Is God truly a "jealous" God?

Casual Discussion
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There are a few ways of looking at this question:

Envy is a sin, but what is jealousy? Is jealousy the same thing as envy? Or can jealousy be Godly?

Also, if God is God and everything and everyone else is below Him, how can God be truly jealous of something/someone who is not God? Does this make sense?

Or is the phrasing of God being jealous more poetic than literal?

References to consider: Exodus 34:14, Deuteronomy 4:24; 5:9 & 6:15; Joshua 24:19; Nahum 1:2 & James 4:5. I may be going down a deep dive into this, so stay tuned : )

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Yeah, cause thereā€™s a God above the God of the OT. He wouldnā€™t have said that if there wasnā€™t someone greater than him.

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Not buying it. Sorry.

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Nothing you say here makes any coherent sense.

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No, envy and jealousy are not the same thing. Envy is wishing you had what somewhat else has, particularly if you resent it. Jealousy means resenting what somebody gives to another that belongs to you or that you think belongs to you.

A friend of ours who is a few years younger but in her 60s can sit cross-legged on the floor and just arise to a standing position without help or even leaning on anything. I say that I envy her flexibility, but I donā€™t resent it. If I criticized her or made hurtful fun of her because she has something I donā€™t have, that would be sinful envy, I think.

A person could be jealous of the time a spouse spends with somebody else, even if itā€™s not an inappropriate relationship, just if the spouse feels short-changed and is not getting the attention that is wanted or deserved. People can certainly give God less attention than we owe Him, maybe neglecting worship in favor of sports, or even to the point of worshiping another god. God is jealous if people donā€™t give Him what they owe Him, especially if they give it to something or somebody else. God knows what belongs to Him and knows if we shortchange Him, so itā€™s not a matter of His just thinking it. Thatā€™s my understanding, anyway.

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Thatā€™s a terrific and thought provoking explanation. Thanks for sharing your thoughts

God bless

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This is awesome! Thank you for this distinction.

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In the context that God is the only authority. Thenā€¦ yeah. But its for a good cause. Its not the same as materialistic jealousy, which is the sinful aspect.

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No problems Cade. Have a good oneā€¦

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Hi Cade!

Jesus says (as I know you are aware) that what God desires of us more than anything else, is our love. There are so many rules given to us in scripture. Moses received the 10 commandments. When the Judaic clergymen asked Jesus ā€œWhat is the most important ā€œruleā€ for one who wishes to be pleasing to God?ā€, Jesus said, ā€œThou shalt love the Lord thy God with all of thy heart and all of thy strength.ā€ Therefore this must be more pleasing to God than any other rule, or spiritual guideline.
I do not know the teachings of Bible very well, having been raised in an atheistic household, and then at the age of 25 becoming attracted to a spiritual teacher from the far east. But in our scriptures, like Bhagavad-gita and Srimad Bhagavatam, it is taught that if one has love for God, all godly qualities become manifest in his heart without separate endeavor. If there is a similar statement in the Bible I would very much like to know about this.
Also in the Bible, Jesus says, in his sermon on the mount, that one can be a servant of God, or a servant of Mammon. One or the other. I think Jesus elaborates by telling us that being the servant of one makes one distant from the service of the other, i.e., that these two kinds of service are mutually exclusive. ā€œA man cannot have two masters. It is one or the other.ā€

One who has spontaneous feelings of love for God in his heartā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ā€¦ only such a person will be always desiring to give pleasure to the Lord, because that is the nature of love. In this way one can be safe, beyond the temptations of Mammon.
Just like after Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days, and Mammon told Jesus that he could have anything his heart desired in this world, and Jesus said, ā€œGet behind me, Satan!ā€ And that was, ā€œanythingā€. Not just a million dollars, or a new car, a new house, or to become famous, or powerful, etc. But, ā€œanythingā€. But Jesus could not be swayed by earthly desires, even for a momentā€¦ā€¦..because of his love for God. Jesus was controlled by the ā€œyokeā€ of love. And he invites us to ā€œAccept the yoke that I wear.ā€

Therefore when we hear that our eternal Lord is a ā€œJealous Godā€, this means that he desires that all of our love be focused on Him, instead of on the flimsy temporal things of the world,ā€¦ā€¦things that we cannot keep, and that cannot endure.

