God, whose name is Jealous

Jealous is not a word that we think of. When we think about God, generally, I would venture to say, An English jealousy obviously has a negative trait associated with Envy or possessiveness when police search for a motive in a murder case. They would often ask first, we'll is there, was there any sort of Love Triangle going on? Was there any sort of jealousy or greed or Envy in, in this instance? in general terms, we could say this jealousy in relationships, reflects how intensely we care about a person Jealousy in relationships. Reflects how intensely we care about someone What Pastor Warren wiersbe longtime pastor of Moody Church in Chicago. Put it this way. Jealousy is a sin. If it means being envious of what others have and wanting to possess it, but it is a virtue if it means cherishing. What we have and wanting to protect it. A faithful, husband and wife are jealous over one another and do everything they can to keep their relationship exclusive. He reminds us jealous and zealous come from the same root for when you are jealous over, someone you are zealous to protect their relationship. So jealousy can be simple, if it's angry envious or controlling, but jealousy, for the protection of one spouse or in relationship with someone is a good thing if it is righteous. Sam. Storms, author and Pastor put it this way. He said God cannot and will not endure infidelity in US. What we, we think of a man or woman, who does not experience jealous feelings, when another person approaches his or her spouse, and threatens to win his, or her affection, we would regard such a person as deficient in moral character and lacking in true. Love So, there's a protective side of the, the idea of being jealous. And so, we shouldn't pit God's jealousy against his holy love. Like we talked about last week, we, we, we don't take the attributes of God and set them in opposition to one another, all of the attributes of God are woven together in his character. So we should not put God's jealousy against his holy love. God is not a dr. Jekyll and mr. Hyde character God does not have psychological needs. God is not insecure. He is not paranoid or impulsive as we are a simple human beings. And so, let me just take you through a few scriptures here, that illustrate the backdrop of God's love and compassion, along with what we're going to talk about God's jealousy. So Exodus chapter 19, Verses 4, and 5. You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore You On Eagle's Wings and brought you to myself. Now, therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my Covenant, you shall be my treasured possession, among all peoples for all. The Earth is mine. And that phrase you shall be my treasured possession that is repeated again. In Deuteronomy chapter 7 Deuteronomy chapter, 14 and Deuteronomy chapter 26. And in Deuteronomy chapter 7, God says don't think that I chose you because you were this great people or this numerous people, I chose you because I set my love upon you and upon your father's and I'm a covenant. Keeping God. Deuteronomy chapter 10 verses 15 and 16. Yet the Lord set his heart in Love on your father's and shows their offspring. After them, you above all people as you are this day, circumcised, therefore, the foreskin of your heart and be no longer stubborn. So God is calling his people back to himself saying they look. The Lord has set his love upon you in the context of Deuteronomy is there are about to enter the land that God is going to give them. But he's saying stay true to what God has shown you. The Covenant that he is giving you on Mount Sinai because this Covenant reflects God's relationship with you And then we see the same thing later on in the New Testament 1st Peter chapter 2 verses 9 and 10 but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of Darkness Into His Marvelous Light. Once you were not a people but now you are God's people once you had not received Mercy but now you have received Mercy. Is that true for all of us as Christian Believers once I was without mercy? And now I have received the mercy of God and took God's jealousy is set against the backdrop of his love. And God's jealousy is if we were to Define it is his holy Zeal, it to protect his own name and preserve his children. That's the main truth that I want us to remember today, is that God's jealousy is his holy Zeal to protect his own name and preserve. His children. That is God's jealousy, is his praiseworthy Zeal to preserve something precious. The root word in Hebrew, for a jealous means either to be zealous to be jealous or to be envious. It can mean those in different contexts. Show Zeal for want someone else's property. If you have this excitement in this desire to have something that someone else has that the envy If you have Zeal for one's own property or to be jealous, for to protect something that is jealousy, and the sense of God's jealousy is his holy energy, directed to protect his glory, and his own name and to preserve his children. one of the stories in the Old Testament, the book of numbers after Balak tries to get Balaam to curse the the Israelites. It says that the Israelites yoked themselves to the bail of pay or one of the pagan gods. And it says, the people began to intermarry with the midianites and Phineas Phineas is zealous for the Lord. And it says, there was a man Israelite man, who brought this midianite woman that he had taken in marriage into the, in front of any, everyone at the tent of meeting, and it says, Phineas was zealous for the Lord and he took a spear and he stabbed both of them and killed them and fear Came Upon all the people and it says the plague that God had brought upon the people stopped that day and Phineas was commended for his jealousy, for being jealous for the Holiness of the Lord, So we can ask ourselves today. Certainly what triggers your Zeal and passion for God. We always have to be careful that our Zeal and our passion is not misdirected, right? I mean I'm tested every Sunday in the fall. When the Philadelphia Eagles play the football game that my Zeal and passion is not miss directed. But when you see evil, when you see things like child abuse and neglect, are you see pure greed in business? Or if you hear of just open slander or open gossip, doesn't that stir within you are only jealousy? This should not be

