Tag: rebukes

11.k. “For he is a holy God. He is a jealous God”

Nahum 1:2  The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it.

Exodus 20:5    You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

Deuteronomy 4:24    For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Joshua 24:19   But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God;

The Bible clearly teaches that God is a jealous God. Exodus 20:5 states, “You shall not bow down to them [other gods] or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God.” How are we to understand God’s jealousy when the Bible also says that jealousy is a sin (Galatians 5:20)? Isn’t this a contradiction? The key is context. God revealed the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel. He commanded allegiance and worship to Him alone. He would not tolerate the worship of other gods (a practice common in Egypt and other nations). God was “jealous” in the sense that He expected full devotion, not merely a partial, lukewarm commitment. Worship belongs to God, and He is right to be “jealous” of it.  Yes, God is a jealous God. Why? Because He will not share His praise with another: “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols” . God carefully maintains and protects what is rightly His. This is divine jealousy, and it is worlds apart from the type of sinful jealousy that causes people to envy, suspect, and resent others.

When God was going to describe Himself, on one occasion He called Himself, “Jealous.” This denotes something of God’s nature.  In other translations the word ‘zealous’ is used – these words have the same root, and show God’s character in vigilantly guarding that which is His.  God breathed the breath of life into the first man. He breathed this life into every person. God jealously yearns for – desires – this spirit in us. “Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ‘The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously’?” God does not want our spirits to be consumed by this world or by the god of this world, who is the devil. God wants a relationship with our human spirit. However, the god of this world, the devil, is active as well. He also wants to get a hold of our human spirit, to influence us to do his will.  He has come to destroy us, and he speaks to our “flesh.” “The flesh Sin is anything that goes against God’s will and His laws. To commit sin is to transgress or disobey these laws. The lust to sin dwells in human nature. In other words, it is contaminated and motivated by want/lust for the worldly and fleshly. It is in this battle God is a jealous God. He is zealous (jealous) for our spirits. He wants us to be zealous, with “God’s zeal” in this battle.  God is “jealous” in the sense that He expected full devotion, not merely a partial, lukewarm commitment.  He wants all of our hearts, minds, soul, and strength given to honor, glorify, praise, worship, follow, obey, trust, and rely on Him.  He is jealous for us to know and serve Him fully.  He is jealous for us to know and experience His precious promises, purpose, grace, mercy, and love.  If we are to be fully devoted and surrendered to Him we can not share any part of our lives seeking after that which is worldly and fleshly, nor can we be lukewarm, complacent, or neglectful.

6.v. And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him.

Revelation 6:7   When he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!” And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider’s name was Death, and Hades followed him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth.

Jeremiah 15:2-3    And when they ask you, ‘Where shall we go?’ you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the LORD: “‘Those who are for pestilence, to pestilence, and those who are for the sword, to the sword; those who are for famine, to famine, and those who are for captivity, to captivity.’  I will appoint over them four kinds of destroyers, declares the LORD: the sword to kill, the dogs to tear, and the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy.

Ezekiel 5:15-17     You shall be a reproach and a taunt, a warning and a horror, to the nations all around you, when I execute judgments on you in anger and fury, and with furious rebukes—I am the LORD; I have spoken—  when I send against you the deadly arrows of famine, arrows for destruction, which I will send to destroy you, and when I bring more and more famine upon you and break your supply of bread.  I will send famine and wild beasts against you, and they will rob you of your children. Pestilence and blood shall pass through you, and I will bring the sword upon you. I am the LORD; I have spoken.”

 A pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death: This last rider shows that there will be a tremendous death toll from the dictatorship, war, famine and other calamities described by the previous three horsemen. Our modern age has seen hundreds of millions killed by dictators, war, and famine. Yet all that will pale in comparison to the death toll coming in the wake of this ultimate dictator. No wonder Jesus said of this time For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matthew 24:21)

 Power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill: Power was given to the horseman and given by God. Though all hell breaks loose on the earth, God is very much in control. He still holds the scroll and opens the seals.

Can you imagine 1/4th of the population killed?  That would be close to two billion people all entering eternity and most with the same view; no regard for Jesus Christ or the need for salvation.  They are receiving, in part, God’s judgment for this rejection.  During this time of seals being opened the church, those who came to Christ for forgiveness, and the Holy Spirit will have been removed from the earth.  There will be no influence of grace, mercy, and love of God, only judgment.  This is what awaits all those who flat out deny Jesus Christ, and those who think they will always have time to commit to Him, and those who think they are good enough by the works they do.  In all, they have not surrendered their lives to Him and will suffer the consequences of this rejection.  Scripture says now is the time for salvation.  Now is the time to come to Jesus Christ.  Now is the time of mercy and grace.  All these prophesies and warnings have been given for people to know and choose rather to believe or now, to live humbly serving or not, to live following and to obey or not.  Choose well, do not wait or think there is time to delay.  The judgments of God are on His time.  His anger and fury are released against those who refused to accept His way of salvation through Jesus Christ.