The Revelation of God. Lesson 6 Lesson Text—Exodus 34:1-3 Exodus 34:1-3 1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first:

The Revelation of God

Lesson 6

Lesson Text—Exodus 34:1-3

Exodus 34:1-31 And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which thou brakest.


2 And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning unto mount Sinai, and present thyself there to me in the top of the mount.3 And no man shall come up with thee, neither let any man be seen throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before

that mount.


Exodus 34:4-64 And he hewed two tables of stone like unto the first; and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up unto mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.


5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in

goodness and truth,

Lesson Text—Exodus 34:7

Exodus 34:7Keeping 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.

Focus Verse—Exodus 34:6

Exodus 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD,

The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and

abundant in goodness and truth.

Focus Thought

As God shared more of Himself

with humanity, God revealed

Himself as good, merciful, patient,

and true.

I. God Revealed Himself as Merciful

Culture ConnectionGood Gods and Bad Gods

History supplies us with a colorful pantheon of gods—good gods, bad gods, fake gods, demi-gods, and would-be gods. The Greeks had a community of gods and many of them had serious character flaws. They married one another, fought among themselves, and were encumbered with some of the same weakness as humanity. The Romans adopted many

of the Greeks gods and added them to their own pantheon.


As they conquered other lands and built their empire, you could say they were god collectors. The Egyptians had thousands of gods. Even worms in the Nile were considered to be gods. The Hindus are also polytheists and believe that the Brahma is a sacred cow. The Islamic adherents believe that Allah is austere and impersonal. This is only a sampling of a plethora of historical gods. Christianity is different, however. We do not worship a multitude of gods, but only one God.


He does not share His dominion with other gods. He is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, and exists as a Spirit being. He transcends humanity’s abilities and understanding. Nevertheless, He condescended and was incarnated as a human being so He could relate to us, provide an example for us, and ultimately give His life for us. He forgives the vilest sins and offers grace to the entire world. His benevolence demonstrates the

epitome of goodness.


Contemplating the Topic

Logic tells us two people cannot have an intimate relationship until they know each other intimately. Sometimes we are certain we know an individual deeply, only to discover we are mistaken. Consequently, the resulting lack of appreciation and trust aborts the relationship.

A healthy relationship requires knowledge and intimacy on many levels.


Because humans are complicated beings wrapped in the common bond of flesh, yet with intrinsic and diverse backgrounds, characters, personalities, emotions, and habits, having a satisfying relationship becomes complicated. The more intimacy and honesty a relationship has, the deeper the relationship can go. If two people truly love and trust each other, they feel secure enough to reveal themselves to each other completely and honestly.


With the founding of the Hebrew nation, God attempted to reveal Himself to mankind but with limited success. Up to that point in history, God’s chosen people still did not know God intimately. True, they had watched in the past few months as God devastated Egypt with plagues, drowned its powerful military, and vented His anger upon its gods. In the wilderness Israel saw God destroy those who had worshiped the golden calf and open up the ground to swallow those who had rebelled

against Moses.


But God wanted Israel to know that wrath and punishment neither defined nor represented His character. He truly loved the people He had brought out of Egypt, but He knew that before they could open themselves to Him and love Him in return, He would have to reveal Himself to them. Therefore, in many ways and at many times God described Himself. To Moses He called Himself merciful, gracious, longsuffering, good, and true.


Searching the Scriptures

God Revealed Himself as Merciful

In our Scripture text, the Lord revealed to Moses not only His name but also some of His principal attributes, the first of which is mercy. The Hebrew word for mercy, rachuwm, simply means “compassionate.” Divine mercy is powerful and active. No human has existed at any time or anyplace on this planet without the

mercy of God.


All flesh is sinful in the sight of God (Romans 3:23); that we are able to live, move, and have being points to the mercy of God.

Old Testament cultures were inundated with manmade gods whose perceived harshness and rigidity required worshipers to go to great lengths to appease them. Therefore Israel’s true God thought it important that His beloved people know that their God was unlike those other gods.


Certainly, they knew the stories of how their forefathers had experienced God’s mercy many times prior to Moses’ proclamation in Exodus 34. If the present generation were to pause and consider the matter, they would realize the Lord has extended mercy to them as well. Mercy has always been one of God’s defining characteristics when dealing with mankind.

Today, we as believers in relationship with the Lord are quick to proclaim His mercy.


