Transcript Document 7395845

The Revelation of God
Lesson 5
Lesson Text—Exodus 20:1-4
Exodus 20:1-4
1 And God spake all these words,
saying,
2 I am the LORD thy God, which have
brought thee out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage.
3 Thou shalt have no other gods
before me.
Lesson Text—Exodus 20:1-4
4
Thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image, or any likeness of any
thing that is in heaven above, or that
is in the earth beneath, or that is in
the water under the earth:
Lesson Text—Exodus 20:5-7
Exodus 20:5-7
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them, nor serve them: for I the
LORD thy God am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and
fourth generation of them that hate
me;
Lesson Text—Exodus 20:5-7
6
And shewing mercy unto
thousands of them that love me, and
keep my commandments.
7 Thou shalt not take the name of
the LORD thy God in vain; for the
LORD will not hold him guiltless that
taketh his name in vain.
Lesson Text—Exodus 34:14
Exodus 34:14
For thou shalt worship no other god:
for the LORD, whose name is
Jealous, is a jealous God.
Focus Verse—Exodus 
34:14
Exodus 34:14
For thou shalt worship no other
god: for the LORD, whose name is
Jealous, is a jealous God.
Focus Thought
As God disclosed to Israel more of
His nature, God revealed Himself
as a jealous God.
Culture Connection
I.Beware
God IstheDistinct
Green-eyed Monster
In 1604, William Shakespeare wrote
his famous play, Othello. In that
classic work, the character Iago states,
“O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; it is
the green-ey’d monster, which doth
mock the meat it feeds on.” The great
bard thus warned against the
dangerous and destructive human trait
of jealousy!
It is undeniably a carnivorous “beast”
that
consumes
one’s peace, destroys
I.
God
Is
Distinct
clear thinking, and damages what it
touches! Lennox Lowery, age fiftythree, of Thonotosassa, Florida, has
the scars to prove it.
In October 2011, this man was
driven by extreme jealousy to confront
his ex-girlfriend’s new beau. Anger
became words, which became a
conflict, culminating in Mr. Lowery’s
pulling a gun and shooting his victim
in the chest.
When later confronted by police, he
refused
to Is
drop
a shotgun and was
I.
God
Distinct
subsequently shot by the officers in
the right hand, the left knee, and the
left ear. Among the many tragedies in
this account is that Lowery and his
victim had been close friends for over
five years. But jealousy consumed
that friendship and in the process a
life!
Interesting then that such a
I. God corrupting
Is Distinct
negative,
emotion could
be attributed to our perfectly holy
God, but such is clearly the case from
Scripture. God reveals Himself as the
possessor of something that man
does not readily hold—godly
jealousy! God is neither green-eyed
nor a monster, but He is jealous for
His people with a godly jealousy!
Transparency 1
Contemplating the Topic
I. God Is Distinct
Jealousy! The simple mention of the
word stirs unsavory feelings and
emotions. It speaks of bitterness,
envy, and harshness. It has strained to
the breaking point multiple human
connections. It has separated husband
from wife, siblings, and choice friends.
Its havoc appears in divorce courts, in
broken relationships, and in lonely
lives.
In scene three of the third act of
William
Shakespeare’s
Othello, Iago
I.
God
Is
Distinct
warns the lead character, “O, beware,
my lord, of jealousy; it is the greeney’d monster, which doth mock the
meat it feeds on.” This “monster” has
savaged so many and so widely it is
difficult to associate it with anything
righteous.
On the surface jealousy would
seem to be the antithesis of the God
we serve, for He is the definition of
infinite holiness.
The psalmist declared of Him, “But
I. God
Is Distinct
thou
art holy,
O thou that inhabitest
the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3).
Indeed, so perfect is His purity that
His prophet said, “Thou art of purer
eyes than to behold evil, and canst
not look on iniquity” (Habakkuk 1:13).
Consequently, it is almost shocking
that the Word of God describes God
as jealous! However, God is explicit in
this self-revelation of His jealous
nature.
