God intro\u00addu\u00adces hims\u00adelf as \u00abthe jea\u00adlous one\u00bb. When it comes to the peo\u00adp\u00adle of Isra\u00adel, God can\u00adnot tole\u00adra\u00adte them fol\u00adlo\u00adwing ano\u00adther God. For he has cho\u00adsen them for hims\u00adelf. The holi\u00adne\u00adss and jea\u00adlou\u00adsy of God belong clo\u00adse tog\u00ade\u00adther. Becau\u00adse the peo\u00adp\u00adle of Isra\u00adel are sup\u00adpo\u00adsed to be holy, God\u2019s jea\u00adlou\u00adsy hits them when they beco\u00adme unfaithful to God. God\u2019s jea\u00adlou\u00adsy seeks us human beings. In Jesus Christ, God comes clo\u00adse to us and inter\u00adce\u00addes for us.<\/p>\n
Jea\u00adlou\u00adsy always has a nega\u00adti\u00adve con\u00adno\u00adta\u00adti\u00adon in our ears. Jea\u00adlou\u00adsy is not an attri\u00adbu\u00adte of which we are proud or which we like to hear from others. Yet God hims\u00adelf descri\u00adbes hims\u00adelf as a jea\u00adlous God. Today we want to go on a jour\u00adney of dis\u00adco\u00advery about God\u2019s jealousy. \tWhat does the state\u00adment God\u2019s name is \u00abthe jea\u00adlous one\u00bb do to you? How do you ima\u00adgi\u00adne a jea\u00adlous God? God pres\u00adents hims\u00adelf as \u00abthe jea\u00adlous one\u00bb. When it comes to the peo\u00adp\u00adle of Isra\u00adel, God can\u00adnot tole\u00adra\u00adte them fol\u00adlo\u00adwing ano\u00adther God. For he has cho\u00adsen them for hims\u00adelf. The holi\u00adne\u00adss and jea\u00adlou\u00adsy of God belong clo\u00adse\u00adly tog\u00ade\u00adther. Becau\u00adse the peo\u00adp\u00adle of Isra\u00adel are sup\u00adpo\u00adsed to be holy, God\u2019s jea\u00adlou\u00adsy strikes them when they\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":7326,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","wpfc_preacher":[79],"wpfc_sermon_series":[90],"wpfc_sermon_topics":[],"wpfc_bible_book":[],"wpfc_service_type":[12],"class_list":["wpfc_preacher-cedric-bruegger","wpfc_sermon_series-heilig-heilig-heilig","wpfc-sermon-single","post-7308","wpfc_sermon","type-wpfc_sermon","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","wpfc_service_type-gottesdienst"],"acf":[],"sermons_blog_filters_topics":"\t\t\t\t
\nGod\u2019s name is \u00abthe jea\u00adlous one\u00bb.
\nThe peo\u00adp\u00adle of Isra\u00adel lived in Egypt for four hundred years. They then left the\u00adre and approa\u00adched the Pro\u00admi\u00adsed Land. On the way, God gives them some ins\u00adtruc\u00adtions on how they should orga\u00adni\u00adse their life tog\u00ade\u00adther and also their life as God\u2019s holy peo\u00adp\u00adle. Howe\u00adver, the land of Cana\u00adan is not an unin\u00adha\u00adbi\u00adted area; various peo\u00adp\u00adles had alre\u00ada\u00addy sett\u00adled the\u00adre before\u00adhand. The ins\u00adtruc\u00adtions that God gives the\u00adre are almost uni\u00adma\u00adgi\u00adnable for us today. For the local peo\u00adp\u00adles are to be dri\u00adven out, some even kil\u00adled. The reason for this is that the\u00adse peo\u00adp\u00adles put their hope in gods