By: J.I. Parker, Knowing God
PROVERBS 27:3-4 ~ "A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but a fool’s wrath is heavier than both of them. Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent, but who is able to stand before jealousy?"
There are two sorts of jealousy among humans, and only one of them is a vice. Vicious jealousy is an expression of the attitude, "I want what you've got, and I hate you because I haven't got it." It is an infantile resentment springing from unmortified covetousness, which expresses itself in envy, malice and meaness in action. It is terribly potent, for it feeds and is fed by pride, the taproot of our fallen nature. There is a mad obsessiveness about jealousy which, if indulged, can tear an otherwise firm character to shreds. "Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?" asks the wise man (Proverbs 27:4). What is often called sexual jealousy, the lunatic fury of a rejected or supplanted suitor, is of this kind.
But there is another sort of jealousy: zeal to protect a love relationship or to avenge it when broken. This jealousy also creates in the sphere of sex; there, however, it appears not as the blind reaction of wounded pride but as the fruit of marital affection. As Professor Tasker has written, married persons "who felt no jealousy at the intrusion of a lover or adulterer into their home would surely be lacking moral perception; for the exclusiveness of marriage is the essence of marriage" (the Epistle of James p.106). This sort of jealousy is a positive virtue, for it shows a grasp of the true meaning of the husband-wife relationship, together with a proper zeal to keep it intact.
Old Testament law recognized the propriety of such "jealousy offering" and a cursing ordeal whereby a husband who feared his wife had been unfaithful, and who in consequence was possessed of a "spirit of jealousy," might have his mind set at rest one way or the other (Numbers 5:11-31). Neither here nor in the further reference to the wronged husband's jealousy in Proverbs 6:34 does Scripture hint that his attitude is morally questionable; rather, it treats his resolve to guard his marriage against attack, and to take action against anyone who violates it, as natural, normal and right, and as a proof that he values marriage as he should.
Now, Scripture consistently views God jealousy as being of this latter kind: that is, as an aspect of His coventant love for His own people. The Old Testament regards God's covenant as His marriage with Israel, carrying with it a demand for unqualified love and loyalty. The worship of idols, and all compromising relations with non-Israelite idolaters constituted disobedience and unfaithfulness, which God saw as spiritual adultery, provoking Him to jealousy and vengeance. All the Mosaic references to God's jealousy have to do with idol worship in one form or another; they all hark back to the sanctions of the second commandment, which we quoted earlier. The same is true of Joshua 24:19, 1 Kings 14:22, Psalm 78:58, and in the New Testament 1 Corinthians 10:22. In Ezekiel 8:3, an idol worshiped in Jerusalem is called "the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy." In Ezekiel 16, God depicts Israel as His adulterous wife, embroiled in unholy liaisons with idols and idolaters of Canaan, Egypt and Assyria, and pronounces sentence as follows, "I will judge you as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy" (v.38; compare 42; 23:25).
From these passages we see plainly what God meant by telling Moses that His name was "Jealous." He meant that He demands from those whom He has loved and redeemed utter and absolute loyalty, and He will vindicate His claim by stern action against them if they betray His love by unfaithfulness. Calvin hit the nail on the head when he explained the sanction of the second commandment as follows:
PROVERBS 27:3-4 ~ "A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but a fool’s wrath is heavier than both of them. Wrath is cruel and anger a torrent, but who is able to stand before jealousy?"
There are two sorts of jealousy among humans, and only one of them is a vice. Vicious jealousy is an expression of the attitude, "I want what you've got, and I hate you because I haven't got it." It is an infantile resentment springing from unmortified covetousness, which expresses itself in envy, malice and meaness in action. It is terribly potent, for it feeds and is fed by pride, the taproot of our fallen nature. There is a mad obsessiveness about jealousy which, if indulged, can tear an otherwise firm character to shreds. "Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?" asks the wise man (Proverbs 27:4). What is often called sexual jealousy, the lunatic fury of a rejected or supplanted suitor, is of this kind.
