Knowing God by His Names: Jehovah-Qanna (The Jealous One)

Most of you have probably seen the Disney version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. In the cartoon version, the Evil Queen's envy is nothing compared to her deep and destructive envy portrayed in the Grimm Brothers telling. In the original story, the evil Evil Queen’s jealousy stops at nothing to destroy Snow White, who has usurped the Evil Queen as “the fairest in the land.”

The Brothers Grimm write that upon hearing she's no longer the fairest, the Evil Queen grows yellow and green with envy. This is only the beginning of the working of envy for the Evil Queen who orders her huntsman to kill Snow White deep in the woods and to bring back the girl’s heart as proof of her death. When the Evil Queen learns that Snow White is still alive she tries to kill her three more times — each time disguising herself as a kind, peasant woman.

The Evil Queen cannot handle that there is somebody more beautiful than she, even though she sits on the throne, while Snow White lives in the forest cooking and cleaning for seven little men! Yet her jealousy gets the Evil Queen nowhere. At the wedding of Snow White and the Prince, the Evil Queen is made to dance in hot iron shoes until she drops down dead.

I. OUR GOD IS JEHOBAH-QANNA

1. in Exodus 19 the Hebrews are camped before Mount Sinai

a. but Moses went up to God (Exodus 19:3)

b. there on the summit of Mount Sinai God lays out the requirement for being His people

“while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 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; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” 7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do.” And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD.” (Exodus 19:3–8, ESV)

2. after consecrating the people Moses goes back up the Mountain of God to receive the essence of God’s moral law that will guide the hearts, and minds and behavior of His people

a. we call them the Ten Commandments

3. it is the 2nd Commandment that is the focus of our attention this evening

““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. 5 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 the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.” (Exodus 20:4–6, ESV)

a. this command is closely linked with the first, which says, “You shall have no other gods before Me”

1) having other gods is idolatry

a) idol worship was rampant among the nations surrounding Israel

b) most of those nations had carved images to which they bowed, sacrificed, and performed various acts of worship

c) often that pagan worship involved infanticide and prostitution (Leviticus 18:21; Deuteronomy 23:17)

2) the Israelites were strictly warned to keep themselves separate from the pagan nations around them and to avoid any activities that resembled their vile worship rites

a) it is in this context that God tells Israel I am a jealous God

c. the 2nd Commandment is the only one of the ten that expressly describes one of God’s attributes

1) God is a holy God, an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God, He is a merciful and loving God ... the list can go on and on ... but here we learn that God is a jealous God

A. GOD’S JEALOUSY IS NOT OUR JEALOUSY

1. the world jealousy if fraught with negativity, and so to use it to describe God requires us to take a few moments to understand divine jealousy vs. human jealousy

a. without too much overstatement, human jealousy is almost always evil

1) human jealousy almost always involves coveting, envy and bitterness that can lead to hatred and then wrath and ultimately physical harm, even murder

ILLUS. The very first murder among men was the result of jealousy. God accepted Abel’s offering, but not Cain’s. In his jealousy Cain rose up and killed his brother.

ILLUS. Joseph’s brothers hated him because he is so obviously “daddy’s favorite.” Grown men in their 30's and 40's couldn’t handle that and they plot, first to kill him, but then merely sell him into slavery. At the end of the story, Joseph is correct when he says, “You meant it for evil.” Yes they did.

ILLUS. Rachael is Jacob’s first love, but is barren for years. Leah is loved, but she’s not loved like Rachael, BUT Leah is fertile, and all she and Jacob have to do is hold hands and Leah is expecting. Leah regularly rubs it in her sister’s face, and Rachael is jealous.

ILLUS. Of course the very best example of this in the Old Testament is King Saul. Within a very short time after David’s victory over Goliath, Saul appointed David as commander over the entire Israelite army. That alone must have bent some noses out of shape. Under David’s leadership the army goes from one victory to another. Saul’s kingdom is expanded, there is security for the populace and wealth flows into Saul’s treasury. But when the women of Israel begin singing catchy ditties about David’s heroics verses Saul’s heroics Saul grows virtually insane with jealousy. Ultimately, unresolved jealousy destroys Saul’s family and his life.

