Exodus 20:4-6 KJV
[4] Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: [5] Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; [6] And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Points:
-- do not bow down to or serve other gods --- Exodus 20:5
-- do not worship other gods --- Exodus 34:14
-- God is a consuming fire, and a jealous God --- Deuteronomy 4:24
-- do not bow down to, nor serve, false gods --- Deuteronomy 5:9
-- do not go after other gods of the people around you --- Deuteronomy 6:14
-- do not go and serve the gods of other nations, he shall blot out his name --- Deuteronomy 29:18-20
-- God is provoked to jealousy with strange gods --- Deuteronomy 32:16
-- they have moved God to jealousy with that which is not God --- Deuteronomy 32:21
-- if you forsake God and serve strange gods, then he will consume you --- Joshua 24:20
-- put away the strange gods among you, and incline your heart to God --- Joshua 24:23
-- Judah provoked God to jealousy with their sins --- Kings 14:22
-- God was moved to jealousy with their graven images --- Psalm 78:58
-- God said, my glory nor praise will I give to another --- Isaiah 42:8
-- Israel made an image, an abomination, in the temple to provoke God to jealousy --- Ezekiel 8:3
-- great abominations by the house of Israel were committed in the temple --- Ezekiel 8:5-6
-- Israel caused God to be jealous by playing the harlot --- Ezekiel 16:41-43
-- God said I will set my jealousy against you by fire --- Ezekiel 23:25
-- in the fire of my jealousy, because you have borne the shame of the heathen --- Ezekiel 36:5-6
-- in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath, there shall be a great shaking in Israel --- Ezekiel 38:19
-- I will bring again the captivity of Jacob and will be jealous for my holy name --- Ezekiel 39:25
-- Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people --- Joel 2:18
-- God is jealoous and furious and will take vengeance on his adversaries --- Nahum 1:2
-- in the day of the Lord's wrath the whole land will be devoured by the fire of his jealousy --- Zephaniah 1:18
-- God said I will gather the nations that I may pour out my fierce anger --- Zephaniah 3:8
-- for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy --- Zephaniah 3:8
-- God said, I am jealous for Jerusalem and Zion with a great jealousy --- Zechariah 1:14
-- I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy and was jealous for her with great fury --- Zechariah 8:2
-- I will provoke Israel to jealousy by those that are no people, and by a foolish nation --- Romans 10:19
-- through their fall salvation will come to the Gentiles to provoke them to jealousy --- Romans 11:11
Scriptures:
Exodus 20:5 kJV
[5] Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Exodus 34:14 KJV
[14] For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
Deuteronomy 4:24 KJV
[24] For the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.
Deuteronomy 5:9 KJV
[9] Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
Deuteronomy 6:14-15 KJV
[14] Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; [15] (For the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
Deuteronomy 29:18-29 KJV
[18] Lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; [19] And it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying, I shall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst: [20] The Lord will not spare him, but then the anger of the Lord and his jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven.
Deuteronomy 32:16 KJV
[16] They provoked him to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations provoked they him to anger.
Deuteronomy 32:21 KJV
[21] They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation.
Joshua 24:19-20 KJV
[19] And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. [20] If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good.
Joshua 24:22-24 KJV
[22] And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. [23] Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel. [24] And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.
1 Kings 14:22 KJV
[22] And Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.
Psalm 78:58 KJV
[58] For they provoked him to anger with their high places, and moved him to jealousy with their graven images.
Isaiah 42:5-9 KJV
[5] Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: [6] I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; [7] To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. [8] I am the Lord: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. [9] Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them.
Ezekiel 8:3-4 KJV
[3] 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. [4] And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there,
Ezekiel 8:5-6 KJV
[5] Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. [6] He said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what they do? even the great abominations that the house of Israel committeth here, that I should go far off from my sanctuary? but turn thee yet again, and thou shalt see greater abominations.
Ezekiel 16:41-43 KJV
[41] And they shall burn thine houses with fire, and execute judgments upon thee in the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease from playing the harlot, and thou also shalt give no hire any more. [42] So will I make my fury toward thee to rest, and my jealousy shall depart from thee, and I will be quiet, and will be no more angry. [43] Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord God: and thou shalt not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.
Ezekiel 23:25 KJV
[25] And I will set my jealousy against thee, and they shall deal furiously with thee: they shall take away thy nose and thine ears; and thy remnant shall fall by the sword: they shall take thy sons and thy daughters; and thy residue shall be devoured by the fire.
Ezekiel 36:5-6 KJV
[5] Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Surely in the fire of my jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the heathen, and against all Idumea, which have appointed my land into their possession with the joy of all their heart, with despiteful minds, to cast it out for a prey. [6] Prophesy therefore concerning the land of Israel, and say unto the mountains, and to the hills, to the rivers, and to the valleys, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I have spoken in my jealousy and in my fury, because ye have borne the shame of the heathen:
Ezekiel 38:19 KJV
[19] For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel;
Ezekiel 39:25 KJV
[25] Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name;
Joel 2:18 KJV
[18] Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people.
Nahum 1:2 KJV
[2] 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.
Zephaniah 1:18 KJV
[18] Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy: for he shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.
Zephaniah 3:8 KJV
[8] Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.
Zechariah 1:14 KJV
[14] So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
Zechariah 8:2 KJV
[2] Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury.
Romans 10:19 KJV
[19] But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you.
Romans 11:11 KJV
[11] I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
Commentary
God is a jealous God.
Bowing down or worshipping other gods is an abomination to God.
Anything that alientates your affections from God, that keeps God from being first in your life, will provoke God to wrath.
Matthew 10:37 KJV
[37] He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Inordinate, excessive, conformation to the things of this world, things that cause us to forget God and put him in second place will eventually separate us from the love of God.
God told Peter that he forgives seventy times seven times, or four hundred and ninety times. Just as he forgave Judah four hundred and ninety years in the Seventy Week prophecy which he gave to Daniel for his people.
Matthew 18:21-22 KJV
[21] Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? [22] Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
The people of Judah did not fulfill the contingencies of that prophecy, and God took away their city and their temple by the Romans in 70 AD. The Jews had been given the gospel message to be a light to the world, but when they failed, God had his Apostles take the gospel message to the Gentiles and to all the world.
Daniel 9:24-27 KJV
[24] Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy. [25] Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. [26] And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. [27] And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
God will forgive many times, but he does have a limit. For those who cross his limit they will encounter the wrath of God which is now coming on the whole world.