Judah has been unfaithful, and a detestable thing has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem. The men of Judah have defiled the LORD’s beloved sanctuary by marrying women who worship idols. May the LORD cut off from the nation of Israel every last man who has done this and yet brings an offering to the LORD of Heaven’s Armies. Here is another thing you do. You cover the LORD’s altar with tears, weeping and groaning because he pays no attention to your offerings and doesn’t accept them with pleasure. You cry out, “Why doesn’t the LORD accept my worship?” I’ll tell you why! Because the LORD witnessed the vows you and your wife made when you were young. But you have been unfaithful to her, though she remained your faithful partner, the wife of your marriage vows. [Malachi 2.11-14]
Spiritual purity is the standard God sets. God will not share our devotion with anything or anyone. He wants it all! He compares faithlessness to Him to a man being faithless to his wife - it should not be done! He goes so far as to compare the defilement in mixing of devotion to being married to an idolatrous woman and still coming into the LORD's sanctuary. They don't mix, cohabitate, or even mingle!
No doubt, God is jealous for our undivided devotion.
You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. [Exodus 20.5a]
It is a perversion to introduce a third party into any covenant marriage relationship. And that is precisely why God uses marriage to illustrate how He feels about idols in our lives! The apostle Paul discussed this :
As the Scriptures say, “A man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.” This is a great mystery, but it is an illustration of the way Christ and the church are one. So again I say, each man must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. [Ephesians 5.31-33]
Our relationship with God is NOT an "open relationship" (to use modern vernacular for a perverted marriage)!
You must not have any other god but me. [Exodus 20.3]
Father, help us to see that You are indeed a jealous God, not willing to be "one of our gods" but demanding to be our ONLY God!
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