In His delivery of the Ten
I. God Is Distinct
Commandments,
the Lord expressly
stated, “I the Lord thy God am a
jealous God” (Exodus 20:5).
So how do we properly reconcile
these
ideas
about
jealousy? What
I.
God
Is
Distinct
does God mean when He says He is
“jealous”? Does this mean something
different from the human application
of that term? What is the righteous
framework for His jealousy, and what
is our righteous response to it? Our
lesson today focuses on these and
other applicable questions as we look
at this unique revelation of God’s
nature and character.
Searching the Scriptures
I. GodGod
Is Distinct
Is Distinct
The frailties of human speech
render us woefully unable to properly
describe the Lord. His vastness and
transcendence cause us to fumble in
our efforts to depict Him in words.
Perhaps no book comes closer to
doing so than the Psalms, and yet
even there the writer had to conclude,
“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be
praised; and his greatness is
unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3).
Try as one might, there is no adequate
manner
to Is
examine
the boundaries of
I.
God
Distinct
the greatness of God, much less to
describe what one can discover.
Due to this linguistic limitation, we
often depend on comparison to
attempt to comprehend and describe
Him. We use similes such as “He is
like fresh water in the desert” or
metaphors such as “God is my strong
tower.” While these useful aides can
assist us in grasping and expressing
His majesty and nature, still they are
completely insufficient.
In reality, nothing and no one
compares
to Him.
“There is none holy
I.
God
Is
Distinct
as the Lord: for there is none beside
thee: neither is there any rock like our
God” (I Samuel 2:2)
God is completely distinct from all
people, all things, all false deities, all
concepts, all ideas, and all feelings.
He is the self-existent One who
resides outside the boundaries of
time and creation. He alone is God,
and He is God alone!
This concept is vital to the topic of
I. God
Is Distinct
God’s
jealousy,
for we cannot apply
the same standards and
preconceptions to God that apply to
us. Human emotions and reactions
are entirely foreign to Him. He exists
in a completely different realm than
we. He stated this of Himself: “For as
the heavens are higher than the
earth, so are my ways higher than
your ways, and my thoughts than
your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).
A.
A. God’s Distinctiveness Allows
God’s Distinctiveness Allows
Him to Be Jealous
Him to Be Jealous
That God is distinct unto Himself
allows Him to righteously possess
attributes that would be unacceptable
for us. Several such characteristics
are reserved to Himself.
We are clearly told not to judge one
another (Matthew 7:1-2). While
believers are not to judge others,
however, God is the judge of all the
earth. (See Genesis 18:25.)
The Scriptures repeatedly instruct
us
to
“turnIs
theDistinct
other cheek” when
I.
God
others commit wrongs against us. We
are not to retaliate or to seek to
recompense evil for evil. However,
notice the contrast between our role
and that of the Lord. “Dearly beloved,
avenge not yourselves, but rather
give place unto wrath: for it is written,
Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith
the Lord” (Romans 12:19).
Ephesians 4:31 lists things that
believers
put out of their lives,
I. Godshould
Is Distinct
two of which are wrath and anger. Yet
scores of verses describe God
appropriately possessing these two
characteristics. “He cast upon them
the fierceness of his anger, wrath, and
indignation, and trouble, by sending
evil angels among them” (Psalm
78:49).
Clearly, God is distinct and He can
righteously
attributes and
I. God Ispossess
Distinct
characteristics that would be
unacceptable for us as believers.
Jealousy is one of these attributes
that is appropriate only for God. Only
He can be jealous without any iniquity
or unrighteousness in His nature or
actions. Were He like us, this would be
impossible, but His distinction as the
supreme Sovereign affords Him this
ability.
B. God’s Distinctiveness Permits
B. God’s Distinctiveness
No Rivals
Permits
No
Rivals
Individuals often confuse jealousy
with envy, but the two are
fundamentally different. An envious
person desires something that
belongs to another. The Bible calls
this covetousness and strictly forbids
it in Exodus 20. Conversely, jealousy
is the fear that something a person
possesses will be taken away by
another.
