People often recoil from these two J words. Judgement and
jealousy can sound like horrible aspects of the Lord’s
character. But actually when you put the two together, you see a
very different picture. Judgement and jealousy are regularly
twinned in the bible: Ex 20:5; 34:14; Deut 4:24; 5:9; 6:15;
29:20; 32:16,21; Josh 24:19; 1 Kings 14:22; Ps 78:58; 79:5; Is
9:7; 26:11; 37:32; 42:13; 59:17; Ezek 5:13; 8:3ff; 16:38,42;
23:25; 35:11; 36:5; 36:6; 38:19; Joel 2:18; Zeph 1:18; 3:8; Zech
1:14; 8:2,3; 1 Cor 10:22; Heb 10:27 In fact Jealousy is at the
very heart of the LORD’s character: Exodus 34:14 Do not worship
any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous
God. Song of Solomon 8:6 …Love is strong as death, jealousy is
fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very
flame of the LORD. Jealousy is the very Name and Flame of the
LORD! We baulk at this, having only negative connotations for
‘jealousy’. But… a) The word in Hebrew and Greek can as well be
translated zeal (in fact in Gr