The Oprah Delusion....God is a Jealous God

Oprah Winfrey turned her back on Christ because of a sermon she heard. A charismatic, baptist preacher taught on God being a jealous God. During a television show, Oprah said "I was raised a Baptist and we were too hung up on traditional ways. I was sitting in church and heard that God is a jealous God. I asked 'Why?' Come on-let's get over it!"  I thought this was odd. Why would the jealousy of God offend Oprah to the point of denying Him?

I believe her thinking would be summarized as this: "If God is supreme, and the best, why and of whom would He be jealous?" If this was her thought, I think she was asking the wrong question. I think she should have asked, "Am I making God jealous? What in my life is taking my attention and my worship away from God? What do I believe is better than God?"

"for you shall not worship any other god, for the LORD , whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God" (Exodus 34:14 NASB). There it is. God is a jealous God. Jealousy can be an ugly word. When words cause me problems I often do a word study. I wondered if "jealous" was the best English word to translate the Hebrew. Quanna' is the translitered word for jealous. It is a form of Quana', which means what it sounds like. It has the idea of being jealous, zealous, or envious. That didn't explain away her supposed issue.

It dawned on my that the apostle Paul wrote in Galatians that jealous is a sin! "Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God" (Galatians 5:19-21 NASB).  Well that doesn't help our case...or does it?

I think a very important issue to God being jealous is understanding the difference between a holy and sanctified jealousy versus a sinful jealousy.  When I look out my window and I see my neighbor's new car, I have a choice with how I react. I can say "That's nice. Good for them." Or I can say "That's not fair. I want one. I want it. They don't deserve it!" That is sinful jealousy. That is not a right response.

  A simple example is a husband and a wife. If a wife discovers her husband has been in an adulterous affair, she has every right to be jealous. That affection and that "love" her husband was giving to this woman was hers, and hers alone. She has the right to be jealous.  That is why God's jealousy is not only OK, but justified and right!

Remember what Jesus did in the temple? Christ came into the temple and found money changers taking advantage of the temple sacrifice. Jesus rebuked them and threw over the tables. That is sanctified jealousy!

God is supreme and deserving of all our love and worship. The moment we turn our worship upon any other thing than God, He is justified to be jealous and desires a reunion. If this is true for a marriage covenant, how much more so must it be true for the union with God? (See Matthew 21:12-13) There are other examples of man's deep love of God and seeing the glorification of God. The apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:2 and David in Psalm 69:9.

It is unfortunate that Oprah, an incredibly intelligent and well-meaning woman, would not understand the difference in sanctified and sinful jealousy. That God's jealousy has nothing to do with someone being a threat to Him. God is deserving of all worship and love all of the time. I encourage you to refocus your sights on the Lord. He alone is worthy of praise and worship. Return to God. He is always faithful to forgive. He is faithful to restore the union with His wayward children.