when you meet people who are on the brink of divorce or people who are hurting in relationships, doesn't that stir within you a jealousy for no, this is not the way it's supposed to be. This, is there something better that the Lord has When we observe the lack of Prayer in churches and in our own lives, it should stir within us a Zeal to pray. I remember one person saying this was a few years after Facebook became more popular. And they said, well, one thing that Facebook is going to prove on Judgment Day is that our prayerlessness was not for a lack of time. Because we spend so much time on social media. When you see sin in your own life, does it stir within you a Zeal, a jealousy of a Zeal to say? I must get rid of this. I mean, Jesus talks about dealing radically with sin. Better for you to enter Heaven maimed, then then to a go to hell with two hands, you know? If your hand causes you to sin cut it off, I don't think he was talkin, literally, but he's saying you now, you have to deal with seeing radically. J.c. Ryle, I've been reading on vacation. One of the things that I have been doing lately is reading up. I like to read the free samples on on Amazon Kindle, right? So I look at all these different books and so I read the sample to see if I like it will. This is this was one that I found for free. It's a by author and Pastor j.c. Ryle, who was a pastor in the 1800's? And the title of it is straightforward. Thoughts for young men. Straightforward thoughts for young men. So the first couple pair a couple of chapters he goes through. He says, young men, beware of Pride, everybody has pride and he says he says this, he says two things are said to be very rare in the world. One is the young man who is humble and the other is an old man who is content. Boy, isn't that true? and then he says don't be, don't put beware of Pride Beware of the love of pleasure and then the third one he says is this he says another danger to young man is thoughtless Miss Not thinking is one simple reason why thousands of souls are thrown away forever into the Lake of Fire. Men will not consider will not look ahead. They will not look around them and they will not reflect on the end of their present course and the sure consequences of their present days and will wake up to find that they are in danger of hell. Just has a bad servant does wrong and then says I never gave it a thought. So young men run into seeing and then say, I did not think about it, it did not look like soon, not look like what would you expect symbol not coming to you saying, I am send it would do little harm. If it did Sin, always seems good and pleasant and desirable at the time of commission, and he says get wisdom and get discretion. He says, oh young man, learn to be thoughtful, learn to consider what you were doing and where you were going, make time for calm reflection, commune with your own heart, and be still. Remember, the caution do not be lost, merely for lack of thought.

Boy, I think that's one thing that stirs up. My Zeal is is to think about how in my forties. I was paying for the lack of good habits that I didn't develop in my twenties. And I think many of us who look back on our lives can say, yes, I could certainly have been more thoughtful about certain things.

And so the gods jealousy is, is an attribute that that by the holy spirit is meant to stir up in us a Zeal for the Lord. Well here's the main, the three things were going to look at today. That God is jealous for that God reveals to us that he is jealous for through his goodness and his love, God is jealous for the worship. That is due only to him. You shall have no other gods before me. God is zealous. Jealous for the worship. That is due only to him. God is jealous for the worship. His Own Glory, will you say isn't that selfish? Well, now, God doesn't have any emotional needs, that's the mystery of the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit In The Eternal communion with one another in love and Perfection. There is no need there. Everything in the universe depends upon. God God, Yahweh, the self-existent creator of all things is worthy of worship, precisely because he has no needs. When we went to the Outer Banks, this past week, we got up on Emily and I got up one morning and went to watch the sunrise at the beach, and, and it's actually, you know, there are a lot of people there for being early in the morning because they wanted to see the sunrise. And it struck my mind is as how, you know, we love to see that natural beauty.

