Chaplain’s Blog

I got an email a little while ago from someone dealing with jealousy over relationships past. I won’t share all the details as it’s personal. But, the end with this

 

“I thought if I studied “jealous” in my life application study guide I could figure it out, but the examples I found (mainly Exodus 20:5) confused me even more. …”for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate….” 

 

Please help me understand why our God is jealous over His relationship with us and why I feel so bad about being jealous.”

 

I’ve been married to my wife for over 6 years. She’s an awesome wife – and more than that I’ve given my heart and my life to her.  And, yes, I am jealous of her. Not in the “I’m worried every second of my life you might be looking at another guy” high school way, but in the true love is exclusive – and I don’t want to share the intimacy we have with any other guy.

 

In the same way, God is crazy passionate about you – and He knows that you can only have one God – one ultimate purpose in life. He knows that He is the source of life and love and only in Him will you find perfect satisfaction – so He’s insanely jealous of your affection.

 

Let’s look at all of the second commandment, from which Exodus 20:5 is taken:

 

Exodus 20: 4 “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. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.

 

I think it’s that second part, “punishing the children for the sin of the fathers…” that freaks us out. How can God punish people – especially children – for what someone else does?

 

First of all – this is the law of genetics and cause and effect! My grandfather was an alcoholic. I am more susceptible to alcoholism because of that. My father had an affair and had some relationship challenges – I carry that history into my life.

 

However, the second part of the promise is what we miss – “but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments!” The blessing is exponentially greater than the curse! A thousand generations of blessing rather than the 3^rd or 4^th generation. You may right now be receiving blessing based on the faithfulness of someone in your family tree from centuries ago!

 

But why is God jealous at all? Again, as I stated above, it goes down to radical passionate love – and this kind of love is exclusive! God isn’t a petty immature high-school freshman who’s jealous because he’s afraid of being alone, looking silly, or having his heart broken. He’s the lover who has given everything to his bride and wants what is best for her.

 

So, let me ask you, my blog friend, how does it make you feel to think about God being crazy jealous of YOU?

This entry was posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 3:10 pm and is filed under Bible, Jealousy, Questions, Relationships. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.