At first glance, it may strike us as very strange, perhaps even unfitting or highly inappropriate, this unusual name for God.  Some might even be tempted to declare it to be sinful and absolutely wrong.  But then we are reminded that God is holy and perfect and has “christened” Himself with this name.  And who has more right or is better able than God Himself to choose a fitting name by which to identify Himself?  The answer is obvious.  And so we are provoked to consider this name and what it reveals about the Person and nature of God because God never chooses a name on whim, because it sounds good, or because He hopes it will be impressive.  And make no mistake, though He calls Himself by this name directly only one time, God attributes to Himself the characteristic it identifies on multiple occasions throughout the Old Testament.  The name?  JEALOUS.  “For you shall not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Ex. 34:14).

          The meanings of jealousy.  The hurdle we must get over, of course, is our kneejerk identification of the word jealous or jealousy with the sin of resenting the success or perceived superiority of another, a sin closely related to envy.  Of course, this sort of jealousy is a sin.  But there is another definition for the word jealous that is positive, admirable, and should be curried, namely, “to carefully guard or maintain.”  We say, for example, that Americans should be jealous for their Constitution (that is, safeguard the liberties it guarantees), or, Christians must be jealous of their virtue (that is, stand against the slightest moral corruption).  In those instances, to be jealous may be seen clearly as an admirable virtue.  God uses the word in this latter sense, not only to describe, but to name Himself.  Gesenius’ lexicon defines the Hebrew word succinctly as “not bearing any rival.”

          Though used as a name only one time, God alerts us to the fact that the quality it names is foundational because it first appears as part of the Decalogue.  “You shall have no other gods before Me.  You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.  You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments” (Ex. 20:3-6).

          The virtue of jealousy.  We have already noted that the word jealousy, though often used to identify a sin related to envy, may with equal accuracy identify a moral virtue.  When God calls Himself by this name, Jealous, and repeatedly identifies Himself as a jealous God (e.g., Deut. 4:24; 5:9; 6:15), we are intended to take careful note of its significance.  So far from being a sin, jealousy is essential to the maintaining of everything right, and virtuous, and holy.  In fact, God could not be God were not His name and character Jealous.  He guards His holiness and glory with perfect diligence not only for the integrity of His Being but for the maintenance of the universe.  Were anything to happen to the former (admittedly an impossibility), the latter, the universe along with all mankind, would implode.  God brooks no rival, not because He is egotistical, arrogant, mean-spirited, or petty, but because He alone is altogether good, righteous, and holy.  He alone can and will do always what is perfect.  A wise husband guards his virtue because anything less will destroy his marriage and bring God’s judgment upon himself and his home.  Similarly, but on a much higher plane, God jealously protects His character because nothing is more important than His glory and because nothing else will provide for the salvation of lost and sinful mankind.  God alone can (and must) tout His virtue, first, for His sake because He alone is worthy, and second, for our sake because He is the Preserver and Upholder of the universe and the only salvation for sinners.   Praise the name of our God:  Jealous.