We were buried in a pit of sin, but His mercy reached down to us, rescued us, and recreated us. When we were miserable wretches with no hope of approaching the purity and holiness of God, that same mercy allowed us access. Few emperors, kings, dictators, presidents, or other world leaders exhibit such true mercy. They may extend mercy if they are having a good day. They may grant it if the time and the deed are politically attractive to their agenda. But God proclaims Himself to be different from any

other ruler.


Mercy is a defining characteristic of God’s personality. For mankind this means it does not matter what kind of mood God might be in or what kind of day God might be having; He promises to be merciful. All of mankind should be deeply grateful for God’s mercy, for without it none of us could obtain a place in the kingdom of Heaven. Paul wrote to the Ephesians about the mercy of God.

Ephesians 2:4-6 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even

when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by

grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus”

(Ephesians 2:4-6).

Transparency 1


How important is the mercy of God in the life of a believer? Paul made it clear we were “dead in sin,” but God’s mercy reached for us, gave us new life in Him, and opened a door of relationship. Further, the mercy of God will last throughout eternity. The psalmist said, “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.


For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens” (Psalm 89:1-2). Jesus taught that mercy should not be received without giving it away. He said, “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7).

II. God Revealed Himself as Gracious

God Revealed Himself as Gracious

The Lord also declared to Moses that He is gracious. The Hebrew root word for “gracious” is chanan, which simply means “to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior.” Chanan evokes a picture of one elevated in stature and prominence bending or stooping to tie the shoelaces of a servant.


The Jews witnessed this attribute in action when God wrought powerful deliverance for them from the bondage of Egypt. They did not deserve to be delivered; these ragtag slaves were stiff-necked and suspicious of Moses’ message. Yet, before their departure God graciously enriched them with the spoils of Egypt. He chose them as His own particular treasure. He made a way to dwell among them and hovered over them with great kindness and tenderness.


He demonstrated to His people that even though He towered over them in every way, He also was gracious and would go to great lengths in order to know them intimately. (See Isaiah 55:8-9; Exodus 29:45-46.)

Believers today can read the Exodus account and see clearly the graciousness the Lord extended to the Israelites. But even after these munificent overtures God still remained somewhat separated from His creation.


Mankind did not experience fully the grace of God until the coming of Jesus Christ. The Incarnation became the most beautiful and poignant evidence of the grace of God. By becoming flesh and walking among mankind, God surely exhibited the greatest definition of “bending or stooping in kindness to an inferior.”

The Lord placed Himself in the same carnal envelope in which Adam existed.


He subjected Himself to human limitations and experienced human temptations, weakness, pain, and loss. He came not to please Himself but to serve others by doing the will of the heavenly Father.

Philippians 2:6-8 “Who, being in the form of God,

thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but made himself of no reputation,

and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness

of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of

the cross” (Philippians 2:6-8)

John 6:37-38

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me

I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me”

(John 6:37-38).


Certainly, mankind did not deserve such costly grace and could never repay it. His lost condition was helpless and hopeless. Jesus’ surrendering to the will of His heavenly Father and laying down His life freely was the ultimate expression of grace, an active communication of God’s favor and blessing. Jesus Christ secured our salvation to become, in the words of Peter, the “God of all grace” (I Peter 5:10).


At one time the throne of God was associated with harshness and rigidity. For instance, the Israelites feared the thick cloud that enveloped Mount Sinai with smoke ascending like that of a furnace. They trembled at the angry-sounding thunder, the lightning bolts, and the voice like a trumpet that blasted louder and louder. They pleaded with Moses, “Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die” (Exodus 20:19).


In Deuteronomy 28, as the next generation was poised to enter the Promised Land, Moses listed in twelve verses the blessings God would shower upon the Israelites if they obeyed the Law. On the other hand, he followed the blessings with a string of curses four times as long for those who ignored or broke the commandments. The curses covered every waking moment and predicted for the disobedient deadly plagues, poverty, re-enslavement, and destruction.


Now, however, God has tempered His judgment with grace. The writer of Hebrews pointed to the mercy that anyone may obtain at the throne of Christ.

Hebrews 4:15-16

“We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling

of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come

boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and

find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).


No matter what circumstances come upon us, as believers we can be certain God feels our pain, understands our hurt, and reaches toward us with compassion. (See II Corinthians 12:9.) We will never have reason to look at the throne of God in the same light as the people of Israel who could be forgiven only once a year. Although God will judge the world in the future, He has already judged our sins and dealt with them forever. We look to Him now as our

God of mercy and grace!


