The Jealousy of God - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2025

For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
2 Corinthians 11:2

The Jealousy of God
God's jealousy is first mentioned on the occasion of the giving of the Law: "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage" (Ex. 20:2). He was their God and they were His people on the ground of redemption. Accordingly, they were to have no other gods before Him: "You shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God" (v. 5).

Jealousy is a very powerful emotion, and there have been cases where a husband has assaulted, or even murdered his wife in a fit of jealous rage because she had been unfaithful to him. Thankfully, God's jealousy is not like that. In spite of our unfaithfulness, which grieves Him deeply, He continues to love us, and desires our love in return. But He will not overlook our sins. He will chasten us in order to bring us back to Himself. The Corinthians had been saved through Paul's preaching; and his jealousy for them was like that of God. He entered into the deep longings of God that His people be faithfully engaged to Christ. He had betrothed them to one Husband in order to present them as a pure virgin to Christ. There is an allusion also to Genesis, where God presented Eve, fresh and pure, to Adam; but the serpent came in and spoiled the scene through deception (2 Cor. 11:3).

The unfaithfulness of the Church to Christ is well documented in Scripture. In spite of this unfaithfulness, He is laboring ceaselessly to present her to Himself without spot or blemish. The Church's departure from Christ may be traced to the loss of "first love," wherein the heart has been enticed by the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is still possible, even if it be individually, to return to our first love. "He who has an ear, let him hear" (Rev. 2:4, 7).

Richard A. Barnett