God, whose name is Jealous

Short Term Memory

I don’t know about you, but I have a super hard time remembering some of the most mundane things.

Story about phone

Unfortunately, we are all too guilty of forgetting God’s love and provision in our lives, and we instead turn to other things for that fulfillment

The Israelites were forgetful themselves, and throughout the course of the Old Testament, fail time and time again to remember the Lord in their midst, and instead are ensared by the temptations and gods of other nations around them

Exodus 34:11-16

Exodus 34:11–16 ESV

11 “Observe what I command you this day. Behold, I will drive out before you the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 12 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. 13 You shall tear down their altars and break their pillars and cut down their Asherim 14 (for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), 15 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, 16 and you take of their daughters for your sons, and their daughters whore after their gods and make your sons whore after their gods.

God here, self identifies with the name Jealous. The Hebrew word is Qanna.

God’s love for his chosen people is so strong that he naturally gets upset when we turn to other gods.

Just before this passage in Exodus, God renews his Covenant with the Israelite people

It’s no coincidence that our church today is referred to as the bride of Christ.

The covenant relationship between Israel and Yahweh was meant to be so intimate that is was like marriage.

Think back to our series through the book of Hosea. The relationship between God and Israel is mirrored between Hosea and his wife, Gomer.

Marriage is based upon the idea of love for that person

F.M. Cross explains that “the covenant is a widespread legal means by which the privileges and duties of kinship may be extended to another individual or group,”

The covenant made the Israelites a part of God’s family, and as such, required them to

Exclusively worship him, be holy like he is holy

2 Kings 17:35-39 (Exclusive)

2 Kings 17:35–39 ESV

35 The Lord made a covenant with them and commanded them, “You shall not fear other gods or bow yourselves to them or serve them or sacrifice to them, 36 but you shall fear the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt with great power and with an outstretched arm. You shall bow yourselves to him, and to him you shall sacrifice. 37 And the statutes and the rules and the law and the commandment that he wrote for you, you shall always be careful to do. You shall not fear other gods, 38 and you shall not forget the covenant that I have made with you. You shall not fear other gods, 39 but you shall fear the Lord your God, and he will deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.”

Lev. 20:26 (Be Holy)

Leviticus 20:26 ESV

26 You shall be holy to me, for I the Lord am holy and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine.

The Israelites are meant to be set apart, to be different from those other nations around them. They were meant to be a light in the world, and the only light in this world comes from Yahweh himself.

God commands the Israelites to remove any evidence of the foreign god’s from among the promised land because he knows how tempting those foreign gods could become to them.

God desires for his people to be like he is, to be holy, and the only way to become more like God is to worship God exclusively and to follow him with a single minded devotion.

God chose the Israelites to be set apart from the nations in order that they might be a light, that they might reveal Yahweh’s nature to the world.

He chose these people in order that his love might be known among the nations, that he might bring the nations to himself so that they too could be in relationship with him.

Jeremiah 31:1-6

Jeremiah 31:1–6 ESV

1 “At that time, declares the Lord, I will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they shall be my people.” 2 Thus says the Lord: “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness; when Israel sought for rest, 3 the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. 4 Again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel! Again you shall adorn yourself with tambourines and shall go forth in the dance of the merrymakers. 5 Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria; the planters shall plant and shall enjoy the fruit. 6 For there shall be a day when watchmen will call in the hill country of Ephraim: ‘Arise, and let us go up to Zion, to the Lord our God.’ ”

Is. 43:1-7

Isaiah 43:1–7 ESV

1 But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. 4 Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. 5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. 6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, 7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

Israel’s short memory

Israel is so quick to forget the Lord’s work in their midst. They forget his love for them, his action in delivering them from the hand of egypt, and his commandments.

The story of the Old Testament is a story of the revelation of God’s character to his chosen people, through his patience and mercy upon a people who disobey his commandments and fail to live in proper relationship with him at every turn.

The Gospel

God’s jealous, passionate love for his covenenant people is revealed in Jesus Christ

Could have let us live in idolatry

Instead, God stepped into our world to make direct relationship with his chosen people possible

God’s call upon the listener

Desires you so deeply he sent Jesus to die for you and because he rose again, we have access through Christ to the Father who loves us all.

Application

I challenge you this week, to keep a journal or to use the notes app on your phones, or whatever method you might use to remember the ways in which God has been faithful to you and has revealed his love for you.

Identify the things in your life that are taking priority in your heart over God, that you spend more time doing, paying attention to, or thinking about than you do him.

I challenge you to begin to weed out those idols in your heart, to recognize the deep love and intimacy that God desires with you, and to take steps to replace those idols with time spent with God instead.

Prayer