What Does 'Jealous God' Mean?

One of the saddest stories I've heard is of Oprah Winfrey's rejection of the Lord. While sitting in a Baptist church one Sunday, the preacher said God was a jealous God. In her ignorance, she assumed that God's jealousy meant that he was petty and a control freak. So she turned away from her heavenly Father and has adopted all sorts of erroneous philosophies.

What does 'jealous' actually mean in God's case? He seeks to protect and defend his name, all that he is, and those who trust in him alone. He warned about worshipping false gods in Exodus 20:5 (KJV) when he told the Israelites that, "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;" That's important to note since it's part of the Ten Commandments.

False gods do nothing to help their worshippers and are actually demons in disguise. Look at what the Apostle Paul wrote to his protege in 1 Timothy 4:1 KJV). "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;"

Likewise, he wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:20 (KJV), "But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils."

God also came to the aid of Israel when they repented and he repaid the wickedness of their enemies. Here's what Nahum 1:2 (KJV)says.  "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."

Paul also clears up what the Lord's sort of jealousy means when he wrote in 2 Corinthians 11:2 (KJV), "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ."

From these, and many other scriptures, we can see that God's jealousy isn't the mean sort as ours is. He wants the best for us and he takes great umbrage at any denigration of his holy reputation.
 
For this reason, I'm saving my money so I may publish my next book called You Think You're Going to Heaven. People need to understand who God is and why sin is so odious to him. May God use my writing to steer people right.