Exodus 34:12 Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee.
Recently, I saw a story about a wedding photographer who was trying to get what my wife and I sometimes call a “kissing picture.” The mother-in-law was in the way and refused to get out of the way. She was basically hampering what was going on. Finally, the photographer in desperation pushed her out of the way. Now, good or bad, it became a news story. In any event, it illustrates something that I thought was kind of interesting: a marriage, however strong or feeble it may be, is an exclusive relationship. That is as it ought to be. Similarly, Israel was in an exclusive relationship with God.
In Exodus 34:14 God says, “For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” God Almighty is a jealous God? When we think of jealousy we don’t think of it as a virtue, and we don’t usually think of it as an attribute of God.
But jealousy, in this case, is something different than we usually imagine. Usually when we think of jealousy, we think of someone wanting what is another’s. We think of someone who covets what belongs to someone else. But in this case, God is reacting to the exclusive nature He had with His people Israel. It was and is completely righteous.
Should a man be generous with his marriage? Should he say to someone else, “Hey, I am married to my wife, but you can marry her too”? No, most definitely not! He would be defensive of that marriage. Some relationships are exclusive by nature, and that is why God says in Exodus 34:10, “Behold, I make a covenant: before all thy people I will do marvels, such as have not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation: and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the LORD: for it is a terrible thing that I will do with thee.” “Terrible” in this case does not meaning “fearful,” but “marvelous.”
In contrast, verse 12 says to the same people of Israel, “Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee.” In other words, you should not act like you are married to one person when you are married to another person. Marriage is exclusive, and Israel could not make a covenant with God, Who loved them and provided for them and at the same time a covenant with those people who hated God. It was not possible.
We belong to the Lord! How amazing that a God Who does not need us should love us so intently and intensely! Today, what does the competition look like for you? Sometimes things in our life are not intrinsically, innately wrong, but they are cooling our affection, focus, and dependence on God Who has brought us out of so many things. Israel’s relationship with God was exclusive, and those who have put their faith and trust in the Son of God have an exclusive relationship as well. Anything that would pull such a person away from such a God is wrong and to be avoided.