity. So my question is to you, Oprah, how have you reconciled these spiritual teachings with your Christian beliefs?
Oprah’s response of “reconciliation” is really a demonstration of abandoning the exclusive claims of Scripture. She answered:
I’ve reconciled it because I was able to open my mind about the absolute indescribable hugeness of that which we call “God.” I took God out of the box because I grew up in the Baptist church and there were, you know, rules and, you know, belief systems in doctrine.
And I happened to be sitting in church in my late 20s …. And this great minister was preaching about how great God was and how omniscient and omnipresent, and God is everything.
And then he said, “And the Lord thy God is a jealous God.” And I was, you know, caught up in the rapture of that moment until he said “jealous.” And something struck me. And I was like, I think about 27 or 28. I was thinking, “God is all, God is omnipresent, God is—and God’s also jealous? God is jealous of me?”
And something about that didn’t feel right in my spirit because I believe that God is love and that God is in all things. And so that’s when the search for something more than doctrines started to stir within me….
Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: God is not jealous of Oprah Winfrey, or anyone else for that matter, as Oprah is erroneously defining the biblical term jealous. Like confused little Jane, Oprah is incorrectly defining jealous in a negative sense, so that it is equivalent with being envious. God is certainly not saying, “I the Lord thy God am an envious God. I sure wish I had what you had, Oprah.” God is not a “green-eyed monster,” whose one vice from which he needs to break free is envy.
If I could wave a magic wand, I would change our vocabulary, so that “jealousy” and “envy” would cease to be synonymous terms. Instead, envy would always have a negative connotation, while jealousy would always have a positive one. For example, if you inappropriately coveted your neighbor’s new sports car, you would say, “I’m green with envy” and not “I’m overcome with jealousy.” But since I don’t have a wand to wave, one question we need to ask ourselves continually, even when we read the Bible, is whether “jealous” is used positively or negatively. In the English, envy is always sinful. The Hebrew word in the Old Testament for envy and jealousy is the same, so we have to discern which nuance is intended. Sometimes the translators help us by using the English word envy for the negative sense and jealousy for the positive sense—but they’re not consistent. In the English Standard Version of Genesis 37:11, Joseph’s “brothers were jealous of him.” But in the New King James Version, we read that “his brothers envied him.” Due to this inconsistency, we must bear in mind that, as always, it’s the context that dictates whether the behavior is evil or good, a vice or a virtue.
VIRTUOUS JEALOUSY
The best context for understanding godly, virtuous jealousy is the marriage relationship. A husband and a wife enter into a covenant with each other before God, vowing to leave all others and to keep themselves only to each other, so long as they both shall live. In this covenantal context, if a third party were to intrude into this exclusive, intimate relationship, the offended spouse should feel intense jealousy. In this situation, it would be the height of virtue to be jealous—a sure sign of love and commitment to protect the marriage.
Proverbs 6 illustrates this proper, fierce jealousy:
Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes; for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life. Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; none who touches her will go unpunished…. For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge. He will accept no compensation; he will refuse though you multiply gifts (vv. 25-29, 34-35).
Notice that jealousy makes the husband furious—so much so that no amount of compensation is adequate to appease him. Moreover, he will spare no pains to exact revenge. In fact, it appears that jealousy is one of the strongest emotions—if not the strongest emotion—that a person can experience. This bold assertion seems to be supported by Proverbs 27:4: “Wrath is cruel, anger is overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?” The writer declares that even strong reactions such as wrath and anger don’t compare to jealousy. We often think of wrath and anger as the most passionate emotions, but jealousy trumps them. Those of us who are deeply in love with our spouse can easily comprehend this, because few things would pierce us more deeply than the betrayal of adultery. Talk with those who have experienced the almost unbearable pain of rejection and divorce due to adultery, and they will tell you, to a person, that death would have been less hurtful. If jealousy is the response to that which attacks our most precious and prized relationship—after God of course—is it any wonder that it inflames the most intense feelings imaginable, along with a corresponding desire for revenge?
