EXPOSING IDOLS...He is Jealous for me!
EXPOSING IDOLS • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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GIVE TITLE OF SERMON.....
If you like listening to contemporary Christian music...
then when you heard the title of today’s sermon, “He is Jealous for Me,”
you probably thought of the worship song....“How He Loves,”
because the song begins with that sentence.
The beginning of the song goes like this:
He is jealous for me
His Loves like a hurricane
I am a tree
bending beneath
The weight of His wind and mercy
When all of a sudden
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory
And I realize just how beautiful You are
And how great Your affections are for me
Those are indeed beautiful words
with a lot of deep meaning to them.
God’s love for us IS like a hurricane,
and we are indeed “blown over” when we realize how great God’s affections are, for us.
But the first line,
“He is jealous for me,”
May leave some of us a little unsettled
IT MAY LEAVE YOU WITH QUESTIONS LIKE.....
Is it okay for God to be “jealous?”
I MEAN……HE IS GOD....HE CAN DO WHAT HE WANTS
BUT,
How is it right for God to be jealous,
but not for me to be jealous?
In today’s sermon,
I want us to explore how and why God is jealous for us,
and why it is right and good that God is this way.
We have learned over the last couple weeks that....
idolatry isn’t just a problem of the past,
but that it continues to be a problem in our time and in our lives.
We have learned that anything can become an idol, when it takes a place in our lives and hearts that belongs only to God.
in fact.....tim keller defines it this way....
“AN IDOL IS ANYTHING MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU THAN GOD, ANYTHING THAT ABSORBS YOUR HEART AND IMAGINATION MORE THAN GOD, AND ANYTHING THAT YOU SEEK TO GIVE YOURSELF WHAT ONLY GOD CAN GIVE.”
We learned that God has commanded that we have no other gods before Him or beside Him.
The one true God must be our only God.
And because the one true God must be our only God,
He is jealous for us.
LAST WEEK WE EXPOSED OUR FIRST IDOL....
SEXUAL IDOLATRY
BUT TODAY I WANT TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT
THE JEALOUSY OF GOD
Let’s explore what that means by answering some important questions.
1. First of all, Is it true that God is a Jealous God?
I WANT TO LOOK AT SCRIPTURE TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION....
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,
(Repeated also in Deuteronomy 5:8-9)
2. Exodus 34:12-14
12 Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. 14 Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
3. Deuteronomy 4:23-24:
23 Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
5. Deuteronomy 6:13-15:
13 Fear the Lord your God, serve him only and take your oaths in his name. 14 Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; 15 for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you, and he will destroy you from the face of the land.
6. Ezekiel 39:25:
25 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I will now restore the fortunes of Jacob and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name.
7. Zechariah 1:14
14 Then the angel who was speaking to me said, “Proclaim this word: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I am very jealous for Jerusalem and Zion,
When we think of the characteristics of God....
jealousy is not one that immediately comes to our minds,
and yet in the Old Testament in these numerous passages,
the Hebrew word qanna^' translated “jealous” is used to describe God.
NOT ONLY IS GOD JEALOUS BUT IN EXODUS WE SEE
ONE OF HIS NAMES IS....JEALOUS
I THINK IT’S SAFE TO SAY...
HE IS A JEALOUS GOD
but what does it mean?
What is does it mean that God is a Jealous God?
A. When the Bible says that God is jealous, is it simply a way for God to use human characteristics to describe Himself?
the Hebrew word translated “jealous” literally means “to become intensely red.”
a. It seems to refer to the changing color of the face or...
the rising heat of emotions which are associated with passion over something dear to us.
When we hear the Bible say that God is characterized by jealousy
and that His name is Jealous,
SOMETHING MAY RISE WITH IN US THAT SAYS...
“Hey, wait a minute, isn’t jealousy a sin?”
THE ANSWER.....
Yes, normally the word jealousy carries a negative connation.
IN FACT,
the New Testament, in places like Romans 13:13, and Galatians 5:20 it is listed as a vice not a virtue.
SOMETHING THAT CAN TAKE HOLD OF YOU AND TRAP YOU.
In I Corinthians 13:4, when the Apostle Paul lists the characteristics of true love,
he says, ‘Love is not jealous.’
So how can God be jealous?
I’M GLAD YOU ASKED....
Oprah Winfrey LEFT ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY DUE TO HER NOT UNDERSTANDING THE MEANING OF GOD’S JEALOUSY
THIS IS A DIRECT QUOTE PULLED FORM AN INTERVIEW SHE DID.
