We are in chapter thirty-four of Exodus with our word for today which is a phrase used for the first time in the Bible. וְרַב־חֶ֥סֶד and abounding in steadfast love. It is used 8 times in the Old Testament. In our chapter, as we have looked at over the last couple of days, is the first time God gives us a list of characteristics about himself which includes our phrase for today. Exodus 34:6-7 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, וְרַב־חֶ֥סֶדand abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” All of our uses we have already looked at over the past few days as we find this list of words and phrases closely related to each other. The one things they have in common the most is that they are all ways that God employs to communicate with us who he is and who he desires for us to be. Let’s look at some of these again as a way of reminder for us in our desire to know God better and be more like him. We see our phrase used alongside these: merciful, gracious, and slow to anger. They are used together to describe God’s character. Psalm 86:15 You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger וְרַב־חֶ֝֗סֶד and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Psalm 103:8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger וְרַב־חָֽסֶד and abounding in steadfast love. Psalm 145:8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger וּגְדָל־חָֽסֶד [this is a different word for abounding than in our phrase it is more of greatness than in number as the word in our phrase but also translated the same here as well as other places] and abounding in steadfast love. Nehemiah points to God’s character as the reason for his willingness to forgive. Nehemiah 9:17 They refused to obey ... they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger וְרַב־חָֽסֶד and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. We see our word with these others used to call people to repentance. Joel 2:13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, וְרַב־חֶ֔סֶדand abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. This character quality of God is not always welcomed. Jonah had personal experience with the Assyrians who he thought didn’t deserve God’s forgiveness. Jonah 4:2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger וְרַב־חֶ֔סֶד and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. With this next Psalm we don’t have the words merciful and gracious in the list but instead the words good and forgiving. Psalm 86:5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, וְרַב־חֶ֝֗סֶדabounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. God’s unfailing love which other translations use for steadfast love, is abounding. Literally it is great, numerous many. We can count on God to forgive our sins because as the New Testament says he is rich in mercy. Being in Christ means we already have what everyone is looking for. I’ll close with this great passage. Ephesians 2:4-7 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