This can certainly apply to many
aspects of a person’s life, but as Dr.
I.
God
Is
Distinct
Gary Collins states, “The word
[jealousy] more often refers to
anxiety which comes when we are
afraid that the affections of a loved
one might be lost to a rival. We fear
that our mates, or perhaps our
children, will be lured away by some
other person who, when compared to
us, seems to be more attractive,
capable and successful” (Homemade,
July 1985).
Here is where God’s distinction
comes into this discussion. He has no
I.
God
Is
Distinct
rivals. None can compare to Him. He
is not the “best” God; He is the only
God. A person in a moment of
foolishness may indeed turn his back
on God for something far less
valuable, but this is the result of sin’s
dominion in mankind and not due to
any lack on God’s part. He is not
jealous for fear that a “more
attractive, more capable, more
successful” god might present itself
to us. He knows there is no other God.
Our own insecurities drive much of
the
emotion
we
commonly describe
I.
God
Is
Distinct
as jealousy. Feelings of low selfesteem haunt a man or a woman until
he or she becomes convinced
someone else might present a more
attractive option for the loved one.
God labors under no such burden.
While not an egomaniacal tyrant,
God is perfectly secure in His identity.
He is the only source of life. He is the
only fount of spiritual blessings. He is
the only Savior of mankind.
“Thus saith the Lord the King of
Israel,
andIs
hisDistinct
redeemer the Lord of
I.
God
hosts; I am the first, and I am the last;
and beside me there is no God”
(Isaiah 44:6). He does not relate to us
with a perpetual mistrust issuing from
a well of insecurities on His part.
Instead, with the calm assurance
sovereign distinctiveness brings, He
is jealous over us with a godly
jealousy.
God Is Jealous
II. God Is Jealous
God’s jealousy is not sinful or
unclean in any fashion. His moral
nature would not allow that to be so.
His jealousy for His people does not
stem from selfish desires, nor does it
produce vindictive actions. It does,
however, have both underlying
righteous motives and logical
righteous effects.
A person tends to resent it when
carnal
jealousy
becomes apparent in
I.
God
Is
Distinct
an otherwise healthy relationship. But
people of God should rejoice that He
has revealed His godly jealousy over
us. Instead of destroying the intimacy
of our relationship with God, this
attribute affords the safety and
security of an ongoing closeness
between us. It is a valuable aspect in
the bond we share with Jesus Christ.
The immature Christian might
I.misunderstand
God Is Distinct
the jealousy of God
or take exception even to the use of
that word. But as we grow in Christ,
we discover that God’s jealousy for
us is born out of a desire for our
best interests and produces
guidelines and protections for our
spiritual well-being.
A. What God’s Jealousy Is
A. What
God’s
Is
Jealousy
in the Jealousy
sense of “vigilance
in maintaining or guarding something”
concisely describes the attribute of
our Savior. God vigilantly maintains
and guards the relationship between
us and Him. That brings to us a
wonderful source of comfort and
certainty. He will not look in on us
casually once in a while to monitor our
spiritual well-being. Rather, His
jealousy for us compels Him to
carefully and consistently watch
over us.
Psalm 40:5
“Many, O LORD my God, are thy
wonderful works which thou hast done,
and thy thoughts which are to us-ward:
they cannot be reckoned up in order
unto thee: if I would declare and speak
of them, they are more than can be
numbered” (Psalm 40:5).
God’s jealousy is not selfish. It does
not
protectIs
Him
from hurt or the pain
I. God
Distinct
of betrayal. Instead, it endeavors to
protect us from the hurt we will
experience if we reject Christ and His
rule in our lives. He is jealous over us
not for His own good, but for ours. It is
not for fear of what He might lose, but
rather to protect us from what we
stand to lose without Christ. He wants
our lives to be all He designed them to
be and is jealous against anything that
might interrupt that flow of blessings.
