God Is Jealous

When We Miss What’s Right in Front of Us

Today we’ll talk about an aspect of God that I suspect most people don’t consider when they think about God. This is strange because the Bible clearly points out this trait over 20 times in the pages of scripture. It’s obvious that God says, “I am [this trait],” yet, most people don’t ever look at God through this lens.

It’s also not a trait we talk much about in church because it’s a hard pill for many to swallow. This is one of those character traits that leave us scratching our heads, but not because it’s a big fancy word like “Omniscience” or “Sovereignty.” In fact, this is THE character trait we are all MOST familiar with. We just never think of God when we think of this word.

That’s why I’m so excited about this message. I LOVE to teach things that are new for many people. I love to make God even bigger in people’s minds. It’s not that I like to teach things that are obscure and scarcely mentioned in the Bible though. I don’t teach something that is mentioned in only one questionable verse.

Today’s message about God, however, is directly stated all over the Bible, first appearing in the second of the Ten Commandments and then being prominently mentioned by half the prophets. Even so, most of us skim right past this important description of God, never considering the incredible significance of this trait in our lives.

Isn’t it strange that we can read the Bible for years, read it cover to cover, and still never see what it says? This happens because we never slow down and take time to consider what God wants to teach us through these passages. As a result, some people think of the Bible as a dry book that doesn’t apply to their lives at all. Today I hope to show you how slowing down and taking in the details can give you a fuller picture of who God is and why it matters to you.

Clarifying Jealousy vs. Envy

Have I created enough anticipation yet? Are you ready for me to tell you what this obvious (yet sometimes completely overlooked) trait of God is? I’ll let God tell you about it Himself. In Exodus 34:14, God tells the Israelites: “the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God!

That’s pretty clear. That’s pretty direct. God . . . is . . . Jealous. He even claims the word “Jealous” as His name! That’s an enormous statement. It communicates to the Israelites that Jealousy is part of God’s core. It is imbedded in His character. God isn’t just jealous sometimes, like a toddler who tightly protects the toy she’s holding when another child wants it. It’s who God is. Just like He is Infinite, Sovereign, and Holy, here we find that He is Jealous.

This may surprise you. You may be thinking, “But I though jealousy was a BAD thing. Aren’t we told as Christians that we aren’t supposed to be jealous?” Sort of. This is a case in which our lazy use of language creates some misconceptions about what it means for God to be jealous.

Let’s look at the NIV translation of the same verse:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. (NIV)

Here’s why this concept of God being jealous seems like such a tough pill for people to swallow: we use the word “jealous” to mean both what was traditionally “jealous” and also what is specifically the act of “envy.”

Jealousy and envy are two different things. This is critical to understanding why worshiping a jealous God actually makes God more magnificent and less like us.

First, we define the word “jealous” according to Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

(a) intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness.
(b) vigilant in guarding a possession.

Here’s how jealousy and envy differ: Jealousy is guarding what you have, while envy is desiring what you do not have but want. You are jealous FOR something, whereas you are envious OF something or someone. “Jealousy” is tied to the concept of zeal or passion for a possession, whereas “envy” is tied to coveting. Remember the last one of the Ten Commandments: “Thou shalt not covet.”

The biggest difference is that coveting – being envious of what someone else has – is ALWAYS a sin. It’s all about YOU and YOUR selfish desires.

On the other hand, being zealous for something or someone and wanting to guard them because of their incredible value to you is only SOMETIMES a sin.

Even with this clarity, you still may be thinking of jealousy as a sinful attitude. Perhaps when you hear the word “jealous” you imagine a teenager in love who jealously tries to control her new boyfriend, or a child unwilling to share his toys with anyone, but jealously guards them. In these situations we see an immaturity. We see someone trying to control the situation. We see selfishness and sin. This is why it’s hard for us to comprehend the idea of God being jealous.

Let’s look at the definition again. Is there anything inherently sinful in this definition of “jealous” if applied to a marriage?

• It’s good to be intolerant of rivalry in a marriage. This protects the covenant you and your spouse make to one another. It protects you against the unfaithfulness that might destroy your marriage.
• It’s also noble to vigilantly protect and guard your spouse from danger – to care for him or her as your most valuable possession, given to you by God to cherish for a lifetime.

If you were to look through all the occurrences of the word “jealous” in the Bible, you would find that it almost always describes God’s protective desire for His people. It’s a mature passion FOR the other person, regularly showing up in the books of the prophets when God’s people have gone astray.

It’s like a parent who sees a child being drawn into a bad crowd and wants to intervene and pull the child back into relationship with the family. The child may see the parent as overbearing and controlling; but really, the parent is jealously protecting the child.

How God’s Jealousy Impacts Us

Now that we’ve had an English lesson, let’s look at how God’s jealousy impacts our lives. Please open your Bible to Exodus chapter 20. Exodus is the second book of the Bible, and chapter 20 is really important. It’s at the heart of the Old Testament and describes the Ten Commandments God has given Moses. You all know at least some of these rules: thou shall not kill; shall not steal; shall not covet. These are the very first rules God used as He began to establish how He wanted His people to be a holy people who were set apart from the other nations. Right in the beginning of these Ten Commandments we read of God’s jealousy, something we probably have glossed over many times but never fully understood.

