Building a Case for Righteous Jealousy: Part Three

Building a Case for Righteous Jealousy: Part Three.  A lot about jealousy can and does go wrong in the human realm. Very rarely did it go well. Of the thousands of characters in the Bible, only three, and if stretched, four examples of righteous jealousy among the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve appear: Phineas, David, Elijah, and perhaps Paul (although he could be sarcastic in most references to his zeal). It is highly significant that each time a human properly and legitimately expresses righteous jealousy, some form of idolatry is nearby. But never is a human more like God than when he or she is jealous for the things, concepts, and people that God considers dear to him. “Be angry, and do not sin” (Eph. 4:26).

Phineas, the priest, was zealous/jealous as God is zealous/jealous. God said of him, “Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the priest, has turned back my wrath from the people of Israel, in that he was jealous with my jealousy among them, so that I did not consume the people of Israel in my jealousy” (Num. 25:11). Given Israel’s short history, what was unthinkable 40 years before (worshiping the Golden Calf in God’s name), was happening again (worshiping Baal in God’s tabernacle). It was already egregious that some in Israel were joining the Moabites at their shrines for Baal worship (Num. 25:2), but Phineas’ righteous jealousy erupted when some brought Baal worship to the tent of meeting (Num. 25:6). He speared the idolaters in the sanctuary and averted a plague from the Lord which had just started and already claimed 24,000 lives (Num. 25:7-8). Pluralism elicits righteous jealousy.

In the psalms, David wrote: “Zeal for your house has consumed me” (Psa. 69:9). David’s zeal for the Lord was mocked by men, but not by God. “For it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that dishonor has covered my face” (Psa. 69:7). It might seem disingenuous to claim one’s own zeal for the Lord, but David’s zeal was endorsed, quoted, and applied by the disciples to Jesus when he drove out from the temple the money changers (John 2:17).

Elijah, too, demonstrated righteous jealousy. According to the word of the Lord, Elijah defeated the priests of Baal and Asherah, slaughtering them at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:1, 40). “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts” (1 Kings 19:10, 14). Yet, because he thought he was the only prophet left, Elijah wanted to die (1 Kings 19:4). Jealousy is an intense emotion requiring great strength to use and great restraint to cease from using.

Paul spoke self-effacingly of his former zeal as one of the Pharisees. After his redemption, Paul learned that his religious passion was self-righteousness. “A zeal for God, but not according to knowledge” (Rom. 10:2). ”So extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers” (Gal. 1:14). “As to zeal, a persecutor of the church” (Phil. 3:6). But as an apostle, thick with sarcasm, Paul spoke positively of his zeal at least once, though misunderstood by the Jews he addressed, when he said, “I am a Jew … zealous for God as all of you are this day” (Act 22:3).