Divine Jealousy

Unity and simplicity, absolute perfection, and self-existence set God apart from all creation (Ex. 3:13–14; Deut. 6:4; 2 Sam. 22:31). Such attributes, as well as several others, make Him unique and far greater than anything in creation. Recognizing such things helps us understand that He alone is Lord and that there is no other God. In turn, this truth lays the foundation for understanding another aspect of His character: divine jealousy.

Today’s passage describes God as a “jealous God” (Ex. 20:5–6). In context, the Lord’s declaration of His jealousy occurs just as God has forbidden graven images or idols. But why is making a visible representation of the divine nature unacceptable? Part of the answer has to be that any image of the divine nature crafted by human beings falls far short in depicting God as He is in Himself. He is unique, and His deity cannot be pictured. Because of this uniqueness, we can worship no other and cannot worship Him in ways contrary to His Word. Matthew Henry notes that the Lord’s being a jealous God reveals “the care he has of his own institutions, his hatred of idolatry and all false worship, his displeasure against idolaters, and that he resents every thing in his worship that looks like, or leads to, idolatry.”

Because of these truths, God is jealous to maintain that His people worship only Him in ways agreeable to His revelation. Here we note that the jealousy of God is not envy. Jealousy can be a positive quality when it means being “fiercely protective or vigilant of one’s rights or possessions,” as the Oxford English Dictionary puts it. All creatures belong to God but especially His covenant people, so He will tolerate no rivals to Him in our affections. This is for our own good because God’s absolute perfection means that we can be fully satisfied only in Him. By jealously guarding His worship and place in our hearts, the Lord keeps us from going after gods that will disappoint us.

Jealousy to protect an exclusive relationship is good and holy. We rightly expect a husband not to share his wife with another man and a wife not to share her husband with another woman. How much more is this true on the divine level with respect to God’s relationship with His bride, the church? Henry writes: “Idolatry being spiritual adultery, as it is very often represented in scripture, the displeasure of God against it is fitly called jealousy. If God is jealous herein, we should be so, afraid of offering any worship to God otherwise than as he has appointed in his word.”