other than the God of the Bible. The order to expel the pre\u00advious inha\u00adbi\u00adtants is fol\u00adlo\u00adwed by the jus\u00adti\u00adfi\u00adca\u00adti\u00adon. \u00abFor you shall wor\u00adship no other god. For the LORD<\/span>, who\u00adse name is \u00abThe Jea\u00adlous\u00bb, is a jea\u00adlous God\u00bb (Exodus 34:14 SLT<\/span>). In Hebrew, the root \u00abqn\u00bb \u00bb means some\u00adthing like envious, jea\u00adlous, envy\u00ading, jea\u00adlous or making jea\u00adlous. Depen\u00adding on the con\u00adtext and usa\u00adge, the mea\u00adning can move in one of the dif\u00adfe\u00adrent direc\u00adtions inher\u00adent in the root. In this ver\u00adse, the\u00adre are two words that have the root \u00abqn\u00bb \u00bb. Hence the doubling in Ger\u00adman. On the one hand, God\u2019s name is \u00abthe jea\u00adlous one\u00bb, on the other hand, this is also a descrip\u00adti\u00adon of his natu\u00adre. He is not only jea\u00adlous, he is also jea\u00adlous in his actions. In the con\u00adtext of this ver\u00adse, God\u2019s jea\u00adlou\u00adsy is shown in the fact that he wants them to wor\u00adship him alo\u00adne. It makes him jea\u00adlous when they seek their sal\u00adva\u00adti\u00adon in other gods. Just as I beco\u00adme jea\u00adlous when my son Hosea is away from me for too long, God also wants his peo\u00adp\u00adle to be with him. He wants them to wor\u00adship him alo\u00adne as their God.
\nWhat does this state\u00adment about God being jea\u00adlous do to you? Per\u00adhaps it fits into the image you have of God. An image of aggres\u00adsi\u00adve, inac\u00adces\u00adsi\u00adble or at least incom\u00adpre\u00adhen\u00adsi\u00adble. But it could also be that this descrip\u00adti\u00adon of God upsets you. Jea\u00adlou\u00adsy is not real\u00adly a posi\u00adti\u00adve qua\u00adli\u00adty. But this is not direct\u00adly true. For us, jea\u00adlou\u00adsy is always nega\u00adti\u00adve, but the\u00adre is ONE<\/span> good jea\u00adlou\u00adsy \u2013 God\u2019s jea\u00adlou\u00adsy. If jea\u00adlou\u00adsy is unders\u00adtood posi\u00adtively, then it refers to pas\u00adsio\u00adna\u00adte devo\u00adti\u00adon to some\u00adthing that rightful\u00adly belongs to you. This is the case with the peo\u00adp\u00adle of Isra\u00adel. God has cho\u00adsen this peo\u00adp\u00adle for hims\u00adelf. \u00abFor you are a holy peo\u00adp\u00adle; you belong enti\u00adre\u00adly to the LORD<\/span>. He has cho\u00adsen you out of all the peo\u00adp\u00adles of the world to be his own\u00bb (Deu\u00adte\u00adro\u00adno\u00admy 14: 2 HfA). God is the\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre jea\u00adlous when his peo\u00adp\u00adle do not honour him. God does not want anyo\u00adne other than Him to recei\u00adve honour. Is God sel\u00adfi\u00adsh? No, by no means. If he is tru\u00adly God, the aut\u00adhor of ever\u00ady\u00adthing and hims\u00adelf abo\u00adve ever\u00ady\u00adthing, then he can\u00adnot give honour to anyo\u00adne else but hims\u00adelf! Just as the peo\u00adp\u00adle of Isra\u00adel belong to him, so does the honour.
