The second and third understandings of the meaning of the Idol of Jealousy are not directed toward God but toward the people who worship this idol. The second understanding of the meaning of the Idol of Jealousy states that the Idol should be called the Idol of Increase.
The Idol of Increase stood at the entrance to the door of the inner court of the temple and the first understanding that the people had when they first entered was that God existed to support and increase their lifestyle. This attitude is the very attitude that Satan claims is the only attitude or desire that resides within the human heart. When the Sons of God, including Satan, gathered before God, God brought to Satan’s attention the righteousness of the man Job. Satan’s
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Jesus Himself struggled with this desire within the hearts of many people who followed Him. There was an occasion where a great multitude had followed Jesus to listen to Him. Because His teaching went through the day, it was evening when Jesus looked up and saw that the crowd was hungry. He then took a few loaves of bread and a several small fishes and from this fed the multitude. The day after Jesus had fed the multitude, He crossed the lake and there the multitude followed Him. When the multitude had met again with Jesus, they asked Jesus when He had arrived there (John 6:25). Jesus’ reply to them was not concerning the when of His arrival but of the why they followed Him. Jesus said to them that they were not looking for Him because they saw miracle the day before when He had fed them, but because the day before they had ate their fill and now they were hungry again (John 6:26). They followed Jesus not because they saw in Him the answer to life’s mysteries, the answer to sin, and the purpose of existence; but because they were hungry again. They were hungry and Jesus fed them. Yet, when the choice came to truly follow Jesus or to follow Jesus for the gain, many of them no longer followed Jesus (John 6:66). Satan, having