The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on his foes and vents his wrath against his enemies. – Nahum 1:2

Today's Scripture Reading (April 27, 2023): Nahum 1

Many years ago, I was included in a group conversation where one person brought up the concept that we serve a jealous God. The conversation advanced, but I could tell that one lady on the periphery of the discussion was not pleased. Afterward, she found me to press her opinion home. God is not and cannot be jealous. That is a human emotion that should never be connected with God.

Yet, the concept that our God is a jealous God is present in the Bible. In fact, it is a concept used eleven times in our Bibles, including once in the New Testament. Still, we have an adverse reaction to jealousy, and therefore, many of us likely agree with the lady who sought me out to assure me that our God is not jealous; a God of love just can't be.

So, what do we do with the idea of a jealous God? Can we assume it is a mistake in the biblical translation process that we can ignore, or is there something we need to understand about this jealous God? And for me, it is the latter. There is something that we need to understand before we try to write off this concept of a jealous God.

Part of the differentiation we need to make is that our jealous God is not jealous of something. He is not jealous of the other things that occupy our lives that just shouldn't be there. God is jealous for us. He wants the best for us and is upset when we give ourselves to things that make us less or cause us trouble. God always wants the best for us.

And therefore, what angers God are the things that hurt his creation. God will never blindly accept the things that bring us pain. Nor will he passively accept us when we do things that bring others pain. Our jealous God issues a warning to his creation; if we set ourselves up to oppose God, we will not prevail. If we fight the aims of God, or if we take advantage of God's people, we will experience God's vengeance. Because we serve a God who is jealous for his creation, it can't be any other way.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Nahum 2