\nGod is jealous
\nGod\u2019s jea\u00adlou\u00adsy is also a basis for his decis\u00adi\u00adons. Moses was appoin\u00adted to lead the way from Egypt to the Pro\u00admi\u00adsed Land. He pre\u00adsi\u00added over the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes, brought them from Egypt to the bor\u00adders of Cana\u00adan and led them through the desert for for\u00adty years. But he hims\u00adelf was not allo\u00adwed to enter the Pro\u00admi\u00adsed Land. Moses\u00bb mis\u00adbe\u00adha\u00adviour is descri\u00adbed as the reason for this. The Israe\u00adli\u00adtes were tra\u00advel\u00adling in the desert (Exodus 20:1\u201313) and once again they com\u00adplai\u00adned to Moses. This time the\u00adre was a lack of drin\u00adking water. So Moses and his brot\u00adher Aaron went to the Tent of Mee\u00adting and asked God for advice. He ins\u00adtruc\u00adted them to take a staff from the sanc\u00adtua\u00adry and take it to a rock. Once at the rock, they were to speak to the stone and God would let water flow from it. But what did they do? \u00abAfter\u00adwards, he and Aaron had the peo\u00adp\u00adle gather in front of the rock. \u00abLis\u00adten, you stub\u00adborn peo\u00adp\u00adle,\u00bb cried Moses, \u00abwhat do you think? Are we going to make water gush out of this rock for you? And Moses rea\u00adched out and struck the rock twice with his staff. Water gus\u00adhed out, so that all the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes and their live\u00adstock had enough to drink\u00bb (Exodus 20:10\u201311 NLB<\/span>). God gave the com\u00admand to speak to the rock, but Moses struck it. So he dis\u00ado\u00adbey\u00aded God and, even more serious\u00adly, he took away the oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to show hims\u00adelf to his peo\u00adp\u00adle. The con\u00adse\u00adquence? Moses and Aaron were not allo\u00adwed into the Pro\u00admi\u00adsed Land. God did not chan\u00adge his mind over the years. Moses is allo\u00adwed to view the land from a hill, but short\u00adly after\u00adwards he will die. The reason for this harsh decis\u00adi\u00adon fol\u00adlows imme\u00addia\u00adte\u00adly. \u00abFor you both dis\u00ado\u00adbey\u00aded me befo\u00adre the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes at the waters of Meri\u00adbah-Kadesh in the wil\u00adder\u00adness of Zin. The\u00adre you fai\u00adled to show the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes my holi\u00adne\u00adss. The\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre you shall only see the land I am giving the Israe\u00adli\u00adtes from a distance, but you will not enter it\u00bb (Deu\u00adte\u00adro\u00adno\u00admy 32:51\u201352 NLB<\/span>).
\nHoli\u00adne\u00adss and God\u2019s jea\u00adlou\u00adsy are clo\u00adse\u00adly con\u00adnec\u00adted. Becau\u00adse holi\u00adne\u00adss means being set apart. When God choo\u00adses a peo\u00adp\u00adle, a group or indi\u00advi\u00addu\u00adals, he wants them to be set apart from the rest who have not been cho\u00adsen. Ano\u00adther sto\u00adry from the Old Tes\u00adta\u00adment shows that the\u00adse two things belong tog\u00ade\u00adther. Moses\u00bb suc\u00adces\u00adsor was Joshua. He led the peo\u00adp\u00adle into the Pro\u00admi\u00adsed Land and hel\u00adped to con\u00adquer lar\u00adge parts of it. At the end of his life, he made a coven\u00adant bet\u00adween the peo\u00adp\u00adle of Isra\u00adel and God. In this con\u00adtext, he gives a clear and seve\u00adre war\u00adning. \u00abThen Joshua said to the peo\u00adp\u00adle, \u00abYou can\u00adnot ser\u00adve the LORD<\/span>, for he is a holy and jea\u00adlous God. He will not for\u00adgi\u00adve your rebel\u00adli\u00adon and sin\u00bb (Joshua 24:19 NLB<\/span>). If the peo\u00adp\u00adle turn to other gods, this will have devas\u00adta\u00adting con\u00adse\u00adquen\u00adces \u2013 the des\u00adtruc\u00adtion of the who\u00adle nati\u00adon. A quick side note: this thre\u00adat of con\u00adse\u00adquen\u00adces does\u00adn\u2019t sound at all like we would invi\u00adte peo\u00adp\u00adle to live with God. Nevert\u00adhel\u00adess, it achie\u00adves the same goal. The peo\u00adp\u00adle agree to the coven\u00adant with God. They say yes to a holy and jea\u00adlous God. God\u2019s peo\u00adp\u00adle are his peo\u00adp\u00adle and they belong to no one else. The jea\u00adlou\u00adsy of God is not harm\u00adless for tho\u00adse who encoun\u00adter it and not\u00adhing can with\u00adstand it. \u00abFor the LORD<\/span> your God is a con\u00adsum\u00ading fire; he is a jea\u00adlous God!\u00bb (Deu\u00adte\u00adro\u00adno\u00admy 4:24 NLB<\/span>). The jea\u00adlou\u00adsy of God des\u00adtroys ever\u00ady\u00adthing and lea\u00adves nothing.
