Are we trying to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
Parallel translations
- WEB Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?
- KJV Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than he?
- NKJV Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?
- NASB Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?
- NLT What? Do we dare to rouse the Lord’s jealousy? Do you think we are stronger than he is?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Dividing one's worship provokes the Lord's jealousy, and no one can prevail against him. Idolatry is a dangerous affront to a holy God.
Overview
Alluding to Deuteronomy 32:21, Paul warns that idolatry stirs God's righteous jealousy for his people's exclusive devotion. The rhetorical question 'Are we stronger than he?' exposes the folly of provoking the Almighty. God's jealousy is not petty but the proper response of covenant love, and Christ's redemption claims our wholehearted, undivided worship.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Deut 32:21They have provoked My jealousy by that which is not God; they have enraged Me with their worthless idols. So I will make them jealous by those who are not a people; I will make them angry by a nation without understanding.
- Deut 32:16They provoked His jealousy with foreign gods; they enraged Him with abominations.
- Heb 10:31It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
- Ezek 22:14Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will act.
- Deut 4:24For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
- Ps 78:58They enraged Him with their high places and provoked His jealousy with their idols.
- Josh 24:19But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the LORD, for He is a holy God; He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your rebellion or your sins.
- Job 40:9–14Do you have an arm like God’s? Can you thunder with a voice like His?
- Exod 34:14For you must not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
- Deut 6:15For the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God. Otherwise the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.
- Eccl 6:10Whatever exists was named long ago, and what happens to a man is foreknown; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.
- Exod 20:5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on their children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,
- Isa 45:9Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker—one clay pot among many. Does the clay ask the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’?
- Zeph 1:18Neither their silver nor their gold will be able to deliver them on the Day of the LORD’s wrath. The whole earth will be consumed by the fire of His jealousy.” For indeed, He will make a sudden end of all who dwell on the earth.
- Job 9:4God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has resisted Him and prospered?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 10:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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