The selfless love of Christ longs for
our lives to abound with rich
I.
God
Is
Distinct
blessings. Consider the words of Paul
to the church in Ephesus. “Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ” (Ephesians 1:3). Or hear the
words of Peter in his second epistle.
“According as his divine power hath
given unto us all things that pertain
unto life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him that hath called us
to glory and virtue” (II Peter 1:3).
Or ponder the words of the Lord
Himself when He said, “I am come
I.
God
Is
Distinct
that they might have life, and that they
might have it more abundantly” (John
10:10).
God pours profound and manifold
blessings into the lives of His
children. This is not to say that
challenges and difficult days will not
occur, for surely they come to all.
However, God wants to give us an
abundance of everything He knows
we need for life and godliness.
While that desire in the heart of
God
exists,IsHe
has decreed that
I.
God
Distinct
certain actions can be blessed and
others cannot. He has determined that
some ways are righteous and subject
to His favor, and some ways are
unrighteous and subject to His
judgment. Some roads lead to life,
and some roads lead to death. Some
choices produce blessing, and some
choices produce cursing. Some
lifestyles produce communion with
Him, and some produce distance
between us.
Transparency 2
I. Because
God Is He
Distinct
is jealous over us,
He does not leave us to our own
devices to discover which is
which. We are not left to our own
best ideas. Instead, the jealousy
of God actively seeks to ensure
our continued favor, blessing,
and intimacy with Him.
B. What God’s Jealousy Does
While
the human
emotionDoes
of
B. What
God’s
Jealousy
jealousy may not be healthy in and of
itself, unrighteous human jealousy is
most harmful when acted upon. When
the selfish feelings become words and
deeds, it deeply wounds relationships.
In contrast, when God’s intense
love and jealous care for us translates
into actions, it only strengthens our
relationship with Him. We become
recipients of His good will. His
jealousy for us is the wellspring from
which flows His work in us.
1. God’s jealousy directs. Exodus
20 provides the framework and setting
I.
God
Is
Distinct
for the description of the jealousy of
God. In this passage we observe a
pattern typical to the contracts
between ancient kings and their
people. Such agreements usually
contained four facets. First, the king
would clearly identify himself.
Second, he would recount those
things he had accomplished for his
subjects. Third, he would promise to
protect his subjects and itemize the
benefits of this agreement.
Finally, the contract would list the
demands placed on the subjects of
I.
God
Is
Distinct
the king, including their exclusive
loyalty.
Exodus 20 contains all four
elements. Verse 2 identifies the King
of this agreement and tells what He
has done for His subjects. “I am the
Lord thy God, which have brought
thee out of the land of Egypt, out of
the house of bondage” (Exodus 20:2).
Verse 6 lists the King’s promises to
them for their submission.
“And shewing mercy unto thousands
of them that love me, and keep my
I.
God
Is
Distinct
commandments” (Exodus 20:6).
But woven among these elements
are the requirements the King
demands, commonly referred to as
the Ten Commandments. The first four
deal with the people’s relationship
with God and the next six deal with
their relationship with each other. We
should notice that God identified
Himself as jealous within the
framework of these commandments.
Commandments from God stem
from
the righteous
jealousy of God.
I.
God
Is
Distinct
His desire for our spiritual prosperity
coupled with our inability to direct our
own way produces the need for Him
to interject Himself into our lives with
direction and instruction. Anything
less would testify to an absence of
jealousy on His part, for it would
indicate His unconcern for our
spiritual condition.
When we see the commandments
for
what
they
are—the security that
I.
God
Is
Distinct
maintains our relationship with Him—
the requirements His jealousy places
on our lives are beautiful expressions
of His eternal love. (See Psalm 19:711.)
2. God’s jealousy protects. Not only
does His jealousy provide instruction,
but it also provides protection. God’s
jealousy over us will not allow the
enemy of our soul unfettered access
into our lives.