DIVINE JEALOUSY
Now let’s transition from the jealousy of man, which we can understand, to divine jealousy, which is a little more difficult to comprehend. J. I. Packer helps us with the context—and once again, it’s marriage: “The Old Testament regards God’s covenant as His marriage with Israel, carrying with it a demand for unqualified love and loyalty. The worship of idols, and all compromising relations with non-Israelite idolaters, constituted disobedience and unfaithfulness, which God saw as spiritual adultery, provoking Him to jealousy and vengeance.” Likewise, the New Testament uses marriage to describe our relationship with the Lord, only there it is more specifically a marriage between Christ and his bride, the Church (Eph. 5:22-32).
From one perspective, we could read the Ten Commandments like marriage vows with Israel, the bride, promising to forsake all other gods and idols, and to keep herself only unto the Lord, so long as they both shall live. Any violation of these sacred vows would naturally provoke holy jealousy, as spelled out in the second commandment: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Ex. 20:4-6).
God’s jealousy is also highlighted in the second giving of the law. After Moses witnessed the idolatrous worship of the golden calf, he burned with anger and threw down the first tablets that contained the Ten Commandments. He then went back up Mount Sinai, and God again wrote another set of Ten Commandments with his own finger. This giving of the law is the making of a covenant (Ex. 34:10; 27-28).
At the second giving of the law, the LORD didn’t just repeat the admonishment not to bow down before idols, but he went a step further: “‘You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim’” (Ex. 34:13). Why is Israel called to take these destructive steps? He went on to tell them why: “[F]or you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (v. 14). Holy violence is necessary to place a protective hedge around the exclusive worship of the one true God. This is not a game! God is so jealous that it’s even one of his names. When he says his name is Jealous, he means his nature and being is one of immense jealousy. For this reason, Christians are called to wage war, and take decisive steps to deal with all present or potential rivals.
As I mentioned earlier, to enter into covenant with God—in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament—is to enter into a type of marriage. Thus, to enter into a covenant with pagans is to be guilty of spiritual adultery or, as the text states bluntly, it is to be guilty of whoredom. Ponder the graphic language God uses to get his message across: Take care “lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods” (vv. 15-16). Idolatry, the worship of false gods, is whoredom. God doesn’t mince words, so we can see the serious nature of entering into covenant with him.
We would be remiss not to meditate, at least briefly, upon the judgment God brings on spiritual adulterers. If physical adulterers were stoned to death due to the grave nature of that sin (Deut. 22:22-24), we should expect a greater judgment for spiritual adultery, which is infinitely more heinous and repulsive. Following a beautiful description of how God married Israel (Eze. 16:8), we read of Israel’s whorings (vv. 15-34). As a result, God’s jealousy is inflamed:
“Therefore, O prostitute, hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, Because your lust was poured out and your nakedness uncovered in your whorings with your lovers, and with all your abominable idols, and because of the blood of your children that you gave to them, therefore, behold, I will gather all your lovers with whom you took pleasure, all those you loved and all those you hated. I will gather them against you from every side and will uncover your nakedness to them, that they may see all your nakedness. And I will judge you as women who commit adultery and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy.… [A]nd they shall stone you and cut you to pieces with their swords. And they shall burn your houses and execute judgments upon you” (vv. 35-38, 40-41).
“The blood of wrath and jealousy” should serve as a solemn warning that God demands nothing less than undivided love and loyalty. Anything short of this, any spiritual flirting with the idols of the world, amounts to marital unfaithfulness, and ignites God’s jealous nature to vengeance, which may result in being stoned or cut to pieces with the sword or your house burned to the ground. Because God is so great and so glorious, he will not tolerate rivals. And beloved, do not be deceived and think this is only an Old Testament problem unique to Israel of old. James wrote to believers in the new covenant: “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (Jam. 4:4). In a pluralistic society, is friendship with the world a necessary compromise that God understands and overlooks? No! No! A thousand times no! Anything that undermines our relationship with the Lord is displeasing and dishonoring to him—and provokes his jealous indignation. James doesn’t pull any punches: those who simultaneously love God and the world are just like a husband who makes love to his wife and another woman at the same time. They are adulterous people! James hurls this epitaph at them, so they will plainly see that their behavior is not innocuous. Once more, let’s allow the LORD to speak for himself: “for I the LORD your God am a jealous God” (Ex. 20:5).
PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS
This attribute of God has far-reaching implications for God’s people. In the first place, it indicates that any and all idols need to be torn down with a King Josiah-like zeal. Too many of the kings in Judah worshipped Yahweh, but nevertheless tolerated false idols that defiled the land. Not Josiah. He is pictured scouring the landscape and destroying altars to false gods, burning vessels that were used in pagan worship, and burning down houses utilized for male cult prostitutes. “Moreover, Josiah put away the mediums and the necromancers and the household gods and the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might establish the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the LORD. Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him” (2 Kgs. 23:24-25). All this was done in order to remain faithful to the covenant he made before the LORD (23:3).
What action are we willing to take? How far will we go to eradicate jealousy-provoking sin from our lives? Before you answer, meditate on Susanna Wesley’s definition of sin that she provided for her son John. I’ve never heard a better definition. She said, “Whatever weakens your reasoning, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God or takes away your relish for spiritual things; in short, if anything increases the authority and the power of the flesh over the spirit, that to you becomes sin, however good it is in itself.” I could delineate a long list of possible idols that may need to be toppled, but if you’re open to the Holy Spirit, he will search your heart (as he does mine) and put his finger on any grievous way that must change (see Ps. 139:23-24).
Another implication of this perfection of God touches our marriages. Since the ultimate and eternal marriage is the union of Christ with his bride, the Church, we derive our instruction from that marriage, which, as we’ve already noted, is characterized by holy jealousy. Therefore, I submit to you that perhaps there needs to be more jealousy in our marriages, not less. Practically, this requires us to set hedges of protection around our marriages. We want to be proactive. Billy Graham has maintained his integrity throughout the years, in part, by not being alone when traveling. This removes, not only any possibility of a false accusation, but also temptation. As the saying goes “The best of men are men at best.” If we begin with the premise that we’re all vulnerable to temptation, and then take appropriate measures to guard ourselves, our spouses will thank us in the end.
When the bride of Jesus Christ is attacked or threatened, her Husband acts. Before his conversion, the apostle Paul (then known as Saul) was vehemently persecuting the Church. While Saul was “still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord,” Jesus confronted him on the road to Damascus: “‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’” (Acts 9:1, 4). The reason why Jesus asked, “Why are you persecuting me?” is because Jesus is one with his bride, the Church. Therefore, to persecute the Church is to persecute Christ, and he will act against all enemies of his bride. In due time, God’s perfect time, we can expect the jealous Judge to avenge the blood of the saints (see Rev. 6:10). From this vantage point, God’s jealousy is meant to bring his people great comfort and hope.
Douglas Wilson notes,
[God’s jealousy] is also portrayed as a glorious motive for redemption…. Why will God have mercy on the whole house of Israel? Because He is jealous for His name (Ezek. 39:25). God will show pity upon His people because He is jealous for His land (Joel 2:18). God takes revenge against Nineveh on behalf of His people, because He is a jealous God (Nah. 1:2-3). God spoke comforting words to Zechariah because He was jealous for Jerusalem (Zech. 1:14). God returns to Zion because of His great jealousy (Zech. 8:2).
Repeatedly, God acts on behalf of his people, precisely because he is a jealous God.
We looked at God’s jealousy in the Second Commandment: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments” (Ex. 20:4-6). God’s jealousy is a two-edged sword—on the one side it’s terrifying, but on the other it’s hopeful beyond measure. To idolaters who violate his commands, God’s jealousy means curses may persist for three or even four generations. But for those who love God and keep his commandments, God’s jealous nature, which should not be disconnected from his steadfast love, moves him to bless them “to a thousand generations” (Deut. 7:9). This means that some of you who are reading this are Christians due to God’s loving jealousy toward one or more of your ancestors. If this is so, you of all people should praise God for being a jealous God.
Exalt the Lord our God,
And worship at His feet;
His nature is all holiness,
And mercy is His seat.
When Israel was His church,
When Aaron was His priest,
When Moses cried, when Samuel prayed,
He gave His people rest.
Oft He forgave their sins,
Nor would destroy their race;
And oft He made His vengeance known
When they abused His grace.
Exalt the Lord our God,
Whose grace is still the same;
Still He’s a God of holiness,
And jealous for His name.
Isaac Watts
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