Exodus 34 — Thoughts

The Lord, Whose Name is Jealous

Oprah Winfrey shares that she left the Church because she heard that God was a jealous God. “God is jealous of me?” she asked, and that didn’t sit right with her.

What she missed was that God is not jealous of us, but jealous for us. It’s a righteous jealousy, like a faithful person who becomes jealous over a cheating spouse.

That’s largely how God describes himself in this chapter. When He talks of other gods, he says, “Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles.” He wants His people to know, love, and worship Him alone — not because he’s selfish — but because He loves them.

Because we’re also told in this chapter that Moses fasted for 40 days (including going without water, which should have been impossible), and at the end, his face was radiating. God doesn’t want us worshiping other gods because He’s the only One out there who can have THAT affect on us.

We don’t struggle with altars, sacred stones or Asherah poles today — but we do struggle with money, security, acceptance, and status. Our Idols are the things we run to for a contrived sense of peace, but they leave us empty. Instead, we should run to the God who not only delivers on the peace we seek, but also leaves us radiant.