The Compass
Deuteronomy 4:1-40
God is jealously in love with you. Poet Joseph Addison says “jealousy is that pain which a man feels from the apprehension that he is not equally beloved by the person whom he entirely loves.”
This week we will look at God’s character through his protection of the faithful and letting go of the unfaithful. Both responses are motivated by his jealous love.
The jealousy aroused by true love is tender and freeing, not smothering. Who has not had a love that was not returned? Yet deeper than the desire to have the love, is the desire to let the other choose to love. God’s jealousy is aroused by his desire for intimacy with you.
Marriage is an earthly example of God’s love. Traditional wedding vows include a promise of faithfulness. Unfortunately, it seems more couples experience the pain of infidelity rather than the love God intended for this most intimate of relationships. The jealousy evoked by infidelity can be more emotionally devastating than the death of a spouse. This pain is greater because it stems from a choice of rejection and loss of devotion. It is a breaking of the vows spoken in love.
The vow is broken the moment one partner is unfaithful. This may be the reason God allows infidelity as the only rationalization for divorce. To force someone to remain in a relationship without a faithful commitment would be painful and meaningless.
Likewise, our unfaithfulness toward God is the only reason he will ever allow a separation of our union with him. His loving jealous response to our unfaithfulness is to let us choose whom we will love. He will never break his vow. Nor will he allow the pain of split devotion.
The love that lets the unfaithful go their way is the same love that will do what is necessary to protect the one who is faithfully committed to him. The protection of God’s jealous love is similar to that of a parent.
I have established boundaries for the safety of my kids. I can’t force them to abide by my guidelines. And I can’t protect them if they constantly choose to live outside of the boundaries. For example, if they play in a busy street they may get hit by a car. If I tell them not to touch a hot stove and they choose or accidentally touch the hot burner, they will get burned. God provides boundaries to protect and enhance our lives.
In a democracy, laws are established as a representation of the people in the specified locale. The intent of those laws is to enhance the quality of life for all people according to the character of the majority. God’s law represents his character. There is no debating and no compromising. He is the One True God and He is Jealous.
This week’s study may change your perspective of jealousy. This study has given me a better understanding of those acts of God that seem unloving to our human perspective. My prayer is that God’s jealousy will woo you, as it has me, into an intimacy that is breathtaking and irresistible. Your lover is pursuing you with a tender and freeing love. Will you respond with an equal love or will you give him reason to let you go?
Your Challenge for the Week
à Memorize: 2 Peter 1:2-9
à Enter into a conversation with someone outside the class about jealousy. Is jealousy always negative? What are the positives about jealousy? When is jealousy aroused?
à As you study the lesson this week, whether you are single or married, imagine the perfect marriage relationship. Compare that ideal situation to the relationship God desires to have with you.
Study Questions
Deuteronomy 4:1-40 Jealous so that…
- The NIV uses the phrase “so that” six times in these 40 verses. List the reasons God gave instructions to the Israelites. What do these reasons tell you about the character of God and his love for you?
- What questions or emotions do verses 3 and 4 create in you? Describe a time in your life when you or an authority figure over you removed negative influences? What was the intent? How was it carried out? What was the result?
- Read Numbers 20:7-13. Look deeper than the external actions. What was the sin that kept Moses from entering the Promised Land? Describe a situation in your life with or as an authority figure that resembles this account. Were the motives freeing or smothering? How do the positive aspects of jealousy apply to this passage and your personal circumstances?
- What new insights is God revealing to you about his character in today’s reading?
Digging Deeper
Use a Bible concordance to find other scripture references to jealousy. How do these scriptures impact your understanding of God’s jealousy? Many of these scriptures will indicate God’s anger. Who is the anger aimed at and why?
Isaiah 54:5 Your maker is your husband
- What does it mean to you to consider God your husband?
In this passage, “your” refers to the nation of
- How does this plural sense of the word “your” impact your understanding of God as the husband and the church (united) as the wife?
Genesis 2:23-24 and 1 Corinthians 6:15-17 speak of becoming one through sexual intimacy. God desires to have the same sense of intimacy with us. Read how Jesus prays for this intimacy in John 17:20-23.
- According to your understanding of God’s character and his desire for intimacy with His wife, what do you see as your role in this relationship?
