How Do You See God?

Meditate on this:

Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave [the guilty] unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations." Exodus 34:6-7 NASB

Know God. Let His light shine in your life.

This scripture is said to have the thirteen merciful attributes of God. It is used as a central prayer, repeated several times during a service at the synagogue in the week before Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. So that is a scripture that would have been recited last week in most synagogues.

Getting to know God and His qualities is an ongoing process that is not bound by time or place. Meditate on those verses. Can you pick out thirteen attributes?

1.      Compassionate

2.      Gracious

3.      Slow to anger

4.      Overflowing with lovingkindness

5.      Abundance of truth

6.      Lovingkindness to thousands

7.      Forgiving iniquity (fault)

8.      Forgiving transgressions (rebellion or trespass)

9.      Forgiving sins

10.  Punishing guilty

11.  Putting the guilt or punishment of the father on his children

12.  Putting the guilt or punishment of the father on his grandchildren

13.  Putting the guilt or punishment of the father on his great-grandchildren

Pretty stiff sentence for those last three groups. The sins of the father heaped on three generations. Have you seen that in life? I think that God in His mercy allows forgiveness and thus the cycle of sin can stop with the later generations if they are seeking and following Him. Some actions may have natural consequences that keep poverty or other cycles going. Some things in life are hard to escape. Sin, disease, poverty and eventually death. Although death, if one believes in Christ as their Savior can be a wonderful thing. I know of several people that are hoping that the end of their time and suffering is near, but they continue to endure.

At this point the Hebrew people had been wandering in the desert for a while, but even as they left Egypt they may not have known God the way Moses did. They still needed to learn about Him so this list provided the Israelites with a broader picture of who God is. The good and the scary sides of God: all-loving, all-forgiving, all-powerful and a strong disciplinarian. How do you see God today?  

Prayer ~ O God, Create in me a clean heart, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence and do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You. Psalm 51:10-13 NASB.

Daily Bible Reading: Malachi

© 2019 Text and photos by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved..

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation

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