I taught this lesson just like this, but the Bible reading was like telling a story, make it come alive. Put yourself in the seat of the narrator. Talk about jealousy. We always think of it as a sin, but God is jealous. How is that possible?
Scripture
Exodus 34:14
You are never to bow down to another god because Yahweh, being jealous by nature, is a jealous God.
Deuteronomy 4:23-24
Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that He made with you, and make an idol for yourselves in the shape of anything He has forbidden you. 24 For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.
Name
Esh Oklah - consuming fire, the word is the same as eating, God will consume you like food. That's a weird mental picture
El Kanna - qannÄ - A title exclusively use of God and His desire for exclusive relationships, meaning "Jealous"
Understanding the Name
We going to focus on El Kanna.
God Reveals His Name
God makes a covenant with Israel (the nation) as they are about to march into Canaan. He tells them not to make treaties with anyone in the land, it will be a thorn in the flesh (discomfort) to them, they will drive out the inhabitants, some of which are like giants and are very powerful warring tribes.
Exodus 34:10-14
10 And the Lord responded: “Look, I am making a covenant. I will perform wonders in the presence of all your people that have never been done in all the earth or in any nation. All the people you live among will see the Lord’s work, for what I am doing with you is awe-inspiring. 11 Observe what I command you today. I am going to drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 12 Be careful not to make a treaty with the inhabitants of the land that you are going to enter; otherwise, they will become a snare among you. 13 Instead, you must tear down their altars, smash their sacred pillars, and chop down their Asherah poles. 14 You are never to bow down to another god because Yahweh, being jealous by nature, is a jealous God.
I Samuel 4:1-10, 5, 6
Israel went out to meet the Philistines in battle and[a] camped at Ebenezer while the Philistines camped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines lined up in battle formation against Israel, and as the battle intensified, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who struck down about 4,000 men on the battlefield.
3 When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by the Philistines? Let’s bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh. Then it[b] will go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.” 4 So the people sent men to Shiloh to bring back the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts, who dwells between the cherubim. Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God. 5 When the ark of the covenant of the Lord entered the camp, all the Israelites raised such a loud shout that the ground shook.
6 The Philistines heard the sound of the war cry and asked, “What’s this loud shout in the Hebrews’ camp?” When the Philistines discovered that the ark of the Lord had entered the camp, 7 they panicked. “The gods have entered their camp!” they said. “Woe to us, nothing like this has happened before.[c] 8 Woe to us, who will rescue us from the hand of these magnificent gods? These are the gods that slaughtered the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness. 9 Show some courage and be men, Philistines! Otherwise, you’ll serve the Hebrews just as they served you. Now be men and fight!”
10 So the Philistines fought, and Israel was defeated, and each man fled to his tent. The slaughter was severe—30,000 of the Israelite foot soldiers fell. 11 The ark of God was captured, and Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, died.
5:1After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod, 2 brought it into the temple of Dagon[a] and placed it next to his statue.[b] 3 When the people of Ashdod got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. So they took Dagon and returned him to his place. 4 But when they got up early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen with his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord. This time, both Dagon’s head and the palms of his hands were broken off and lying on the threshold. Only Dagon’s torso remained.[c] 5 That is why, to this day, the priests of Dagon and everyone who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod do not step on Dagon’s threshold.
6 The Lord’s hand was heavy on the people of Ashdod, terrorizing and afflicting the people of Ashdod and its territory with tumors.[d][e] 7 When the men of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “The ark of Israel’s God must not stay here with us, because His hand is strongly against us and our god Dagon.” 8 So they called all the Philistine rulers together and asked, “What should we do with the ark of Israel’s God?”
“The ark of Israel’s God should be moved to Gath,” they replied. So the men of Ashdod moved the ark. 9 After they had moved it, the Lord’s hand was against the city of Gath, causing a great panic. He afflicted the men of the city, from the youngest to the oldest, with an outbreak of tumors.
10 The Gittites then sent the ark of God to Ekron, but when it got there, the Ekronites cried out, “They’ve moved the ark of Israel’s God to us to kill us and our people!”[f]
11 The Ekronites called all the Philistine rulers together. They said, “Send the ark of Israel’s God away. It must return to its place so it won’t kill us and our people!”[g] For the fear of death pervaded the city; God’s hand was oppressing them. 12 The men who did not die were afflicted with tumors, and the outcry of the city went up to heaven.
6:1When the ark of the Lord had been in the land of the Philistines for seven months, 2 the Philistines summoned the priests and the diviners and pleaded, “What should we do with the ark of the Lord? Tell us how we can send it back to its place.”
3 They replied, “If you send the ark of Israel’s God away, you must not send it without an offering. You must send back a restitution offering to Him, and you will be healed. Then the reason His hand hasn’t been removed from you will be revealed.”[a]
4 They asked, “What restitution offering should we send back to Him?”
And they answered, “Five gold tumors and five gold mice corresponding to the number of Philistine rulers, since there was one plague for both you[b] and your rulers. 5 Make images of your tumors and of your mice that are destroying the land. Give glory to Israel’s God, and perhaps He will stop oppressing you,[c] your gods, and your land. 6 Why harden your hearts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? When He afflicted them, didn’t they send Israel away, and Israel left?
7 “Now then, prepare one new cart and two milk cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. 8 Take the ark of the Lord, place it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you’re sending Him as a restitution offering in a box beside the ark. Send it off and let it go its way. 9 Then watch: If it goes up the road to its homeland toward Beth-shemesh, it is the Lord who has made this terrible trouble for us. However, if it doesn’t, we will know that it was not His hand that punished us—it was just something that happened to us by chance.”
10 The men did this: They took two milk cows, hitched them to the cart, and confined their calves in the pen. 11 Then they put the ark of the Lord on the cart, along with the box containing the gold mice and the images of their tumors. 12 The cows went straight up the road to Beth-shemesh. They stayed on that one highway, lowing as they went; they never strayed to the right or to the left. The Philistine rulers were walking behind them to the territory of Beth-shemesh.
13 The people of Beth-shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley, and when they looked up and saw the ark, they were overjoyed to see it. 14 The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the Lord.
God is a Jealous God and wants our best, our all, our complete devotion. He chastises the church and the world alike.
Take It To The Bank
Small Group Questions - We are going to dig a little deeper
- What promises does God make in Exodus 34:10-14?
- What commands does God give?
- What warnings does he issue?
- In Samuel we see God has authority over all, including health and wealth and gods. What are some gods that we might follow today?
- Part of God's name is Consuming Fire. Malachi 3:2-3 What is the day of His coming going to bring? What gets burned up? Everything that is not of God
- What is faith?
- What should our faith look like?
- Who or what do you love? Does it take away from your walk with God? Does it pull you from God?
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