The freshly liberated children of Israel were encamped before Mount Sinai. Moses had made repeated trips up and down the mountain, serving as an intermediary between Abraham’s descendants and the God who had descended in the cloud. As he spoke of his covenant with Israel and the conquest that stretched in front of them, notice the LORD’s warning in Exodus 34:12-16.
“Take care, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land to which you go, lest it become a snare in your midst. You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and when they whore after their gods and sacrifice to their gods and you are invited, you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.”
Take a moment to reflect on that revelation. Of the many glimpses we’ve been given of our Creator’s perfect character, one facet that cannot be denied is his jealousy. Yahweh is a jealous God.
“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 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 fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exo 20:4-6)
“Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the LORD your God has forbidden you. For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” (Deut 4:23-24)
“It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you—for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God—lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.” (Deut 6:13-15)
But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions or your sins. If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you, after having done you good.” (Josh 24:19-20)
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. (Nah 1:2)
While most of us are taught from a young age to look at jealousy as a very negative, destructive frame of mind, the Creator wants his creation to understand that righteous jealousy is so integral to his nature that he has chosen to reveal himself as “the LORD, whose name is Jealous.” There’s much to explore on this challenging topic, but could I draw one connection today that involves you? In James 4:4-5, a couple really important questions are asked–questions you ought to carefully consider, because they involve you.
Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, “He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us”?
Here’s a profound truth worth meditating upon throughout the day. The righteous jealousy of God is much more than an abstract Old Testament footnote. The LORD, whose name is Jealous, yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in you.
You’ve been created in his image. This morning’s sunrise declared his glory to you. This afternoon’s clouds proclaim his handiwork to you. Tonight’s stars reveal his eternal power and divine nature to you. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, he spoke by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to you by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things. The Holy Spirit himself bears witness to the eternal plan of the Father by which you can be redeemed and recognized as a child of God, and if a child, then an heir–an heir of God and a fellow heir with Christ. Your Creator yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in you, and one day, your spirit will return to him.
In the language of 1 Corinthians 8:6…
…there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
How will these truths shape everything about today if we can hold them at the forefront of our minds and live in their light? There is one God. All things are from him. We exist for him. He is the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, and he yearns jealously over the spirits that he has made to dwell in us, expecting us to walk in covenant faithfulness with him. However we choose to spend our time on earth, the day will come when each of our spirits returns to him.
So let’s be single-minded, submissive, faithful, loving, and eager in our response to the God whose name is Jealous. Let’s live today as if we are his and he is ours.