But there is another sort of jealousy: zeal to protect a love relationship or to avenge it when broken. This jealousy also creates in the sphere of sex; there, however, it appears not as the blind reaction of wounded pride but as the fruit of marital affection. As Professor Tasker has written, married persons "who felt no jealousy at the intrusion of a lover or adulterer into their home would surely be lacking moral perception; for the exclusiveness of marriage is the essence of marriage" (the Epistle of James p.106). This sort of jealousy is a positive virtue, for it shows a grasp of the true meaning of the husband-wife relationship, together with a proper zeal to keep it intact.
Old Testament law recognized the propriety of such "jealousy offering" and a cursing ordeal whereby a husband who feared his wife had been unfaithful, and who in consequence was possessed of a "spirit of jealousy," might have his mind set at rest one way or the other (Numbers 5:11-31). Neither here nor in the further reference to the wronged husband's jealousy in Proverbs 6:34 does Scripture hint that his attitude is morally questionable; rather, it treats his resolve to guard his marriage against attack, and to take action against anyone who violates it, as natural, normal and right, and as a proof that he values marriage as he should.
Now, Scripture consistently views God jealousy as being of this latter kind: that is, as an aspect of His coventant love for His own people. The Old Testament regards God's covenant as His marriage with Israel, carrying with it a demand for unqualified love and loyalty. The worship of idols, and all compromising relations with non-Israelite idolaters constituted disobedience and unfaithfulness, which God saw as spiritual adultery, provoking Him to jealousy and vengeance. All the Mosaic references to God's jealousy have to do with idol worship in one form or another; they all hark back to the sanctions of the second commandment, which we quoted earlier. The same is true of Joshua 24:19, 1 Kings 14:22, Psalm 78:58, and in the New Testament 1 Corinthians 10:22. In Ezekiel 8:3, an idol worshiped in Jerusalem is called "the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy." In Ezekiel 16, God depicts Israel as His adulterous wife, embroiled in unholy liaisons with idols and idolaters of Canaan, Egypt and Assyria, and pronounces sentence as follows, "I will judge you as women who break wedlock and shed blood are judged, and bring upon you the blood of wrath and jealousy" (v.38; compare 42; 23:25).
From these passages we see plainly what God meant by telling Moses that His name was "Jealous." He meant that He demands from those whom He has loved and redeemed utter and absolute loyalty, and He will vindicate His claim by stern action against them if they betray His love by unfaithfulness. Calvin hit the nail on the head when he explained the sanction of the second commandment as follows:
The LORD very frequently addresses us in the character of a husband. ... As He performs all the offices of a true and faithful husband, so He requires love and chastity from us; that is, that we do not prostitute our souls to Satan ... As the purer and chaster a husband is, the more grievously he is offended when he sees his wife inclining to a rival; so the LORD, who has betrothed us to Himself in truth, declares purity of His holy marriage, we defile ourselves with abominable lusts, and specially when the worship of His diety, which ought to have been most carefully kept unimpaired, is transferred to another, or violate our plighted troth, but defile the nuptial couch, by grieving access to adulterers. (Institutes, II, viii, 18).
Our further point, however, must be made if we are to view this matter in its true light. God's jealousy over His people, as we have seen, presupposes His covenant love; and this love is no transitory affection, accidental and aimless, but is the expression of a sovereign purpose. The goal of the covenant love of God is that He should have a people on earth as long as history lasts, and after that should have all His faithful ones of every age with Him in glory. Covenant love is the heart of God's plan for His world.
And it is in the light of God's overall plan for His world that His jealousy must, in the last analysis, be understood. Fod God's ultimate objective, as the Bible declares it, is threefold—to vindicate His rule and righteousness by showing His sovereignty in judgment upon sin; to ransom and redeem His chosen people; and to be loved and praised by them for His glorious acts of love and self-vindication. God seeks what we should seek—His glory, in and through men—and it is for the securing of this end, ultimately, that He is jealous. His jealousy, in all its manifestations, is precisely "the zeal of the LORD Almighty" (Isaiah 9:7; 37:32; compare Ezekiel 5:13) for fulfilling His own purpose of justice and mercy.