Oprah states that “I was in my 20s, and I remember sitting in a church…the minister was preaching about…how “the Lord thy God was a jealous God and the Lord thy God would condemn us for whatever,” and I remember I had a spiritual aha! And I was in my late 20s, and I suddenly thought, ‘How can this God who is all loving and all powerful, why would God be jealous of me?’ ”
6. Oprah states that this was as an “aha” moment for her.
a. This was a moment that caused Oprah to turn from her childhood Christian faith to a New Age faith in a God of her own making
because she could not believe that a God of love could be a jealous God.
When we typically think of jealousy, we tend to think of it as something negative.
THINGS LIKE.
SELFISHNESS
VAIN
MATERIALISTIC
EGOTISTICAL
3. We think of the husband who will not trust his wife regardless of her years of faithfulness.
HE HAS A JEALOUSY PROBLEM
4. Another image that comes to mind is
a neighbor,
friend, family member or coworker
who fumes over the successes of others
SOMEONE WHO CAN barely contains their joy at the failures of others
because he or she is jealous.
In all these types of jealousy...
the true object of the jealous person’s concerns is
themselves
they find themselves lacking in comparison to others
or THEY CAN’T tolerate the thought of someone having something they don’t – and they become jealous.
This kind of jealousy is rooted in envy –
a self-serving hatred or malice of someone because you want what they have.
the distinction between jealousy and envy is this....
Jealousy -
can be good or bad dependent on the object of the jealousy and the reason for the jealousy.
Envy
which is a completely different word and emotion, and it is always bad and wrong.
Envy-
is a feeling of displeasure over the blessings someone else is enjoying.
Jealousy makes us want what others are enjoying,
but
envy makes us want to deprive them of that enjoyment.
understand this…here it is.....
Godly jealousy is zeal to protect another, or to protect and preserve something that is precious.
OH MY LORD....
Godly jealousy is motivated by love – by single-minded devotion.
Oprah seemed to think that God was envious of her.
But that is not what the Bible means when it says,
“God is a jealous God”
There’s a big difference between being jealous OF someone and being jealous FOR someone.
OH COME ON THIS IS THE DIFFERENCE....
True love is never jealous OF someone you love
but it is always jealous FOR the person you love.
LORD HELP US TO UNDERSTAND YOUR LOVE FOR US.....
That’s what the Bible means when it says that God is a jealous God,
He is jealous FOR us.”
The Hebrew words translated jealous and zealous come from the same root word.
1. In its most positive sense, the word qanna means “to be filled with righteous zeal or jealousy.”
God is not tainted with the negative connotation of the word jealousy.
3. In no single passage of the Bible is God described as envious.
A good illustration of the holy jealousy of God has to do with parenting.
a. Let’s imagine that you answer the door one day, and there stands a man who appears to be about 40 years old.
b. He informs you that he and your 14 year-old daughter met in an online chat room and that he and your fourteen year-old daughter have determined that they are madly in love.
c. He says that he and your daughter have decided to elope to somewhere that permits girls her age to marry without the consent of parents and that he is there to pick her up.
2. Now assuming that you would be able to restrain yourself long enough to figure out what you are feeling,
what you would find is that you are suddenly feeling very jealous and zealous for your daughter.
a. You are not jealous of the man, but you are jealous for your daughter’s safety and jealous for her future happiness.
b. With God’s restraining hand guiding you,
you would act swiftly and legally, to remove this stranger from your daughter’s life
- then, you would probably re-calibrate her sense of proper relationships and affections.
Why would you act this way?
Because you love her.
Because you know what is best for her.
oh come on....make since?
You would not be acting in a way that is all about benefiting you in a selfish way,
but you would be doing what is best for her.
Another good illustration of the holy jealousy of God has to do with marriage.
1. The prophet Ezekiel used a powerful analogy to describe what idolatry feels like to God.
In Ezekiel 23:37 God says: ”
37 for they have committed adultery and blood is on their hands. They committed adultery with their idols; they even sacrificed their children, whom they bore to me, as food for them.
The pain of having an unfaithful partner is surely one of the most agonizing human experiences
it is the ultimate betrayal.
Yet this is how we are described when we reject the love of God for cheap substitutes.
Lord help us....
In a marriage, a wife has the right to expect faithfulness by her husband and vice versa.
So she would be would be well within her rights
to be jealous for her husband,
if her husband was unfaithful with another woman,
why???
because their marriage vows made their relationship exclusive of all others.
Israel gave the worship that belonged to God to an idol that wasn’t even real!
So, what can we conclude about the jealousy of God?
1. the jealousy of God is a reflection of God’s love.
2. God’s jealousy—unlike ours—is not mixed up with weakness or sin.
b. What we call “jealousy” is mostly something else: insecurity, selfishness, and suspicion.
c. The Lord’s jealousy, however, has none of these impurities.
d. Yes, God is possessive;
yes, He wants us for Himself;
yes, He wants us all and always.
