Jealous God

Deuteronomy 4:21-26 – The Lord was angry with me because of you, and he solemnly swore that I would not cross the Jordan and enter the good land the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance. I will die in this land; I will not cross the Jordan; but you are about to cross over and take possession of that good land. Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden. For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. After you have had children and grandchildren and have lived in the land a long time—if you then become corrupt and make any kind of idol, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord your God and arousing his anger, I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed.

Exodus 20:4-6 – “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 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 parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

1 Kings 11:6 – So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.

1 Kings 16:30 – Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the Lord than any of those before him.

Application:

• ·         Because God has no visible form, any idol intended to resemble Him would be a sinful misrepresentation of Him. Since other gods are not to be worshiped, making idols of them would be equally sinful.
• ·         God will not put up with rivalry or unfaithfulness. The “jealousy” of God (1) demands exclusive devotion to God, (2) delivers to judgment all who oppose God and (3) vindicates God’s people. Those Israelites who blatantly violated God’s covenant and thus showed that they rejected the Lord as their King brought down judgment on themselves and their households—households were usually extended to three or four generations.
• ·         The pattern of the Israelites’ rebellion, resulting in expulsion from the land, and then their repentance, leading to restoration to the land, is prominent in Deuteronomy.
• ·         Although David committed grievous sins, he was repentant, and he was never involved in idolatrous worship.
• ·         Evil became progressively worse in the royal house of the northern kingdom.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV