Why is God Jealous?

Q: What does the Bible say about God's jealousy?

The Bible describes God's jealousy as holy and protective, contrasting it with human jealousy. God's jealousy is a central theme in Scripture, and it is portrayed as a holy attribute that signifies His commitment to His people and His glory. Unlike human jealousy, which often stems from sin and insecurity, God's jealousy is rooted in His holiness and divine nature. In Nahum 1:2, we see that 'the Lord is jealous' as a declaration of His fury and vengeance against His enemies, demonstrating His protective love for His people. This divine jealousy ensures that He defends His glory and fulfills His promises, particularly in the context of covenant fidelity and redemption. God's jealousy is ultimately aimed at securing the well-being of His people by vanquishing all that opposes them.

Q: How do we know God's jealousy is a good thing?

God's jealousy is good because it ensures the protection and salvation of His people. God's jealousy is good because it is intrinsically linked to His nature as a holy God. In Exodus 34:14, God declares that His name is Jealous, and this jealousy stems from His desire to preserve His glory and the well-being of His people. When God acts in jealousy, it is for the purpose of safeguarding His people from the idolatry and enemies that would lead them astray. This is evident in the way He dealt with the Assyrians in Nahum's prophecy, as He promised to destroy their oppressive reign and deliver His people Israel. Thus, when we understand God's jealousy as a divine protective nature, we recognize that it leads to the ultimate good for His people, ensuring their safety and faithfulness in a world full of idolatry and opposition.

Q: Why is God's jealousy important for Christians?

God's jealousy assures Christians of His commitment to their salvation and protection. For Christians, understanding God's jealousy is vital as it reassures us of His unwavering commitment to our salvation and spiritual well-being. God's jealousy manifests in His actions throughout history, particularly in His covenant relationship with His people. In Galatians 4:28-30, Paul explains how believers are children of promise, and God's jealousy ensures that He will protect and nurture us, just as He did for Israel. This divine jealousy is not only about defending our salvation but also emphasizes the importance of loyalty and faithfulness to God alone. As we acknowledge His jealousy, we are reminded that He will not allow us to be easily swayed by falsehoods or destructive influences. This aspect of God's character encourages us to remain steadfast in faith, knowing that He actively works to defend us against any spiritual foes.

All right, let's open our Bibles to the book of Nahum. I mentioned last Wednesday night that we would start Nahum today. And I hope that the Lord will answer this question for us tonight. Why is it? Why is our God jealous? Why is he jealous? For us, jealousy usually is a sinful reaction to our circumstances. The Bible makes it clear in many places. We'll look at a few of them tonight. that our God is jealous. One thing we know for certain, that everything about our God is holy, and that his jealousy is not like our jealousy. It is a holy jealousy. Paul calls it a godly jealousy. And I hope that we will be comforted to know why our God jealous.

Chapter 1 of Nahum, beginning of verse 1, the burden of Nineveh, the book of the vision of Nahum, the Elkoshite. God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth The Lord revengeth and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. Now, before we consider the jealousy of God, let's just let our eyes go to the next verse for a moment to remember that this vengeance that our God is so jealous for also has another side to it. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm and in the clouds are the dust of his feet.

Nahum, from the best we can tell, a lot of the prophets have identified marks in their books, like who the king was or some other well-known individual that we can date. Not so with Nahum, so we have to kind of guess. But it looks like that Nahum was probably right after Micah, right after Isaiah. before the destruction of Nineveh.

Now the Babylonians are going to come in and before they take Judah captive and before they take Israel captive, they're going to come through Assyria. And Nineveh is the capital of Assyria. And Assyria is a bitter enemy of Israel. Now we can identify with the sort of, the sort of enmity that exists that would have existed between the Assyrians and the Israelites just by watching today's news, wanting to wipe each other off the face of the map. And every time they got the ability to overpower their enemy, that's exactly what they did. And at this particular time, during the time of Nahum, Nineveh, The capital of Assyria had overpowered Israel and was treating them with great anger.