But do we give God credit for it? I remember somebody telling me they said, you know, worshipping the creation is kind of like God giving you his business card and you framing that business card and putting it on your living room wall and saying. All that business card is wonderful that such a beautiful business card. And their point was, obviously the creation points to the Creator that we are to worship. God, because nothing because everything else in the universe depends upon his sustenance that he upholds, the universe by the power of His word, Hebrews chapter one tells us God is jealous for the worship. That is due only to him Deuteronomy 5 verses 8 through 10 explains this. You shall not make for yourself. A carved image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is on the earth beneath or that is in the water under the Earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them that word for serve as the same word as for worship 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.

If we worship anything that is a created thing, it is an insult to God.

To worship something made of wood, or stone or metal or to worship any other created things that are living.

Or more common is to worship. Inanimate, inanimate things?

Think of the four peas that we worship. Palaces portfolios. Pleasures and possessions. We tend to worship palaces, our own houses, portfolios, pleasures, and possessions and idolatry is when we voice Worth, or we give heart devotion, or we invest time in something that is not God. Why is that wrong? Because voicing worth and giving heart devotion or investing time. In things of those are things that are to be reserved for God first. I'm reading a book about the Spiritual leaders of the 18th century, so the 1700. So John Wesley and George Whitefield and many of his contemporaries

And for almost every one of them, they talk about how zealous they were. To keep the Sabbath. And one of the one of the pastures would would go around the town and he would find people who were just playing games or amusements are playing cards or whatever on the Sabbath and he would, he would confront them and say, you know, you need to give his time to the Lord. And I think we'll eat in that era. Maybe couple hundred three hundred years ago. Maybe people didn't have that much to do so that you do, you know, and and they should should be in church on a Sunday and maybe you had the pastures were confronting the same thing. Why were they so zealous about that? Because they knew that if you couldn't dedicate one day out of seven to God, what's the probability that you're going to get a cake 1 hour of any day during the week to God?

I mean, it's simply a matter of habit.

At 11. So they would go to people and they would say no you need to worship on the Lord's Day.

It's a week. We, you know, what, in our culture we have these things about. Well it's not wrong to to watch a movie on Sunday or it's not wrong to this or that and we have these debates about will which things are okay and which things are not. Okay. Just speaking from the principle of the amount of time that we spend on things. Amen.

Isn't it obvious that were not worshiping the Lord in certain ways?

it's so if you have an idol of money or possessions your devoted to doing everything, you can to make more money,

You're fascinated with that. You watch the money reports incessantly, or you get super excited over spending it. The time the attention and the service that we should be giving to God, we give the money. Or we have an idol of power and influence. We thrive on being the leader being in control. We don't want to share positions with anyone or let anyone else get credit for things.

If we only serve God, when we can be the ones in charge, then that's a sign of being having an idol of power. And if we serve an idol, we will develop a hatred of God and that hatred of God will then have consequences on future Generations. Look at verse 9. The Lord your God and I am a jealous God. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me. Now, does this refer to what some people would call a generational curse? I don't think it in those terms necessarily, it refers to the third and the fourth Generations living with the consequences of their parents sins, and worst of all becoming haters of God as a result of watching their parents example. And so the result over and over and over in the, in the Old Testament is that generation strayed from God. Why? Because one generation Woods would step away from God and then what kind of example did the rest of the generations have

There were there are consequences to that idolatry which are worked out in subsequent Generations, that doesn't mean that there's no hope for future Generations. It simply simply means that there are consequences that go along with certain sins. I mean, we have to believe that God is at work. A man, we have to believe that the Holy Spirit can bring Revival, I heard a speaker at EWR a couple of months ago. He said projected by 2050, simply by demographics of population. Growth Christianity is projected to lose 100 million followers and gain 40 million.

Now, that's a net loss of 60 million. So, do we all just pack up and go home? Do we all just stay up? Well, the number say differently. No, we have to believe that God will bring Revival and end that starts by his people repenting of our own idolatry and sing Lord, you are jealous for the worship that is due to you alone.

