Rejection Of A Jealous God
In the video at the bottom of this post you will see Oprah Winfrey explaining that her rejection of the Christian God and the initiation of her search for something else began when she heard her Baptist preacher say that God is a jealous God. Something about that didn’t set well with her.
Was her concern justified? Is God really self-centered? The below text is an excerpt from J.I. Packer’s book Hot Tub Religion in which he explains why God must be jealous or cease to be God;
That God aims always to glorify himself is an assertion we at first find hard to believe. Our immediate reaction is an uncomfortable feeling that such an idea is unworthy of God, that self-concern of any sort is incompatible with moral perfection, and in particular with God’s nature as love. Many sensitive and morally cultured people are shocked by the thought that God’s ultimate end is his own glory, and strongly oppose such a concept. To them, it depicts God as essentially no different from an evil man, or even the devil himself! To them it is an immoral and outrageous doctrine, an if the Bible teaches it, so much the worse for the Bible! They often draw this conclusion explicitly with regard to the Old Testament. A volume, they say, that depicts God so persistently as a “jealous” Being, concerned first and foremost about his “honor,” cannot be regarded as divine truth, for God is not like that. It is blasphemy, real if unintentional, to think that he is! Since these convictions are widely and strongly held, it is important to consider what validity, if any, they have.
We begin by asking: why are these convictions asserted with so much heat? On other theological matters people can disagree calmly enough. But protests against the doctrine that God’s chief end is his glory are made with passion and often angry rhetoric. The answer is not difficult to see, and it does credit to the moral earnestness of the speakers. These people are sensitive to the sinfulness of continual self-seeking. They know that the desire to gratify self is at the root of moral weaknesses and shortcomings. They are themselves trying as best they can to face and fight this desire. Hence they conclude that for God to be self-centered would be equally wrong. The vehemence with which they reject the idea that the holy God would exalt himself reflects their acute sense of the guiltiness of their own self-seeking.
Is their conclusion valid? We repeat: it is in fact a complete mistake. If it is right for man to have the glory of God as his goal, can it be wrong for God to have the same goal? If man can have no higher purpose than God’s glory, how can God? If it is wrong for man to seek a lesser end than this, it would be wrong for God, too. The reason it cannot be right for man to live for himself, as if he were God, is because he is not God. However, it cannot be wrong for God to seek his own glory, simply because he is God. Those who insist that God should not seek his glory in all things are really asking that he cease to be God. And there is no greater blasphemy than to will God out of existence.
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I just wanted to say that YES ! God does say he is a jealous God. But when it is read in proper context it makes it clear that God does not accept false worship or committing adultery with other gods ( idols)….
Why shouldn’t GOD be jealous if we worship other gods before HIM, or put anything before him ?
HE IS the ONE who created everything! He blesses us every single day even when we DO NOT deserve it !
He gave us life and breathe…and every talent we have…
He gave us his everything when He gave us His son Jesus Christ !
Oprah Winfrey is a filthy rich, sinful being who has exalted herself and has brainwashed the world to listen to her hogwash and ungrateful attitude towards GOD who blessed her with more than most…
God should take it all away from her as He does with most that don’t give Him the glory that HE deserves because they give it to themselves alone !
I am sick of Oprah Winfrey and her pathetic show. Honestly I can’t believe women sit and watch that garbage but then again I bet they watch soap operas too!
Maybe Oprah is JEALOUS of GOD !
What an ungrateful human being she is!
GOD self centered? Get real !
Maybe that wicked woman Oprah should look at all God allows her to have…HE CAN take it ALL away with just a thought!
My sister is brainwashed by Oprah and it has driven a wedge between us because I try to reach her about how wicked Oprah really is speaking against God like she does.
That woman is pure evil and self centered herself…With all the money she has she should shut her big mouth and be grateful…
Gail Taraschuk
Niagara falls.
I watched the video on your site…
Oprah cut people off when they were trying to speak about Jesus..I guess she loves to hear her own voice…. but it was extremely rude!
It is so frustrating when some who is so arrogant does not let you have a word edgewise….it just all about them and their opinions…
I also listened to her reasons for turning away from the Christian church and it seemed like a bunch of childish stuff to me..
I have a son who in a lot of ways has Oprah’s attitudes..
My son does not like rules of any kind even if they are for his good and the good of others in the long run..
Oprah wants to set her won rules and rebel against God.. Point blank..she in quite childish in her views..
Nothing she came up with was a good enough or even a real legit reason to leave Christianity and speak against the Most High God..
When we are children all we think about is ourselves…we cannot see the bigger picture….
God only does what is good for us..we or Oprah just can’t see it now..
There is NO salvation without Jesus …You are NOT a god. it is Satan that tells you that you are gods within yourself…If you are nieve enough to believe that then you are in deep do-do…
After all you cannot create a life from nothing, you can’t even stop yourself from dying which we all will experience..how then can you think of yourself as a god?
When you lay on your death bed or maybe it will be a sudden death…you better make sure that you are right with GOD almighty…because after that you are out of options and your decision is finale and eternal and so are the consequences.
Are you going to trust that your are saved eternally when you yourself couldn’t even save yourself from death?
Trust in the ONE that CREATED you and gave you life in the first place. if he gave you life once HE is the ONLY one who can save you eternally.
There cannot be many gods…there is only ONE GOD…That is Jehovah GOD !
All others are nothing more than idols invented in man’s imaginations..they can’t breathe, move, see, smell, taste …point is they are inanimate object with NO life in them…
With out Christ whom the bible says ALL things were created through..there is NO life at all!
The bible is the ONLY religious book that has archeology to back it up, History to back it up…and the world around us to back it up…..
Stop being led astray with people like Oprah who want to give you an easy way… that leads to NO where in the end…
Things hardest to work for are the things worth working for… Jesus is the only way..it might be a straight and narrow path but in the end it will be more then worth it! Oprah is showing you the broad paths along the narrow path..the trails that lead you off in the wrong direction and get you lost…they might be more visual, exciting, but when that is all finished with there will be NOTHING left !
It is just NOT worth it ! Trust Jesus He would never lead you the wrong way..He loves you much more then Oprah does…and has died for YOU, something Oprah would NEVER do for you..so who are you going to listen to? Oprah or Jesus?
Gail Taraschuk
One more thing I forgot to mention….
Regarding Oprah’s so called generosity….
It is So very easy to give what she gives when she has SO much that it doesn’t even make a dent in her bank account..after all she knows all her brainwashed fans will put all that $ back in her account for her anyway .Not only that she will gain more followers if she does and more fame and publicity… Seems she give with the motive of some gain !
People listen to her and turn from Jesus…
Jesus had nothing…He said not even a place to lay his head…BUT HE ( Jesus ) gave more than Oprah could ever give…He gave His life for us !
Listen to Jesus !
Pray for Oprah she is LOST !