The Lord permits no rivals. In Isaiah 43:11, He said, “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.” Yet, there is a battle on the horizon that will bring all matters to a head. The Antichrist will sit in the temple of God claiming to be God (2 Thessalonians 2:4). He will torture the people of God (the Jews) and blaspheme the name of God. He will set up his image and demand that the people worship him (Revelation 13:14-15). This peak of idolatry and blasphemy will lead to the culmination of God’s jealousy when He returns to judge the world (Revelation chapter 19).
Every true and honest Bible student readily confesses that the Bible identifies the Jewish people as the people of God. Unfortunately, the Jews repeatedly provoked the Lord to jealousy. In judgment for their indiscretions, the Lord promised to move the Jewish people to jealousy as He showed His favour unto a people “which are not a people.” According to the apostle Paul, this was fulfilled when the Lord turned to the Gentiles offering them salvation through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 10:19; Romans 11:11). This jealousy was not to be permanent. One day the Lord will again turn back to the Jewish people after the Rapture of the church.
Since God is responsible for man’s possessions or the lack thereof, some Christians question why God gives a man some things while He withholds from others. Romans 8:28 contains one of the answers as it points out that “all things work together for good.” This does not imply that everything in the believer’s life is enjoyable or good. It means that everything combined results in good. God works in every piece of a believer’s life. He combines all things so that even the supposed bad things result in what is “good” according to the will of God. So long as God is at the controls, contentment teaches man how to be satisfied. Man's conditions, circumstances, and possessions are appropriate because God has worked everything together for the good of that man.