Our High Priest offered Himself once and for all. He said, “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17). (See Hebrews 9:12, 24-26; 10:12-18.)

Because of God’s graciousness toward us, He also expects us to treat others graciously. “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).

III. God Revealed Himself as Patient

God Revealed Himself as Patient

When the Lord described Himself as longsuffering, He was declaring Himself to be patient or slow to anger. After the Israelites’ ribald worship of the golden calf while their leader was receiving the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, Israel would not have been alive to gather around the mountain a second time had it not been for God’s patience and Moses’ intercession.


God wanted to vent His wrath on the people, but Moses stood between them and God.

In his intercession on Israel’s behalf, Moses pointed out that if God destroyed His people, the Egyptians would say, “See? We told you so. Your God led you into the wilderness to destroy you.” And if God destroyed His people, what would become of His promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?


There followed a most poignant scene between God and Moses when this great interceder actually saw the hinder parts of God. (See Exodus 33:22-23.)

Exodus 34:6-7

“The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in

goodness and truth. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and

transgression and sin” (Exodus 34:6-7).


Even after this crisis Israel continued to try God’s patience by grumbling constantly about their distressing circumstances and murmuring against their deliverer. Yet God refused to cast them off and start over even though they deserved His judgment. Certainly, God dealt sternly with every infraction, but for Moses’ sake and the sake of Israel’s forefathers, God would still lead His people into the Promised Land.


Impatience is an attribute brought about by pride, lack of comprehension of the situation at hand, and disregard of the possible consequences of acting hastily. For example, consider the following:

• Sarah wearied of waiting for the birth of her promised son and set into play a series of events that caused volatile repercussions that still reverberate throughout the Middle East.


• Soon after Israel had marched into the Promised Land, Achan felt the irresistible itch to get rich quick and ended up losing his Babylonian fortune, everything he possessed, everyone he held dear, and his own life. • Even though Samuel had named the day he would come, Saul refused to wait for the prophet’s arrival and offered sacrifice himself.


For this and other sins, God ripped the page of Saul’s kingly lineage, thereby eliminating any claim his noble son Jonathan had to the throne.

The Jews trudged through the wilderness trying God’s patience while existing only because of His patience. Similar scenarios have played out over and again since the dawn of mankind; nations, kings, peoples, and individuals have tested their Creator’s patience, yet, remarkably, His attributes remain the same—merciful,

gracious, and longsuffering.


God’s omniscience and omnipotence make Him capable of infinite patience. He understands completely every situation because He sees the end from the beginning. It should bring us great peace and comfort to realize the Lord “suffers long” with us! When we fail or fall, God lifts us up, mends the hurt, and encourages us to try again. When we are weary, frustrated, and ready to give up, the Lord offers us His hand, and sometimes takes us in His arms

and carries us.


We should never forget God knows our beginning as well as our end and knows what is best for our lives.

The first four commandments deal with mankind’s relationship with God; the last six deal with mankind’s relationships with others. God is as concerned about our attitude toward and treatment of others as He is about our relationship with Him.


Jesus said the two greatest commandments are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and the second, equally as great, is to love our neighbor as ourselves. (See Mark 12:30-31; Deuteronomy 10:12; Leviticus 19:18.)

As we mature in our faith, we should learn to exercise godly patience in all matters. Because the Lord is patient with us, we should follow His example by being patient with others.


“Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do” (Colossians 3:12-13, NKJV).

IV. God Revealed Himself as GoodGod Revealed Himself

as GoodWe often point to things or people

and refer to them as good. However, everything in this universe is flawed. When sin invaded the lives of Adam and Eve, their actions marred all of creation. Despite the damage done to creation, however, there remains One who is good because His nature and character encompass the essence of goodness.


As time wore on and God’s human creation became more and more corrupt, the Lord wanted His people to know Him as the good God. To this day we cannot assess the goodness of anything or anyone except by the standard of His goodness. Jesus said, “There is none good but one, that is, God” (Matthew 19:17).

The Hebrews, newly emerged from the crucible of Egypt, were caught between what they believed was good in their former lives compared to what

was good in the desert.


They constantly dithered about what was best: belonging to Pharaoh in Egypt or belonging to God in the wilderness. Satan still brings believers to the same crossroads in their Christian life and at that critical time they must remember God’s goodness. “The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works” (Psalm 145:8-9).