\nGod\u2019s zeal seeks us humans
\nThe Old Tes\u00adta\u00adment was writ\u00adten in Hebrew and in the cour\u00adse of time a com\u00adple\u00adte trans\u00adla\u00adti\u00adon of it was made into Greek. This is cal\u00adled the Sep\u00adtuag\u00adint. The Greek is the same as the New Tes\u00adta\u00adment. I always find it exci\u00adting to see which word is used in the Sep\u00adtuag\u00adint and whe\u00adre it is then used in the New Tes\u00adta\u00adment. For the words with the Hebrew root \u00abqn\u00bb \u00bb, words with the Greek root \u00abzeo\u00bb are used. It is inte\u00adres\u00adt\u00ading to note that the basic mea\u00adning has not\u00adhing to do with zeal, jea\u00adlou\u00adsy or envy. It has to do with an ever\u00ady\u00adday acti\u00advi\u00adty \u2013 coo\u00adking. \u00abzeo\u00bb means to cook, to be hot or to glow. So the Ger\u00adman expres\u00adsi\u00adon to boil with rage is not a bad fit. If we want to cook, the\u00adre has to be ener\u00adgy. Some\u00adthing that is cer\u00adtain\u00adly not lack\u00ading in fer\u00advour and jea\u00adlou\u00adsy. The mea\u00adnings of \u00abzeo\u00bb are not fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adly nega\u00adti\u00adve. We could even go so far as to say \u00abGod glows for peo\u00adp\u00adle\u00bb. Becau\u00adse in his zeal, God seeks us humans. The pro\u00adphet Isai\u00adah alre\u00ada\u00addy pro\u00admi\u00adses a Prin\u00adce of Peace in the Old Tes\u00adta\u00adment. \u00abHis domi\u00adni\u00adon is gre\u00adat and the peace on the thro\u00adne of David and in his king\u00addom will be end\u00adless. He will estab\u00adlish and uphold it for all time through jus\u00adti\u00adce and righ\u00adteous\u00adness. For this the LORD<\/span> Almigh\u00adty will make a las\u00adting com\u00admit\u00adment\u00bb (Isai\u00adah 9:6 NLB<\/span>). The Schlach\u00adter Bible trans\u00adla\u00adtes the last sen\u00adtence as fol\u00adlows. \u00ab[\u2026] The zeal of the LORD<\/span> of hosts will do this!\u00bb (Isai\u00adah 9:6 SLT<\/span>). This pro\u00admi\u00adsed Prin\u00adce of Peace is Jesus Christ. God\u2019s zeal for us humans was the reason for the mis\u00adsi\u00adon of Jesus Christ. He went all out for us and died on the cross.
