The Jealousy of God
The Jealousy of God
Exodus 6-10
“Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your god and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the burdens of the Egyptians.”
In Exodus 34:14, God clearly states that He will not tolerate any rivals: “For you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Many today want to believe that all religious lead to God and that God accepts all people regardless of who or what they worship. However, throughout the scriptures, we find that God does not accept or tolerate any other form of worship, any other claim to be worship god that is a distortion or refusal to accept Him in the manner in which He has revealed Himself in His word. This He made clear to the Egyptians.
We read through the plagues that God poured out upon the Egyptians and the devastation that they brought upon the land, and we wonder why God chose these. Was God merely showing His power to judge, or was there some underlying purpose? Looking closely, we discover that the choice of the plagues was not arbitrary. Each of the plagues was directly connected to specific gods of the Egyptians and were designed to show that they were empty and devoid of any power and that there is only one truth God. Like most ancient Near East cultures, the Egyptians were polytheistic. They believed in multiple gods, each having different powers and realms of influence. However, in the plagues, God makes it clear that He alone is God and will not accept any other worship of other gods.
The first plague, turning the water to Blood, revealed the powerlessness of the Egyptian gods of Khrum (guardian of the river’s source), Kapi (the god of the Nile), and Osiris (whose bloodstream was the Nile.
The second plague of the frogs was a polemic against Hapi and Heqt, both Egyptian goddesses of fertility depicted by the imagery of a frog.
The third plague of lice was related to Seb, the earth god.
The fourth plague revealed God’s power over Uatchit, the fly god of Egypt.
The fifth plague condemned the four Egyptian gods associated with bulls and cops: Ptah, Hathor, Mnevis, and Amon.
The sixth plague of boils revealed the powerlessness of the gods Sekhmet (the goddess of Epidemics) and Serapis and Imhotep (gods of healing).
The hail of the seventh plague was related to the gods Nut (sky goddess), Isis and Seth (deities of agriculture), and Shu (god of the atmosphere).
The eighth plague revealed the powerlessness of the god Serapia, who was the protector from locusts.
The plague of darkness revealed the powerlessness of the Egyptian gods Re, Amon-re, Aten, Atum, Horus (the sun gods), and Thoth (the moon God).
The final plague, the death of the firstborn, was a direct judgment upon Pharaoh himself, who was also regarded as a god by the people.
Throughout the story, God reveals to the Egyptians and us that He alone is God and accepts no rivals. Often in our life, we set up other “gods.” We elevate other things in our lives to be a higher priority than God. When we do so, they replace God as the object of our worship, and they become our idol. It may be the pursuit of money or success in our careers. It may be the pursuit of pleasure. It may be our bank account and the security it gives. If we are honest, we must admit that we often set up other gods in our lives. A god is anything that becomes a higher priority than the worship and service we give to God. When we are too busy to go to church, when we are involved in other activities so that we do not have time to serve Him, when we spend more time pursuing what we want to do rather than pursuing our relationship or service for Him, we have set up other gods in our lives. However, God will not tolerate divided worship. He is a jealous God who desires a personal relationship with us in which we make him and our service for him our highest priority. Today, ask God to reveal to you the gods you have set up in your life so that you might cleanse your life from these and worship and serve him alone.
Exodus 6-10
“Then I will take you for My people, and I will be your god and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from the burdens of the Egyptians.”
In Exodus 34:14, God clearly states that He will not tolerate any rivals: “For you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Many today want to believe that all religious lead to God and that God accepts all people regardless of who or what they worship. However, throughout the scriptures, we find that God does not accept or tolerate any other form of worship, any other claim to be worship god that is a distortion or refusal to accept Him in the manner in which He has revealed Himself in His word. This He made clear to the Egyptians.
We read through the plagues that God poured out upon the Egyptians and the devastation that they brought upon the land, and we wonder why God chose these. Was God merely showing His power to judge, or was there some underlying purpose? Looking closely, we discover that the choice of the plagues was not arbitrary. Each of the plagues was directly connected to specific gods of the Egyptians and were designed to show that they were empty and devoid of any power and that there is only one truth God. Like most ancient Near East cultures, the Egyptians were polytheistic. They believed in multiple gods, each having different powers and realms of influence. However, in the plagues, God makes it clear that He alone is God and will not accept any other worship of other gods.
The first plague, turning the water to Blood, revealed the powerlessness of the Egyptian gods of Khrum (guardian of the river’s source), Kapi (the god of the Nile), and Osiris (whose bloodstream was the Nile.
The second plague of the frogs was a polemic against Hapi and Heqt, both Egyptian goddesses of fertility depicted by the imagery of a frog.
The third plague of lice was related to Seb, the earth god.
The fourth plague revealed God’s power over Uatchit, the fly god of Egypt.
The fifth plague condemned the four Egyptian gods associated with bulls and cops: Ptah, Hathor, Mnevis, and Amon.
The sixth plague of boils revealed the powerlessness of the gods Sekhmet (the goddess of Epidemics) and Serapis and Imhotep (gods of healing).
The hail of the seventh plague was related to the gods Nut (sky goddess), Isis and Seth (deities of agriculture), and Shu (god of the atmosphere).
The eighth plague revealed the powerlessness of the god Serapia, who was the protector from locusts.
The plague of darkness revealed the powerlessness of the Egyptian gods Re, Amon-re, Aten, Atum, Horus (the sun gods), and Thoth (the moon God).
The final plague, the death of the firstborn, was a direct judgment upon Pharaoh himself, who was also regarded as a god by the people.
Throughout the story, God reveals to the Egyptians and us that He alone is God and accepts no rivals. Often in our life, we set up other “gods.” We elevate other things in our lives to be a higher priority than God. When we do so, they replace God as the object of our worship, and they become our idol. It may be the pursuit of money or success in our careers. It may be the pursuit of pleasure. It may be our bank account and the security it gives. If we are honest, we must admit that we often set up other gods in our lives. A god is anything that becomes a higher priority than the worship and service we give to God. When we are too busy to go to church, when we are involved in other activities so that we do not have time to serve Him, when we spend more time pursuing what we want to do rather than pursuing our relationship or service for Him, we have set up other gods in our lives. However, God will not tolerate divided worship. He is a jealous God who desires a personal relationship with us in which we make him and our service for him our highest priority. Today, ask God to reveal to you the gods you have set up in your life so that you might cleanse your life from these and worship and serve him alone.
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