A jealous God. Just seeing that doesn’t sound quite right does it. We only think of jealousy as a bad thing. When we think of jealous we think of being jealous of someone else because of what they have we think of the definition – ‘feeling or showing an envious resentment of someone or their achievements, possessions, or perceived advantages.’ It is more like envy or covetousness.
This kind of jealousy, the one we think of the most, is not the of jealousy that God talks about here. Just like anger can be good or bad so can jealousy.
We know that is true because God says ‘I am jealous for you with godly jealousy.’
Spurgeon said this about godly jealousy - We find the Apostle Paul declaring to the Corinthian Church, "I am jealous over you with a godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." He had an earnest, cautious, anxious concern for their holiness, that the Lord Jesus might be honored in their lives. Let it be remembered then, that jealousy, like anger, is not evil in itself, or it could never be ascribed to God; his jealousy is ever a pure and holy flame.
We can get a picture of what good jealousy is. There would be something seriously wrong if some man were making advances on my wife and I had no response. I found the following online and I think it words it perfectly.
Perhaps a practical example will help us understand the difference. If a husband sees another man flirting with his wife, he is right to be jealous, for only he has the right to flirt with his wife. This type of jealousy is not sinful. Rather, it is entirely appropriate. Being jealous for something that God declares to belong to you is good and appropriate. Jealousy is a sin when it is a desire for something that does not belong to you. Worship, praise, honor, and adoration belong to God alone, for only He is truly worthy of it. Therefore, God is rightly jealous when worship, praise, honor, or adoration is given to idols. This is precisely the jealousy the apostle Paul described in 2 Corinthians 11:2, “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy...”
http://www.gotquestions.org/jealous-God.html
God is jealous for our affection. He doesn’t like it when we flirt with the world or the world flirts with us. His jelousy over us is because of His love for us.
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