“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;” (Ezekiel 39:25). Jealousy and envy are used somewhat interchangeably nowadays, but the classical distinction between the two was that jealousy was a feeling of protection and ownership over something that one already had in their possession, and envy was a feeling of desire or longing for something that one did not yet possess. It is important to keep this distinction in mind when the Lord refers to Himself as a jealous God. The Lord is jealous of us because He bought us with a heavy price. He gave His life so that we could return to live with Him, and He will not take lightly any challenges to His claim over us. Jesus Christ has given freely His name to us that we might take His name upon us so that we can be saved. He will if course respect our agency, including if that choice leads us to renect His name and His salvation, but He will never stop jealously fighting for our immortality and exaltation. Even when we are hesitant to claim Him as our Savior, He does not relinquish His responsibility for us and our happiness even for a second. I hope that we can all embrace the truth that He loves us enough to desire more than anything you never be parted from us.
