Jealous for His Name

Ezekiel 39:25 “Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;”

I am probably safe in saying that today more people will speak God’s name in vain than will use it the way it should be. Making God’s name a commonplace exclamation has become commonplace itself. Our society has very little reverence for the name of God anymore. And if we are not careful, even we can be guilty of using His name in a flippant manner.

Here in Ezekiel 39 we see that God is jealous for His name. Jealous? We usually think jealousy is not something God would have. But this jealousy is not the small, petty, vindictive sentiment that we often have; God’s jealousy is the righteous response of a holy God to anyone that would lift up anything above His name.

We live in a day when almost nothing is held in reverence. Take the way people dress, for instance. Even at the nicest restaurants, you will see people walking around in flip-flops and baseball hats! There is nothing sinful about that, of course, but it does show that we have lost our sense of reverence for certain things. Should not God’s name be lifted up and used with the highest regard? Be careful that you never treat God in a commonplace way-He is jealous for His name.

First, verse 23 tells us that God always judges sin. God says, “And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.” Sin isn’t just about you! When God’s people live in sin, the enemies of God are given cause to blaspheme His name. God must judge sin so that the unsaved world will know that He is a holy, righteous God.Second, we see that God is merciful because He is jealous for His name. God said He would have mercy on the house of Israel and be jealous for His name. God’s mercy to His sinful people set Him apart in the eyes of the heathen; it caused them to see that He is different from all other gods. God’s mercy to people humbled by judgment brought glory to His name.

God never changes-God is the same today with us. He will always rule in judgment and mercy because He is jealous for His name. As His children, let’s not wait for the judgment of God to lift up His name-let’s does it voluntarily so that the lost may know that He is the Lord!