“The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and abounding in
steadfast love and faithfulness,
7 keeping steadfast love
for the thousandth generation,
forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin … to the
third and the fourth generation.”
Exodus 34:6-7
If I asked you to describe God, what would you say?
Asking this question over the years, I’ve heard lots of good and simple answers. “God is love.” “God is light.” “God is power.”
Rather than limiting our definition of the infinite Lord to a few words, I sometimes invite people to make sure their descriptions express the vastness of God. One way to do this, for example, is to describe God alphabetically: “God is Awesome … Bountiful … Compassionate … Divine … Eternal … Forgiving … Generous … etc., etc.”
If you’re looking for a simple Biblical definition for God, today’s verse is the first of a dozen times that these frequent and familiar words are uttered. Who is God? God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.”
Now why is this phrase so important in the midst of this Exodus story? It’s because God’s people had just abandoned the Lord. They had, indeed, traded in their worship of the living Lord for a golden calf made with human hands.
How silly!
The people of Israel quite absolutely kindled the anger of the Lord, but God’s “steadfast love” and “forgiv[eness]” trumped His righteous indignation. In fact, within the next five verses, God is covenanting with His people again. They break their end of the covenant, but God turns around and blesses them again.
How, indeed, would you describe this kind of patient and forgiving Lord?
In Christ’s Love,
a guy who keeps
celebrating alphabetically …
God is …
Holy …
Infinite …
Just …
Kind …
Loving …
Magnificent …
Noble …
Omnipresent …
Perfect …
Quickening …
Righteous …
etc.
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