God Is Jealous (3 of 4)
Series: God Is
Jonathan McLeod
Exodus 20:1-6
''I the Lord your God am a jealous God'' (Exod. 20:5).
GOOD AND JEALOUS?
[Talk about an example of a jealous husband who has committed murder.] Several times in the Bible we read that God is a jealous God. How can God be a good God if he is a jealous God? The first time that God is said to be a jealous God is in Exodus 20. In this chapter, God gives the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel.
[Read Exodus 20:1-6.]
THE IDOL FACTORY
The first two commandments prohibit idolatry: (1) ''You shall have no other gods before me'' (v. 3); (2) ''You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything.... You shall not bow down to them or serve them'' (vv. 4-5). Idolatry is the worship of a God-substitute.
We all know what pagan idolatry is, but there's another kind of idolatry that could be called idola-try of the heart. The apostle Paul writes that a ''covetous'' person is ''an idolater'' (Eph. 5:5; cf. Col. 3:5). The covetous person's god is materialism.
Tim Keller defines idolatry of the heart as ''the making of good things into ultimate things.'' He writes that an idol is ''anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living.'' [Talk about how MMA fighter Ronda Rousey is an example of this. After losing her championship belt, she contemplated suicide. She thought, ''What am I anymore if I'm not this?''] The human heart is an idol factory.
A GOOD KIND OF JEALOUSY
After prohibiting idolatry, God declares, ''I the Lord your God am a jealous God'' (v. 5). Is jealously always wrong? What if a man never got jealous no matter what his wife did? [Talk about the exclusiveness of marriage.] There's a good kind of jealousy that could be defined as ''zeal to protect a love relationship.'' This is a jealousy that's caused by love, not by insecurity. In the OT, God is described as the husband of ...
Series: God Is
Jonathan McLeod
Exodus 20:1-6
''I the Lord your God am a jealous God'' (Exod. 20:5).
GOOD AND JEALOUS?
[Talk about an example of a jealous husband who has committed murder.] Several times in the Bible we read that God is a jealous God. How can God be a good God if he is a jealous God? The first time that God is said to be a jealous God is in Exodus 20. In this chapter, God gives the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel.
[Read Exodus 20:1-6.]
THE IDOL FACTORY
The first two commandments prohibit idolatry: (1) ''You shall have no other gods before me'' (v. 3); (2) ''You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything.... You shall not bow down to them or serve them'' (vv. 4-5). Idolatry is the worship of a God-substitute.
We all know what pagan idolatry is, but there's another kind of idolatry that could be called idola-try of the heart. The apostle Paul writes that a ''covetous'' person is ''an idolater'' (Eph. 5:5; cf. Col. 3:5). The covetous person's god is materialism.
Tim Keller defines idolatry of the heart as ''the making of good things into ultimate things.'' He writes that an idol is ''anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living.'' [Talk about how MMA fighter Ronda Rousey is an example of this. After losing her championship belt, she contemplated suicide. She thought, ''What am I anymore if I'm not this?''] The human heart is an idol factory.
A GOOD KIND OF JEALOUSY
After prohibiting idolatry, God declares, ''I the Lord your God am a jealous God'' (v. 5). Is jealously always wrong? What if a man never got jealous no matter what his wife did? [Talk about the exclusiveness of marriage.] There's a good kind of jealousy that could be defined as ''zeal to protect a love relationship.'' This is a jealousy that's caused by love, not by insecurity. In the OT, God is described as the husband of ...
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