Why The Bible Depicts God As Jealous
By Al Serrato In my last post, I tried to make the case that God neither “needs” nor “demands” our praise. I acknowledged that he does, however, expect it, because praise naturally flows to a perfect being. But, the skeptic may counter, doesn’t the Bible describe God as “jealous?” Don’t the Ten Commandments include prohibitions on having “other gods” as well as threats of punishment for those guilty of “iniquity?” Does this not, in fact, amount to God instructing us to worship him, and explaining how angry he will become if we don’t? We come back to the question – why would a perfect being demand worship?” These are good questions, and they deserve an answer. But as we embark upon an answer, it’s worth noting that the questions themselves…