Recently I was in a service where three unlikely passages were brought forward that illustrated the quality of God that we don't often think about- His jealous or zealous concern for His Glory.
The first scripture was Leviticus 10 where Nadab and Abiju offered "strange" fire at the altar and they were consumed. The Lord's commentary on their deed was, "By those who come near Me I must be regarded as holy; and before all the people I must be glorified."
The second scripture was the transfiguration from Luke 9. Jesus met with Moses and Elijah in the aura of glory and Peter suggested building three tabernacles- one for Jesus, Moses and one for Elijah. There was a fearful and instantaneous response from a cloud and a voice that said, "This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!" God was reminding the disciples that Jesus was not just another Prophet to be treated equally- He was God and would not share that position with anyone else.
We then moved into the observance of communion. I Cor. 10:16 says "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we, though many, are one bread and one body: for we all partake of that one bread. ...You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord's table and of the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?"
We are then invited to examine ourselves. To judge ourselves, rather than suffer judgment from God. Communion is a statement of unity with God and unity with fellow believers. If anything in our lives makes that statement a lie we are challenging God- a holy and jealous God.
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Excellent thought. Although very humbeling.
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