And Nahum is prophesying the destruction of Nineveh. And that the reason why that God is jealous is he's jealous for his people. He's jealous to protect those whom he loves. And he will destroy all of their enemies. Now, historically, Nineveh laid a wasteland for over 1,200 years. And if you read through all three chapters, it's God's promise to Israel of what he's going to do to destroy Assyria and to keep them from doing what they were doing to his people. And Nineveh will not be rebuilt until in the 6th century AD, so over 1,200 years later. And it will lie a wasteland as a result of the Lord fulfilling his promise to destroy the enemies of his people. Now, that's all I'm going to say about the historical background of this book. Because other than just being a few interesting facts, that profits me nothing. That does nothing for my soul. It gives nothing for my salvation and for my hope. So what is the application of this prophecy to our lives? Turn with me to Galatians. Galatians chapter four.

The hostilities that existed between Assyria and Israel did not begin with the Ninevites. It went all the way back to the hostility that began between Isaac and Ishmael, the child of promise and the one of the flesh. And in Galatians chapter four, the Lord helps us to know what all of these Old Testament conflicts are really about. Because he's saying to us that just as I promised and just as I fulfilled my promise in destroying the enemies of my people in the Old Testament, all of those All of those promises were fulfilled when the Lord Jesus came into the world and destroyed our enemy. He is jealous for his people to destroy their enemies. Galatians chapter four, let's begin at verse 22.

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one a bondmaid and the one by a free woman, Ishmael being born by Hagar, a product of Abraham's attempt to put his hand to the promise of God. The promise had not been fulfilled. Abraham thought God needed some help and That began what we see right now.

I don't know if you noticed on your calendar, on my phone, the different religious holidays come up on my phone. And there was one three weeks ago today, a Muslim holiday. And so I wanted to find out what it was about, and I read a little bit about it. And come to find out, the Muslims are celebrating the sacrifice that Abraham, whom they consider to be the father, they're celebrating.

Three weeks ago today, they celebrated the sacrifice that Abraham made of Ishmael on an altar, proving his faith to God. They believe that. That's what Muhammad wrote in the Quran. Abraham didn't offer Isaac, he offered Ishmael. So here's now, the Lord is going to make application to our hearts, our lives, our souls, and our salvation. Verse 23, but he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh, but he of the free woman was by promise.

Which things are an allegory? The story of the Assyrians and the Ninevites and God's jealousy for his people in the book of Nahum is an allegory. It's an allegory, it's a type, it's a story. And unless we are able to see the application of that to what the Lord has done in defending us from our enemy, then it'll be nothing more than a historical story. Which things are an allegory.

For these are the two covenants, the one from Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. The Assyrians had the children of Israel in bondage. They were the products of the flesh. The children of Israel were the people of promise. The Old Testament church reminds us of the fulfillment of what God did in his jealousy to provide for and to protect his church, his people in Christ. Verse 25.

For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, it's the law, and answereth to Jerusalem, which now is and is in bondage with their children. Now, when Paul's writing the book of Galatians, he's saying that Jerusalem and the Jewish people are still in bondage to the law. They haven't understood what the Lord Jesus came to do. in being the fulfillment of the law and destroying their enemy as is the curse of the law and defeating Satan who is the who is the accuser of the brethren.

What does Satan use when he accuses us and tries to get us to go back to Mount Sinai and to get back onto the law? What does he use? He uses our violations of God's law. He uses our sin. And the Lord came to destroy the works of the devil. Why? Because he's jealous for his people.

But Jerusalem, which is, verse 26, which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all. The contrast is between the freedom that God gives when he defeats our enemy to the bondage that men have when they are under the rigors and the curse and the demands of God's law. If we look to the law of God to justify ourselves before God, if we look to the law of God as our rule of life, then we'll be held like the children of Israel under the bondage of the Ninevites. God says, I am a jealous God.

