God is jealous of me?

A friend recently sent a video for me to view on Facebook. The video was titled, “The Church of Oprah” and showed several clips from the show in which Oprah advocates that there is one God and several paths to reach Him. At one point, audience members tell her that there is just one way and that way is Jesus. Oprah becomes argumentative and dismissive. Her reply to the audience members is that Jesus is their way, but not THE way. Further clips present additional information on the new age gurus who Oprah is increasingly beginning to feature on her show. The New Age Rhetoric of Wayne Dwyer, Rhonda Byrne and Eckhart Tolle that Oprah so earnestly embraces and advocates is not being questioned by Christians. Alarmingly, a woman asked Oprah how she, as a Christian, managed to reconcile these enlightening teachings with religious beliefs. Oprah’s answer was that she realized Christianity wasn’t the only way after sitting in church one day and listening to the preacher say that God was jealous. It did not make any sense to her that God was jealous of her. Yes, God IS jealous, however, not of you Oprah and not of me. God is jealous over the things that we put before Him.

Let’s look at some of the verses that attribute “jealousy” to God. The second part of Exodus 20:5 contains the statement, “ for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God.” The preceding verses, however, clearly state that God is jealous when we worship graven images or serve anyone other than Him. This is clarified again in Exodus 34:14 "For thou shalt worship no other god; for the Lord is a jealous God." Further study of the use of the word “jealous” in reference to God is equated with people who serve worldy things or graven images. In Joshua 4:19, “jealous” refers to the people who were attempting to serve the gods of the Amorites and Egyptians as well as God. Deuteronomy 4:24 and 5:9 refer to graven images. If you read the first chapter of Zephaniah, you will find that God’s jealousy was provoked by a society that was serving idols and worldly vices. In 1 Corinthians 10:20-22, God is provoked to jealousy against us because of the sins that are being committed by, once again, serving worldly things or false gods. “But I [say], that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils. Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils. Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?” The following are a few of the things that people often place more concern and value on accompanied by Bible verses that explain they are negative:

Food

Philippians 3:19 “Whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly…”


Money

Matthew 6:24 “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon [wealth/money]”


Pride (appearance, possessions, self-image)

Proverbs 6:16—19 "Theses six things the Lord hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren."


While you may not think of these things as “false idols” and argue that you don’t serve them, consider this definition of an idol: image of a deity, any person or thing regarded with devotion r blind admiration, false conception or notion, figment of mind. Anything that we put above God that takes up all of our time and energy could be defined as something we are serving—a false idol—and that is what brings God to jealousy.


Unfortunately, this is not an isolated event. Increasingly, I hear of people who, because of one thing or another, begin to disagree with their Christian upbringings. They may have been influenced by someone they met; they may have been swayed by a course they took in college, or by something in the media. They begin searching until they find a different religion or a cult whose doctrines “fit” more with their lifestyles and current beliefs.

The Bible contains many warnings about false prophets and teachers who will lead others astray with their false doctrines. “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Matthew 7:15. In the upcoming weeks, join us for an introduction into the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, Christian Science, Scientology, The New Age Movement, Eckankar, Rosicrucianism, Kabbalah, Buddhism, and Islam.