Behold His jealousy 

All the Nations 

Teach us Your ways

To walk in Your truth and fear Your Name

Your glory displayed 

In the face of our beautiful Saviour

O, Lord, God, so merciful

All the nations must worship

Exalt You, fall down at Your throne

Every kingdom will bow down

Before You, the glorious One

Strengthen our hands

To live by Your grace and trust Your Word

Help us to stand

A people called by You and for You

O, Lord, God, most holy One

The high places must fall

Every idol be exposed and be destroyed

We return to You our King, our Love, our Lord 

We will serve no other God

Devotional

Generally, when you hear the term “jealousy”, it’s rarely in a positive context. That’s probably because at heart we know that jealousy is founded mostly on ourselves – our rights, our preservation, our moral feelings, our fears of loss. And yet from Scripture we can also know that, like anger (Ephesians 4:26, Psalm 4:4), jealousy is not inherently an evil concept, for nothing attributed to God can be evil. In Exodus 34:14, God actually calls Himself jealous.

One prominent metaphor used in Scripture to describe the relationship between Christ and His Church is that of the husband and wife. While we are not all married, we all have relationships (platonic and romantic alike) and can, to varying extents, appropriately know how jealousy within a relationship looks and feels. We can still all know that treasuring the fidelity of our relationships within marriage, as well as with our God, is well established throughout Scripture (i.e. We don’t allow idolatry to enter into our relationship with God; see 1 John 5:21). It is within this setting of marriage union between Christ and the Church that we have a way of understanding the godly jealousy of God.  

John Piper shows us how to see jealousy in terms of this marriage:

“…the image created in our mind by the word "jealous" is the picture of a lover or a husband who gets angry when someone else competes for the heart of his wife or when her heart goes away after other lovers…Don't commit adultery against God. Don't let your heart turn from him and go after other things. For your God, your husband, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God… God is not jealous like an insecure employer who fears that his employees might get lured away by a better salary elsewhere. God's jealousy is not the reflex of weakness or fear.”

God, then, has every right to be jealous for His glory, just as Christ as the husband has a right to be jealous for His bride, the Church. The first of the Ten Commandments is clear on this: God calls His people to worship Him and Him alone. And this is a desire we can see echoed repeatedly throughout the Scriptures, in both the Old and New Testament (2 Kings 17:12, Matthew 4:9-10, 1 Corinthians 8:4, Ephesians 5:5). This command then begs the question: Who are God’s people? Thankfully, Scripture is clear on this one, too. We can know a few things for sure:

1. All are created in His image

“So God created man in his own image”. This is how we as humans begin. We have no other point of origin. All that we are finds its beginning, its form, and its purpose, in Him (Genesis 1:26-30). 

2. “There is neither Jew nor Greek…”

In Bible-times, there was intense hostility between the Jews and the Gentiles. This became even more pronounced as Jesus’ Gospel became freely offered to the Gentiles, too. The Jews were indignant – they were His chosen people. And yet, this is exactly the Gospel of Jesus Christ: in Him there is no distinction of race and ethnicity, class, gender, or right – “for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:26-28). In fact, according to Ephesians 3:6-11, the Church – a multi-ethnic body drawn and held together by the unifying presence of the Spirit within their hearts – is referred to as the mystery through which Christ’s victory over evil and His “manifold wisdom” is made manifest.

Actually, the fact that Jesus ransomed people from all tribes, nations, and tongues, is cited by the ever-singing angels as part of the reason why the Lamb is worthy to open the scroll (Revelation 5:9).

Every man, woman, and child being included in this call to worship is another indication of the worth of God to be worshipped.

3. God is constant

If God is the same in any and every circumstance, then it stands to reason that He is equally worthy of worship by every person, in every place, at any time. In other words, He is always owed worship (Hebrews 13:8; James 1:17).

Just from these few reasons alone, it becomes clear that there is no person exempt, no time inappropriate, nor place excluded, from the worship and the glory due to God. All the nations must worship, for He is their Maker, their Saviour, and their God. 

As we are the bride of Christ, let us be faithful to Him. And let us desire and work to see the rest of the nations come to know, love, and worship their God. 

Reflections

1. Think of a time you have experienced jealousy and betrayal. How did that make you feel? How does it help you to better understand the concept of God as a jealous God?
2. Take time to reflect on your life. Where do you find yourself trusting in things or people instead of God? Where do you see your desire and love for other things competing with your love for Christ?
3. How should God’s jealousy for His glory make us see worship differently?