For you shall worship no other god, for the LORD whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Exodus 34:14
Jealous?! Jealous God?! It doesn’t seem to fit and when we apply this to the character of Christ, it really doesn’t fit. What’s going on here?
The problem is where it always is – with people. We usually see God with anthropomorphic eyes (i.e. God’s just like me). But God is holy and His character contrasts with sinful men and women. God’s jealousy is not the mistrustful, vindictive, green-eyed monster of human jealousy; it’s righteous and directly linked to His love.
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us ….” (1 John 3:1). Behold, it’s incomparable, unlimited, unmerited, unending, and unexplainable. Now remember, when love is rejected or betrayed it hurts the person who chose to love the traitor. How terribly God must grieve when His creation mocks and curses its Maker. The rejection is worse when the people called by God’s own name abandon Him for other lovers.
We live in a time when society has come to believe that it’s possible to have intimate relationships with no strings attached. That, of course, is a lie. If a husband can accept infidelity in his wife (or vice versa) and not be devastated, there is no real depth of love in that relationship.
Six times in the Hebrew Bible, the name El-Kanna appears which is translated into English as “Jealous God“. The LORD loves and is patient, but when there is no repentance, that jealousy turns to wrath. “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a Jealous God” (Deuteronomy 4:24).
Christ is the bridegroom who gave His life for His beloved. His heart must have broken when Judas betrayed Him with a kiss and it continues to break as hypocrites defame His name with sinful living and hateful people use His name for curses.
Human race, pleased be warned! The one who loved you so intensely that He died on a cross to deliver you from wrath, He is a Jealous God.
September 5
