Jealousy. I hear the word and I tend to think, “Not good.” Divine jealousy. I read that phrase this morning and I pause. Godly jealousy . . . hmmm . . . there’s a jealousy to be known which is pure . . . sanctified . . . the sort of jealousy that God might have. I guess I know my God is a jealous God, a consuming fire (Deuteronomy 4:24). I know He is jealous, or zealous, for His holy name (Ezekiel 39:25). I know too that God is jealous for the place where His glory dwells, that the heart of God burns for Jerusalem, for Zion (Zechariah 1:14). And that He is jealous for His people is evident as, time and time again throughout history, He has disciplined them for their unfaithfulness and graciously made a way of return that they might know again the covenant relationship of His design. So, that Paul should have a “divine jealousy” probably shouldn’t surprise me. Maybe it’s the object of that zeal and burning desire which has so captivated me this morning . . .

” I feel a divine jealousy for you, for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” (2Corinthians 11:2 ESV)

I don’t know . . . if it had been me, I might have been tempted to wash my hands of this dysfunctional church at Corinth. Talk about your “high maintenance” people! If it wasn’t one thing, it was another. Politicking and sects within the church . . . celebrating tolerance of sin . . . whacked out on the relative priorities of sign gifts vs. gifts for building up . . . a Lord’s Table that had become a bit of joke . . . confusion about the resurrection . . . wanting to keep one foot in the world and maintain a place in the church . . . and now, giving ear to some “super-apostles” who were discrediting Paul and introducing a “new angle” on the gospel. Brother! Too much effort! . . . let’s move on to a body of believers that is at least trying to “get it.” But that wasn’t how Paul saw it.

These were God’s people . . . as high maintenance as they might have been . . . they were still God’s people. Paul had seen the grace of God move in Corinth and redeem for Himself a people from this pagan population. And God, in His sovereignty, had said, “I want them as my bride.” Betrothed . . . literally “joined together” . . . that’s what they were . . . that’s how Paul saw them. And Paul saw himself as their wedding attendant. His job was to get them ready for that big day. To make sure that when they walked down the aisle they looked their best . . . that they were their best . . . that they were all they had been called to be by the power of the Spirit within them . . . and by the grace of God who called them. God’s people . . . betrothed . . . worth having a divine jealousy for.

And as I think about how to make this personal . . . how to make application for me . . . there’s a couple of thoughts that run through my head.

First . . . I am that “blushing bride to be.” I am a member of the “betrothed.” The desire of Christ is that I be presented to Him a “pure virgin” . . . “Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27). Oh, that I might cooperate with the “wedding preparation” work He desires to do in my life. That I might focus on that day . . . that I might love His appearing . . . that I might anticipate the wedding . . . that I might work in concert with the blessed Holy Spirit to transform me into the person He so desires to spend eternity with. May I take my calling as “betrothed” seriously.

Secondly . . . may I see the church as God does. Might I have the heart of Paul and possess a burning jealousy for those God has called to the wedding feast of the Lamb. Many, many years ago a dear older brother gave me the following words of counsel as I was about to head out on my own, “Pete, love the people of God.” For almost 33 years those words have stuck with me . . . to some measure I have tried to heed that counsel . . . but how I need to be fueled by a godly jealousy for His people. How I need to be “heated and boiled over” . . . how I need to be zealous and passionate . . . how I need to put myself out for that rag-tag group of sinners-saved-by-grace known as the church . . . that God might use me as He pleases to make ready His bride.

Hmmm . . . godly jealousy . . . I need to make it more of my vocabulary . . . I need to let it motivate me more as I hang out with and seek to encourage His bride. . . I need to leverage it more . . . for His glory . . . in anticipation of the wedding day . . . amen?