If there is one thing that I have learned in my past year and a half of being a pastor, it is that there is always more to learn. One day while I was sitting talking to my better half I was struck with a sermon series I wanted to do. The English language has a very limited ability for translation. While we have one word for love and we have to know the context of the usage to understand what type of love you are talking about, the Greeks have 4 main ways of writing love. They have the love family members feel, romantic love, love between close friends and unconditional love. Much like that we also look at God and often use that name for everything. In ways it seems that it has lost it’s power. People throw around the name of God as if it is as common as Mike. When really the different names of God are what show us his character. I want to take a moment and look at the first name of God we covered. El Qana.
El Qana is a name of God that is only used 6 times in the Bible. However each time it is used it is used as a way that is describing his character. It is used in conjunction with the sin of idolatry and God is saying he is a “Jealous God” Jealous like a husband is for his wife. He wants only the best for her and like wise a wife is jealous for her husband. She only desires to see the best things happening for her husband. God knows that idolatry is spiritual adultery at best. Exodus 20:4-6 is the first time we see the use of this in the Bible. God is giving the 10 Commandments and the second one says “You shall not make for yourself a carved image… for I the LORD your God am a jealous God…” Little did Moses know that as God is giving him these commandments the people of Israel were down at the bottom of the mountain making a carved image of a calf. God tells Moses in chapter 32 of Exodus, “…let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them…” God has every intention of destroying those that have worshipped the golden calf. Yet Moses sees the anger of the Lord and begs him to spare them. God is jealous for the people of Israel. He knows that the best thing is for them to worship him. He is the living God that is able to answer prayers and to save them.
In Deuteronomy as Moses is going back over the Law and reminding them of the 10 Commandments he again tells them God is a Jealous God. When I would read the Bible as a child I was struck with the thought of, “I don’t understand why God is jealous, he has everything and is all powerful,” but as you understand a little more about God you see that he isn’t jealous of us. He doesn’t look down from heaven longing to have the things that we have. He sees us and he wants our worship because he is the one true God and deserves our praise. If we were a parent and we had told our kids to not eat candy and they knew they weren’t allowed to have it. However they were at the park and went to an entirely different family and asked for candy, we as the parents would be upset. In this way it is similar to what God is telling us. I understand that the analogy breaks down as most do when we are trying to explain an aspect of God, but you are getting the idea.
This begs the question of WHY? Why does he love us so much? Why is he jealous for us? Because God is love. 1 John 4:16-21 tells us this. God is love and if that is the case then it is an unmatched love for us and he wants nothing more than to see us turn to him because that is what is best for us. John 3:16-17 tells us “ “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” If God IS love then we get a better picture for why he sent his son into the world to die for us. It wasn’t because this was 1 of the options to save us. It was the only option and if that is the case then the only other option we have is to believe. Romans tells us to believe and confess with out mouth that Jesus is LORD. Just like the man on the cross who told Christ to remember him when he got to heaven and Jesus tells him “Today you will be with me in paradise.” Even to the last breath Jesus was willing to save anyone who wanted to be saved. What an example of love. I don’t know about you but I am thankful that I serve a jealous God.
I will be praying for you this week!
Pastor Judd