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If you ask someone, “What is God like?” you’ll get a variety of answers. I posed this question on Facebook last year. From dense theological explanations to quick two-word descriptions and a few poetic portrayals, the variety of answers was surprising. Some responses dealt with omnipresence or His all-knowing nature, while others focused on God as a loving Father.
I strongly believe that the way we describe God matters. Further, how we describe His character matters. God’s character directly relates to how He interacts and deals with humanity, so accurately understanding and portraying His character is crucial.
If we want to understand God and His character, one of the best places to start is Exodus 34:6-7. In these verses, God clearly describes His character and nature to Moses while on top of Mount Sinai. The first word that God uses to describe himself is the Hebrew word rakhum (רַחוּם). And in Hebrew literature, order matters! The list of character traits starts with compassion, which means it’s one of the most important things to know about God.
The simplest definition of rakhum is “compassionate, compassionate one.”
This would have been a shocking statement for the people of this time. They were used to hearing about the numerous gods that were full of anger and rage, therefore people did anything they could to keep those gods happy. God, Yahweh, is different. Yahweh doesn’t require ritual and appeasement to ward off anger. The Ancient Near East audience of Exodus 34 would have been shocked to hear that God delights in showing His compassion.
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