- (Personal) How is your perspective of sexual intimacy impacted as you consider it to be established by God as an example of the relationship He desires to have with His people? What needs to change in your sexual activity – including your thought life – to make this part of your life an act of faithfulness to God?
- Ephesians 5:25-33 gives instruction for earthly husbands based on Christ’s love for the church. What does this passage tell you about God (in Christ) as your husband?
Digging Deeper
Use a Bible concordance to find additional scriptures regarding marriage, bride, groom, husband, and wife to discover how the marriage relationship is to be a parallel to our relationship with Christ. Journal your changing perspectives on marriage and/or your relationship to Christ.
Matthew 19:3-9 Except for marital unfaithfulness
1. The marriage relationship is a union of two people, husband and wife, becoming one flesh. Jesus states in this Matthew passage that unfaithfulness is the only circumstance which allows for divorce. How does God’s character of being jealous play a part in this truth?
2. Read Leviticus 6:1-2. According to this passage, how does your relationship with others impact your relationship with God?
When reading commandments of the Law it is important to remember that Christ is now our sacrifice. Prior to Christ’s death, there was a curtain that hung in the temple which separated the “Holy of Holies” from the rest of the temple. Only the high priests were allowed in that area. When Christ died, that curtain literally tore in two indicating that all believers have been given admittance into the Holy of Holies. A priest is no longer required.
3. (Personal) In what specific ways have you been unfaithful to God by your actions or attitudes toward others? Spend time asking and listening to God. Write down any ways you perceive God instructing you to respond. Continue to pray about this response for 48 hours. If you have doubt about God’s instructions, share the concern with a trusted spiritual companion who can seek God’s will with you without injecting their own personal opinion.
4. Although God is jealous, he remains faithful. Read Jeremiah 3:11-13. What blessings have you scattered? Take a few minutes to visualize your daily routine for today. Journal the blessings you have scattered without thought of God’s favor on you and this nation. What do you need to acknowledge as your unfaithfulness?
Digging Deeper
Use a Bible concordance to find additional passages on God’s mercy. What have you discovered about God in response to unfaithfulness?
Exodus 15 is in response to God delivering the Israelites after 430 years of captivity in
1. What stands out to you about God’s character in this chapter toward the Israelites and toward the Egyptians?
2. Imagine being a man in love with a woman who had fled to a foreign place for her physical well-being then horribly abused for many years. She calls you for help and you are able to get her away but the enemy pursues her. What is your response? How do you protect her? What is the deep cause for your anger? How would your response differ if you knew of this woman but were not intimately in love with her?
3. Read Exodus 22:22-24. How is God’s anger aroused in this passage? Describe a circumstance in your life when your anger was aroused because of the treatment inflicted on someone you loved. How, if at all, has your perspective on that situation changed after learning more about God’s anger?
4. How is the anger mentioned in Matthew 5:21-22, Ephesians 4:22-28, and James 2:20 differ from God’s anger? There is no set answer for this. Let God’s word speak to you. Journal whatever comes to mind. Clarity may come later.
Digging Deeper
Use a Bible concordance to find additional scriptures on anger and wrath. What do you learn about God’s character?
1. Read Isaiah 45 at least three times throughout the day. What questions or new understandings come to mind as you read this chapter?
2. Read Exodus 20:3 and Matthew 6:19-24. Consider the separation of light and darkness from Discussion One. With that in mind, put in your own words the relationship of verses 22 and 23 with the rest of the Matthew passage.
3. John 14:6 and Isaiah 43:10-13 tell us that there is but one way to have an everlasting relationship with God. What other “saviors” have you sought as the way to the life you desire?
Digging Deeper
Dig for scripture to discover the relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son of God and Husband of the Church. I am listing a few. There are many more.
Compare Acts 4:8-12 with Isaiah 43:11
Compare John 17:1-5 with Isaiah 42:8
Compare 1 Peter 2:8 with Isaiah 8:13-14
Read John 3:31-36
Weekly Summary
Journal about conversations you have had this week. In what way has your perspective of God’s anger and jealousy changed? What new insights have you discovered about jealousy and anger in your daily life? What impact has this new insight had on your personal relationships? How have you become more intimate with God this week?
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