2. in the New Testament, we are regularly warned about the sin of jealousy

a. jealousy can destroy personal relationships

“Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.” (Romans 13:13, ESV)

b. jealousy can destroy churches

“for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?” (1 Corinthians 3:3, ESV)

c. almost everyplace we find jealousy in either Old or New Testaments the end result is sin

1) it’s sinful because it almost always involves our ego

2) human jealousy almost always replaces love with anger

3. there is only one exception to this — when the believer is jealous for (not jealous of) the people of God or the things of God

“For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 11:2, ESV)

a. Paul inserts divine here so that his readers understand that this is not the normal human jealousy he is talking about

1) divine jealously drives us to want to be with the people of God — their family, indeed their sometimes closer than family — and godly jealously drives us to want to be with them

a) our hearts ache when we’re not

2) divine jealously drives us to become angry over those things that diminish another believer’s spiritual life and devotion to God

a) Paul writes in Eph. 4:4 “Be ye angry and sin not.” ... it is possible to be angry about those things that come between a believer and the full Lordship of Jesus Christ

4. God’s jealously is always perfectly balanced by His other attributes — His love, His grace, His mercy, and especially His holiness

a. this is why God can be jealous and not sin

b. that is rarely true of us

B. GOD IS JEALOUS FOR US

1. although the word jealous is frequently used in a negative sense in English, it also takes a positive sense at times

a. for example, Paul says to the Corinthians, "I feel a divine jealousy for you" (2 Cor. 11:2)

b. here the sense is "earnestly protective or watchful"

1) it has the meaning of being deeply committed to seeking the honor or welfare of someone, whether oneself or someone else

2. God is earnestly protective or watchful over His people

ILLUS. Again, Biblical illustrations abound. We see it in the presence of God’s shekinah glory as he travels with the Israelites in the desert. When Pharaoh’s army approaches and the Hebrews literally have their back to the sea, God’s presence moves in between His people and the Egyptians. If you read between the lines you hear God saying, “These are my people and you cannot have them!”

ILLUS. In the New Testament, God gives us His Holy Spirit to indwell us. In 1 John, the aged apostle writes, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” This is John’s way of saying, “You are the people of God and the world cannot have you. They may taunt you, and ridicule you. They may persecute you and even kill you, but you are God’s and the world cannot have you!”

C. GOD IS JEALOUS FOR HIS OWN GLORY

1. Scripture represents God as being jealous mostly for His own glory

a. He continually and earnestly seeks to protect his own honor

1) He commands his people not to bow down to idols or serve them

b. He desires that worship be given to Himself and not to false gods

1) therefore, he commands the people of Israel to tear down the altars of pagan gods in the land of Canaan, giving the following reason: "For you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" (Deut. 4:23-24)

2. God's jealousy, therefore, may be defined as follows: God's jealousy means that God continually seeks to protect his own honor

a. what we true of the Hebrews must be true of our lives ... we must constantly be on guard against setting up idols in our hearts

ILLUS. As John Calvin so famously put it: The human heart is an idol factory, churning out new idols like the conveyor belt in a manufacturing plant. Which is why the very last admonition from the aged apostle John to his beloved congregation as Ephesus is, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols.”

II. OUR GOD, JEHOVAH- QANNA, HATES IDOLATRY

1. it wasn’t long after Moses went back up the mountain the Jehovah reveals the depth of His jealously

“When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, “Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 So Aaron said to them, “Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” 6 And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. 7 And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. 8 They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’ ”” (Exodus 32:1–8, ESV)

ILLUS. Most of you have seen the Cecil B. DeMille classic The Ten Commandments staring Charlton Heston. We all remember the scene where Moses comes down off the mountain to find Israel worshiping the statue of a golden calf fashioned by Aaron — Moses’ own brother. In the movie, Moses hurls the two tablets containing the commandment at the golden calf which erupts into flames, and the earth opens up and swallows the idol and all those near it. Well, not quit.

