The Zeal of One Who Loves
The Lord is a jealous and avenging God.
Nahum 1:2 (NIV)
Nahum opens his prophecy with frightening words: the Lord is a jealous and avenging God, filled with wrath, taking vengeance on his foes. Before you recoil, remember the target — Nineveh, the cruel city that crushed nations and mocked God. Divine zeal is not celestial bad temper; it is love in protection mode: whoever truly loves rises when the beloved is threatened.
Picture a father watching his child assaulted: his anger does not contradict his love; it proves it. So it is with God's zeal — he will not tolerate the evil destroying those he loves. The mistake is confusing holy zeal with human jealousy: our jealousy cages people from selfishness, while God's zeal frees people from love. One suffocates, the other shields.
Let God's zeal comfort you today: the evil that wounded you went unnoticed by no one, and vengeance belongs to him — you can rest and forgive. And examine your own “zeal”: is your outrage born of love or pride? The zeal of one who loves protects without possessing, corrects without crushing, and defends without taking revenge. Let his zeal guard you, and let your zeal resemble his.