I'm going to destroy your enemy. And when I come, they're going to be annihilated, completely destroyed. And that's what happened to the Assyrians. It's what happened in Nineveh. More importantly, more importantly, it is what the Lord Jesus did when he came to conquer our enemy, to conquer death, to conquer our sin, to conquer Satan, to enable us, to give us faith, to believe. That's what this story's about. For it is written, verse 27, rejoice thou barren that beareth not. We can't bear. Our womb is barren. We can't produce life.

But the Lord is going to bring life miraculously as a result of the promise. Nahum is prophesying a promise from God to the people of Israel who are under the bondage of the Assyrians saying the Lord is going to destroy them. And it wasn't long after Nahum prophesied that he did that. These are the same Ninevites that Jonah would have preached to almost a hundred years before. who when Jonah, and I might be wrong on this, but there's no indication between Jonah and Nahum, and there were other prophets, that there was any influx of Assyrians into Judaism. There's no evidence, historically or biblically speaking, that what happened when Jonah preached was, in fact, a salvation, spiritually speaking, of these people. They would have become proselytes of Israel. They would have worshiped Jehovah. There's no indication that that ever happened.

A matter of fact, between not long after Jonah prophesied of the destruction that God was going to bring, if they did not repent, and they did repent. But what I'm saying to you, and Lord forgive me if I'm wrong, I think what happened during the days of Jonah was a moral reformation. a moral reformation. I believe the people changed their ways and God withheld his judgment off of them. The law of the harvest, reaping what you sow, is true for all men. And when they realized that the God of Israel was about to destroy them, God gave them the ability to believe that and to reform their ways.

Moral reformation is always a good thing. It's not salvation. An individual, a family, a nation can go through moral reformation. Much of what we read about in the great awakenings, as they call them, during the 17th and 18th, 19th century, In America, if you read the details, those weren't spiritual revivals. Those were moral reformations. There were a time during dark... Here's my point, brethren.

Don't mistake, in your life, a moral reformation for a spiritual revival. People look at a changed life. They see that they're no longer doing what they used to do, and they're doing some good things that they didn't used to do. And they often take comfort in the change that they see in their life.

That can be very deceiving. God's going to destroy Nineveh. And Nahum makes it clear. And he did. So the Jerusalem that is from above is free. Free. Free from the power of sin. Free from the curse of the law. There was a time when we couldn't believe. There was a time when the judgment of the law of God hung over us as a curse. free from the power of Satan? The Lord tells us that resist Satan in the faith and he will flee from you. Flee from his accusations when he comes and tries to put us back under the law by accusing us of our sin. To be able to say, yes, but Christ has put that away.

He defeated my enemy. He defeated the grave. He defeated death. I no longer have to live in fear. I'm free. This is what the Lord Jesus came to do. And this is what he accomplished when he bowed his head on Calvary's cross and said, it is finished. He did what he promised he would do. And he set his people free. and he did it out of jealousy for his bride, for his people.

Verse 28, Galatians chapter 4, now we brethren as Isaac was are the children of promise, but as then He that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit, even so it is now. The Assyrians are still alive and well, spiritually speaking. Nineveh is still the enemy of God.

But the Lord Jesus, through faith in him, Resting our hope in Him and believing on Him and looking to Him and rejoicing in Him and resting in His finished work sets us free. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. And if the Lord Jesus make you free, you're free indeed. You're free indeed.

This is the prophecy of Nahum. Our God is jealous and his vengeance will be full against his enemies and the enemies of his people. Look at verse 30. Nevertheless, what sayeth the scriptures? Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. All of these accusations, all of these all of these Assyrian threats that would come against us.

You're no longer, no longer under the condemnation of the law. There is now therefore no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Christ has satisfied the law. He sat down to destroy the law. I came to fulfill it. So then brethren, we, not children under the bondage of the Assyrians. We are children of the promise. The promise that the Prophet brought that their jealous God would destroy their enemy. The Lord Jesus fulfilled that promise.

