The Lord Whose Name is Jealous
Exodus 34:14
God is without sin. He is perfectly Holy. He is perfectly righteous. There is an exclusivity of worship God desires from his people. There are two of his names that reflect these aspects of his character.
The Lord is our Holiness.
The Lord is our Righteousness.
Very closely related to this is this name of the Lord; His name is Jealous.
The Lord’s jealousy has no trace of unholiness.
The Lord’s jealousy has no trace of unrighteousness.
Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. (Exodus 34:14)
When jealousy is attributed to God, the word is used in a good sense that reflects his holy nature and his concern for us. As a matter of fact, the Hebrew form of the word is used only 6 times and is always referring to the exclusive relationship God desires with his people.
When we read that the name of God is Jealous, we need to put out of our mind the sinful form of jealousy. Much of the time the word jealousy is associated with sin and has very bad connotations.
There are very similar forms of the word jealousy, and the other forms may be commonly used in the sense of our sin of jealousy. This form In Exodus 34:14 is different. Here it is used as an attribute of God and as the name of God. Two of the six usages of the word are found in this verse.
If we are jealous of someone who has more money that is a different form of the word.
My friend has a very nice car, so I am jealous of him. In this example there is envy and covetousness that produces my jealousy. This is something completely different to:
Our Lord, His Name is Jealous.
God created us. Our creator desires our worship and our devotion. He cannot in his nature be pleased when we worship another aspect of his creation in place of worshiping Him.
The way this name of God is used is unique and only as part of the ten commandments or in the giving of the ten commandments. You could sum up the name of the Lord, Jealous as: it is his nature to give and expect us to obey the first two of the ten commandments.
1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an image. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God (Exodus 20:4-6)
This is part of a series of Bibles studies on the names of God. All the names tell us something about the character of God.
Jehovah-Jireh: The Lord is our provider. (Genesis 22:14)
Jehovah-Rapha: The Lord is our healer. (Exodus 15:26)
Jehovah-M’kaddesh: The Lord is our Holiness. (Leviticus 20:8)
Jehovah-Nissi: The Lord is our banner, our victory. (Exodus 17:15)
Jehovah-Shalom: The Lord is our peace. (Judges 6:26)
Jehovah-Tsidkenu: The Lord is our righteousness. (Jeremiah 23:6)
Jehovah-Shammah: The Lord is present (Ezekiel 48:34)
What we have in Exodus 34:14 is Jehovah-Qanna, the Lord is jealous. The name of the Lord is jealous. It would be a misunderstanding for anyone to associate our Lord to having a sinful envious jealousy.
It is helpful to look at the context of this name for the Lord, Jealous. It was very soon after one of the miraculous highpoints for God’s people. The deliverance from 400 years of bondage in Egypt. The exodus from Egypt has just happened weeks ago when the Lord says his name is jealous.
The Egyptians pursued the Israelites. They had their chariots and armor and were about to cross and conquer Israel. When Israel was safely across the Red Sea it closed and killed the Egyptian soldiers. It was one of the most dramatic and important miracles of the Bible.
Soon after the crossing of the Red Sea Moses goes up on Mt Sinai for forty days with God. During that time Moses receives ten commandments. Because Moses is gone the people make a Golden calf to worship. They proclaim that the golden calf they formed from their earrings was the god who delivered them from Egypt.
It follows the miracle where God divided the Red Sea and the children of Israel crossed on dry ground. Also, some of the most important events of biblical history have happened in the span of the few weeks between the Passover and the Lord declaring his name is Jealous.
It was beyond incredible how quickly God’s people forgot God. When Moses came down from the mountain, he broke the tablets. Moses intercedes for the people for God not to destroy them.
Would we ever do what Israel did to misplace the worship due God alone? Could we forget God so quickly and worship an image instead of the God who created us? We are the creation of God. God made us. He knows the number of hairs on our head. He loves us. Jesus died for us. God is jealous for our exclusive worship of him.
On March 29th, 1863, Charles Spurgeon preached a sermon: The Lord, whose name is jealous, from Exodus 34:14. In his sermon he asked why people prefer to worship the frogs and the vermin of their muddy rivers, rather than acknowledge the God in whose hand their breath is.
Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. (Exodus 34:14)
In Exodus 33 Moses begs God that his presence would go with them. God graciously places Moses in the cleft of the rock and his presence goes before Moses. Then following this experience God told Moses to again prepare two tablets to receive again the ten commandments. Moses is to go up Mt Sinai to receive for the second time the ten commandments. God comes down in a cloud and reveals his name to Moses: The Lord. (Exodus 34:5)
Then the LORD came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the LORD. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:5-7)
This name is about our exclusive worship of God. It is about the relationship that God desires with us. This is reflected in the first and second giving of the ten commandments. You shall have no other God's before me. You shall worship no idols and no man-made images.
The Lord made a covenant and warned Moses not to let the people do anything that would be a snare to them.
Then the LORD said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you. 11 Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 12 Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. (Exodus 34:10-13)
Then the Lord reveals to Moses his name in a way differently than he did in Exodus 34:5-6. This time he reveals himself as the Lord, whose name is jealous.
Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. (Exodus 34:14)
The Bible refers to a godly jealousy that is without any hint of sin. That is why the Apostle Paul speaks of a godly jealousy in the context of Christ and the church.
I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. (2 Corinthians 11:2)
What is this godly jealousy? It means Paul desires a spiritual protection for the church. He wants them to be pure to avoid false teachers that would teach a different gospel and lead them away from true worship of God.
It would be a mistake for anyone to turn away from the Lord because his name is jealous or for any reason. He is our creator, and he sent his own son to die for us because of his unconditional love for us. Because his name is jealous he has offered salvation by grace. God desires our worship. He does not desire for us to worship other gods.
The exclusivity of Jesus Christ. He is the only way. Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
We will never reach God by our own human efforts. He reached down to us through Jesus born the first Christmas morning. It was the plan of God; it was the fulfillment of the promise of God.
There is one way and that was settled at Gethsemane. Christ died for our sins (I Corinthians 13:3). The death of Christ was all part of the plan of God. The verses emphasize this was all according to the Scriptures. Down to the details Jesus death on the cross fulfilled the prophesies we find in the Old Testament. There was no other way for the atonement of sin. We could never pay the penalty for our sins.
The only way was for us to receive forgiveness of sin is for Jesus to die on the cross. Three times at the Garden of Gethsemane just before Jesus went to the cross, he asked God, is there is any other way to save people from their sins? If so, let him not endure the cross. There was no other way.
When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai, he was not aware his face was radiant with the Shekinah glory of God. He had met the Lord whose name is jealous. Our Lord whose name is jealous desires your worship. He desires a relationship with you by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