The Hebrews had been steeped in the paganism of Egypt; it was all they had known for centuries. Some of them may have even believed in Egypt’s numerous false gods, idols they could see. On the other hand, God who had brought them out of Egypt and into the wilderness was invisible. They could see the effects of His power—plagues and deliverance, the mountain and tablets of stone, protection and provision—but they could not see Him.


Today “we see Jesus,” the “express image of [God’s] person” (Hebrews 2:9; 1:3). John said, “We have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life” (I John 1:1). We see God manifested through the life of Jesus Christ: miracles of healings and deliverance, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, feeding the multitudes. We see God through the redemption and reconciliation wrought through the Cross, which made it possible for us to have a

relationship with God.

Transparency 2


Until a person has tasted the goodness of God, he has no true comprehension of what the term goodness really means. David invited, “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him” (Psalm 34:8). Someone said the proof is in the pudding. A person cannot tell whether the pudding is good until he picks up the spoon, scoops up a dollop of pudding, and places it in his mouth. The tasting brings knowledge and understanding.


Likewise, tasting the goodness of God helps us to know and understand Him more intimately.

To believers the goodness of God means many things. Regardless of what happens in our lives, all things will work together for our good (Romans 8:28). Whatever contrary winds may blow, we can trust the Captain of Zion’s ship to get us safely to shore.


Whatever sins we commit can be forgiven, because His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering lead us to repentance. (See Romans 2:4.) Because He is good, He will “stablish [us] in every good word and work” (II Thessalonians 2:17).

Transparency 3

V. God Revealed Himself as TrueGod Revealed Himself

as True

God said He was “abundant in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6). The Hebrew word for truth has many nuances of meaning: establishment, faithfulness, sureness, right, verity (certainty, reality). God wanted Israel to know He was real even though they could not see Him. He wanted them to know they could rely on the surety of His promises and the rightness of His

judgments.


He wanted them to know His covenant with them established them as His people. He wanted to assure them that His mercy, graciousness, longsuffering, and goodness would never change.

The marked contrast between the gods of Egypt and the one true God would become evident. None of Egypt’s gods could be proclaimed as good or gracious or longsuffering or merciful or true.


Israel had seen firsthand that none of Egypt’s deities were steadfast; instead, they were capricious and sometimes cruel. Only Israel’s God was real and only He could lead them safely into the Promised Land. Faithfulness means “steadfastness.” For example, we see steadfastness portrayed in the way the universe operates. We do not have to wonder if the sun will rise in the morning or from which direction it will rise.


We can trust that the earth’s rotation will mark the days and nights, its revolutions will mark the years, and its tilt will mark the seasons. We can observe the steadfastness of the Creator in gravitation and the ecological system.

How important for mankind to know and trust God as faithful and true! Just as God fed, led, protected, and kept those walking in the wilderness, we can trust that God will do the same for us.


We can rest in the fact His promises are sure and His Word is true. God will be in the present and future the same as He was in the past. According to John the revelator, those who have overcome will still be singing about the Lord’s steadfastness in Heaven: “Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints” (Revelations 15:3).

Divine truth encompasses a completely different realm than any truth this world might produce.

I. God Revealed Himself as MercifulThe Bible teaches that through the

Incarnation God’s truth became tangible and evident: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

A major demarcation separates believers from everyone else in that they love truth, embrace truth, and live truth.


Shortly before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed that His truth would wash over His disciples, saturate them, and make them different from the world. (See John 17:15-20.) All believers should have a deep and abiding passion to know the truth and have the truth living within them.

Jesus described what would happen when He filled His disciples with truth: “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into

all truth. . . . All things that the Father has are Mine.


Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13, 15, NKJV). How glorious to have this Spirit of truth living within our hearts to lead and guide us in this life! Because God is faithful, we can manifest His faithfulness. John said, “For I rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. . . . Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers, who have borne witness of your love

before the church” (III John 3-5, NKJV).


Internalizing the Message

The Lord is merciful, gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. His mercy finds us. His grace saves us. His patience preserves us. His goodness follows us. His truth leads us. What a wonderful Savior! How good it is, like Paul, to meditate on His attributes.


“Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (Philippians 4:8, NKJV).


The closer we get to Jesus Christ and the more intimate our relationship with Him becomes, the more these same attributes abound in our lives. Mercy, graciousness, longsuffering, goodness, and truth in us are the fruit of the Spirit that is born of being in relationship with Him. He knows we cannot bring forth this fruit on our own for Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5).

Documents

The Revelation of God. Lesson 6 Lesson Text—Exodus 34:1-3 Exodus 34:1-3 1 And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: