Sermon Cloud

God demands exclusive allegiance from those he loves. He is a ‘jealous’ God in this sense—the word better translated as “zealous”, meaning “passionate intensity to defend what is jeopardized”. This idea supports the commandment against idol worship—an idol being defined as “any idea, activity, or object that you value more than God”. He has every right to demand such exclusive worship from you because he saved you just as he brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.