How can God be jealous?

Question

I'm a Christian and I have no intention of leaving my faith or God. But one of the things I've never understood is how God can be jealous if that is a sin?

Oh, and please no Christian hatred answers. Just answer the question seriously and to the best of your ability. Thanks!

Good answers everyone! You make me think. Now, to everyone saying that God doesn't have emotions, I say, God created us in His image and we have emotions. Shouldn't God then also have emotions? Makes sense to me. Discuss

Raven's voice - I've heard your argument before on here. If God said don't worship other gods, then there must be other gods. But, what about the fact that back then, and still today, there are a TON of gods that people worshiped. The Israelites themselves made up their own god out of a golden calf and worshiped it because Moses was on the mountain too long. Did God imply that there really are other gods? Or did he mean the false gods that people had made up - such as the Greek gods, the Roman gods? Even the creators of religions like Buddhism and Taoism are basically worshiped?
Also, I've always heard that people can worship things like cars, other people, TV, etc, merely by putting it in front of their time with God?

Answer 1

When God is Jealous, He is actually Zealous (passionate) for what He values (His Name, His People, His City). In this context, God actually FIGHTS for what is His; DEFENDING HIS HONOR. So yes, God is JEALOUS/ZEALOUS for what matters to Him, and He will FIGHT for it.

When you perform a Hebrew/Greek word study to seek for the meaning behind the words in the text, the hidden wisdom of scripture reveals more of the deeper meaning than what is on the surface of the page; and your comprehension of WHY God says/does what He says/does will be more clear.

God's thoughts and ways transcend ours; so to attempt to comprehend Him outside of Himself will always fail. When you want to understand God, ask Him questions about Himself - that is why He gave you the Holy Scriptures, to explore Him with what He has revealed with prayer and meditation - ASKING Him about what He said, did, or revealed as a conversation starter. It is God's desire that you KNOW Him, but that will not happen unless your heart is determined to explore Him.

The following is a brief word study and the accompanying scripture text with the word JEALOUS enlarged to make it easier for you to find it within the text. Included is the link to the free Internet Study Bible that I used to answer this question.

zeal
One entry found for zeal.


Main Entry: zeal
Pronunciation: 'zEl
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English zele, from Late Latin zelus, from Greek zElos
: eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something : FERVOR
synonym see PASSION

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/zeal

fervor
One entry found for fervor.


Main Entry: fer·vor
Pronunciation: 'f&r-v&r
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English fervour, from Anglo-French & Latin; Anglo-French fervur, from Latin fervor, from fervEre
1 : intensity of feeling or expression
2 : intense heat
synonym see PASSION

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/fervor

Main Entry: pas·sion
Pronunciation: 'pa-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin passion-, passio suffering, being acted upon, from Latin pati to suffer -- more at PATIENT
1 often capitalized a : the sufferings of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and his death b : an oratorio based on a gospel narrative of the Passion
2 obsolete : SUFFERING
3 : the state or capacity of being acted on by external agents or forces
4 a (1) : EMOTION (2) plural : the emotions as distinguished from reason b : intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction c : an outbreak of anger
5 a : ardent affection : LOVE b : a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept c : sexual desire d : an object of desire or deep interest
- pas·sion·less /-l&s/ adjective
synonyms PASSION, FERVOR, ARDOR, ENTHUSIASM, ZEAL mean intense emotion compelling action. PASSION applies to an emotion that is deeply stirring or ungovernable . FERVOR implies a warm and steady emotion . ARDOR suggests warm and excited feeling likely to be fitful or short-lived . ENTHUSIASM applies to lively or eager interest in or admiration for a proposal, cause, or activity . ZEAL implies energetic and unflagging pursuit of an aim or devotion to a cause . synonym see in addition FEELING

http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/passion

BIBLE PASSAGES

http://www.blueletterbible.org/index.html

Exodus 20.1-6

"And God spake all these words, saying, I [am] the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness [of any thing] that [is] in heaven above, or that [is] in the earth beneath, or that [is] in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a JEALOUS God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."

Ezekiel 39.17-29

"And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord GOD; Speak unto every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come; gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I do sacrifice for you, [even] a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh, and drink blood. Ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, saith the Lord GOD.

And I will set my glory among the heathen, and all the heathen shall see my judgment that I have executed, and my hand that I have laid upon them. So the house of Israel shall know that I [am] the LORD their God from that day and forward. And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword. According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be JEALOUS for my holy name; After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made [them] afraid. When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; Then shall they know that I [am] the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD."


Zechariah 1.12-17

"Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me [with] good words [and] comfortable words. So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am JEALOUS for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great JELOUSY. And I am very sore displeased with the heathen [that are] at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction. Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem. Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem."

Answer 2

Well, that actually is a pretty good question, though not, perhaps, because of jealousy being a sin (you have to remember that there's one set of rules for God and a different one for humans: He's a jealous God, but don't you indulge in envy or covetousness!)

If I remember correctly, this is about worshipping other Gods/Goddesses.

Exodus 20:4-5 says, "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; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God..."

Clearly this is referring to worship of other Gods.