Nahum's name translated means consolation, console. I need to be consoled. Also, his name can also be translated comfort. Comfort ye, comfort ye my people. Speak ye comfortably unto them. Tell them this. Tell them that their warfare is accomplished. It's accomplished. Tell them that their iniquity is pardoned. It's been put away. It's been cast into the depths of the sea. It's been covered by the blood of Christ.

And tell them that they have received of the Lord's hand double for their sin. For God took him who knew no sin and made him sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That's the double blessing. That's the double blessing. The Lord Jesus bearing our sins in his body upon that tree and putting them away by the sacrifice of himself and being our righteousness before God.

We look to our righteousnesses, we look to anything that we do, filthy rags, bondage, fear, wrath, And the prophet of comfort says this, God is jealous. He's jealous. And not only is he jealous for his people and for their freedom, he's jealous for his own glory.

Turn with me to Exodus chapter 20. Exodus 20 The Lord is giving us the Ten Commandments The second of the Ten Commandments right after the Lord says you shall not have any other gods before me don't put them before my face and Certainly don't put them before me in preference But don't even have them before my face And in the second commandment, he says to us not to make any graven images. Verse five of Exodus chapter 20. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them. For I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, keep my commandments.

We do. We keep all the commandments of God preached two or three weeks ago from Hebrews chapter four. And if you remember, the main point of that message is if you keep the Sabbath, you've kept all the law of God. For the Sabbath, is our rest, and the Lord Jesus Christ is our Sabbath. We rest all the hope of our salvation in him, so that his law-keeping is our law-keeping, and he is our rule of life. We have the law of grace, the law of the spirit, we have the law of love. We're not held onto the bondage and the rigors and the threats. of the written law. We have the law of the spirit in our hearts, the living law.

So our God is a jealous God. He said, don't have any other gods before me. Don't make any other graven images. Now turn with me to Exodus chapter 34, Exodus chapter 34. Why is our God jealous? Exodus 34, look with me at verse 14. For thou shalt worship no other God, for the Lord, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God. lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and go a-whoring after their gods." Here the Lord tells us that his name is Jealous. That means everything, his name is who he is. So jealousy is not like, it's not like our jealousy of resentment or suspicion or envy.

His very character is that of holy jealousy. As are all of the attributes of God, the hatred of God, the love of God, the anger of God, the affection of God, we attribute these things to emotions. And the word emotion means to be moved into motion as a result of a feeling. And we all have these emotions, but there's so much sin involved in these emotions when they come from us.

And now the Lord has told us, my name is jealous, and I am jealous. And I'm jealous for my people. I'm jealous for my glory. Now, If you and I, we've all experienced being angry or being envious or being jealous because we felt as if we didn't get the glory that we should have gotten, we were robbed of our glory, we were abused, we were taken advantage of, we were We were lied on or something of that effect. We've all felt this emotion.

But when it comes from us, it's different. Let's look at a couple of passages. Turn with me to Galatians, Galatians chapter five. Galatians chapter five, and look with me at verse Verse 26, or verse 25, if we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another and envying one another. This is the natural man of the flesh. And we have felt these feelings before, being envious, being desirous of what God calls vain glory, empty glory, wanting to be acknowledged, wanting to be recognized. Turn with me, if you will, to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. Verse 2, fulfill ye my joy that ye be like minded, having the same love, being of one accord and of one mind.

Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. Whenever there's strife among men, it's because somebody's not getting what they think they deserve. And God calls that vainglory. Strife and vainglory always go together. You know that's true, don't you? You know that's true in your own experience. And the Lord's saying, put away your need for glory. Because whatever need you think you have for glory, it's vainglory, it's empty glory.

And all it's going to do is produce strife and envy and jealousy and conflict among men. But when I glorify, when I am jealous for my glory, turn me now, if you will, to Isaiah chapter 42. We read this just a few moments ago, Isaiah chapter 42. We'll read it again at verse eight.

