Answer: Perhaps Exodus 20:5 is the text that comes to mind for most when it comes to God being a “jealous God.” Since this is the second of the ten commandments, it’s not only in the Bible, but also spoken and written by God Himself (see Exodus 20:1; 24:12)!Here’s how Exodus 20:3-4a reads from the New International Version:
“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God.”
If that isn’t enough for you, you can find similar statements in Exodus 34:14; Deuteronomy 4:24; Deuteronomy 5:9; and Deuteronomy 6;15.
Make no mistake about it! God claims to be a jealous God. So, to repeat your question, Is jealousy okay, or Is God sinning?
My initial thoughts are that God is good, but jealousy is bad. When I hear the word “God” I think of words like love, kindness, gentleness, forgiving. I don’t usually think of “jealous.”
When I hear the word “jealous” I think of words like insecure, selfish, immature, petty. I don’t usually think of “God.”
Maybe I need to take some corrective steps regarding what I think of “God” or what I think of “jealousy.” Maybe you do, too.
I checked out the word “jealous” at Merriam-Webster online (www.m-w.com/dictionary/jealous). Here’s what I found: “intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness; disposed to suspect rivalry or unfaithfulness.”
Does this describe God? Is God intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness? Absolutely. In fact, that’s the context of the second commandment—not to worship any form of idol; God is a jealous God.
The next part of your question asks, “Is jealousy a sin?” (or is God sinning if He’s jealous?)
When I think of the times that it seems like I’m jealous, it’s usually when I compare myself with someone else who is better than I am and I wish that we could switch places. I also feel jealous when somebody is getting what I want (maybe attention “Isn’t he good-looking?” or material goods “She has a fully-stocked entertainment room in her house!” or recognition “He’s must be the number one person in the whole school!”). I find that the words jealous, envious, and covetous all blend together into one yucky feeling of inadequacy, pity, anger, and misery.
Let’s compare this with the dictionary definition of jealous. Am I feeling intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness? I’m feeling the rivalry of someone who is either better than I am or who is getting what I think is mine.
But what about being “intolerant of unfaithfulness”? That’s usually in the realm of relationships. If my girl is paying more attention to another guy instead of to me, then I will certainly be jealous because I think she’s being unfaithful to me. If I won’t let her even say a single word to another male under any circumstances, I may need to grow up some and not be so insecure.
As a married man, there’s no way that I’d tell my wife that she can spend one night a week with another man. I’d be jealous—intolerant of unfaithfulness! And she feels the same way about me.
Those are obvious examples. But what about if I want to go play basketball with the guys one night a week? Should my wife be “jealous” about that? What if I make it five nights a week with the guys? At what point should my wife be jealous? In relationships, those are the types of things that have to be worked out.
Can we put God in the same category as us when it comes to being jealous? Our tendency is to naturally be suspicious, distrustful, and wrongfully envious of others. God is, well, God! Putting Him into a category with anything else makes Him less than God.
No wonder He told the Israelites not to make idols to worship. God is jealous, and He has the right to be.
Perhaps we should ask if His people ever tested that? Um, the answer is “right away” and “repeatedly.” While Moses was still on the mountain, the people worshiped a golden calf. And if you want to see frequent idol-worship, check out 1 Kings 13-22.
When Jesus walked this earth, he gave a similar message about God being jealous. Here’s how He said it, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24, NIV)
What about you and me? Is God jealous for us? Are we ever unfaithful to God or do we give other things first place in our lives? Certainly we don’t worship idols (unless it’s American Idol). If you want to put it to the test, compare how much money and how much time you spend on yourself just for fun compared to what you spend on God. I’ll make it even more simple: how much time do you spend at church on Sabbath compared to how much time you spend going out on Saturday night? How much money do you put into the offering (you, not your parents) compared to how much you spend when you go out on Saturday night?
Does God have a right to be jealous? Do you have other things that are number one to you instead of God?
Take it to heart! God is jealous. He has a right to be. So get serious instead of playing games with God. He’s loving, forgiving, kind, compassionate, AND JEALOUS. As Paul wrote in Romans 2:4 (TLB), “Don’t you realize how patient he is being with you. Or don’t you care? Can’t you see that he has been waiting all this time without punishing you to give you time to turn from your sin? His kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.”
