God’s jealousy is not like man’s who is limited in knowledge and so gets apprehensive at the possibility displacement by a rival. Rather God’s jealousy has to do with His attitude of justice and holiness that play in His relationship with men created to worship Him alone. And when men withdraw from worshiping Him through negating His instruction or by flagrantly pledging allegiance to another god, His nature of holiness and justice will evoke His judgment. This is divine jealousy. (Exo.20:5; Deut.4:24; 5:9).
God’s nature confirms that He is an influenceable Being. He has emotion. He can be influenced by attitude and action. Right attitude and action yield positive things: mercy, favour, blessings, etc. And wrong attitude and actions yield the opposite.
When men choose to go the negative way, their attitude/action tend to challenge or query the Sovereignty of God or belittle Him; which in turn provoke His jealousy to prove that He is the Sovereign One (Exo.20:5; Nah.1:2).
This uncompromisable nature of God makes it expedient that people that come to God must come with very clean hands (Hab.1:13; Lev.11:44-45). Hence our message: Critical Cleansing
God has made us know that His permanent friend is only the person that keeps His word. When judged or condemned people repent, He forgives and relieves, but if they return to sin, He will return His judgment (2Cor.7:24; 11:22). And Jesus, the express Image of God won’t condone pollution of the temple (Jn.2: 13-17). Jesus’ action portrays God’s attitude towards uncleanness of the temple (cons.1Cor.6:19). And since God cannot condone any iota of sin, any one that wants to present his vessel for use must do so with great tactfulness. One must not forget the sad experience of Uzzah who wanted to assist God (1Chro.13:9-12).
So the spiritual cleansing that an intercessor should seek is that of the critical variety (1Thess.5:13). Something is ‘critical’ if there is the exercise of caution in assessment and judgment. So the purification process required is the comprehensive variety where no iota of sin is accommodated.
Remember, Judas Iscariot was ministering directly under the Lord Jesus Christ but was retaining impurities (Jn.13:3-10, 6:70). And Peter who wholeheartedly followed the Lord to the best of his ability was considered inadequate without the symbolic cleansing of Jesus. So no divine instruction is to be taken for granted. Isaiah was a no-nonsense preacher, yet a man of unclean lips that needed a second touch of the Lord (Isa.6:1-7).
The impurity can be some sort of besetting sins like pride, arrogance, lying, anger, hatred, bitterness, etc, or a habit that operates as a little fox that spoils the vine like talkativeness, gluttony, envy, etc. (Heb.12:1; S of S 2:15). There is need for submission to the assessment and conviction of the Holy Spirit. There is need to accept/acknowledge one’s wrongs, and cry out for help as Isaiah did (Isa.6:5; cp. 1Thess.4:11; Col.4:6; 3:4-14).
The Holy Spirit is available to sanctify the needy (1Thess.5:23).
Prayer Points
1. Ezek.36:25-26 – Give me a new heart, even a heart of flesh
2. Ezek.36:27 – Energize me to walk in your ways.
3. Eph.6:18 -Visit my neighbor and entire church with your purification.
4. Eph.6:10,19 – Give us more grace to go deeper in this exercise
5. Personal matters
