…for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God…. [Exodus 34:14 (ESV)]
Along with sins of the heart like greed, pride, coveting, anger, and envy, we have jealousy. It’s hard to make a clear distinction between jealousy and envy and, in most cases, the words can be used interchangeably. The difference seems to be that the discontent and resentment of envy is focused outward toward something we desire and the person who has it while the discontent and resentment of jealousy is focused inward toward something we have and want to keep for ourselves. For example, Rachel was envious of Leah because she had given birth to Jacob’s children but both sisters were jealous of one another whenever Jacob slept with the other one. Most often used in the context of romantic relationships and often coming from insecurity, jealousy is a mix of overwhelming possessiveness with a little paranoia on the side.
We think of the excessive vigilance and suspicion of jealousy as bad and, in Scripture, jealousy has a negative connotation. James tells us that ”where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice,” [3:16] Paul chastised the Corinthians for their jealousy and strife and told the Romans not to walk in “quarreling and jealousy.” In his letter to the Galatians, the Apostle listed jealousy (along with things like idolatry, enmity, immorality, envy, and rivalries) as “works of the flesh.”
When jealousy is attributed to God, however, it is being used in a positive sense. In the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures), we find Yahweh described as a “jealous” God. Qanna, the Hebrew word translated as jealous in these five books, is used only when describing God’s passion and zealousness for both His covenant people and His honor and always is found in the context of His prohibition of idolatry. Qanna describes the power and intensity with which God preserves and protects man’s exclusive relationship with Him. It denotes both His love for us and His intolerance of other gods in our lives; he will accept no rivals in His relationship with us!
At the time of the Exodus, the Israelites had been surrounded by polytheistic paganism and idolatry for centuries. The Egyptians had a least nine deities ranging from the sun god Re to Osiris, the ruler of the dead. Once in Canaan, the Israelites would encounter other polytheistic religions. The Canaanites had several gods including El, Asherah, Ba’al, and Moloch. The Babylonians had a host of gods with Marduk reigning over 300 in the heavens and another 300 on earth! It’s easy to see why Israel had difficulty understanding this jealous Yahweh—a God who demanded their full attention and would tolerate no rivals. He was not one god among many nor was the supreme god in charge of other gods; Yahweh was the one and only God—and a jealous, possessive, protective, loving, almighty God at that!
The first commandment recorded in Exodus made it clear: “You shall have no other gods before me.” [20:1] Even though Israel promised “We will do everything the Lord has commanded,” [24:3 ] they quickly grew dissatisfied with a God they couldn’t see and fashioned a golden calf; things went downhill from there! Before Moses died, God told him that Israel would break their covenant and worship other gods, which they repeatedly did!
While we’re not likely to fashion golden calves, erect Asherah poles, sacrifice to Molech, or build shrines for pagan deities, let’s not pat ourselves on the back just yet. John Piper defines an idol as “anything that we come to rely on for some blessing, or help, or guidance in the place of a wholehearted reliance on the true and living God.” We may not bow down to Ba’al, but do we bow down to the gods of self: things like materialism, power, wealth, politics, fame, sex, fitness, fashion, or youth? If anything becomes more fundamental to our happiness that our relation with God, we are worshipping an idol! Let us remember, God is jealous for our affection. Which do we love more? The Creator or the things in the world He created?
Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God, your functional savior. [Martin Luther]
Aside from Adam and Eve’s fig leaves, Scripture doesn’t tell us much about people’s attire. Both Matthew and Mark, however, specifically mention the unconventional attire of John the Baptizer—a camel’s hair garment and a leather belt around his waist. Rather than the luxurious fabric of woven camel’s hair we know today, it probably was a dressed camel’s hide. Moreover, since Scripture rarely refers to people’s diets, the mention of John eating locusts and honey is equally unusual. When the Bible’s writers veer from the norm, we should take notice and ask ourselves, “Why?”
Tithe means ten percent and the concept of the making a tithe is first found in Genesis. After being blessed by Melchizedek, the king of Salem and a “priest of God Most High,” Abram/Abraham gave him a tenth of all the goods he recovered from Kedorlaomer’s army after rescuing Lot. [14:20] After Jacob asked for God’s protection and provision, he pledged a tenth of his future blessings to Him. [28:22]
Following Jesus’ resurrection, the Apostles met regularly at the Temple where they boldly preached and healed the sick. Alarmed at this turn of events, the high priest and his officials had the men put in jail. That night, an angel freed them and told the men to return to the Temple and speak to the people there.
In a book about evangelism, the author wrote of bringing a new believer into his office and the two of them saying the “Sinner’s Prayer.” After the new believer repeated the Pastor’s words, he was pronounced saved. While there is no official version of this “sinner’s” prayer, it probably goes something like this: “God, I know that I am a sinner and that I deserve to go to hell. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. I do now receive Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank you, Lord, for saving me and forgiving me! Amen.” Many evangelical Christians speak of saying some sort of prayer like this at the moment of conversion. Is a special “Sinner’s Prayer” a requirement for salvation?
In the ruins of Oxyrhynchus, Egypt, a scrap of parchment known as P.Oxy. 1786 was discovered in 1918. Only 11-inches long and 2-inches wide, it consists of four lines of text along with musical notations on the back of a grain contract. Found in an ancient garbage dump, it was just one of 500,000 parchments dating from the 1st century BC to the 7th AD. Along with grocery lists, official records, and business contracts, the rubbish heap yielded a play by Sophocles, poetry by Sappho, portions of the Old Testament, fragments of both Matthew’s and Mark’s gospels, and an arrest warrant for a Christian.
