God's Jealousy

God’s Jealousy

2/15/15

Many people have been puzzled about this statement in the Bible and for good reason too.  Jealousy is one of the more dangerous feelings a person can have, yet it is promoted by Moses as a relative emotion from God.  There is a purpose behind God’s jealousy and it has nothing to do with the physical type that we display towards others, yet its Garden origins come from a holy plane which in turn, just like clockwork is corrupted by the god of this world and then presented to whomever will accept it.  God’s jealousy begins with a pure, perfect and holy relationship that is stripped of its roots and then pursued furiously by our Creator to restore it by the same means that it was taken.

It amazes me how God shows me things and how these things all originate in the book of Genesis.  The setting in the Garden of Eden grows more every day in my life and I have a feeling that this knowledge of our beginnings has many more added things to be shown to us.  I thank God that He has opened my eyes to this knowledge and since it has brought into my existence many answers about life and how God loves us, it too will provide many answers to those who read the words that God has given us. Yet, this truth is not directly spoken about in the Garden of Eden setting and is not physically mentioned until Exodus. However, if one grasps this principle the implications of this character of God become crystal clear and can be understood even in its complexity.

Before we can advance to the main focus of this article in Exodus I must set some background information in Genesis and more specifically the relationship that was present between God and man.  We all know that God created mankind in a perfect state, one that we cannot fathom or comprehend today.  It is hard for us to even imagine how our bodies functioned in this unique state and to be honest at times I am jealous myself of that state because I know that while I draw breath on this earth I shall never achieve the same state that Adam and Eve had the privilege of living in at one time.  But it is this state of perfect physical conditioning that begins this story and defines the origins of God’s jealousy.

See, when God created our lives we were perfect and holy just as God is.  We were made in His image and we knew no sin, destruction, calamity or any other type of death inducing condition.  We were in a complete and total perfect state.  We all know that God is perfect and has not changed from that state ever, nor shall He ever change from that state either.  Since God created us in this state He could have direct contact with us and this is specifically mentioned in Genesis and from the context of these verses, it was a daily routine between God and man.  Humans actually walked and talked with God, saw His presence and the opportunity to understand everything that our minds could handle, no impurities added, no corruption presented, just the truth about everything.

God reveled in this communication with mankind and one can only imagine the things that God shared with Adam and Eve during this timeframe.  It is also implied that God throughout these meetings with mankind did not hover over His creation but enjoyed having these conversations with His most prized creation.  So, what happened to change this course of this perfect relationship?  In no way did God ever want any division to set in between Him and humanity.  It was humans that changed this course and thus initiated God’s jealousy. 

I must admit that it is easy for us to throw stones at Adam and Eve for the choices that they made and to which we still are enduring today.  But we must also take into consideration about what occurred in God’s life at that moment as well.  In our thinking God should have ended humanity right there and started over, but it was not like that and to be honest, that line of reasoning represents death anyway and God despises death, so it was not an option.  God did not change that day, only mankind did.  It was the state of perfect life that was changed in our lives, not God’s life.  He remained perfect and holy in every way, which means that we chose to separate from Him and through these actions we were cast from the realm of the perfect state.  It also means that we had been around God long enough to know about choices and how they could affect our lives, for God could never allow something to occur in our lives without us being aware of its potential.

So from this evidence we must conclude that the relationship between God and man changed dramatically.  Enough to provoke an emotion from God that in human terms throws out all the stops and every response is fair in our eyes; this is the foundation for what humans call jealousy.  The Bible does not say that God became angry but it does say that God had to deal with the situation immediately and firmly, thus setting the stage for His divine jealousy to begin.  I can only imagine what was going through the minds of Adam and Eve while God was standing there listening to what God had to say about the entire situation. However, I do know that all parties involved in that “come to Jesus” meeting knew that the relationships between all parties had changed.

God can create only things that are of His state, which means that something has to happen in order for this state to change. God also represents everything that our lives can know about life, which means that He can only create life.  This is the type of relationship He had with mankind and the only one that He could have created and it is this type of relationship between God and mankind that was defined in Genesis.  Therefore, this type of perfect relationship was the standard upon which our lives are based and thus the separation that occurred in the Garden of Eden is the reason as to why God is jealous, it is because He desires His perfect, divine and holy relationship back with His prized creation.  This jealousy resonates through His love for us and the desire for Him to once again have direct and face to face contact with us again.  This also explains why God has provided the perfect restoration plan as well with the perfect sacrificial lamb in place to complete this process.

A quick side note here before I continue.  This relationship status between God and man also serves as a standard as to why God cannot change His ways, His laws, or His goals.  It was our choice to leave the Garden of Eden through our disobedience and it was our choice to allow our enemy to gain access into our lives.  If God did not love us in the manner in which He has stated, then it would be no big deal for Him to bend the rules and allow us to worship ourselves or other gods instead of Him.  It also sets the stage for the battle that our enemy wants over our lives and just how important and precious you are to God.  God wants to communicate with us on every level that we can imagine and it is through this restored state that God pants after.  Just as a parent longs to be with their child that has died or walked away from the relationship, it “kills” God to know that any of His children are not in direct relationship with Him too.

Through the choices that we made in the Garden we no longer have the direct access as Adam and Eve once shared with God. But that does not mean that the potential of having such a relationship with God was forever gone, for God is a loving God and generous Father who wants nothing more to forgive His children and to restore them back into relationship with Him.  In order for us to comprehend this act we must understand the basic principles of what is involved and to what extent we must go to in order for the perfect level of relationship to be restored.  God shall never force Himself on any one of our lives and since this is a fact He must find ways to show us what steps are involved in order for us to use our hearts and make a choice.