God will not stand by and ignore our
defenselessness
against spiritual
I.
God
Is
Distinct
onslaught or withdraw when the
tempter tries to woo us away. He does
not grow silent while other voices vie
for our affections. His jealously
simply will not let Him.
Instead, we can make our
dangerous journey through this world
knowing that our jealous God watches
over and protects our relationship
with Him.
“There hath no temptation taken you
but
such as
isDistinct
common to man: but
I.
God
Is
God is faithful, who will not suffer you
to be tempted above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation also make
a way to escape, that ye may be able
to bear it” (I Corinthians 10:13).
It is a gross error to compare the
righteous jealousy of God with the
selfish jealousy of mankind.
Still, one need not use much
imagination
toDistinct
envision the reaction
I.
God
Is
of a truly jealous man if he were to
see a flirtatious interloper giving his
wife improper attention. Others
probably would have to restrain him
from taking sudden and perhaps
violent action. Neither will our jealous
God idly stand by while Satan
attempts to lure His bride away. We
can have the same assurance of
Nehemiah: “Our God shall fight for
us” (Nehemiah 4:20).
willIs
notDistinct
remove our freedom
I.God
God
to choose, and He will not at this time
destroy the devil, but He will
jealously guard His investment in us.
“Deliver me from mine enemies, O
my God: defend me from them that
rise up against me” (Psalm 59:1).
God Desires Loyalty
III. God
Desires
Loyalty
Several of the characteristics God
requires of us are based on His having
first demonstrated them. We love Him
because He loved us first. (See I John
4:19.) We are charged to live holy
because He is holy (I Peter 1:15-16).
The Scriptures command us to forgive
based on how we have been forgiven
(Ephesians 4:32). Along with other
traits, Christ’s examples of love,
holiness, and forgiveness provide
patterns for our behavior.
In like fashion, our jealous God
demands
we demonstrate to Him
I. God that
Is Distinct
the type of loyalty He has manifested
to us.
Certainly God has proven Himself
to be faithful. The Scriptures testify
abundantly to this. (See I
Thessalonians 5:24; II Thessalonians
3:3.) Jeremiah declared, “Great is thy
faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:23).
In addition to the Scriptures’
I. Godto Is
Distinct
witness
God’s
faithfulness, any
person who has served Him can
testify to His faithfulness. God is
unwavering in His commitment toward
us. He does not base His loyalty on
our conduct or our worth; instead, He
founds His loyalty upon His
unchanging nature. From the
foundation of His consistent
faithfulness, He calls believers also to
be loyal.
Loyalty does not stem from
obligation;
I. God Isit blossoms
Distinctfrom love. We
do not have to be faithful; we are
allowed to be faithful. We are not
constrained to live holy and separated
lives; we have been set free so that
we may live as separated unto God.
God desires loyalty from us in every
aspect of our lives. He calls us to be
loyal in conduct, loyal in devotions,
loyal in finances, and loyal in lifestyle.
Most importantly, God calls us to
be loyal in our affections.
The Lord made clear the preeminence
of this requirement. “Jesus said unto
I.
God
Is
Distinct
him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind. This is the first
and great commandment” (Matthew
22:37-38). Our jealous God will not
allow us to share our ultimate
affection with any other suitor. He
knows that doing so would negate our
loyalty to Him. “Love not the world,
neither the things that are in the
world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him”
(I John 2:15).
In response to the great love He
has
shownIs
us,Distinct
and in light of the
I.
God
jealous nature of our God, each of us
should strive to fulfill the
commandment of Colossians 3:2. “Set
your affection on things above, not on
things on the earth.” Doing less than
this is offering Him less loyalty than
He has shown us. His jealousy will not
allow that for our own good.
God Desires Worship
IV. God
Desires
Worship
The first
two commandments
encompass the core of another
principal requirement for those who
serve a jealous God; they shall reserve
their worship exclusively for Him.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before
me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image, or any likeness of any
thing that is in heaven above, or that is
in the earth beneath, or that is in the
water under the earth: thou shalt not
bow down thyself to them, nor
serve them” (Exodus 20:3-5).
