When one considers jealousy, what comes to mind? When you hear the adjective jealous, where does your mind take you? If I was a betting man, I would wager that the mind of the average person would go to an abusive jealous lover. A person, driven to commit violence or to violate the basic human rights of another fueled by the poison of jealousy. This reaction makes complete sense. Countless movie and theatre plots center around the oxymoron that is the jealous lover. Someone who is so in-love that they’re driven to exhibit actions and behaviors that are actually hateful.
With this context in mind, one can completely understand why the words of Exodus 20 would raise a red flag for those who don’t spend regular time in the scriptures.
“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” (Exodus 20:4–5, ESV)
For some, the idea that God would describe Himself as jealous immediately disqualifies His revealing Himself as loving. Given the aforementioned metaphor, I can understand this gut-wrenched response. Does God’s jealousy immediately equal immorality? Is God wrong for being jealous, and what does He mean when He professes Himself as jealous. This we will explore.
Let’s Define Terms
Let’s begin by defining the word jealous. This is an accusation that can garner a level of emotion and the best way to combat this is to clearly define terms. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary list three short definitions for the word jealous and they are as follows:
- hostile toward a rival or one believed to enjoy an advantage : ENVIOUS
- (a) intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness
(b) disposed to suspect rivalry or unfaithfulness
- vigilant in guarding a possession
From this collection of definitions, the one that fits the cliché in question is 2b. What one normally associates with jealousy is someone who is insecure, quick to accuse of unfaithfulness, overly emotional, quick to anger; this completely fits the portrayal of the jealous lover. But does that describe God?
To the contrary, God is described in numerous places throughout the word of God, in the Old Testament specifically, as slow to anger. For the sake of brevity, I will quote one in full and gather a short list of a few more examples for your further study.
In Exodus 34, the following is stated about the Lord.
“The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty,” (Exodus 34:6–7, ESV)
I chose the above quotation due to it being in the immediate context of the first quote. Both quotes share the same book and author, therefore, are a part of the same revelation. The content of that revelation being the stipulations of the covenant between God and His chosen people; a people recently delivered out of slavery by His hand.
Israel saw the miracles that God performed against Egypt on their behalf. As a matter of fact, the plagues were direct challenges of Egyptian gods and widely held beliefs about those gods. (Exodus 12:12) This leads to the often-overlooked context of the first quote.
Polytheism vs Monotheism
The truth that there is only one true God is foundational to the Bible itself. Around 3.8 billion of the world’s population today is a follower of one of the Abrahamic religions, either Judaism, Christianity, or Islam. Most of the world today assumes monotheism culturally. Even if you’re an atheist, you’re much more likely to state that “God doesn’t exist” not that “the gods don’t exist.”
For the majority of human history, man hasn’t been monotheistic. When Israel came out of Egypt, it’s very likely that they weren’t monotheists. Their entire worldview was rooted in the polytheistic belief structure of Egypt, really of all the surrounding nations. It’s in this context that God states that Israel should have no other gods before Him (in His presence). The first of the ten commandments is correcting the long-held error that there is some pantheon of gods that have control over nature or are bound by geographic boundaries. (both being widely held beliefs of the time)
God is jealous for them, His chosen people.
The other three aspects of the definition don’t appear to be negative at all.
- hostile toward a rival or one believed to enjoy an advantage : ENVIOUS
- (a) intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness
(b) disposed to suspect rivalry or unfaithfulness
- vigilant in guarding a possession
I’m a married man, and I experience the rest of these definitions for my bride, which I believe is a completely righteous response for a husband. If my wife were to ever cause me to think that I had a rival for her love, outside of our covenant promises to one another, I would have every right to feel all of these descriptors. I would vigilantly guard her, I would be hostile toward the rival, even intolerant toward him and any unfaithfulness on her part.
To exhibit anything else would be telling of my feelings toward her or lack there of.
It’s in this context that I believe that the jealousy of God should be understood. This is the only way to understand the statement and remain consistent with the remainder of His self-revelation. Israel is God’s chosen people, His special possession, and He is jealous in His love toward them, just as a loving husband should be over his bride.
Takeaways
- God’s Jealousy is Righteous
- Think of a loving husband for his unfaithful wife. This is the repeating example that scripture gives for God in His dealings with Israel. See Jeremiah chapters 2-5 and the book of Hosea for an in-depth look at this.
- God’s Jealousy is Instructive
- Israel, and for that matter, the world was in error in reference to the nature of God. Man is flawed due to the fall, and part of that is how we relate to God. How God dealt with Israel is a part of His revealing Himself to them and correcting these errors.
- God is Slow to Anger
- Numbers 14:18; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalm 86:15, 103:8, 145:8; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2; Nahum 1:3; James 1:19
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