But
here is where Divine jealousy differs from human jealousy:
First, God’s love and desire for us is holy
we will never be happy until we give ourselves completely to Him.
When we give our lives to Him, we don’t lose our lives,
we find them.
OH MY LORD.....
g. To say The Lord is a jealous God, therefore, is another way of saying God is love.
h. How can He not want us for Himself when our highest happiness is found in Him?
Secondly, we can conclude that the jealousy of God is a protection for us.
God knows that other suitors for our hearts are only thieves and murderers
Satan comes only to kill, Steal and destroy.
d. God won’t just let us run off with other lovers, He will relentlessly chase after us.
e. The one true God will not give up on us without a fight.
h. God’s love is more jealous and more zealous, than our stubborn resistance, and aren’t you thankful for that?
How should we respond to God’s jealousy?
A. Answering this final question is so important.
How should we respond to the fact that God’s calling is exclusive and that He is jealous?
Because God loves us so much, and His love has a protective zealousness and jealousy,
we should devote ourselves whole-heartedly to God and serve the Lord and Him only.
IF YOU REMEMBER....
Joshua took over the leadership of the Israelites from Moses.
Joshua led them the rest of the way to the Promised Land.
When Joshua was 110 years old and knew he didn’t have much time left on the earth,
he gave the people of God a final challenge.
Joshua said to the people:
14 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
OH MY LORD....
How did the people of God respond?
The Bible says: Then the people answered...
16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us to forsake the Lord to serve other gods! 17 It was the Lord our God himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. 18 And the Lord drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the Lord, because he is our God.”
We would expect that Joshua would complement them after their response, saying something like...
“That’s what I’m talking about!”
Or “Nice job! You have chosen well!”
But that’s not what Joshua did.
He didn’t let them off the hook so easily.
Here’s what Joshua said to them:
19 Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.”
Nevertheless, the people promised that they would serve the Lord,
that they would put away their foreign gods,
and that they would obey the Lord
and listen only to His voice.
Like Joshua, and God’s people in His time,
will we take a stand for the Lord and make a commitment to serve the Lord only?
Will we clean out all our foreign and counterfeit gods and throw them away?
.....WORSHIP TEAM COME......
I want to end with an interesting story about a LEGENDARY BASKETBALL PLAYER.. Michael Jordan
One day, Jordan made a visit to the home of Fred Whitfield –
Fred was his friend and was the president and chief operating officer of another NBA team.
The two of them were going to go out to dinner, and Michael Jordon said to Whitfield,
“Man, it’s kind of cold. Can I borrow one of your jackets?”
Whitfield told him, “Sure,” and pointed Michael toward his closet.
Jordon disappeared down the hallway and returned with an armful of branded athletic jackets, shirts, shoes and other gear.
Jordon dumped the pile on the floor and disappeared down the hallway again.
Whitfield looked at the pile and noted that all the items were made by Puma, a rival of Nike, which was the company that Jordon represented.
Jordon had noted that the Nike stuff he had given Whitfield was in the closet,
but so were a lot of stuff with the Puma branding.
The Puma stuff had come as the result of Whitfield’s other close friend, Ralph Sampson, an ex-player who promoted the Puma brand.
Whitfield stood there silently while he waited to see the fate of his Puma gear.
Michael Jordon returned with a butcher knife from the kitchen and proceeded to cut the pile of Puma gear into a thousand pieces.
When Jordon was done, he said to Whitfield,
“Hey, dude, call my Nike representative tomorrow and tell him to replace all this.
But don’t ever let me see you again in anything other than Nike. You can’t ride the fence.”
WOW.....SEEMS A LITTLE OVER THE TOP....
Jordon’s behavior is a little uncomfortable to hear about.
1. I can’t imagine myself pulling a “Michael Jordon” in someone else’s closet,
but perhaps we need to begin pulling Michael Jordon’s with each other!
2. I think that Jordan offers us a pretty good picture of idol smashing.
3. He was demonstrating an exclusive commitment to a single entity.
4. That’s the kind of exclusive commitment God longs for from His people.
5. God doesn’t want us to just make room in our closet for Him; He wants the closet exclusively to Himself.
6. God is rightly jealous for us.
I pray that all of us will give God what God rightly deserves
our whole-hearted devotion.
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord –
I hope you will too!
ALL OF US NEED TO GET TO WORK CLEANING OUT OUR CLOSET OF ALL THE OTHER GODS
AND BEGIN FILLING IT WITH THE ONE TRUE GOD
AMEN???
....STAND TO YOUR FEET...........