Jealous

We started this plan on top of Mount Sinai. I want to show you what happens next.

After God tells Moses his name we read this: “Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped.”

Because the only fitting, rational response to this kind of God is worship.

All worship is a response to who Yahweh is. And by “worship,” I don’t just mean singing a handful of songs at church on Sunday. Worship is an entire life oriented around wonder and awe at the nature of God.

We’ve been saying a lot about how God responds. Guess what? So do we.

How?

We worship.

We don’t worship Yahweh to manipulate him into blessing us. No, he’s compassionate and gracious. We’re already on his good side.

And we don’t worship God to mitigate his anger. No, he’s slow to anger.

Nor do we worship God because our life is falling apart and we need “the Man upstairs” to come through in a pinch. No, he’s abounding in love and faithfulness.

We worship Yahweh because he’s Yahweh.

When you see through all the myths and misconceptions about God, and Yahweh’s character starts to come into view, what else could you do but worship?

But then Yahweh says something out of left field: “Be careful not to make a covenant with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. Do not worship any other god. For the Lord [Yahweh], whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”

Wait, Yahweh is . . . jealous?

I was reading this passage to my kids before bed last night, and Jude—my nine-year-old—said, “Wait, Dad, stop. Why is God jealous? Isn’t that kind of selfish? He wants Israel to worship him only or he gets mad. How is that okay?”

Great question.

God is jealous, but it’s not the jealousy of a selfish boyfriend— controlling and insecure, checking his girlfriend’s phone when she’s out of the room. It’s the jealousy of a loving, faithful, passionate husband—fighting to keep all the other lovers out of the bedroom.

But here’s what’s interesting: the text can be translated “who is jealous for his name.”

Yahweh is jealous for his reputation. And because Yahweh is locked in relationship with us, there is a symbiotic relationship between Yahweh’s name—his reputation—and how we, the people of God, live.

Because Yahweh’s name is also our name.

Throughout the Scriptures, we read that Israel is called by the name of Yahweh. The idea here is we have an intimate, family-like relationship with the Creator.

When I married my wife, she took on a new last name. Now she’s “called by my name.” So are my kids. Even my adopted daughter now shares my last name.

What Yahweh wants is a living, breathing people to put his name on display. To show the world what he is like, not only by what we say, but by how we live.

That’s what Yahweh is after: a people who are like the God they worship.

A people who are compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, who live in the tension of mercy and justice.

Wouldn’t that really be something?

So here’s my closing word: don’t be afraid to climb the mountain. Step into the smoke and fire. Devote your life to the pursuit of this terrifyingly good God.

If you fall along the way, that’s okay. Give it another go.

And remember—everywhere you set your foot, you carry the name.

Everywhere you go . . .
In all that you do . . .
You are called by the name of Yahweh. And it’s a really good name.

Thanks for joining us for this reading plan. To learn more about God Has a Name, click here.