Why God Is Jealous

Zechariah 8:2

This is what the Lord Almighty says: "I am very jealous for Zion, I am burning with jealousy for her."

God will not give to any other god the glory and credit that is due Him. When God chose this people to be His own, and placed them in His most beautiful and productive land, so they could benefit from all the bounty of the wealth it would produce, He expected them to respond to His love for them by loving Him back. Instead, when their prosperity increased, they forgot all about God and gave the credit to the pagan gods of the peoples around and among them. That was stealing from God the honor and glory He deserves.

That's why He removed them from the land, to a far away foreign land. And, since the people had not observed the Sabbath Year to let the land rest every 7 years for 490 years, God had let them know that their exile would be the 70 years the land was to have to lie fallow. God was giving them a "clean slate" to start over with when they returned.

God loves what He has made. He wants us to pay attention to our world around us, and to be careful to follow the rules He has given us to guide our interactions with the Earth and with one another, and to give Him the credit for making it and designing it the way He has, so that we can enjoy its benefits, and He receives the glory.

Just love God, and love one another. That covers all His laws, the rules He told us to follow.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!