We often read God is a jealous God, like in Nahum 1:2 where
God is upset with His people:
God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth;
the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on
his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.
Many people say this is an example of why God is
unreasonable and therefore not real. But think of this another way and not just
focused on disproving God. Consider you fell in love and got married. Your love
and devotion to that person is unmeasurable. Well time goes on and the marriage
becomes mundane, the “spark” appears to be lost. Suddenly a unannounced return
home finds the one you trusted in the arms of another.
What would your response be? Would you just say “ok, have
fun and I’ll return in an hour?” Or would it be jealously and anger? This is
what God is feeling, not an anger against those who never knew Him, but those
who He gave special favor to and they rejected Him. They started fooling around
when things were not going the way they thought things should.
God is jealous and vengeful when one devotes their life to
HIM and then rejects His ways. God is not going to be jealous and vengeful if
you have never given your life to Him. If you have rejected Him from the start
it is no different from the “first love” who would not go out with you. God is
like you, sure that person may never love you and the relationship you desire
may not flourish like you want. At the same time you move on and are not
jealous about their life.
That is the difference between a jealous relationship
and a casual one. God is furious when the loving relationship is compromised.