Why does it say that God is jealous?
Isn’t jealousy a sin?
This is important because some who do not believe in God, reject Him because the Bible declares him as jealous.
Some popular people like Oprah Winfrey and Bill Maher, mock the idea that God is a jealous God.
This reference is found when God is giving the Israelites the law.
God said, “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,” (Exodus 20:5).
In the context of this passage, God is talking about the Israelites worshiping false idols and false gods.
It is a sin to worship other gods that are not the true God.
In the context it makes sense that God deserves full worship.
If a husband sees his wife flirting with another man, he will become jealous.
This jealousy is not wrong it is acceptable throughout the world.
The way we communicate today is unique.
In the Greek language, we have five different types of love.
Yet today we only speak about one type of love.
We will say things like I love pizza, I love the Astros and I love my kids.
Obviously there are different levels of love when we communicate.
In the same way, this word for jealousy is a good jealousy compared to the bad jealousy that we see in the Bible.
We all struggle with different sins.
For the apostle Paul, he struggled with the sin of coveting.
Today we may covet a cool sports car, a nice house, or a relationship that someone has.
I wonder what Paul coveted, perhaps it was a really nice camel.
Perhaps it was the brand new 2 horse power wagon.
The apostle Paul told the church in Galicia this, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,” (Galatians 5:18-20).
This is precisely the jealousy the apostle Paul’s words to Church in Corinth, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy...” (2 Corinthians 11:2).
God’s jealousy is a holy jealousy.