He will not settle for less, nor should
He.
He notIs
only
desires exclusive
I.
God
Distinct
worship, He deserves it.
God created mankind with both the
capacity and the need to worship. It is
woven into his nature to demonstrate
his allegiance and service to a higher
power. Even remote tribes of
“uncivilized” people who have never
seen a Bible or heard the name of
Jesus Christ have crafted various
religious practices. They are simply
responding to the God-given nature of
a human to worship.
A jealous God requires His people
to commit to or submit to only Him.
I.
God
Is
Distinct
However, because He has given
mankind freewill, the individual has the
choice to make whether to worship
Him. God knows that a person’s
worship of anything else would incur
that person’s destruction, and He loves
us too much to allow it without
warning us to avoid it. Again, His
jealousy stems from what He knows is
good for us and not from what is good
only for Him. He deserves worship, but
in a larger sense we need to
worship Him.
Worship is much more than acts of
public praise offered corporately in a
I.
God
Is
Distinct
church setting. It is even more than
the private moments of close
communion we share with the Lord
during personal devotion. It is more
broadly the active representation of
His Lordship in our lives. It is the
ongoing demonstration of our
submission to His Word, His will, and
His ways. Our jealous God desires
lives that are wholly and completely
obedient to what will prosper our
souls.
One significant fact underlies the
importance of this topic: we become
I.
God
Is
Distinct
like what we worship. The inherent act
of submission in worship has a
formative effect on our lives. We are
crafted into the pattern of that which
we worship. “The idols of the heathen
are silver and gold, the work of men’s
hands. They have mouths, but they
speak not; eyes have they, but they
see not; they have ears, but they hear
not; neither is there any breath in their
mouths.
They that make them are like unto
I. God
Distinct
them:
so isIs
every
one that trusteth in
them” (Psalm 135:15-18).
If this is true of a lifeless work of
men’s hands, how much more this is
so of the living God! Our worship of
Him shapes us into His image. We
become like Him by constant exposure
to Him. Because He knows this is in
our best interest, our jealous God
demands exclusivity in our worship
Internalizing the Message
I. God Is Distinct
The Lord is perfect in all His ways;
thus His jealousy is a perfect jealousy.
It is not the product of any selfish
motive on His part, rather it is driven
by His intense love for us and His
desire that our relationship with Him
prosper. His jealousy ensures that the
love we share will grow and develop
through the years of our service for
Him.
Does His jealousy make demands
on us? Of course it does. Any
I.
God
Is
Distinct
worthwhile relationship is
accompanied by expectations and
responsibilities. We are not free to
absorb all the benefits of being His
child with none of the associated
responsibilities. He is too holy for us
to walk with Him while clinging to
unrighteous values and desires. He
has been too good and too generous
to us in saving us for our lives to
exhibit a lack of gratitude by flippant
or casual commitment.
His jealousy demands more.
I. God
Godcalls
Is us
Distinct
to complete loyalty.
He expects from us pure worship,
void of any idolatry of spirit. His altar
is to be His alone, and we may
worship nothing else there. To attempt
to blend our devotion to Him and
worship for Him with any affections
for things of this world is as morally
repugnant as our bowing down to a
statue of stone or wood. Either is an
idolatrous affront to the jealousy of
God.
When we embrace God’s jealous
I. God
Distinct
love
for usIs
and
accept the associated
guidelines it places in our lives, then
we have the assurance of continued
communion with Him. Neither the
storms of life nor the assault of Satan
can destroy our relationship with Him,
for our jealous God will witness our
obedience to His ways and protect and
defend His children.
If He lacked this jealous concern, we
I. God
Iseach
Distinct
would
meet
temptation and trial
with uncertainty. Instead we can
confidently lift up our eyes to the One
who will help—the great, jealous God,
Jesus Christ.