“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.” (Nahum 1:2)
We all have heard about Nineveh. The account of their story is also told in the book of Jonah. The people of Nineveh were so evil, Jonah refused to warn them of the coming destruction because they would repent, and God’s mercy wouldn’t destroy them. Nahum writes about their coming destruction.
Nahum begins with “God is jealous.” This concept is offensive to many, asking how can God be jealous. The Hebrew word means jealous angry. He is God the Creator and Ruler of all Who is worthy of praise and worship from His creation. He has great and wonderful plans for His creation. But when they sin, they leave the purposes and desires God has for them. They head for destruction because sin is death. In this verse, Nahum conveys God’s anger with the words revengeth, furious, vengeance and wrath. When we look at the Hebrew words, revengeth and vengeance are translations for the same word meaning to punish or take vengeance. Furious was translated from the word that means He is master and owner.
God is master and owner of all. God is not jealous of His creation but jealous for His creation. Those two little clarifiers of and for, give us the perspective of God’s jealousy. When we read the description of God’s jealousy it’s clear that the jealousy is “for” and not “of.” “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:” (Exodus 34:14) All belong to Him. He is the giver of all good gifts. (James 1:17) He loves His creation and covets their love. (John 3:16) He covets our attention, our love and our worship. (Deuteronomy 6:5, 14,15)
He is our Father. In perspective, the LORD, loves us more than any natural father. To go to another whose objective and purpose is to destroy us is betrayal. God is angry and takes vengeance because it does destroy us. It’s sin and sin is death. How great and how deep is the Lord’s love? So much that He died for us. (John 3:16) In this age of grace, we will not see His wrath of jealousy, but it will come when this dispensation ends. His jealousy is stored up for the time of His wrath. “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds:” (Romans 2:5-6)
In our distress who is the only one who can help? When we need knowledge and wisdom, who is the only one who has the answer and knows all things? Only the Lord can help. Only the Lord knows all things and has knowledge and wisdom above any in the world. So why do we trust in others? Why do we rely on the wisdom of the world. Why do we seek help from those that are barren and unfruitful? One doctor told me he couldn’t tell me what the problem was, but he could tell me what it wasn’t through the process of elimination. That’s all the world has to offer. This is the best the world can do because the world and everything in it don’t have the knowledge and wisdom of God.
What does God require of us? Jesus told us the ultimate desire of the Father. “Abide in me, and I in you...” (John 15:4) He desires for us to stay in that place He has made for us as His children, in His Presence, living and staying there with Him, trusting Him in all circumstances, relying on His wisdom and knowledge and not another’s, enduring and persevering knowing that God is in control of everything no matter what it seems like in the natural, remaining in His glory, in His peace and in His victory.
He is calling us to a supernatural life. A life far above the restrictions of this world. How can we cheapen ourselves and turn to this world so limited, so corrupt and destined for destruction? The Lord covets the best for us. He has the best for us. He is jealous for us.
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