I can’t leave this one alone. Oprah talked on the video on my last entry about how the thought of a “jealous” God stopped her pursuit of Him. For me, there is a HUGE amount of security in the jealousy of God.
Here’s the first problem. It is a preposition. Oprah says, “God is jealous of me?!” And that didn’t hit her right. No, God is not jealous OF you; He is jealous FOR you. There’s a huge difference in those two little words. Every reference in the Bible to God’s jealousy relates to how He feels when the people that He loves forsake Him for other gods. The definition of jealousy supports this. Jealousy = “fearful or wary of being supplanted; apprehesive of losing affection or position.” God’s LOVE for people makes Him jealous the same way that a devoted spouse would feel if their beloved cheated on him/her. Song of Solomon 8:6 says,
“Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame. “
God’s love and jealousy FOR us is unavoidable and relentless. But there is the melancholy note to it too in that He gave us free will. We can choose to not love Him. We can choose to not serve Him. We can choose to play the harlot with lesser loves.
So, dear Oprah, I find security in the fact that the All Knowing, All Powerful, Magnificent God loves me in such a way that it can be called jealousy. I revel in the security of knowing that I am so loved and protected that not even death kept Him away from me. Knowing the jealousy of God FOR me drives me deeply into His arms rather than flinging me into the place where I have to depend on myself for my salvation.
GOD IS LOVE!
