God is not green-eyed . . .

 

Jealousy is often depicted as that “green-eyed monster” that fills a person with envy or creates a horrible threat to their security. Yet God is called JEALOUS. How can that be? He is complete so needs nothing. He is all-powerful so nothing can threaten Him.

Understanding jealousy depends on how the word is used. When it speaks of a forbidden attitude in God’s people, it means the kind of jealous that envies what others have, wants it for themselves, and might even hate those who have it. It is an expression of dissatisfaction with one’s lot in life and with God’s providence. This kind of jealousy essentially says to God that He is not doing right by me, that I should have what others have.

But there is a jealousy that is appropriate. It is the jealousy of a woman protecting her marriage by warding off another woman who goes after her husband. It is the jealousy of a man who will guard his relationship with his wife. It is this kind of jealousy that reflects the jealousy of God. He guards His people from getting involved with false gods and with sin that pulls them away from loyalty to Him.

Exodus 34:14 says, “For you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” in explanation of a previous verse: Exodus 20:5: “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 . . . .”

Several OT verses add the same description of God being “fiercely protective and unaccepting of disloyalty” and of “desiring exclusivity” in His relationship with His people. Would I worship a god who didn’t care if I wandered off or worshiped idols? I don’t think so.

Jealousy is also related to being zealous. Elijah expressed it in 1 Kings 19:10.

He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.”

The prophets express this characteristic of God in the same way. Joel 2:18 says, “Then the Lord became jealous for his land and had pity on his people.” Nahum 1:2 says, “The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies.”

In the NT, Paul wrote to the church at Corinth and used this term to tell them his desire for them, which is the same desire God has for me. They were not careful (to say the least) about what they believed or how they lived. Because of their lax attitude, he wrote:

2 Corinthians 11:2–4. “For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.”

GAZE INTO HIS GLORY. I can understand God’s zeal for His people and the zeal Paul had and how he could call it “divine jealousy” because I understand the desire of a man wanting purity in his wife and a wife wanting total purity and loyalty from her husband. On a human level, this is rare. On a spiritual level concerning God, what a joy to know that He wants that from me — but not only that, I can expect it from Him. He is not wooing me and hiding another agenda. He is fiercely loyal and protective, and because of that, I am completely and totally secure. In that security, I can love Him the same way, even care for others — not that they are ‘mine’ but that they belong to God and I can do whatever He asks of me to encourage their relationship with Him.