As I near the end of my summer study of Exodus, I continue to be delighted in all the little things the book offers to readers. Recently we looked at the occasion when God allowed Moses to “see” Him, in some limited capacity, but the text that follows that is remarkable in its own right…

And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, “The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. “

(Exodus 34:6-7)

As the Lord passed by before Moses in a cloud, He proclaims Himself. In other words, this is how the Lord would describe Himself. Instead of reaching into the vocabularies of mortal men and drawing out by inspiration a description (the Bible is abundant with those), the Lord Himself speaks, in the third person, and says “this is who I am.” In that case, I think His words are pretty noteworthy, don’t you?

In describing Himself to Moses, the Lord emphasizes His tendency toward mercy (abstaining from giving punishment to those who deserve it, but who have repented) and grace (offering blessings to those who do not deserve it because of their past sins, but can receive it because of their penitence), as well as His longsuffering (how much He puts up with, how many sins must take place before He is compelled to act), and the abundance of His goodness and truth (the moral standard by which He judges all things).

This is how God wants His people to think of Him. These are the qualities He exhibits toward His children. Yes, there are times when God is severe, harsh, and punitive, but the Lord Himself regards those times as exceptions to the rule; the Lord tends toward patience and mercy, and only punishes when His sense of justice demands it.

The Lord maintains a judicial compass that is good and aligned with Truth (He IS Truth, in fact—John 14:6), as opposed to cruel tyrants whose decisions are capricious and arbitrary, leaving their subjects in a constant state of dread. God would not have His people walk on eggshells. He has given them a Law. He has revealed His expectations, and He vows to be a God who gives second chances when His people fail to live up to His standard.

That’s a God worth serving, is it not?

~Matthew

PS: Don’t forget that, at the end of September, we will enjoy our Family Day weekend Gospel Meeting with Barry Grider. Be here on Friday evening, September 26th, at 7pm, as well as Saturday evening, September 27th, at 7pm to hear two excellent lessons from God’s Word, both in the lead-up to our big Family Day Sunday on September 28th.