The point is that as much as we love God, we are blessed with Godā€™s loving protection from the temptations of Mammon. As much as we love the Lord, He removes the temptations of Mammon from our heart. In this way, our love for the Lord is our only protection from the temptations that Mammon places before us.
So when it is said that God is jealous, this means that if we love Him, He gives us His protection in this wayā€¦ā€¦but the moment that we falter in our cultivation of love for the Lord, His protection is withdrawn. It is in this sense that God demands our love. He will still love us, even when we turn our back on Him, because that is His nature. But in order to receive His protection from the allurements of Mammon, God wants our complete affection. And to the degree that our love goes elsewhere, to that degree, His protection is withdrawn. The choice and the responsibility is in our hands.
In this sense ā€¦ā€¦ God is ā€œjealousā€. He never stops loving us. But He is only with usā€¦..as much as we desire to be with Him. When He sends His son to us, this is His ongoing invitation to us, to abide in the Lordā€¦ā€¦.but from moment to moment, as the saying goes, ā€œthe ball is in our court.ā€

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! :birthday_cake:

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I havenā€™t read everything, but maybe the ā€œStudentā€ means that thereā€™s a higher understanding of the one God than the the God as He is presented in the Old Testament. The Old testament concept is more about anger that demands obedience. The New Testament concept (I think Jesus teaches that he came to give us the next step in our understanding) is that ā€œGod is love.ā€, i.e., that love of God is a higher understanding of the nature of our eternal relationship with God than fearful obedience to the laws of God. Because, if love for God is in our hearts, obedience will naturally be there as well.
Obedience based on fear, is more about receiving Godā€™s blessings in return for being good children of God. Obedience based on love is more spontaneous, and not about wanting anything in return except to feel the loving reciprocation of the Lord within our hearts.
Obedience based on fear is more like a business deal: ā€œIf I give God what He wants, Heā€™ll give me what I want.ā€ Obedience based on love is nothing more than desiring Godā€™s pleasure, without asking for anything in return. But when someone loves God in this way, his heart becomes so filled with joy, that he no longer cares about anything this material creation has to offer. Like David writes in the 23rd psalm, ā€œMy cup runneth over.ā€ Also, Jesus says, that we should be like the lilies in the field. God gives them everything they require without being asked, so why wouldnā€™t He take care of those who love Him.

So this is a higher understanding of what a ā€œlove affairā€ with God is all about. But for those who are making a business deal with God, hoping Heā€™ll give us what we want if we are good boys and girlsā€¦ā€¦thatā€™s a lesser conception.
When children are very little, their relationship with thier parents is ā€œGimme, gimmie.ā€ But when they grow up, they say, ā€œAll the time I was growing up, I was asking you for things; but now that I am an adult, I want to know what I can do in order to be pleasing to you.ā€
I think this is what Earth Student meant when he said that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament. The God is the same Person; but the appreciation of God as described in the New Testament, is for worshippers that are more mature.

I believe that Jesus says ā€œThere is so much more that I could tell you about God and the spiritual kingdomā€¦ā€¦but you are not ready yet to hear about such things.ā€ Therefore God is presented by different teachers, prophets, in scripture, according to the cultural maturity in which the teachings are presented. ā€œFire and brimstoneā€ may be required for some people. Others may be doing a ā€œbusiness dealā€, being ā€œgoodā€ to get a reward. Others may be ready to enter into loving reciprocation with God. Jesus is teaching love of God. This is my understanding.

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Stephen Andrewā€¦..speaks in his own tongue.
But what I hear him saying:
ā€There is a spiritual nature of which we are all eternally a part, connected. And from that spiritual nature, which is God, Mary comes to us. But when she comes to us in a form that we can percieve, in the fleshā€¦ā€¦.her flesh is immaculate, devoid of material aspirations and desires, like the rest of us. In this way ā€œThe Christā€ is delivered to us ā€œfrom Holy Spirit Incorruptionā€ā€¦ā€¦.so that all mankind can become again ā€œOne Holy Familyā€.
Something like that. Itā€™s a very nice concept, not out of line with the teachings of the church. But itā€™s a little different from the average ā€œtext messageā€ on our Iphones.

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Envy is not the same as jealousy. God is whole. He doesnā€™t crave attention which people pay to one another, Christ saying to ā€˜love one anotherā€™. He desires (is jealous for), to have His Creation giving their hearts wholly to Him so that everything from there can flow abundantly, as He wants all to go to Heaven. God wants to pour His blessings on humanity.

And St. Paul says that ā€˜God is Loveā€™ and so to put God in first place is to be consumed by love and yet in a context where love is not just a frivolously used word or feeling but which has been given its place as God in the entirety of its meaning.

John 3:16 - ā€˜God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.ā€™

Christianity is about being in relationship (*ref) with, in lived testament to God, and God loves humanity, and being in right-relationship consists of love reciprocated, which towards God means both worship and too oneā€™s heart being totally for God, and so it stands to reason that if God loves people eternally as the Alpha and Omega then to be open to that love one must give oneā€™s ā€˜heart, mind and soulā€™ entirely to such an horizon and which is so immense that it is Mystery. Such are the plans for Godā€™s people. The very identity of each person in existence is in God, and so it is to the individualā€™s benefit to do as the First Commandment tells us. This ā€˜first-placeā€™ brings all other relationships to their fullness, as we are told ā€˜Love thy neighbour, as thyselfā€™.

As my mother just said, ā€œHe is jealous for our love, because He loves us and wants the best for usā€.