Exodus 34:6, 7 - GOD is MERCIFUL and COMPASSIONATE.
Exodus 34:6, 7 (NIV) And he passed in front
of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the
compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding
in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to
thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.
Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he
punishes the children and their children for the sin
of the fathers to the third and fourth
generation."
Exodus 34:6, 7 (NLT) He passed in front of
Moses and said, I am the LORD, I am the LORD,
the merciful and gracious God. I am slow to
anger and rich in unfailing love and faithfulness.
7 I show this unfailing love to many thousands
by forgiving every kind of sin and rebellion.
Even so I do not leave sin unpunished, but I
punish the children for the sins of their parents
to the third and fourth generations.
WORD STUDY
Merciful, Compassionate: A personal
characteristic of care for the needs of others. The
biblical concept of mercy always involves help to
those who are in need Gods mercy cannot be
separated from His love, His grace, and His
faithfulness. They are all part of the same fabric. Holman
Bible Dictionary
Goodness : When God revealed Himself
to Moses on Mount Sinai, He described Himself
as overflowing with goodness. This is one of
the most significant words that describes God's
character (see Ps. 13:5). It is often translated as
mercy (20:6; Ps. 6:4) and sometimes as
lovingkindness (Ps. 17:7). The basic meaning of the word is
loyal love or steadfast love. It refers
to God's loyalty and faithfulness to His
covenant. This love is very similar to marital love, a
love that is obligatory because of the marriage
contract, but still intimate and voluntary. Hosea's
actions toward his unfaithful wife is a striking
picture of God's faithful love for the people
of Israel (Hos. 1:1-3, 2:19; 3:1-5). In the New
Testament, this characteristic of God is described as
His grace (Gk. charis; John 1:17). [Nelson SB]
INTRODUCTION
The words of 34:6-7, describing Gods
loving and uncompromisingly holy character, have
become one of the most often quoted Bible passages.
[New Bible Companion]
Jewish scholars look to these verses as a
key statement of the attributes of God.
[Believers SB]
This statement is one of the lengthiest
descriptions of the character of God contained in
Scripture. [Jamieson, Fausset, And Brown Commentary]
What is Gods glory? It is his character,
his nature, his way of relating to his
creatures. Notice that God did not give Moses a vision
of his power and majesty, but rather of his
love. Gods glory is revealed in his mercy,
grace, compassion, faithfulness, forgiveness, and
justice. Gods love and mercy are truly wonderful,
and we benefit from them. We can respond and
give glory to God when our characters resemble
his. [Life Application SB]
COMMENTARY
The name of the Lord stands for His
character, here described as consisting of three
fundamental qualities - mercy, justice, and truth.
Greatest emphasis is placed upon mercy because
Gods relationship to us is based upon it (1 John
4:7"12) There are six different ways in which the
Lord manifests love for His people. He is
merciful and gracious, longsuffering, abundant in
goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands,
forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. [SDA
Bible Commentary]
The heart of man is by nature cold and
dark and unloving; whenever one manifests a
spirit of mercy and forgiveness, he does it not of
himself, but through the influence of the divine
Spirit moving upon his heart
God is Himself the source of all mercy.
His name is "merciful and gracious." Exodus
34:6
The merciful are "partakers of the divine
nature," and in them the compassionate love of God
finds expression. All whose hearts are in sympathy
with the heart of Infinite Love will seek to
reclaim and not to condemn. Christ dwelling in the
soul is a spring that never runs dry. Where He
abides, there will be an overflowing of
beneficence
The merciful are those who manifest
compassion to the poor, the suffering, and the
oppressed
Kind words, looks of sympathy,
expressions of appreciation, would be to many a
struggling and lonely one as the cup of cold water to a
thirsty soul. A word of sympathy, an act of
kindness, would lift burdens that rest heavily upon
weary shoulders. And every word or deed of
unselfish kindness is an expression of the love of
Christ for lost humanity.
There is sweet peace for the
compassionate spirit, a blessed satisfaction in the life
of self-forgetful service for the good of
others. The Holy Spirit that abides in the soul and
is manifest in the life will soften hard hearts
and awaken sympathy and tenderness
He who has given his life to God in
ministry to His children is linked with Him who has
all the resources of the universe at His
command. His life is bound up by the golden chain of
the immutable promises with the life of God.
MB21-4.
It is all too easy to confuse mercy with
an anything-goes attitude. But the merciful
person is not one who smiles at transgression or
sin.
Our text today pictures a careful balance
in the character of God between gracious
compassion and a firmness that refuses to tolerate
rebellious sinfulness. Here we are dealing with the God
who is both loving and just, the God who stands
for principle, yet is willing to be merciful
toward those who hunger and thirst after a better
life.
"As many as I love," says Jesus, "I
rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and
repent" (Rev. 3:19). God loves us too much to let us
lead destructive lives that not only impact upon
our own happiness, but are disruptive to the
larger community.
He wants the very best for us. He cares
enough to rebuke us for our wrongs. But that rebuke
is a function of His mercy. It is people who
don't care enough who let their kids run wild. It
is people who don't care enough who don't warn
their friends of the unhappy consequences of their
course of action.
Such care-less-ness must not be confused
with mercy. Mercy is being care-full, or full of
care for those around us. Thus in our mercy we
reach out to others in Christian concern.
In one sense mercy is a state of
mind"one that represents cares about other people; it
is an attitude that cares enough to be both
forgiving and loving, even when that means having to
confront problems and wrong actions in the spirit of
Jesus.
Lord, help me today to imbibe the
merciful attitude that stands at the heart of God's
character. Help me to approximate the balance in my
life that You exhibit in Yours. [Walking With
Jesus By Knight]
Mercy means that God does not give us what
we deserve, and grace means that He gives us
what we do not deserve. What a loving God He
is!... When the night is dark and long, keep on
trusting, and the dawn, will come in Gods good
time. [Chapter by Chapter Bible Commentary by
Warren Wiersbe re Psa. 6]
CLOSING THOUGHT
The basic meaning of worship is to kneel or
prostrate oneself on the ground in recognition of the
power, majesty and authority of the object of one's
worship. Worship is more than assigning worth; it's
acknowledging that worth is already there. When we worship
God, we are responding to his intrinsic majesty
and goodness. That was Moses' response when God
passed by, revealed his glory and proclaimed his
name and attributes. God declared his compassion,
grace, mercy, love, patience and faithfulness. And
since he is a God of justice, he also pledged not
to leave the guilty unpunished. The emphasis,
though, wasn't on the Lord's wrath, power and
judgments - but on his love. When we hear of the
goodness, the greatness and the glory of God, worship
is our appropriate response too. We bow before
him in awe and appreciation of who he is. [NIV
Once A Day Bible]
LINKS FOR FURTHER STUDY
Matthew 5:7 - The Blessing of Mercy.
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2022/20220302-0940.html
Luke 10:29-37: Parable of the Good Samaritan.
Devotional pending.
Matthew 25:31-46 - The Parable of The Sheep
and Goats; The Final Judgment.
http://www.abible.com/devotions/2021/20210524-1002.html
LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT
https://abible.com/links/
