“I the Lord Thy God Am a Jealous God”
The jealousy of God is a perfectly righteous jealousy. He does not want those whom He loves to be deceived and led away by that which is not true to His Word, to His truth, and to His character.
How serious a matter is this? Nahum:1:2God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.
See All... [1] makes it very clear: “God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.”
To Ezekiel we’re told, “And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy” (Ezekiel:8:3And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy.
See All... [2]—emphasis added).
The prophet Ezekiel is given a vision of Jerusalem in which the leaders are practicing idolatry “in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery” (v. 12). That brings to mind the environment of today’s movie theaters as well as a connection between the emotional and seductive power of the film medium and this idolatrous worship. “Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for [the idol] Tammuz” (v. 14).
Perhaps my professional background in the motion picture business has me reading too much into Ezekiel’s vision of idolatry. Nevertheless, I believe the issue of God being provoked to jealousy by His biblical truth being replaced by man-made images, words, actors, and fables (2 Timothy:4:4And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
See All... [3]) is hardly speculation.
To further underscore my point, compare what's taking place in The Chosen with a scenario I made up about the love of my life for 54 years: “Peg of my heart.” Let’s say my wallet drops to the floor and as Peg picks it up it flips open revealing a photo of the very popular singer Carrie Underwood.
Surprised, she asks, “What's this?” Quickly I offer her a rather weak and conscious-stricken reply: “It’s Carrie Underwood.”
“I know who it is. What I want to know is what is her picture doing in your wallet?”
“Peg, I have her picture there...because...well...because—she reminds me of you.”
If that answer strikes you as being ludicrous, it’s actually commonplace among multitudes of professing and true Christians who were (and are) bewitched by The Chosen's portrayals of Jesus and his disciples. Many were also attracted to the physical attributes of the actors and actresses: their eyes, their voices, their humor, and a host of other “relatability” characteristics foreign to what the Bible presents. Many claim the images and voices of the actors even flood their minds during their prayer time.
The continual refrain from the Mormon [4] producers and the professing evangelical writer/director (Dallas Jenkins) of The Chosen is that it will strengthen the viewers faith in the Bible. That’s the equivalent of believing fake news will hasten the belief in the integrity of today’s newscasts.
To those evangelical shepherds who are tragically promoting The Chosen among their sheep, I strongly recommend their reviewing the verses that declare God’s jealousy, especially Nahum:1:2God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.
See All... [1] quoted above.
T. A. McMahon
Executive Director
