The God Of Jealousy

Illus: It is said that jealousy started in the Garden of Eden.

That is,

• Eve accused Adam of having another woman in his life.

• Adam's reply was, "Don't be ridiculous. You know you are the only woman on this earth in my life!“

• Eve seemed pacified, but that night Eve waited until Adam was asleep and she reached over and counted his ribs.

Speaking of jealousy did you know that the Lord un-ashamedly admits that He is a jealous God.

Look at Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me

God’s admission of jealousy is something that most of us would be ashamed to admit.

This admission of God being a jealous God doesn’t sit well with us because we have a better opinion of God than for Him to be a jealous God.

Let’s talk about WHY God tells us He is a jealous God.

In this sermon I want to talk to you about three kinds of jealousy:

• The dark side of jealousy

• The desireable side of jealousy

• The divine side of jealousy

Let’s look first at…

I.THE DARK SIDE OF JEALOUSY

From what we know of jealousy we think of jealousy in a negative way.

For example we see jealousy today in three kinds of relationships. Some of the relationships we are familiar with are:

1) Boy-girl jealousy

2) Sibling jealousy

3) A friend’s jealousy

We see jealousy demonstrated in these relationships frequently in a negative way and we can not help but conclude that all jealousy is bad.

For example, If I was to ask someone in this congregation are you a jealous individual?

They would might state, “There is not a jealous bone in my body!”

But the reason you would respond to that question like that is because perhaps you do not understand that:

• There is a BAD SIDE TO JEALOUSY

• There is a GOOD SIDE TO JEALOUSY.

Let me demonstrate that in this way, for example:

• Just as there is a BRIGHT SIDE and a DARK SIDE to anger.

• There is also a BRIGHT SIDE and a DARK SIDE TO JEALOUSY.

For example:

• The DARK SIDE to anger is that many have gotten angry, and have done things they would not have done had they not been angry.

• For the BRIGHT SIDE to anger is that when it comes to politics we will get so angry with bad politicians that we will go to the polls and vote bad polictians out of office and vote good politicians in office.

There is a GOOD SIDE and BAD SIDE TO ANGER that is why God’s Word tells us BE YE ANGRY AND SIN NOT!

There is a GOOD SIDE and BAD SIDE to jealousy.

Illus: Speaking of jealousy as good makes me think of the man standing outside of Walmart. His wife had been in there for hours and he decided it was time for her to come out.

And he knew exactly what it would take to get her to come out!!!

• He saw this beautiful woman and he asked her will you talk to me for a few minutes and act like you are enjoying talking to me.

• She said why?

• He said because my wife has been in the store for hours and if she looks out and see me talking to a beautiful woman she will be out in no time!

You see, anger and jealousy has a BRIGHT SIDE and a DARK SIDE.

WHY DOES GOD DECLARE THAT HE IS A JEALOUS GOD?

• Was it because He felt inferior to the other gods that Israel worshipped and served?

• Was it because He felt insecure?

No! It was because the reason the Lord commanded Israel not to serve other gods was because He LOVED THEM.

It was a time when POLYGAMY was rampant and God did not want His people worshipping and serving other gods because He was a jealous God!!!

Look at Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.

Did you know that LOVE ALWAYS PRECEDS JEALOUSY!!! ALWAYS!

For you to say of yourself that there is not a jealous bone in your body you are actually saying I DO NOT LOVE ANYONE!

WHY? BECAUSE LOVE ALWAYS PRECEDES JEALOUSY!!!

Illus: A lady was talking to her pastor about her husband. She told her pastor that her husband does not love her.