God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; the Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies; the Lord is slow to anger and great in power and will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. (Nahum 1:2-3)

The Nature Of God

There is a reason men must fear God. It is not the kind of fear that brings about cowardice. To fear God is to respect who He is, why He is, and what He will do. The failure of the human race is not putting the nature of God in proper view of the meaning of life and the reality of eternity. God has many names attributed to Him, including the name Jealous. He is a jealous God and will not accept when men worship another god. There is only one true God. He is the God found in the Bible, the divine word of God. His names include “God Almighty,” “I Am Who I Am,” “I Am The Lord, The Lord Of Hosts,” and many others that express the nature of who God is.

God’s name is Jealous because He is a jealous God. When the world refuses to honor His name as Jealous, He takes revenge by His wrath. Why did God cast Adam and Eve out of the garden? They failed to honor His name. Why was the world of Noah completely destroyed in a flood? The world had become so corrupt that they refused to honor the name of God. Bringing the flood upon the earth avenged the nature of God’s righteousness. One lesson clearly defined in scripture is that the Lord will take vengeance on those who oppose Him. The adversaries of God will not stand. He reserves wrath for His enemies. The nature of God is a jealous reaction to all who refuse to do His will.

Grace is the mitigating factor in the wrath of God because He is slow to anger. The world of Noah was not destroyed at the whim of God. Through many centuries, the grace of God allowed man to walk on the face of the earth, but when the longsuffering of a Jealous God ended, so did the world. Abraham pleaded with the Lord to spare Sodom and Gomorrah, but mercy ended when God sent His angels to rescue Lot and his family. Why did the Lord destroy those cities with fire and brimstone? He is a jealous God who avenges sin by His fury. The Lord will not exonerate the wicked. Nahum the prophet declared the Lord has His way in the whirlwind, and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet. That is the nature of Almighty God.

The nature of God remains unchanged. In the modern world of human philosophy and humanism, God is still Jealous. Wickedness will not go unpunished. Disobedience is not overlooked. Rebellion against the word of the Lord is not tolerated. Immorality will be rewarded with the wrath of God. Everyone who refuses to do the will of the Father will face the second death, which is the lake of fire and brimstone. Why will the cowardly, unbelieving, murderers, sexually immoral, fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, homosexuals, sodomites, thieves, covetous, drunkards, sorcerers, and all liars have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone? Because God is jealous and He avenges those who practice wickedness.

Jesus came to take the cup of God’s wrath away from the plight of man and to offer the only way to the Father by which men can find salvation. Through the blood of Jesus, anyone can turn from sin and obey the gospel of Jesus Christ if they are willing to change their lives. By God’s grace, love, and mercy, sins are washed away. He remains a jealous God. The greatest joy is to know that God is a jealous God, but He is slow to anger. Thank God for His longsuffering.