A Personal Reflection on God’s Jealousy for His Own Glory

God’s jealousy for his own glory is right and good and loving.

glory

God is holy because he delights in and guards his reputation.

We all can relate to this. We know what it is like to care about our reputation, to want a good reputation. And we want to have a good name. We want others to think and speak well of us.

In a perfectly noble sense, this is what it means that God is jealous for the glory of his name. Here are some examples of his coming right out and saying that:

“I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.” (Isaiah 42:8)

 “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.” (Isaiah 48:11)

Jesus prayed, “Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’” (John 12:28)

God’s concern for God’s glory

Here are other examples showing God’s pursuit or protection of his own glory:

Jesus said, “The true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” (John 4:23)

“God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:28–29)

“When [Judas] had gone out [to betray the Lord], Jesus said, ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.” (John 13:31–32)

These are just a few examples showing that God’s own glory is of ultimate importance to him. He is not shy about it or apologetic. The Bible everywhere assumes it is right for God to receive and seek glory, and that we owe him worship and thanksgiving. (See also 1 Corinthians 10:31; Ephesians 3:21; Revelation 5:11–14; Romans 1:18–22)

What is right for God, but wrong for us

God’s jealousy for the glory of his name is an aspect of his holiness that is harder for me to understand. But I know it is right; the God of the universe should not be any other way.

It is right because God only does what is right.

It is right because it is right and necessary for God to do and feel things that it is wrong for his creatures to do and feel. God’s role in the universe is utterly different than ours. God’s worth is infinitely greater than ours. Our worth is derived from him; his worth is intrinsic to himself, from himself, independent of anyone or anything.

And it is right because God is love, and love unselfishly seeks the welfare and happiness of others. God’s unselfish love is obvious when you consider the attention he gives to meticulously governing all that exists and continually providing for each of his creatures. “You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.” (Psalm 145:16)

Yet this loving, unselfish God at the same time is jealously devoted to the glory of his own name. Those two seemingly contradictory things are not contradictory according to what God has revealed about himself in the Bible. They are perfectly harmonious. God is both an unselfish, generous lover and a self-centered seeker of glory.

Self-centered

That for me in my human thinking is part of the stumbling block: God is self-centered. When a human is self-centered, it is obnoxious, unloving, immature, and often dangerous to others. But that is because a self-centered, narcissistic human is living in delusion and falsehood, since the world does not actually revolve around him. Everything he has he received, and his life should actually revolve around his Creator, Sustainer, and God and around his family, neighbors, and society.

But for God to be self-centered is completely true and necessary. Everything that exists actually does revolve around him and depend on him. He actually deserves all glory for everything, and so for him to deflect that glory to anything else (such as “Mother Nature,” the idolized Cosmos, the laws of nature, or the American economy or military) or anyone else would be false. Because he deserves glory, because he is worthy of glory, that glory should actually come to him, just as an employee should be paid for her work.

God should not try to prevent or avoid what ought to be his. He should not say, “Aw shucks, it was nothing,” because that would be false and would negate what ought to be. What God does is great and ought to be glorified—indeed it must be glorified. When Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey and received the praises of the people, and the religious leaders objected, he said, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.” (Luke 19:40)

To shift anything or anyone away from being God-centered is to kill it, for God is the source of everything. A newborn infant should be mother-centered. A human needs to be food-and-water centered. God knows we must be God-centered for our very existence and for all happiness, and therefore he is loving when he insists on it as the highest good.

Why a great God takes human actions seriously

Here is another thing that can seem to my puny, human perspective to be somewhat unworthy of God: namely, to care what people think about him, especially what his enemies think. Shouldn’t he be above that, secure in himself, impervious to criticism?

No, the Bible presents a starkly different response from God. He is in fact infinitely concerned about what people think and say of him, and how they respond to him. He delights without end in the praise of angels and humans. At the Final Judgment he plans to shut the mouths and bend the knees of every person who has spoken falsely about him. He plans to make his enemies his footstool.

God’s concern for what people think and say of him results not from any insecurity whatever in God but from how seriously he has chosen to take his creation. He takes us seriously because he chose to make us in his image, and his image is infinitely important. His words and actions are important, and he has created us so our words and actions are important.

Moreover, he made a universe of objective morality, where the moral or immoral actions of responsible moral beings like us have objective consequences. This life is not make-believe, not a fantasy, not a board game. We can’t just put away the pieces, fold up the game board, and forget about it.

For example, the disobedient and unbelieving words and actions of Adam and Eve in the Garden changed not just their lives, but the lives of all their descendants, all life and natural forces like weather on earth, and even the nature of the universe. (See Romans 8:19–23).

God became a man

The greatest evidence that God chose to invest infinite significance in the words and actions of humans is the Cross of Jesus. The reason Jesus had to suffer and die for our sins is that God chose to make humans whose words and actions matter. Right and wrong matter. And the glory of God is a matter of right and wrong above all else (Romans 3:23).

The Son of God became a man, continues to be a man, and will forever be a man—fully God and fully human—in a resurrected human body, with a full human nature. One member of the Trinity took upon himself the nature of humanity forever! Clearly God takes human beings seriously. He has invested us with infinite meaning and significance, and therefore our words and actions are significant, and therefore our praise or our profaning words infinitely matter to him.