So God's jealousy leads Him, on the hand, to judge and destroy the faithless among His people who fall into idolatry and sin (Deuteronomy 6:14-15; Joshua 24:19-20; Zephaniah 1:18), and indeed to judge the enemies of righteousness and mercy everywhere (Nahum 1:2; Ezekiel 36:5-7; Zephaniah 3:8); it also leads Him, on the other hand, to restore His people after national judgment has chastened and humbled them (the judgment of captivity, Zechariah 1:14-17; 8:2; the judgment of the locust plague, Joel 2:18). And what is it that motivates these actions? Simply the fact that He is "jealous for (His) holy name" (Ezekiel 39:25). His name is His nature and character as Jehovah, the LORD, ruler of history, guardian of righteousness and savior of sinners—and God means His name to be known, honored and praised.
And it is in the light of God's overall plan for His world that His jealousy must, in the last analysis, be understood. Fod God's ultimate objective, as the Bible declares it, is threefold—to vindicate His rule and righteousness by showing His sovereignty in judgment upon sin; to ransom and redeem His chosen people; and to be loved and praised by them for His glorious acts of love and self-vindication. God seeks what we should seek—His glory, in and through men—and it is for the securing of this end, ultimately, that He is jealous. His jealousy, in all its manifestations, is precisely "the zeal of the LORD Almighty" (Isaiah 9:7; 37:32; compare Ezekiel 5:13) for fulfilling His own purpose of justice and mercy.
So God's jealousy leads Him, on the hand, to judge and destroy the faithless among His people who fall into idolatry and sin (Deuteronomy 6:14-15; Joshua 24:19-20; Zephaniah 1:18), and indeed to judge the enemies of righteousness and mercy everywhere (Nahum 1:2; Ezekiel 36:5-7; Zephaniah 3:8); it also leads Him, on the other hand, to restore His people after national judgment has chastened and humbled them (the judgment of captivity, Zechariah 1:14-17; 8:2; the judgment of the locust plague, Joel 2:18). And what is it that motivates these actions? Simply the fact that He is "jealous for (His) holy name" (Ezekiel 39:25). His name is His nature and character as Jehovah, the LORD, ruler of history, guardian of righteousness and savior of sinners—and God means His name to be known, honored and praised.
"I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols." "For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another" (Isaiah 42:8; 48:11). Here in these texts is the quintessence of the jealousy of God.
The Christian Response: What practical bearing has all this on those who profess to be the LORD's people? The answer may be given under two headings:
The jealousy of God requires us to be zealous for God. As our right response to God's love for us is love for Him, so our right response to His jealousy over us is zeal for Him. His concern for us is great; our for Him must be great too. What the prohibition of idolatry in the second commandment implies is that God's people should be positively and passionately devoted to His persons, His cause and His honor. The Bible word for such devotion is zeal, sometimes actually called jealousy for God. God Himself, as we have seen, manifest this zeal, and godly must manifest it too. The classic description fo zeal for God was given by Bishop J.C. Ryle.
The jealousy of God requires us to be zealous for God. As our right response to God's love for us is love for Him, so our right response to His jealousy over us is zeal for Him. His concern for us is great; our for Him must be great too. What the prohibition of idolatry in the second commandment implies is that God's people should be positively and passionately devoted to His persons, His cause and His honor. The Bible word for such devotion is zeal, sometimes actually called jealousy for God. God Himself, as we have seen, manifest this zeal, and godly must manifest it too. The classic description fo zeal for God was given by Bishop J.C. Ryle.
