[Exodus: 20.5] Whom or what is God jealous of?

[JamieJ1989]

[Exodus: 20.5]. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.

Whom or what is God jealous of in this verse?

Jealous: Feeling or showing an envious resentment of someone or their achievements, possessions, or perceived advantages.

Either;

a) God is envious when an individual achieves something, when those achievements come as a consequence of not having to waste ones time worshipping a tyrant.

b) God is envious over the acquired possessions one obtains when one doesn't have to spend ones time worshipping a tyrant. As a consequence one can divert time to acquire luxuries in life.

c) God is envious over the advantages one obtains in life, when one doesn't have to spend time worshiping a tyrant.

d) Worshipping other 'gods' as mentioned in:
[Exodus: 23.32] Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
makes God jealous because worshipping other gods puts one at an advantage over the worshippers of God.

The advantage of the other gods can clearly be shown in the Greek system of belief. The Greeks were the most prosperous and intelligent nation in the region at that time.

So, God is a tyrant and would prefer everyone to worship him, and would prefer those who worship him to be at the lowest quality of life possible so he is not jealous over any advantages. Hence the age of ignorance arriving with the commencing and spreading of the Christian system. There was more knowledge within the people of the earth before Christianity, up to the turn of the 17th century with the systematic breaking of theocracy.

 

[ronandcarol]

Whom or what is God jealous of in this verse?

God wants ALL of you. He doesn't want to share you with any false gods, He wants you to be wholly devoted to only Him.
He doesn't want to share you with your obsession with work (work-o-holic), or anything else that you might put before Him.
He created us, He alone deserves our praise.

ronandcarol

 

[atpollard]

I know someone who has a clever signature that is applicable to this:

"God wants full custody of His children, not just Sunday visitation."

 

[atpollard]

The advantage of the other gods can clearly be shown in the Greek system of belief. The Greeks were the most prosperous and intelligent nation in the region at that time.

Not at the time of the Exodus.
Egypt dwarfed Greece in power.

A millennium or so later, yes. Greece entered it's Golden Age.
By the time Jesus comes around, Rome has far surpassed Greece.

 

[atpollard]

So, God is a tyrant and would prefer everyone to worship him, and would prefer those who worship him to be at the lowest quality of life possible so he is not jealous over any advantages. Hence the age of ignorance arriving with the commencing and spreading of the Christian system. There was more knowledge within the people of the earth before Christianity, up to the turn of the 17th century with the systematic breaking of theocracy.

I call blarney.
I love history. Architecture. Agriculture. Metallurgy. Various technology trees.

Name an area of science or technology where there was "more knowledge" or more advanced knowledge before the Common Era (BCE) than ... I'll even spot you a century and say AD 1500. I look forward to anything you might present.

 

[Deeje]

[Exodus: 20.5]. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me.

Whom or what is God jealous of in this verse?

Jealous: Feeling or showing an envious resentment of someone or their achievements, possessions, or perceived advantages.

Either;

a) God is envious when an individual achieves something, when those achievements come as a consequence of not having to waste ones time worshipping a tyrant.

b) God is envious over the acquired possessions one obtains when one doesn't have to spend ones time worshipping a tyrant. As a consequence one can divert time to acquire luxuries in life.

c) God is envious over the advantages one obtains in life, when one doesn't have to spend time worshiping a tyrant.

d) Worshipping other 'gods' as mentioned in:
[Exodus: 23.32] Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.
makes God jealous because worshipping other gods puts one at an advantage over the worshippers of God.

The advantage of the other gods can clearly be shown in the Greek system of belief. The Greeks were the most prosperous and intelligent nation in the region at that time.

So, God is a tyrant and would prefer everyone to worship him, and would prefer those who worship him to be at the lowest quality of life possible so he is not jealous over any advantages. Hence the age of ignorance arriving with the commencing and spreading of the Christian system. There was more knowledge within the people of the earth before Christianity, up to the turn of the 17th century with the systematic breaking of theocracy.

I think Paul explains this kind of jealousy, which is not a negative emotion when applied to the Creator.

2 Corinthians 11:2-3: (NSAB)
"For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. 3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ."

"Godly jealousy" means that God will tolerate no unfaithfulness on the part of his worshippers. There is much to lead people astray especially in this "time of the end".

This "godly jealousy" demands a "purity of devotion" and rightly so. The very first of the 10 Commandments was ..."I am Jehovah thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (ASV)

 

[Shiranui117]

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