\nDuring his life\u00adtime, Jesus stood up for peo\u00adp\u00adle so that they could encoun\u00adter God. I would like to empha\u00adsise one inci\u00addent as an exam\u00adp\u00adle. This is par\u00adti\u00adcu\u00adlar\u00adly signi\u00adfi\u00adcant becau\u00adse here we see Jesus both angry and stan\u00adding up for the non-Jews (John 2:13\u201325). Jesus came to Jeru\u00adsa\u00adlem for a fes\u00adti\u00adval and went into the temp\u00adle the\u00adre. It had dif\u00adfe\u00adrent are\u00adas. Insi\u00adde was the Holy of Holies, then the Holy of Holies, fol\u00adlo\u00adwed by dif\u00adfe\u00adrent cour\u00adty\u00adards. It was always pre\u00adcis\u00ade\u00adly defi\u00adned whe\u00adre each group of peo\u00adp\u00adle was allo\u00adwed to go. The so-cal\u00adled fore\u00adcourt of the Gen\u00adti\u00adles was the outer\u00admost. Non-Jews were allo\u00adwed to go as far as this. This area was not sacred to the reli\u00adgious lea\u00adder\u00adship of the time. It was the\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre most likely used as a mar\u00adket\u00adplace. Peo\u00adp\u00adle came from all over to offer their sacri\u00adfices. So that they did\u00adn\u2019t have to tra\u00advel hundreds of kilo\u00adme\u00adt\u00adres with the ani\u00admals, they could buy them local\u00adly. The\u00adre were also money chan\u00adgers so that they could pay with the cor\u00adrect cur\u00adren\u00adcy. This fore\u00adcourt was the\u00adr\u00ade\u00adfo\u00adre fil\u00adled with all kinds of prac\u00adti\u00adcal stalls: Catt\u00adle dea\u00adlers, pige\u00adon sel\u00adlers and money chan\u00adgers. But now comes a sce\u00adne that for many does not fit into the con\u00adcept of a loving Jesus who sacri\u00adfices hims\u00adelf for ever\u00adyo\u00adne. He makes a whip out of ropes and dri\u00adves out all the ani\u00admals, trad\u00aders and money chan\u00adgers. He throws the money on the ground and over\u00adturns the money chan\u00adgers\u00bb tables. \u00abThen the disci\u00adples remem\u00adbe\u00adred the pro\u00adphe\u00adcy from Scrip\u00adtu\u00adre: \u00abThe pas\u00adsi\u00adon for your house burns within me\u00bb \u00bb (John 2:17 NLB<\/span>). This quo\u00adte comes from Psalm 69:10, whe\u00adre pas\u00adsi\u00adon is a word with the root \u00abqn\u00bb \u00bb. The zeal and pas\u00adsi\u00adon of God is clo\u00adse\u00adly rela\u00adted to his jea\u00adlou\u00adsy. While zeal and pas\u00adsi\u00adon are the posi\u00adti\u00adve side of the same coin, God\u2019s jea\u00adlou\u00adsy shows its\u00adelf when some\u00adthing goes against God\u2019s holi\u00adne\u00adss and honour.
\nBut what hap\u00adpen\u00aded the\u00adre in the temp\u00adle cour\u00adty\u00adard? Jesus Christ made room for you the\u00adre! He wan\u00adted the non-Jews to be able to come into God\u2019s pre\u00adsence unhin\u00adde\u00adred. This was sim\u00adply impos\u00adsi\u00adble in the hust\u00adle and bust\u00adle of the mar\u00adket\u00adplace. But Jesus cle\u00adared the way. Jesus Christ eager\u00adly sear\u00adches for us humans and stands up for us. It is the same zeal that dro\u00adve Jesus to open the way to God, as well as to clo\u00adse the way for Moses into the Pro\u00admi\u00adsed Land. He does not want us to wor\u00adship any other gods, in wha\u00adte\u00adver form. He wants us to fol\u00adlow him alo\u00adne. \u00abFor you shall wor\u00adship no other god. For the LORD<\/span>, who\u00adse name is \u00abThe Jea\u00adlous\u00bb, is a jea\u00adlous God\u00bb (Exodus 34:14 SLT<\/span>).
\nPos\u00adsi\u00adble ques\u00adti\u00adons for the small group
\nBible text read: Exodus 34:14; Deu\u00adte\u00adro\u00adno\u00admy 20:1\u201313; John 2:13\u201325<\/p>\n
\n\tHow could jea\u00adlou\u00adsy be unders\u00adtood posi\u00adtively if it is rela\u00adted to God?
\n\tDescri\u00adbe the events of Exodus 20:1\u201314, what do you noti\u00adce? Do you under\u00adstand the \u00aboffence\u00bb of Moses and Aaron? What do you find difficult?
\n\tGod\u2019s holi\u00adne\u00adss and jea\u00adlou\u00adsy are clo\u00adse\u00adly rela\u00adted. Whe\u00adre do you see clo\u00adsen\u00adess? Whe\u00adre do you find it difficult?
\n\tGod sear\u00adches for us humans with zeal. What is your respon\u00adse to this pas\u00adsio\u00adna\u00adte search for you? What about other gods in your life?
\n\tCan you clas\u00adsi\u00adfy the beha\u00adviour of Jesus Christ in the temp\u00adle? What was new to you?<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"