We are in chapter thirty-three of Exodus with our word for today which is a long phrase. וְחַנֹּתִי֙ אֶת־אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָחֹ֔ן וְרִחַמְתִּ֖י אֶת־אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲרַחֵֽם And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. It is used just once in the Old Testament in our chapter for today. Let’s look at how our phrase is used. Exodus 33:18-19 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ וְחַנֹּתִי֙ אֶת־אֲשֶׁ֣ר אָחֹ֔ן וְרִחַמְתִּ֖י אֶת־אֲשֶׁ֥ר אֲרַחֵֽם And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. This is very interesting phrase God uses right after he agrees to show Moses some of his glory and goodness. He doesn’t show all of it if you remember from a few days ago because Moses wouldn’t be able to take it all in. It would kill him. So, our phrase I think is God saying don’t think I’m doing this because of anything you have done but rather I’m doing it because I am God and I’m the one who decides if something will or will not happen. This may seem kind of grandiose to us, but God knows that if he doesn’t remind us of this fact we often easily forget that He is God and we are not. That he doesn’t need us but we desperately need him. As you have heard me say repeatedly, I think the reason God refers to himself as YWHW is based on my favorite understanding of what YHWH means that God is reality in that he does whatever he pleases. And the good news is that everything he does is for our benefit and well-being. God, the LORD reality God is for us he is on our side. My understanding of our phrase I think is reinforced by how the Holy Spirit interprets it when speaking through Paul to the Roman Christians. He is correcting the accusation that God has not been faithful to his people Israel. Which could not be further from the truth. He brings up Pharaoh and how he used him to not only rescue his people from slavery in Egypt but also to make his name proclaimed throughout the earth. Which again is a good thing. Because God is and always has been in the business of bringing people to himself by making himself known. Right before he brings up his using Pharaoh, he uses our phrase. Romans 9:14-16 What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. Did you catch the not depends on human will or power? Just as God granted Moses request reminding him that he was doing so not because of anything Moses did or who Moses was but rather because God decided to do it. The same is true of God deciding to use Pharaoh to rescue his people and make his name great. It had nothing to do with how good or bad his people Israel were. We have talked previously several times about God’s power and our freewill as it relates to our salvation. Throughout the Bible God offers us a choice to accept his salvation which he offers freely through Christ work on the cross or to reject it. This passage does not negate this. I’ll close with Paul’s breaking into worship and praise over how God works everything out for his glory and our benefit. Romans 11:33-35 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”
