Many people have trouble with this idea that God is a “jealous” God but condemns the effects of jealousy in people. This is akin to God seeking to receive praise when He says that people who seek to do the same are proud and worthy of judgment—or God taking a life but not calling it murder.
It all comes down to the created order. God gave life and can take it away. Man didn’t and can’t rightfully do so. God is the greatest, so He should get the praise; no one else deserves it.
God is the one being above all others, the one true source of good from which all good things spring and by which the standard of good is defined, the highest authority, and the very thing every human being needs most. He is not jealous as one of us is jealous. He lacks nothing and needs no emotional support or self-esteem boost. But He, by His very nature, deserves praise and devotion from the creatures He has made and to whom He has given Himself and His many blessings. It is not right for people to give praise and honor to anything else above God. In fact, the very thing people need deep in their souls is a relationship with this God, the source of all good, and that is why Jesus came—for you and for me, to make a way for us to access Him, our heart’s desire.
Therefore, God is jealous for us, and it is not wrong. A human, on the other hand, has no right to be valued above God as the object of someone’s devotion, and even when a man or woman is jealous in a seemingly justified way, sin in their heart turns it towards evil, and they hurt others that God created and loves. God is always justified in His ways.