Zeal in religion is a burning desire to please God, to do His will, and to advance His glory in the world in every possible way. It is a desire which no man feels by nature—which the Spirit puts in the heart of every believer when he is converted—but which some believers feels so much more strongly than others that they alone deserve to be called 'zealous' men ... A zelous man in religion is pre-eminently a man of one thing. It is not enough to say that he is earnest, hearty, uncompromising, thorough-going, whole-hearted, fervent in spirit. He only sees one thing, he cared for one thing; and that one thing is to please God. Whether he lives, or whether he dies—whether he has health, or whether he has sickness—wheter he is rich, or whether he is poor—whether he pleases man, or whether he gives offense—whether he is thought wise, or whether he is thought foolish—whether he gets blame, or whether he gets praise—whether he gets honour, or whether he gets shame—for all this zealous man cares nothing at all. He burns for one thing; and that one thing is to please God, and to advance God's glory. If he is consumed in the very burning, he cares not for it—he is content. He feels that, like a lamp, he is made to burn; and if consumed in burning, he has but done the work for which God appointed him. Such a one will always find a sphere of zeal. If he cannot preach, work, and give money, he will cry, and sigh, and pray ... If he cannot fight in the valley with Joshua, he will do the work of Moses, Aaron, and Hur, on the hill (Exodus 17:9-13). If he is cut off from working himself, he will give the LORD no rest till help is raised up from another quarter, and the work is done. This is what I mean when I speak of 'zeal' in religion. (Practical Religion, 1959 ed., p.130)
Zeal, we note, is commanded and commended in the Scriptures. Christians are to be "zealous of good works" (Titus 2:14). For the "zeal" after rebuke the Corinthians are applauded (2 Corinthians 7:11). Elijah was "very jealous ofor the LORD God of hosts" (1 Kings 19:10, 14), and God honored his zeal by sending a chariot of fire to take him up to heaven, and by choosing him as the representative of "the goodly fellowship of the prophets" to stand with Moses on the mount of transfiguration and talk with the LORD Jesus. When Israel had provoked God to anger by idolatry and prostitution, and Moses had sentenced the offenders to death, and the people were in tears, and a man chose that moment to swagger up with a Midianite party girl on his arm, and Phinehas, almost beside himself with despair, speared them both, God commended Phinehas as having been "jealous for his God," "jealous with my jealousy ... so that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy" (Numbers 25:11, 13).
Paul was a zealous man, single-minded and at full stretch for his LORD. Facing prison and pain, he declared, "None of these things move me, neither I count my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the LORD Jesus, to testify the gospel of grace of God" (Acts 20:24). And the LORD Jesus Himself was a supreme example of zeal. Watching Him cleanse the temple, "His disciples remembered that it was written, "The seal of thine house hath eaten me up" (John 2:17).
What, now, on us? Does zeal for the house of God, and the cause of God, eat us up?—possess us?—consume us? Can we say with the Master, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work" (John 4:34)? What sort of discipleship is ours? Have we not need to pray, with the flaming evengelist, Goerge Whitefield—a man as humble as he was zealous— "LORD help me to begin to begin"?
The jealousy of God threatens churches which are not zealous for God. We love our churches; they all have hallowed associations; we cannot imagine them displeasing God, at any rate not seriously. But the LORD Jesus once sent a message to a church very much like some of ours—the complacent church of Laodicea—in which He told the Laodicean congretation that their lack of zeal was a source of supreme offense to Him. "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot." Anything would be better that self—satisfied apathy! "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. ... Be zealous therefore, and repent" (Revelation 3;15-16, 19).
Paul was a zealous man, single-minded and at full stretch for his LORD. Facing prison and pain, he declared, "None of these things move me, neither I count my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the LORD Jesus, to testify the gospel of grace of God" (Acts 20:24). And the LORD Jesus Himself was a supreme example of zeal. Watching Him cleanse the temple, "His disciples remembered that it was written, "The seal of thine house hath eaten me up" (John 2:17).
What, now, on us? Does zeal for the house of God, and the cause of God, eat us up?—possess us?—consume us? Can we say with the Master, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work" (John 4:34)? What sort of discipleship is ours? Have we not need to pray, with the flaming evengelist, Goerge Whitefield—a man as humble as he was zealous— "LORD help me to begin to begin"?
The jealousy of God threatens churches which are not zealous for God. We love our churches; they all have hallowed associations; we cannot imagine them displeasing God, at any rate not seriously. But the LORD Jesus once sent a message to a church very much like some of ours—the complacent church of Laodicea—in which He told the Laodicean congretation that their lack of zeal was a source of supreme offense to Him. "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot." Anything would be better that self—satisfied apathy! "So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. ... Be zealous therefore, and repent" (Revelation 3;15-16, 19).
How many of our churches today are sound, respectable—and lukewarm? What, then, must Christ's word be to them? What have we to hope for?—unless, by the mercy of the God who in wrath remembers mercy, we find zeal to repent? Revive us, LORD, before judgment falls! (Reference: Knowing God By J.I. Parker; Chapter Seventeen p. 170-175; Copyright 1973 by J.I. Parker)