He is jealous for us to be in relationship with him for us to love and serve him. Not because he's selfish in any way. But because his glory and our good meat in the worship of God, that is why we were created a man. We weren't created for an accumulation of material wealth and the, and a nice easy road to the Finish. I mean, that's it. That's if, if if that's your version of Christianity, according to the American dream, that's not biblical.

God is jealous for the worship that is due to him alone and got his jealous. Secondly, for his Covenant relationship with his people.

So when the Old Testament, God is the husband of his people, Israel, they are his bride. In the New Covenant Christ, is the bridegroom and the church is the bride. And so the context of Exodus is the Israel made, God made a covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai and they broke it quickly by worshipping the golden calf. And so, the first two tablets were broken and the God tells Moses, make two more tablets and now that the the Covenant thing is being renewed in Exodus chapter 34 Until we start in verse 11 through 16, what we read before again this is God being jealous for his Covenant relationship with his people.

Observe what I command you today. I'm going to skip the verse with all the names in there. Be careful, not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land that you were going to enter. Otherwise, they will become a snare to you. Instead you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillows, pillars and chop down there. A sheriff pulls those would have been like, like trees or poles that would have been, they would set up as shrines on hillsides Because the Lord is jealous for his reputation. You are never to bow down to another God. He is a jealous God. Do not make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land or else when they prostitute themselves with their gods and sacrifice to their gods. They will invite you and you will eat their sacrifices. Then you will take some of their daughters as brides for your son's, their daughters will prostitute themselves with their gods and cause your son's to prostitute themselves with their gods. When you go into the land, You Must Destroy their idols. Because if you make a covenant with them, it is spiritual adultery. That's why I Dollar Tree in. Adultery are always tied together in the scriptures now in the ancient world there was actual Temple prostitution. But the emphasis here is the danger of covenanting themselves with pagan people in marriage. Why? Because once your intermarried then you will be invited into their worship and soon enough the Israelites would adopt the gods of the pagans. What was Solomon's downfall, the wisest man who ever lived? Intermarry with all sorts of Four wives. Which lead his heart astray.

God is jealous for the Covenant relationship with his people. There are times in relationships. I think we would all agree when we need to be to show a jealous love. This is a great story and let me summarize it for you. Tim Keller, the late Tim. Keller was a pastor in New York City. Started Redeemer Presbyterian church and he was very successful in in reaching many people. And so they moved to New York City to plant Redeemer and his wife, Kathy agreed to his request. But when the three-year Mark came and went, Tim was, was dedicating more and more time to the church more and more hour. And I, he promised his wife, that things would change. And he said just a couple more months, just a couple more months still. The months went by with no change. Although Kathy was incredibly patient and restrained, she had to get Tim's attention. Until he writes in their book, on marriage. What happens next? Listen carefully. He said, one day I came home from work, it was a nice day outside and I noticed that the door to our apartment balcony was open. Just as I was taking off my jacket, I heard a smashing noise coming from the balcony.

In another couple seconds. I heard another smashing noise.

I walked out on the balcony and to my surprise, I saw Kathy sitting on the floor of the balcony, she had a hammer and next to her was a stack of our wedding China. On the ground, where the shards of two smashed. Saucers. What are you doing? I asked, she looked up and she said you weren't listening to me. You don't realize that if you keep working these incredibly long hours, you are going to destroy this family, I don't know how to get through to you, you aren't seeing how serious this is, this is what you are doing. And she brought the hammer down on the third saucer. I sat down trembling, I thought she had snapped. I'm listening, I'm listening. I said, as we talked, it became clear that she was intense and laser-focused, but she was not in a rage or out of control emotionally. She spoke calmly but forcefully. Her arguments were the same as they had been in months before but I realized how deluded I had been. There would never be a convenient time to cut back my hours. I was addicted to the level of productivity. I had cheve. She saw me listening for the first time and we hugged, Finally, I inquired, when I first came out here, I thought you were having an emotional meltdown. How did you get control of yourself so fast? With a grin. She answered. It was no meltdown. Do you see these three sauces saucers? I smashed. I nodded she said I have no cups for them. The Cubs have been broken for years. I had three saucers to spare. I'm glad you sat down right before I had to break anymore.

There harmful forms of jealousy, but the jealousy that she showed for her marriage and for her family was a righteous jealousy, azelis concerned, protect their relationship. And that is the kind of jealousy that God has for his Covenant people.