“And as soon as he came near the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, Moses’ anger burned hot, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and broke them at the foot of the mountain. 20 He took the calf that they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it on the water and made the people of Israel drink it.” (Exodus 32:19–20, ESV)

a. we’re also told that Moses commanded the Levites to go throughout the camp and execute those who had been the primary ring-leaders behind the rebellion

1) 3,000 men died

2. our God is a jealous God and will not tolerate idols in our lives

ILLUS. Tim Keller, former pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC, writes, “When you look to some created thing to give you what only God can give you that is idolatry. An idol is anything in your life that is so central to your life that you can’t have a meaningful life if you lose it.”

a. twenty times between the Books of Exodus and Deuteronomy God tells his people I am a jealous God

A. GOD DEMANDS WHOLEHEARTED DEVOTION FROM HIS PEOPLE

1. sadly, Israel often found itself straying from their devotion to God

a. repeatedly, God likened the nation of Israel to an unfaithful wife guilty of adultery, and at times even prostituting themselves like Hosea’s with Gomer

b. He compares their unfaithfulness to a wife’s adultery, because God regularly refers to Himself as Israel’s Husband

“For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.” (Isaiah 54:5, ESV)

““Return, faithless people,” declares the LORD, “for I am your husband. I will choose you—one from a town and two from a clan—and bring you to Zion.” (Jeremiah 3:14, NIV)

c. does God emotionally “fall apart” if Israel is unfaithful?

1) no, because He is God and God is totally self-sufficient

2) but if His wife is unfaithful to Him, the consequences upon her, their children and their future generations could be catastrophic

ILLUS. Let’s be honest. Much of the church in America has been unfaithful to God. Particularly when it comes to the culture’s sexual agenda. Denomination after denomination, church after church, have gone after other lovers — seduced by a culture that says, “I’ll love you and accept you if you’ll merely abandon those attributes and characteristics I find unbecoming in you — particularly your morality. It’s so antiquated. If you’ll just abandon those silly ideas about spiritual fidelity, and moral purity and sexual chastity, we’ll get along well.” And every time a denomination or church acquiesces to the seduction, the lover says, “Thank you. That was nice, but I don’t love you as much as I though I did. I must move on to seduce other denominations and other churches.”

2. Israel’s confession of faith was to be a daily reminder of their wholehearted devotion to God alone

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” (Deuteronomy 6:4–5, ESV)

a. God knows that human hearts are fickle — that we have a tendency to want to worship things we can see

b. God also knows that even the outward image of Him can distort how we think about true God

ILLUS. For instance ... I know that God is an elderly man, with a long white beard and flowing white hair. His brow if furrowed, but is features are compassionate. His build is quite muscular. How do I know this? Because I’ve seen the pictures of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, the most famous being God about to touch Adam to give him life. Now. I know that’s not God. I’m aware of God’s attributes. I know that the Scriptures are clear that God is a Spirit. I know that Isaiah portrays Him as high and lifted up and on His throne. I know that He is a great an awesome God Who does exceedingly, abundantly above all that I can ask or think. And yet, Michelangelo’s portrait is burned into my brain. I can’t “unsee” it. And so, when I think of God — particularly as the Father — that’s what I see in my mind’s eye.

3. this is why graven images — even of the true God — are blasphemous because they will always diminish God

a. we will see Him as we want to see Him and not for Who he really is

b. and Who He is will always be far great, more awesome than we could ever picture Him

4. the most important thing a Christian can do is guard your heart

III. APPLICATION

1. idolatry remains a problem among God’s people

a. in His jealousy for us God comes to us and says, “I want to be the priority in your life. I want to be first in you life, because if I’m not, you’re erected an idol, and that diminishes you and dishonors me?

b. in His jealousy for his own honor God comes to us and says, “Be ye holy as I am holy”

God’s jealousy is always meant to provoke us back to Him. It’s a righteous, protective jealousy, much like a husband’s jealousy toward a wife around a rivaling man aspiring to steal away the affections of His bride.

As the Bride of Christ, we are called to live in worship to God alone — to be wholeheartedly his.

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