Our God is Jealous
“You shall have no other Gods before Me.”
He meant it when He said.
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father
Look at the story through God’s eyes, He created man, loved them and walked with them perfectly, sin came and ever since then we have struggled to put God in His rightful place, especially the Israelites in the Old Testament, even when they have God they start following other people’s gods to compensate for what God “wasn’t doing for them”‘. They worshiped golden calfs, built stone images like Baal to worship and make sacrifices too, looking into the history of all the different people groups in the Bible who had other gods they worshiped, the practices are disgusting on just a basic level of morality. They would spend their whole lives worshipping false gods. Now the Israelites had a challenge, God specifically picked them out to be a Holy nation and to follow Him because He is the only living God who created them and loves them. The Israelites started intertwining and marrying people outside of Israel, taking with them idols and forms of worship and honor for other gods.
If God is a jealous God, then in a relationship if one puts their attention or care or time or devotion into someone else, the other person would become angry and jealous right? Throughout the Old Testament God gives judgment to those who don’t follow Him, time and time again His people get caught up in idolatry. He was so angry and displeased because of His people’s lack of faith. The part we can’t forget is that He handed out mercy every chance He got and beckoned His people to forgiveness but they were hard of heart.
I’ve had a taste of this being in Asia. In Africa the people were open to Jesus and genuinely wanted to know more, they were poor, open handed, if you were to ask someone if they knew Jesus they would say “Yes” (you had to dig deeper to find out that’s just what they wanted you to hear) people came to Christ, people where healed and despite lack of over all religion they we’re accepting etc…
Malaysia and Indonesia on the other hand are both filled with dominant religions like Islam and Hindu, staying in the capital city of Indonesia for a few days you could hear the five prayers over speaker phones across the city, here on the smaller island every house, every store has a Hindu temple of some kind. You think churches are everywhere in America, 10X that by the amount of statues, temples, and offerings here.
My team stayed three days in a Hindu village up in the mountains, we have been to villages before in Africa but the Holy Spirit was teaching us something different here.
For example, this one family we visited have been prayed for by other Christians missionaries that have come to the village, this family are devote Hindu’s but believe in Jesus for prayer to bless them, and this is what has happened every time Christians come, they ask for peace, health/healing and financial blessings for their family. Yes, they need all of that but when we went we knew it was wrong to just pray for health, wealth and long life if they didn’t first understand Jesus and why salvation in Him is so much more important than blessings. We sat down and talked with this family/mother and while my teammates Todd and Amy were explaining through scripture we found out she couldn’t read. The Holy Spirit lead us in prayer for her. She is still a devote Hindu but prays to Jesus along with her other gods.
A week later our team drove two hours to pray for this women who needed healing, a church members mother. We got to the small house in the hills, it was surrounded with a temple, and Hindu offerings all over the outside of the home. The Father was telling us how they have gone to a Hindu doctor and a Muslim doctor, they have done remedies and all sorts of stuff to help the mothers kidneys. The father is a religious Hindu, very devoted, when we were asked to pray for healing all of us felt in our spirit this was wrong and wanted to start with asking them questions and getting to know them. Our translator told us that we might offend if we keep talking about Jesus as God. They said they wouldn’t believe in Jesus as the only God because there are many gods, but believe this God could heal her kidney issues. We were all a little distort. Should we have drove two hours to pray for healing for a women and family who do not want to give Jesus glory but want his blessings? In the moment we looked back on the life of Jesus, throughout all the gospels He heals. And heals. And heals hundreds if not thousands. How many of them realized who He was and were thankful? We decided to do what Jesus did and ask for healing for this lady along with the revelation of Jesus Christ the only living God. While my team leader Amy was praying over her we all laid hands and prayed and I started tearing up because I felt like God was heartbroken, I felt like God was saying to me this is what it feels like.
What feels like?
“For I the Lord your God, am a jealous God”
I was for the first time seeing what it looks like to break Gods heart. Not just because we’re surrounded by worship of other gods, but because God longs for these people to know Him. It’s the same in America but with different gods, gods of distractions, gods of comfort, gods of wealth, and gods of relationships. Here it just stares you in the face.
I’ve honestly had a hard time writing this blog because I’m not a qualified speaker on behalf of the Hindu or Muslims, but I wanted to share these stories and give God glory to use our team to bring Jesus to these families and individuals and to feel Gods heart for those who are lost.
Hope you are blessed:) thank you for your support! It keeps me going!:)
My team is finishing our time up in Indonesia and headed to Thailand AND switching teams, keep us in your prayers ??
Love, Gabriella
“In Exodus 20:5, it is not that God is jealous or envious because someone has something He wants or needs. Exodus 20:4-5 says, “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…” Notice that God is jealous when someone gives to another something that rightly belongs to Him.”
Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Isaiah 44:6
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. John 3:19
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them! Psalms 135:15-18
Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lordis giving you. “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. Deuteronomy 11:16-18
And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” I Samuel 7:3
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them. … psalms 115:4-11
And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15