I am the Lord, that is my name, and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. So the Lord said, don't make any other graven images because I'm jealous for my glory. And then he says, jealousy is my name. And now here he tells us, I'm the Lord, that is my name. My glory will I not give to another. I'm not going to share my glory with anybody or anything else. And that's why we're not to have any of the gods before him. That's why we're not to make any graven images.

Now turn with me to Isaiah chapter 48. Look at verse 11. For my own sake, even for my own sake will I do it. And how should my name be polluted? And I will not give my glory to another. If our desire for glory is sinful, Why is it sinful? Because God says it's vain glory. You're not worthy of it. God's jealousy for his own glory is holy because he's worthy of that glory. Now, does God being glorified add anything to him? Does he need to be glorified in order to be increased in glory? So why is he so jealous for his glory? The same reason he's jealous for his church. The same reason he's jealous for his people. If the Lord was not jealous for his own glory, we would never be saved.

For we could not know God for who he is. We would be left to sort through the plethora of gods of man's imagination. We would be polytheistic. We would be like the ancient Greeks. Worse than that, we would be setting ourselves up on the throne of God like the free willers do. And we would deny God his glory. and take it to ourselves. The reason that God, our God, is jealous for his glory is not only to destroy the enemies of his people, like he did with Nineveh, and like the Lord Jesus did with the curse of the law, and with Satan, and with death, and with sin, and with hell.

He destroyed all those enemies. But he's jealous for his own glory, because if God's not jealous for his glory, no one will be. No one will be. And God's jealousy for his glory is what makes us jealous for his glory. It's what makes us know that we're to have no other gods before him. that we can't find any hope of salvation outside of the one whose name is jealous. Outside of the one who said, I am the Lord, I will not share my glory with another. You see, God's not jealous for his glory because he needs to be glorified in order for him to be glorious. He's jealous for his glory for the same reason that he's jealous for his bride. If he's not jealous for his glory, no one will be. We won't be. God's jealousy for his glory is not sinful like ours.

This is what the Lord's telling us. Turn with me to Zechariah. Zechariah, just past Nahum. Zechariah chapter one. And look down with me at verse 14. The great day of the Lord is near. It is near and hasteneth greatly. Even the voice of the day of the Lord, the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick. I'm sorry. I knew that wasn't the passage I wanted to read. Forgive me. You're in Zechariah, I wasn't. Zechariah was waiting to get to the point that I wanted to make. You were right, I was wrong. I was reading from Zephaniah.

Zechariah chapter one, verse 14. So the angel that communed with me said unto me, cry thou, saying, thus saith the Lord of hosts, I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. and I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease for I was but a little displeased and they helped forward the affliction. Now turn with me to Zechariah chapter 8. Zechariah chapter 8 and look at verse One, again the word of the Lord of hosts came to me saying, thus saith the Lord of hosts, I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy.

And I was jealous for her with great fury. All of this brethren is an allegory. All the promises and prophecies of God in the Old Testament are yea and amen in Christ. And our God is telling us. That he is jealous. For his glory. And he is jealous for his people. And his jealousy will cause him to destroy all their enemies. and to protect them and provide for them all the way to glory. And that's exactly what the Lord Jesus did. Exactly what he did.

He conquered our enemies and he said, I am your Nahum. I am your comforter. I am your consolation. And in all of your trials and all of your troubles and all of your fears and all of your temptations, I will be jealous for you. Our Heavenly Father, thank you for thy word. Thank you for thy son. Thank you for the fulfillment of this prophecy. Thank you. that you are a jealous God, and that you will not share your glory with another. Amen. Brother Tom, number 27 in the Spiral Hymnal. Let's stand together.

Why is God Jealous?

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's jealousy?

How do we know God's jealousy is a good thing?

Why is God's jealousy important for Christians?

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Why is God Jealous?

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about God's jealousy?

How do we know God's jealousy is a good thing?

Why is God's jealousy important for Christians?

Sermon Transcript

About Greg Elmquist

Comments

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