THE MESSAGE OF ZECHARIAH
Number 15
GOD'S JEALOUSY
Zechariah 8:1,2
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CHAPTER 8 of Zechariah continues the message of God spoken by the prophet which commenced in chapter 7. Having chided his people for not listening to him, God now speaks words of comfort, hope and blessing. There are ten sections all commencing with the words 'This is what the Lord says', so again God is seeking for his people to listen to his voice, and receive his word, so that they may know the Lord and his purposes of love for them. Again the business of listening to God and truly hearing what he says is at the forefront. Listening to God is so important and yet at the same time so difficult to do. If only we would listen to God then we would be so much more blessed in our lives. It is so easy to only hear part of the message, and so get a distorted view. It is also so common with us that in our listening we do not really think through what we are hearing, and so again our perception of God and his attitude towards us is deficient. Because we don't think through what we are hearing, we fail to appreciate or understand what God is saying and what God is truly like, and so our reaction to God's word is not always what it ought to be.

In this sermon we are going to consider just the first thing the Lord says, which his declaring his jealousy  for Zion - that is jealousy for his people. At this point it is important to understand that God is speaking, not so much to the nation of Israel, but to his people. Israel is being thought of as God's people and not as a nation. This may seem to be splitting hairs, but this is not the case. Here God speaks to Zion and to Jerusalem. Both these titles emphasise more the idea of God's people rather than the nation of Israel, and this concept is carried through the whole chapter, even though God speaks of Judah and of 'one Jew' in verse 23. As we progress through the chapter we shall see that the message and promise stretched so much further forward than the time of Zechariah, indeed it stretches forward to the New Testament and the time of the Church. Just as in the Church today, the visible church and the true church of God of faithful people are not entirely the same, so it was in the Old Testament. Zion or Jerusalem, which expressed the faithful, was not entirely the same as the whole nation. 

LORD ALMIGHTY.

As God speaks his message he is careful to speak of himself as the almighty one. God is expressing here the fact of his eternal Godhead, and of himself as the sovereign over all in heaven and earth. He is the almighty one who created all things, and orders all things according to his will, and no one can defy his will. God speaks as the one who is in control of all things, and whose power accomplishes all his purposes. He is the almighty one to whom all things are possible, and before whom no power has any avail against him. He is the almighty one to whom nothing is impossible, whose wisdom encompasses all eventualities and is never without the solution to every difficulty.

God speaks in this way so that on the one hand, his people may have every confidence in his word and promise, and so never doubt. He wants his people to be strong in faith so that however impossible his words may seem, his people may believe without doubting, because his power and wisdom are almighty. On the other hand God reminds us of his mighty power which is inexhaustible so that we may never set ourselves up against his will, and imagine that our 'no' can ever avail. It is to encourage us to submit with grace, and trust in his unfailing love.

GOD'S JEALOUSY.

Jealousy in human terms is not a pleasant emotion or action. For us fallen and corrupt human beings jealousy can rarely be a good thing. Jealousy in us is something that is destructive and often produces sinful thoughts and actions. The jealousy which God says he has is not like this in any way. There is nothing sinful or imperfect about God's jealousy. It is a completely holy emotion and action.

God's jealousy is certainly a strong emotion which produces determined and powerful action, but God's jealousy is never sinful, but entirely good and pure.

God's jealousy expresses the great concern God has for his glory, and upon anyone and any action which tarnishes his glory. God's jealousy is his deep concern for his people. He is jealous when his people depart from him and give their love to the world. God is also jealous for his people that they may show forth his glory in the world, and know his grace and blessing in their lives. God's jealousy is concerned with the attitude and action of the world towards his people, and the image his people give to the world concerning himself.

God's jealousy is a very strong motive force. In verse one God does not simply say that he is very jealous for Zion, but that he is burning with Jealousy for her. His jealousy is burning, that is motivating God to strong and powerful action for his people.

On the one hand God's jealousy brings forth judgement on a sinful world which tarnishes his glory, or persecutes his believing people; and on the other hand God's jealousy motivates God in the protection and blessing of his people so that they may be free and equipped to glorify his name. So we read in Zephaniah 3:8 "The whole world will be consumed by my jealous anger". Here is God's jealousy bringing forth anger and judgement because his world is defiled, and his people harmed. In Zephaniah 1:18 the context suggests that God's jealousy for his glory and holiness will be the motivation for God pouring out his jealousy and righteous anger in judgement so that the whole world will be consumed.