This therefore is another important aspect of God’s holiness. To say God is holy is to say he delights in and jealously protects the glory of his name, in heaven, in all the created universe, on earth, and in particular among the humans he created in his image and with whom he has united himself forever.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)

Why God Is Jealous for the Glory of His Name

God is jealous for the glory of his name much like you are concerned about your reputation.

name

To say God is holy is to say he delights in and jealously protects the glory of his name.

God’s concern for his name is at best a distant idea for most people, so let’s compare this to some things we might relate to.

Imagine a salesman living and working in a medium-sized community where a salesperson’s reputation quickly gets around. He cannot succeed without being trusted. He must develop a name for honesty and for delivering what he promises. Therefore his reputation is of ultimate importance to him.

Imagine a mother deeply committed to caring for her three young children. Her sense of identity and worth is lovingly wrapped up in the welfare and health of her children and family. Imagine how she would feel if a malicious rumor somehow started that she was neglecting her children, not changing her toddler’s dirty diaper for hours, sitting around watching movies half the day.

Imagine how an entrepreneur feels when she starts a company and invests much money and time to name and brand it and then to promote and market that name and brand. That name, the company logo, the values and standards it represents, its products and services—all are of ultimate importance to her. If a competitor begins to slander her company in the media, she will take that seriously and do all she can to maintain the truth about the identity of the company she has given years of her life to start.

These are examples of a normal human concern for reputation and name, for the value we all place on our identity and what others think of us, and the human need for self-respect.

The glory of God’s name

These examples are limited, imperfect windows into understanding God’s concern for his name. The stakes are infinitely higher for him. This is not just about someone’s business turning a profit; at stake is who is the God of the universe. Who created all things and thus owns everything and everyone? Who has the right to define right and wrong? And who has the right to give commandments to mankind and require obedience? Who deserves ultimate allegiance? Who deserves exclusive worship and love? And who matters more than anything or anyone? Who actually is the Almighty Lord at the center of everything? Who is the most glorious of all beings?

All that and more is at stake in God’s name. And therefore he takes seriously his name, identity, glory, and reputation in the earth. He does so for his own sake, for the sake of the truth, as well as for the sake of the people he created, who cannot have a right relationship with him apart from a true knowledge of him.

Intolerant of false gods

The truth about God’s name has been at the center of Israel’s long, troubled relationship with him. After delivering them in love from bondage in Egypt, God entered into a covenant of faithfulness with Israel, but again and again they turned their faith to idols, to the false gods of the nations like Baal and Molech. This is the running theme through all the prophets whom God sent to correct them.

Through the prophet Isaiah, for example, God says, “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols” (Isaiah 42:8).

At Mount Sinai, Moses, speaking for God, says, “You shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exodus 34:14).

God’s very name is Jealous, meaning he does not tolerate rivals to his glory. He will not give his glory to another, not to another god nor to a human who wants to play God. Therefore he is unswervingly opposed to false gods and human pride.

Jealous

Webster’s Dictionary says one meaning of the word jealous is, “intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness.” Another sense of the word is, “vigilant in guarding a possession.” Both of these senses of jealous apply to God.

One reason God is jealous for his name is his perfect goodness. He seeks the highest good in all things, and he himself is the highest good. Jesus said, “No one is good except God alone” (Mark 10:18). Therefore the manifestation of his glory and the sacredness of his name are the best things that can happen to the world and to you. He alone brings life, and therefore he alone is peace, joy, love, and every good thing.

Vindicating his name

When God’s name is profaned, he takes action to vindicate it. Sometimes this involves salvation and sometimes judgment.

God’s name was profaned, for example, among the nations when he sent Israel into exile as a consequence for their stubborn (centuries-long) breaking of his covenant, so he told Ezekiel the prophet:

“Say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.” (Ezekiel 36:22–23)

Vindicated by giving salvation

Happily for Israel in this case, God vindicated his name by saving them from exile in Babylon and restoring them to their land. God says he will completely reverse their fortunes, not because they deserve it—they definitely do not—but as a display of his name.

Ezekiel continues: “[24] I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. [25] I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. [26] And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. [28] You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God. [29] And I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. And I will summon the grain and make it abundant and lay no famine upon you. [30] I will make the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field abundant, that you may never again suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations.” (Ezekiel 36:24–38)

Vindicated for God’s sake

God then doubles down on why he is showing this kindness to Israel, and it is not because they in any way deserve it. They in fact deserve only judgment.

“[31] Then you will remember your evil ways, and your deeds that were not good, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and your abominations. [32] It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.

“[33] Thus says the Lord GOD: On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places shall be rebuilt. [34] And the land that was desolate shall be tilled, instead of being the desolation that it was in the sight of all who passed by. [35] And they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are now fortified and inhabited.’ [36] Then the nations that are left all around you shall know that I am the LORD; I have rebuilt the ruined places and replanted that which was desolate. I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it.

God’s undeserved goodness to Israel vindicated his holy name.

God is holy because he delights in and guards his reputation.

Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)