God is . . . Jealous

Did you know that God is jealous?  He is. In Exodus 20:5 God says, “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them (graven images), nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God.”  It even carries a severe penalty because if you continue reading that same passage, it says “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.”  But it’s also followed by a promise in verse 6, “and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.”

It’s sometimes hard to think of God as jealous, to associate Him with that word.  “Oh, but that’s just a mistranslation,” you might say.  “It really doesn’t mean jealous as Webster defines it: resentful of rivals or demanding exclusive loyalty.” Well, I checked out the original Hebrew word and yes, it means just that.  God is jealous.  And He is jealous over you and me.

The Bible, both Old Testament and New, are full of types and shadows. In the Old, Israel is likened to a wife.  In the New Testament, the church is called the “Bride of Christ.” But that’s not where it ends.  Like in any husband-wife relationship, the Bible calls our unfaithfulness to God, adultery. It also uses terms like fornication, whoring, as in “whoring after” other gods (Exodus 34:15). And after such spiritual unfaithfulness is committed, the Bible sometimes even uses words like “divorce” as in Jeremiah 3:8 “When for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I (God) had put her away and given her a bill of divorce.”

There can be no doubt that God is serious about our relationship with Him, and that He wants that relationship to be exclusive, intimate, and deep. So we must guard against spiritual adultery, guard against the things that in and of themselves don’t seem wrong but that can become idols in our life: materialism, ease, pleasure, success, or a dozen others; things that can fill our hearts and crowd out God. And don't forget one of the biggest idols of all: SELF.

God wants nothing less than first place in our heart. And He deserves nothing less.

Until next week,

Sylvia