Which brings up the question - if "God" is the only "God", then why the jealousy?

Before you start in on false Gods and such....would you be jealous of a false person? Say, an animated cartoon? would that be a threat to you?

****

This fits with the whole "no other gods BEFORE me" thing, which, also clearly, is saying:

1. There are other Gods
2. You, my specific people, should put me first among the Gods

And I have absolutely no problem with this God's claimed people abiding by those rules!

Just don't expect the rest of us to abide by them, or even give them any value.

Answer 3

How Can God Be Jealous

Answer 4

It's different than the way most of us understand jealousy.

When God first addressed jealousy in man, God was dealing with Cain. It was an unrighteous jealousy. The jealousy that Cain was experiencing toward Abel was producing murder in his heart - which is envy. Over what? Abel's well-doing that pleased God. Envy is born out of covetousness, coveting what somebody else has yet being unwilling to do what the person did to get it and will always seek to slay others - either by slaying their character by speaking slander against them or it will even go to the extreme of physically murdering them.

When God talks about being a jealous God it is in relation to sharing His people whom He'd covenanted with and promised blessings and protection to in exchange for remaining faithful in upholding their part of the covenant. Part of the deal in that covenant was God's people not worshipping and serving other gods before Him. This is not unfair or unreasonable - especially considering all that God promised in exchange for the people upholding their part of the bargain.

Basically, He's saying He won't share the people He's covenanted with with other gods. He won't share a place of something to be revered among other gods. He will be sanctified in the hearts of those who believe in Him, and He alone will hold the place of God in their lives, or no place at all.

And this is right, and just, and good, and holy - every bit as right, and just, and good, and holy as it is that a husband enters into covenant with a wife expecting her to refrain from joining herself sexually to another man and vice versa. The covenant that Jesus made with the church, which is His body, in His own blood has, after all, been compared to the relationship between a husband and a wife.

Answer 5

God calls His synagogues, churches and temples His brides. God foresaw that pastors would behave as if the churches were their own, doing what they pleased with His money that was supposed to be given to the "Least of these" so that the needs of the poor are met. He foresaw the devil using spirits of pride to tempt some into seeing themselves as important so He proclaimed : He is a jealous God. What happens when a man takes away another's wife? Read Isaiah 22 about a man named Shebna and read what did to him. That is why Jesus dedicated an entire chapter in Matthew to such. Read the language Jesus used.
Forget not this promise: Many of you will say, Lord Lord, haven't I done so and so....and Jesus said He will say on that day: "Get away from me : I never knew you."

Boaz.

Answer 6

According to Biblical usage, “jealousy” may be a positive or a negative quality or emotion. (Pr 14:30; Zec 1:14) The Hebrew noun qin·’ah′ variously means “insistence on exclusive devotion; toleration of no rivalry; zeal; ardor; jealousy [righteous or sinful]; envying.” The Greek ze′los has a similar meaning.—2Co 11:2; 12:20.

Answer 7

He is jealous because He asks that we do not worship other Gods, but Him only! He is the only true God and people tend to take His glory and give it to other people or things when He created them. People sometimes forget who created the world and themselves. I don't think God is sinning, but the reason why He asks us not to be jealous is because it causes hatred between us and other people and we cannot worship God because of it!

Answer 8

The people that wrote the bible wrote it in such a way to defeat the competition (or at least try to). They did this by including verses that illustrate the consequence of not believing in god: "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good." [psalm 14:1] And it speaks out against those that believe in other faiths. "And God spake all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me." [Exodus 20:1] (aka the first commandment) I find that last quotation rather contradicting. The god of the bible is supposed to be the one and only god, yet he acknowledges there are other gods by commanding his people not to worship other gods. If there were no other gods, why make such a commandment in the first place? Clearly the bible isn't the word of any god, but human men that wrote it an put such verses in it as a defense mechanism.

Answer 9

You know, that is one of the questions that I used to ask myself before I became Atheist. How can there be a God that is so angry, and jealous. We were always taught that God is understanding and loving. It's one of those time when the Bible contradicts itself. I'm not trying to be rude or insult God, but really I don't tihnk anyone can answer that question, I guess it depends on what you believe.

Answer 10

Katie L, God is unconditional love, we have unity with God within the heart in unconditional love. as unconditional love passes through the concepts of mind it changes into duality and the emotions of Conditional love / hate. Jealousy & possiveness is a human condition. I don't recall but it seems the scripture is about having one God. Jesus ,and God throughout the ages had to communicate with humanity on a level we could relate to. One must focus on the one God of us all through ones Guru (savior / teacher). there are many Guru's but only one for you. Jesus was a siddha yoga Guru (essene master) See romans 8-29 it is discribing the Guru deciple relationship. Jesus studied siddha yoga in india.

Answer 11

You are thinking of jealousy in human terms. When God says He is jealous it means He doesn't want to share you with false gods or idols - because they are truly bad for you - they are not worthy of your adoration or love - only God is deserving and we should only praise Him. It's like how you would jealously guard your child from harm. It's not 'your boyfriend talked to another girl' type of jealous.