On the other hand in 2 Corinthians 11:2 Paul expresses the jealousy which God has for his redeemed people that we may be kept faithful to Christ and not withhold all our love and devotion from him. This action of jealousy acts in power to keep us pure and spotless, and that we may be kept from falling away from Christ.

I AM VERY JEALOUS FOR ZION.

In the New International Version translation of our verse, it is the present tense that is used. But in the Authorised Version it is the past tense that is used i.e. I was jealous for Zion. I am not able to decide which is correct because my knowledge of Hebrew is not up to it. I lean towards the view that the idea in both ways of translating this verse are included.

a. WAS JEALOUS. Here God is expressing the attitude and action he had for Zion in the past. He is looking back to the time before the exile in Babylon, and remembering how he judged his people for their constant sin and disobedience, and visited his holy anger on Israel for the way they had dishonoured his name, and made his name to be shamed in the heathen world. God was jealous for his honour, and his people Israel had brought dishonour to his name by the way they had lived in idolatrous practice and unjust actions, and by the way they had acted unacceptably and dishonestly in the world, and so brought dishonour on the name of Israel and so dishonour upon God whom Israel purported to serve.

This is the jealousy that will be exercised at the end of the world when God judges the living and the dead, and when all those who have despised his offer of salvation in Christ will be judged for the way they have lived their lives and ignored God. The unbelief of the world is totally dishonouring to God, and an offence to God, who has created all things, and holds all things together by the word of his power. People who live without God, take all that God has created and all he sustains by his power for granted and give him no praise or thanksgiving.

When God's people live like the world and deny God and take him for granted the offence is doubly great, and God's jealousy burns against a wayward and dishonouring people. Although God was patient with his people before the exile in Babylon for several hundred years, yet his jealousy was finally expressed in the captivity he inflicted upon his people. The same is true today when the church denies God or in some heinous way brings a shadow upon the glory of his person and character. It may well be that today in our country of Britain the church is provoking the jealousy of God by its self righteous and unloving spirit, and its neglect of declaring his glory in Christ, expressing his love in grace, and turning people away from Jesus by their un-Christlike spirit.

b. AM JEALOUS. In using the present tense there is a much more pleasant expression of God's jealousy, and this predominates in this chapter. God was jealous against Israel for their turning from him, but now God is jealous for their love and is jealous for their well-being, and jealous that they may be glorified in the world. This 'am jealous' also expresses here the concern of God that his church may express his glory and honour by the beauty of the life it portrays, and in the growth and blessing seen in its life. This jealousy in God pours out blessing and grace so that the church shines as a jewel in the crown of Christ, and people see this glory, and long to be part of it.

THE UNDERSTANDING OF GOD IN HIS JEALOUSY.

When we dwell on this expression of the jealousy of God, it enhances our perception and understanding of the revelation that God gives of himself in the bible. God cares about his creation. He can't stand back and be untouched by the way the world is, and the way his creation is being spoiled, and the people he created are dishonouring his name, and denying his glory. God will not give his glory to another and so is deeply jealous when the world gives it allegiance to Satan, and by their lives and the way they live, people take from God his glory, and deny his power and authority. God will not allow this to continue, and in his jealous anger he brings judgement from time to time on the earth or parts of the earth, and will in the end judge the world in righteousness to uphold the honour of his name.

However this is not all. God is jealous for his people, those he has redeemed at such great cost through the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ.

He is jealous for our love, and that we do not go after other God's, but give him all our hearts and all our love. In this jealousy he acts to keep us in his love, and keep us faithful to himself, and in this jealousy he disciplines his people as he did Israel of old.

But this is not the whole story of God's jealousy for his people. Because he is jealous for us as his bride and family, he defends his people from the world. He is our shepherd and in his jealous love for us, defends us and provides for us, and jealously guards us from all the assaults of the evil one.

God's jealousy for his church is expressed in his blessing that he pours out, so that his church may grow in the beauty of holiness and also grow in membership, so that the world may own the power of God working in the midst of his people. This is very much the jealousy being expressed in this chapter.

CONCLUSION.

We need to take hold and believe in this jealousy of God for his church. God will chastise his people when they fall away from him, because he is jealous for our glory, and his own glory expressed in his people. God is jealous for his redeemed, and so he will never leave us or forsake us, and will be their to keep us all the days of our lives, so that we may be brought into God's eternal glory. God is jealous for his church that we bring honour to him in the world, and this jealousy we should plead in prayer, that God may revive his church, and cause people to see the glory of God in the face of Jesus, and see this glory in us, so that they may come to us that they may be part of it.