May 13, 2026; QANNA - JEALOUS

Daily Dose of Hope May 13, 2026   Name of God: Qanna – Jealous Scripture: Exodus 34:14, Deuteronomy 4:24, 5:9, 6:15   Prayer:  El Qanna, You are a jealous God who loves me completely. Forgive me for the times I have placed other things before You. Help me to love You with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Thank You for pursuing me with Your perfect love. In Jesus' name, Amen.   Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan.  We are currently in a study on the names of God in the Old Testament.  Each divine name illustrates a particular aspect of God's character and being.  The more we learn about God's names, the more we learn about God's character.   Today, we are focusing on El Qanna, which means Jealous God.  This is used five times in Scripture, all in the first few books of the Old Testament.  We may often misunderstand this name of God, because we see jealousy in its negative state, as it typically is seen as a sin in our fallen world.  But when we consider that God is a jealous God, we have to remember that all things belong to God and there is nothing that is not already his.  That means his desire for something is not rooted in covetousness, but rather the desire for relationship.  The God of the whole universe desires a relationship with His creation and is jealous for them.    It might be helpful to consider the covenant that God made with his people through Moses.  On Mt. Sinai, God didn't just give the Law to His people, he created a deep, abiding covenant, or contract, with His people.  The people had agreed to adhere to the terms of the covenant.  In some ways, it was like they were married to the Lord.  They were to be faithful to the Lord.  And when they were not, God became angry.  They weren't living up to their end of the covenant.    If you think about jealousy in the terms of a marriage relationship, it makes a bit more sense.  If you saw your spouse flirting with someone else, you wouldn't just shrug and say, "Whatever." You'd feel a protective instinct, a righteous anger at the threat that that person could be about to damage something sacred. Your reaction would not be selfishness; it would be devotion.  It's an appropriate passion for an exclusive covenant love.   We are to have no other gods before us because to do so would be to break the terms of our marriage covenant with God.  As Creator, Provider, and Deliverer, he deserves to be worshiped and loved with everything we have.  He loves us with a perfect love.  When we cheat on Him, God as a totally Holy God deserves to be jealous.  His jealousy comes from the truth that He loves us so much.  He wants relationship with us.   We often picture God as distant, calmly observing us from afar.  But El Qanna reveals something different.  God cares intensely about His relationship with you.  It's not a casual thing to Him. You matter profoundly to the God who made you. God's jealousy means you're worth fighting for. You're the beloved He pursues with holy passion. And when you drift toward things that will harm you, He doesn't just shrug and say, "whatever."  He fights for your heart and does everything He can to bring you back to Him.   In all of the verses this name is used, the Scripture is referring to idolatry.  You should have no idols before me.  Of course, worship of idols could be prostrating oneself before a pillar or metal statue.  In our world, it's more likely to be putting something else before God, like a relationship, our job, our money, an addiction, etc.  What kinds of things do you put before God?   Blessings, Pastor Vicki