The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and 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.” And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.
(Exodus 34:6-8 ESV)
In Genesis, God revealed that He is the Almighty Creator, who is also mercifully covenantal. In the opening chapters of Exodus, He revealed He is sovereign and redemptive. When asked, God revealed His name to Moses, I am who I am (Exodus 3:14). In chapter 33, Moses asked God to show him His glory. And now, here in chapter 34, as God passed by Moses, He proclaimed:
o Yᵊhōvâ Yᵊhōvâ ’êl – Yahweh Yahweh God
o raḥûm ḥannûn – compassionate and gracious
o 'ārēḵ 'ap̄ – slow to anger
o raḇ ḥeseḏ 'ĕmeṯ – abounding in goodness and truth
o nāṣar ḥeseḏ – keeping mercy
o nāśā' ʿāôn pešaʿ ḥaṭṭā'āṯ – forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin
That is goodness . . . and glory! It’s not merely a list of adjectives describing attributes of His character. It’s who He is.
That is God! He is gracious and merciful. He is longsuffering. He is abundant in goodness, faithfulness, and forgiveness. All at once . . . all the time. All of which is demonstrated fully in Christ Jesus, God’s Glory.
Moses saw God’s glory and heard His proclamation of who He is. We, too, “see” God’s glory by hearing the proclamations of Jesus. We see God’s glory when we read the gospel of who Jesus is and all He has done. And continues to do.
Jesus is the exact image, radiance, and glory of God (Hebrews 1:3). He is the love and mercy of God—manifested in the flesh. And evident in His salvation.
Behold the glory of God in Christ Jesus! Set your eyes upon the Word and see glory revealed. For Jesus embodies all of God’s names.
And now, because of Jesus, God has invited us to call Him by another name: Father. How glorious is that?
Moses heard God proclaim His name, and he saw His glory. Then we read that he māhar, he hurried to bow in worship. That’s the only fitting response. And it is the response due Jesus, for, as the apostle Paul wrote, at the name of Jesus, Yeshua, every knee will hurry to bow in worship (Philippians 2:10).
Why wait?
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