The Glory Of God In His Jealousy Series

Zec 8:1 Again the word of the LORD Almighty came to me. Zec 8:2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: “I am very jealous for Zion; I am burning with jealousy for her.” Zec 8:3 This is what the LORD says: “I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the LORD Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.

When Israel was unfaithful to God, then God’s jealousy burned against them. When other nations tried to interfere with God’s plans for Israel then His jealousy burned against them. God is jealous. So if God is jealous then jealousy cannot be all bad. While in the New Testament it is often used to describe a negative feeling or action in the Old Testament it is commonly used to describe God. So we must ask: What is jealousy? The word for jealousy literally means: “to boil” or “to seethe” with emotion. This is a perfect picture. Picture this: take a pot filled with water and leave it on a hot stove for a while. At first the water is completely calm. No ripples, no movement. It is tranquil sitting comfortably in this pot. After some time that pot will start to boil. The water is no longer just sitting there it has become so heated that its entire form is changing. Bubbles are shooting up from the bottom of the pot to the surface of the water and a hot steam is released. Jealousy is basically an emotionally boiling pot. Those feelings and emotions that would normally be tranquil and calm are set off by an outside source. The emotions then bubble up to the surface and steam is starting to come out. Jealousy makes you feel like a boiling pot of water. You feel heated, like steam is ready to pour out of you. Jealousy really feels like your blood is boiling.

We picture jealousy as a negative thing, because in many of our experiences it is. We have all had times where we felt jealousy of someone else. Many of us have dealt with the jealousy that comes from insecurity in our own lives or through someone else. But we have all seen it. Maybe it’s a friend, a family member, your spouse, or maybe it’s you. Insecurity causes jealousy where there is nothing to be jealous of. Now you may have hurt people in your life because you are overly jealous when there is no need to be. Or maybe you have been hurt by someone in your life who is more jealous than they should be.

Jealousy is often considered to be a negative thing, but there is more than one type of jealousy. Sometimes we experience an inappropriate jealousy. A jealousy that comes from insecurity or one that comes from our wanting something or a desire for something that is not ours. We experience this when we want something that someone else has. This type of jealousy is a resentment of the success or possession of another. So much of the jealousy we see comes from greed, pride, and insecurity. Due to this jealousy is given a negative connotation, and rightly so for this is a common way jealousy is expressed, because of insecurity, greed, selfishness, and pride.