Is the LORD a “JEALOUS GOD”?

The Bible plainly describes the LORD as a jealous God:

4“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. 5You 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, 6but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Exodus 20:4-5

But isn’t jealousy a work of the flesh according to Galatians 5:19-21? It is, but “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5), which shows that God’s jealousy is not carnal in nature. You see, the LORD has a healthy jealously for his beloved people: God views those in covenant with Him as a marital partner, which can be observed in the LORD’s comments here:

6During the reign of King Josiah, the LORD said to me, “Have you seen what faithless Israel has done? She has gone up on every high hill and under every spreading tree and has committed adultery there. 7I thought that after she had done all this she would return to me but she did not, and her unfaithful sister Judah saw it. 8I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery. 9Because Israel’s immorality mattered so little to her, she defiled the land and committed adultery with stone and wood. 10In spite of all this, her unfaithful sister Judah did not return to me with all her heart, but only in pretense,” declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 3:6-10

Our Creator considered it adultery when Israel & Judah followed after pagan non-gods made of stone and wood and thus viewed them as unfaithful.

Paul had the same godly jealousy in regards to the misled Corinthian believers, an assembly he started:

2I 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. 3But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

2 Corinthians 11:2-3

Here the Corinthians weren’t being unfaithful by worshipping idols made of stone or wood, but by following false teachers who were leading them astray from their pure devotion to Christ.

Godly Jealousy vs. Carnal Jealousy

Whether a person is experiencing godly jealousy or carnal jealousy comes down to whether or not they are walking in the spirit or walking in the flesh:

16So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Galatians 5:16-26

It’s similar with the emotion of anger, which can be righteous and productive (Mark 3:5, Mark 11:15-18 & Acts 13:8-12) or foolish and destructive (Proverbs 29:11 & 29:22).

Is There Such a Thing as RIGHTEOUS ANGER?

The Basics of Christianity