God's jealousy is a Divine love that burns for the people. He is saved, God will make, but will break as many saucers as he has to in our lives to get our attention, trials or discipline afflictions. Change of plans. But his jealousy is motivated by his love for his children.

See, under the old Covenant, God would destroy, it would not destroy all those who violated his Covenant but would rather show Mercy to them all through the Old Testament. You have God preserving a remnant of the Israelites saying there is still some who are going to be faithful. Ezekiel 39 talks about this and this is just one example of many examples in the Old Testament. They're forced. Says the Lord God. Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel and I will be jealous for my holy name. They shall forget their shame and all the treachery that they have practiced against me when they do all securely in their land, with none to make them afraid when I have brought them back from the people's and gathered them from their enemies lands. And through them have Vindicated my Holiness in the side of many nations, then they shall know that I am the Lord, their God because I sent them into Exile among the Nations and then then assembled them into their own land. I will leave none of them remaining among the nation's anymore. And I will not hide my face anymore from them. When I pour out my spirit on the house of Israel, declares the Lord God I will forget their shame, they will dwell securely, they will know that I am the Lord and I will not hide my faces from them. My face from them. God is jealous for his Covenant relationship with his people.

1st Peter, chapter 1 talks about this same thing, talking about our relationship with Christ are coming to to faith in Christ. You have been bought with the precious blood of Christ like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was four known before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last time. For the sake of you who threw him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your Faith and Hope are in God, God is jealous for his Covenant relationship with his people to the degree that he sent his one, and only son to die, a death that we deserve. So that we could have we could be granted the righteousness of Christ. Think about how many millions of people are in the world who have no idea of a concept of sure and certain forgiveness.

That God is jealous for his Covenant relationship with his people.

And Jesus says, this is the New Covenant in my blood.

For the Forgiveness of sins. so God is jealous, not only for his Covenant relationship with his people, but he is jealous for our good and well being so that we might know him and draw close to him.

Another word picture that maybe helps us. Think about this, God's jealousy is like the intense burning desire of a parent who has seen their child, runaway get caught in addiction live on the streets and become involved in criminal activity that parent will stop at nothing to bring that child back. They want that child to be secure to be whole and to be at rest, it is not their anger, that motivates them, it is their love for their child. And so God sometimes shows us that same tough love. Allowing us to endure the consequence of our sin, but it is a jealous. Love that yearns us. Yearns to bring us back to him. Amen.

James chapter 4, verse 5 & 6.

Uses the same terminology 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. But he gives more grace therefore it says God, opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us, that's probably a reference to 1st Corinthians where it says, you are a temple of the Holy Spirit.

Honor God with your body.

1st Corinthians. Chapter 6. God is jealous to complete his work. In our lives to conform us to Christ. God, goal in humbling. Us is to draw us closer to him.

And think about this, it actually pains God to see us stubborn and proud giving into the devil's schemes.

In men's groups over the years, you know, men will often bring up bring up their relationships or their marriage. And also and sometimes men will talk about their marriage and we'll say, well that's just who I am. He's going to have to learn how to put up with me. I've been that way for years.

God is jealous for your good. God is jealous for your well-being. He's so jealous that he will humble you. So that you can imitate Christ.

God's jealousy is motivated by his love to protect his name and to preserve his children. That's the main truth that we want to focus on today. God's jealousy is motivated by his love to protect his own name and to preserve his children.

you say well, you know you might have in your mind the association of God's jealousy and God's Wrath doesn't jealousy lead to Wrath Well, sinful jealousy can lead to RAF? For those who are in Christ, we do not need to fear or face. God's Wrath all of God's Wrath. All of God's Wrath was directed at Sinners, and was placed on Jesus Christ in our place. So that we do not have to face his wrath 1st Thessalonians. 5:9 says that's for God has not destined us for wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord. Jesus Christ. Are you trusting him today for salvation for life? For the Holy Spirit to work in your heart, to just simply as the hymn says trust and obey. There's simply no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and Obey he is not destined us for wrath. He is jealous for a relationship with us.

I would just encourage you now to silently if you need to confess or repent of your sins before the Lord to just silently. Do so. And and then I'll close to pray.