We often confuse jealousy and coveting and treat them as the same thing. They are not. Both have to do with being in possession of something. Coveting is wanting to take possession of something that belongs to someone else. Jealousy is wanting to retain possession of things that rightly belong to you but are at threat of being taken away.
Coveting is a sin. It violates the 10 commandments. Righteous jealousy is not a sin.
I use the term righteous jealousy because it assumes the item for which you are jealous rightly belongs to you. If you are in possession of something that rightly belongs to someone else, then desiring to retain possession of it isn’t jealousy, it is coveting and theft.
All of this is based on the item being held as valuable. No one, in their right mind, would covet or be jealous of a rock. It is immaterial, without value. But if the rock is a gemstone, then that changes.
And there in lies the precious gift of God’s jealousy for us. Everything belongs to God. He created the entire universe. All matter, anti-matter, time and space belong to God. But God looks at you and me, a collection of molecules and synapses, carbon and water, and He sees a precious gemstone. Every soul born as a human belonged to God before life entered their cells, even the free will that enables us to choose to turn away from God is from God, and He is jealous for us.
What an amazing blessing. You are a thing of beauty, of great wealth, precious, desired, something that God, who has everything, wants to possess because you rightly belong to Him. God is jealous for you! That should make your face shine with some radiance!
Write that fact on your mirror and look at it in the morning!
My Answers:
10.
a.
They had been forgiven for their wickedness and for breaking their covenant and commitment to do everything God had commanded
b.
I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you.
c.
Through the children I have helped teach. Through their ministry.
11.
a.
“A strong feeling of possessiveness, often caused by the possibility that something which belongs, or ought to belong, to one is about to be taken away.” Everything belongs to God, help comes from Him alone
b.
All of this is a prophecy and foreshadowing of the sins they would be tempted to commit in the future.
12.
a.
He was with God
b.
Because he had spoken with the Lord
c.
my face, heart and hands, my voice. my writing and actions all reflect God’s glory – (still a work in progress)
The Notes are Good 