Exodus 20:1-3 – 1And God spoke all these words: 2”I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3You shall have no other gods before Me.”

First of all, God establishes His relationship with the Israelites: “I am the Lord, YOUR GOD.” He reminds them of the covenant He made with their ancestor Abraham to be their God and to be in a covenant relationship with them. As a Relational God, He describes His connection with the Israelites as being like a marriage covenant; and then He sets His first commandment: Have no other gods. Just as in marriage you have only one partner, God will not allow any other lovers – gods of any sort – that might draw away the Israelites’ attention, their focus, or their love.

Remember, the Israelites had just come out of Egypt (a culture loaded with countless gods all in competition with one another) and were heading to Canaan (a land filled with countless gods all in competition with one another)! Therefore God is clearly defining how He is different. He is a single God, and He will not allow the worship of any of the foreign gods of the Egyptians or the Canaanites.

Then God continues His instructions:

Exodus 20:4,5 – 4“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.”

Here it is again, clear as day! God’s reason for His first and second commandments is that He is jealous! I know many of you have read these verses before, but have you ever really considered the significance of this statement?

When we put this all together, it only makes sense that God is jealous. If God is in a covenant relationship with His people, and that covenant is like a marriage, then we should expect that God will be zealous for His people. We should expect that He will be intolerant of rival gods. We should expect that He would be vigilant in guarding and protecting His people. This is how we expect a husband to feel toward his wife, and so we should understand why God feels this way toward His people.

In expecting all this from the God who loves His people with greater love than we could ever comprehend, we are, by our own logic, defining God as a Jealous God. And that’s actually for your good.

God knows that no other gods exist. He knows that nothing in all creation can give you the joy and peace that connection with Him provides. He knows that you were created for a relationship with Him. So when He sees you sleeping around with the gods you create in your life, your modern-day idols, His jealousy burns brightly for you. He wants better for you. He knows you are settling for second best.

This isn’t the selfish jealousy you and I so quickly think of when we hear that word. God isn’t envious of the idols we set up in our own lives. He is jealous – no, zealous – for our affection and worship, knowing that we will never be fully satisfied with anything or anyone other than HIM.

Ultimately God’s jealousy is for our own good. It’s to keep us in our Father’s love, to protect us from all the false lovers the world parades in front of us, trying to draw our affection away from God and toward things which, while they might be good, should never be put above God in our lives.

Application

So what does it mean for us that God has a holy zeal, a godly jealousy for us and our affection?

First, it means we need to examine our lives and make sure we aren’t arousing His jealousy with anything in our lives we have made into an idol. Idols in America in the twenty-first century don’t look like they did in the days of Moses. We don’t have wood carvings or stone statues to represent gods, but we have a plethora of activities, hobbies, treasures, and people that we put above God.

Here’s a brief list of common idols we prioritize above God: family, money, your home, your truck, your hobbies, kids’ sports, politics, video games, TikTok, your boyfriend or girlfriend, Netflix, camping, NFL games, sex, good grades, your beauty, your muscles – the list could go on and on.

You must recognize – and I know it’s hard and steps on toes, but it’s true – God DEMANDS to be the priority in your life. Nothing in this potential-idol list is inherently bad; but if we elevate them above devotion to God, then we are in a position of worshiping idols just like the ones God warned against in the Ten Commandments.

He’s not a God we can pick up at church on Sunday and put back down the rest of the week. If we do that, we act like part-time Christians, allowing God to be a part of our lives but not the main thing. We are behaving just like the polytheists God detested in Egypt and Canaan. That’s why in Revelation, the writer tells the church at Laodicea he would rather they be HOT or COLD rather than lukewarm.

God is NOT OK being only a part of your life. He loves you too much. His holiness and faithfulness to His covenant won’t allow Him to let you go worship at the feet of other lovers. You are too valuable for Him to let you throw away your life that way. As you read the list of possible idols in your life, you need to search yourself and see what you have elevated above God and given the highest esteem in your heart. You need to consider regularly what is threatening your relationship with God – what is rivaling Him for your time and attention – and you need to set that aside.

Conclusion

God’s jealousy isn’t just a fancy way of saying He has a lot of love for us. It’s more than just the feeling of love. It’s the protective, purifying, pursuing form of love for us. His jealousy is never to harm us, but is always to draw us to Himself.

Just as God was jealous for the Israelites in the time of Moses, He is jealous for us today. Through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross and our acceptance of His blood for the forgiveness of our sins, we become God’s chosen people.

In fact, in the New Testament we are told that, as the Church, we are the “Bride of Christ.” We are in a marriage relationship with Jesus, and He jealously works to guard us from other lovers. He gives us the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and point us back to Him. He does all He can, short of stepping on our free will, to guard us against rival affections and keep us holy.Truly, God’s jealousy is for our good. We should never worry about it or fear it, but should feel secure in knowing He cares so much. We should respond to His zeal for us with our own single-minded zeal for Him, our Creator and Redeemer.