The proof of this process immediately began in the Garden while God was instructing Adam, Eve and Satan about the consequences of their actions.  While God was speaking He made it clear of the consequences of their actions but also at the same time pointed out that mankind would have another opportunity to be restored thus proving that the order in which we were created was divinely manifested and not by mere circumstance or chance.  God, Satan and humans knew that it was a choice to disobey in the Garden of Eden and to this day it is still our choice to obey or to disobey God and His laws.  There is a way to restoration and God has provided us with the steps for us to complete this process.  They are all located in God’s Word and they are for everyone who chooses to abide by them; all provided in the foundation of God’s jealousy for perfect and holy relationship with Him.

I cannot say that everyone has fallen into the category of being jealous, but most of us have at one point or another in our lives. I was not immune to such feelings and when I look back at those times in my life I now realize that I did some pretty stupid things in order to try and win back the things that I had lost or did not have.  I also have to admit that as time passed along my efforts through jealousy dwindled and at some point died off completely and I went along with my life.  Most humans will take this type of measure to prove their wants or love for something or someone, usually because our egos are hurt in some fashion. 

It is in this pursuit that we make fools of ourselves trying to force an issue that many times is long gone with no hope of returning.  How many relationships or material wants satisfy us if we get our wish?  I would venture to say that not many of them and even none of them if all sides had their say.  Our jealousy is flawed because all we can offer is flawed foundations and that is another reason why our enemy has used this platform in order to scourge us from the potential perfect relationship with God.

So why is God’s jealousy different?  It is well known that we inherit the features of our parents and it is also known that many traits that we have within our lives strictly comes from our family members; even the ones that have been long gone.  These traits are good to have but they are flawed and carry a weight that no one can rid themselves from.  God did not create us in this fashion we “created” it when we chose to do things our way.  Since God did not change He still offers us a complete restoration and perfect relationship with Him, which is what our lives overall crave and need to survive. 

God’s jealousy is providing us with a complete restoration without human selfish intentions attached, only pure and unadulterated love from the One who created our entire existence.  It is through this perfect relationship status that God’s has the authority to be jealous because He understands exactly what will happen to our eternal lives if we do not choose to return to this type of relationship.  We have no clue of what things will be like if we are eternally separated from God but they must be pretty bad if God allows humans to die in order to wake other people and nations up before the same consequences hit them.

If we look in the book of Exodus Chapter 34 we have the central “problem” verse where it states that God is a jealous God, even His name means jealous.  Moses is having a conversation with God and God is reminding him about how important it is for the people of Israel to obey the laws that God has set before them.  God gives details of why it is important that we have nothing in our lives that represents us other than God Himself.  He speaks clearly of what will occur if you do place God second or fiftieth in our lives and while it may bring physical and worldly pleasure to our bodies, it prepares us for the complete separation from God.  If a person reads the entire passage that I am referring to (Ex 34:10-16) it is not hard to realize that with our current way of living and the actions of the people in this passage one could not distinguish between the two if necessary.

It does not take too much understanding that if a person, group or nation decides to run things on their own, they will eventually fall.  God does not wish to see this occur, but He cannot do one thing about it if we continually snub Him from our lives.  The Israelites had no excuses for their activities and choices that they made and neither do we.  In both settings the people knew what God had done for them and had chosen to leave Him for their own ways and ideas, literally enslaving humanity into the world.  It is this lie that our enemy revels in and laughs at us each time we allow the world to grab and to hold to our lives tighter.  For he knows that at some point God will have to act and correct His children and while it is occurring many will not even get as to the reason why.  They will blame, but never truly understand why it is occurring.

 It is sad that even the children of Israel did not really understand the full scope of God’s jealousy.  I have to admit that today’s Christian does not either and I cannot exclude myself from that category.  Yes, God has shared with me a portion of this topic but my finite mind cannot fully comprehend what eternity is yet and I dare not wish to spend it separated from my Creator.  I do know that it is easy to ignore or not try and recognize this concept because of the magnitude for which it stands, but if one grasps this concept it is easier to accept the entire setting of Jesus’ beatings and the reasons why His blood had to be shed for our sins.  Yes, our lives are that important and yes, there is a war going on for your life and it is imperative that we keep this principle in the forefronts of our hearts and minds.

Now, is the jealousy that we project like God’s?  In no way can we honestly answer “yes” to that question for we do not understand eternal separation.  It is known that when something goes wrong in our lives we will find another or something new.  We can start over and try our best to do things better the next time around.  God does not have that option.  We have one life only and if we leave God out of our life the world shall replace Him.  Our physical lives as of this moment have choices and it is through these choices that our eternal sanctuary is dependent.  God understands that if He loses you after you draw your last breath, then you are lost for eternity, He cannot build another you or start over again.  This defines God’s jealousy for us and when one conceives this fact in our hearts it becomes crystal clear as to why God openly admits that He is jealous.

God’s jealousy is based purely upon the “loss potential”.  Once a person leaves this earthly planet and does not know God, there is nothing left to be done.  God understands that even though it hurts Him to no end He cannot make one exception from His laws.  It does not matter how many good deeds a person, group or nation has done it all stems from that person’s heart and how they have accepted God or rejected Him.  Our lives as we know it function in a separated state from God and we cannot change this for any reason.  Only the blood of Christ can place us into a restored, holy and perfect relationship with God the Father. Our lives are separated from God but we have a chance to change this status by accepting Him as our Savior.  The only difference from the condition that we live in now and after our lives are over as we know it is that God’s jealousy will no longer be in place and our choice will have already been made.

DLB