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The bible teaches that jealousy is sinful. The Bible also teaches that God is a jealous God.

1) How are we to reconcile the biblical warning of the sin of jealousy (Gal 5:19-21) and the description of God as a jealous God (Deut 4:24)?

Galatians 5:19-21

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

A cursory reading of this passage most certainly conveys the idea without the need for qualification that the apostle is sternly warning that jealousy, among other things that are contrary to the fruits of the Spirit (v.22,23) will prevent inheritance of the kingdom of God. The casual reader may easily understand this passage to teach that jealousy has an inherent attribute that is so sinful that it will separate man from God forever, because God is holy, and he permits no sin in his presence. If this is the case, then we know from other passages that this sin can be forgiven by God on the basis of the all perfect atoning sacrifice of the Messiah Jesus on Calvary’s tree, He who knew no sin but became sin for the elect of God. To follow that thought further, one can reasonably conclude that Jesus of Nazareth was without the works of the flesh, including jealousy in the Galatians 5 context.

As the second Person of the Trinity who redeemed fallen man, reconciling the elect to God, Jesus had to become the righteousness for the elect in order that they may dwell with God for eternity. This righteousness is not produced from any of the elect, but is surely theirs by grace through faith which is a gift from God. The Messiah Jesus had to cover the sins of the elect so that they can stand righteous before God’s judgment throne and not be charged with what they are undoubtedly guilty of – sin. Jealousy, among all other sin, is atoned for by the precious blood of the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world. In order for God to allow into His presence anything unholy, namely wicked and vile sinners like you and me, it must be on the basis of Christ alone. Our sin separates us from His holiness, but Christ and his righteousness, the perfect and acceptable sacrifice for sin, reconciles us with God, whom we are at enmity with because of sin.

If God hates sin, and jealousy is a sin, then is it not a contradiction for God to be referred to as a jealous God and yet require atonement for something that He is revealed to be?

Deuteronomy 4:23-24

23 Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which he made with you, and make a carved image, the form of anything that the Lord your God has forbidden you. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

Moses, in the midst of commanding Israel to listen to the statutes and rules he’s teaching them, warns them against idolatry (note: carved image v23) and follows up the warning by reminding them that God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. As the prophet to the people of Israel, Moses does not give the warning and leave it up to the people of Israel to respond by their free will and obey it simply because he said to. He knows that their will is not free to obey because it is in bondage to sin, accustomed to doing evil continually. So he appeals to them in a way that they can understand, he appeals to them through fear!

An example of this would be attempting to prevent children from using foul language. It would most likely be an exercise in futility to tell your children not to use foul language, and leave it up to them to obey simply on the basis that you have said so. You must add to the command: Or I’ll wash your mouth out with soap! Now, I don’t know about you, but as a kid I tasted soap. I even did it voluntarily once just to test and see how bad the punishment actually is. It didn’t stop me from using foul language though. What did stop me however, was when the Lord removed my heart of stone and gave me a heart of flesh, but that’s a whole other topic – which I may address in the future, Lord willing! Anyhow, to get back on track, Moses used the soap technique and warned the Israelites that God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

This warning of God being a jealous God and Paul’s warning that jealousy prevents inheritance of the kingdom of God poses a tension that may not be easily settled in the minds of some believers. Some professing believers have walked away from the faith because of apparent contradictions such as this one. Then you have the college student who is indoctrinated with every form of ridiculous atheism using this argument against young believers in the faith, attempting to shake, rattle and roll the sometimes and often fragile minds in the church.

The only way to harmonize these passages is to establish that the two types of jealousy are different.

So, is there a difference between the two types of jealousy, or do we have a contradiction?

It is consistent with God’s law for Paul would warn against jealousy being that it is written: You shall not covet…(Ex 20:17, Deut 5:21, Luke 12:15, Rom 7:7, 13:9, Eph 5:3-5, ). These examples refer to desiring what is not yours (neighbor’s wife, neighbors house etc. – or anything that is your neighbor’s. Ex 20:17)

However, it is also consistent with God’s law that God is a jealous God. It is important to note that whenever God is referred to as jealous or a consuming fire, it is always in the context of false god’s, idolatry, worship and warnings to the people of God regarding these matters. We won’t find it in other contexts such as the Beatitudes. We won’t ever find: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for our God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. Neither will we see it in the pastoral epistles. We don’t see: The servant of God must not be quarrelsome, for God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. We don’t baptize in the name of the Consuming Fire, the Jealous God. Nor is it the one name under heaven by which men are saved.

We do find it in the Ten Commandments, the old covenant law.
Exodus 20:1-6
20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying,
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

If God were to be guilty of the sin of jealousy, we would need to demonstrate His desiring something that is not His. God would need to be caught in the act of wanting something that does not already belong to him. We are guilty when we covet anything that is our neighbor’s. If it is our neighbor’s then it is not ours. Wanting what is not ours, something that in fact belongs to another, is coveting, which when is left unrepentant, becomes jealousy. Since what He is commanding is worship as the True God, when worship is given to anything other than Him, he is not unjust to be jealous. To be jealous for the worship that belongs to Him and not to any another is not a contradiction of any kind. In fact, it verifies His holiness, or His “otherness” as it demands worship and is worthy of receiving our worship. This establishes what we may call Divine Jealousy. This is an emotion that is displayed by God while maintaining throughout, his perfect holiness, free of sin.

Think about when Jesus cleansed the temple in John 2:13-17. He was so angry at what was going on, that he grabbed some ropes and took the time to tightly braid them into a heavy whip so that when His holy arm swung at the money changers, who were defiling the house of God, they would feel the strength of God incarnate and the strength of His anger as the makeshift weapon scourged their fleeting bodies. Fits of anger are also listed in the Galatians 5 passage, yet it sure looks like Jesus had a fit of anger. Did He sin or was this “righteous indignation” in the same category as “divine jealousy”? I submit to you that Jesus was fully righteous in His rumble in the temple because He was defending the holiness of God, and cleansing the temple of these defilers who were making His Father’s house into a marketplace.

We see a pattern in Scripture, of extreme divine emotions from God displayed in the context of false worship and idolatry. He, as God, is wholly righteous in demanding all worship, all glory, all praise and all honor to Him alone, the only who is worthy of such things. He, as God, is also wholly righteous in displaying anger as well as jealousy when those things are given to another. We, as well, although not righteous, can identify with this if we have a spouse. By desiring our spouse, not the next-door neighbor, but our own spouse, the one that belongs to us, we are not coveting. And if our spouse is flirting with another person other than us, we have a right to be jealous for what belongs to us, and is not sinful in and of itself. What may flow from that jealousy may be sinful, but not in and of the emotion itself.

We see some of this “divine jealousy” in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. In verse 2 Paul says: “I feel a divine jealousy for you”. He is speaking in the context of devotion to Christ. Once again, rather than contradictions we find consistency in that the context is regarding worship (true devotion). His jealousy is for his converts. He is concerned emotionally that the “super-apostles” may speak more eloquently than him, and just as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, so will they, his converts, be deceived and led astray from a “sincere and pure devotion to Christ”. Do you see? What is at stake is true worship. False teaching by false teachers can do harm to the purity of true worship. So when God revealed how He demands to be worshipped, He contrasted it by declaring his jealousy against any form of falseness or idolatry.

Finally, in closing, rather than me try to explain it some more, let’s read what the author of the epistle to the Hebrews wrote: “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:28-29