Rabbi’s Reflections – Saturday, April 8, 2023
Shabbat Shalom,
Day 33: Evening
God Opened Himself Up to Moses
by David Harwood
We’ve just transitioned in our meditations to the remarkable revelation of God’s character He gave to Moses. God still reveals Himself to His friends. May the Lord develop our friendship with Him. Here is Moses’ cry:
Then (Moses) said, “Please, show me Your glory!” (Exodus 33:18 TLV)
This was the result of that prayer:
Then Adonai descended in the cloud, (and) stood with him there, as he called on the Name of Adonai.
Then Adonai passed before him, and proclaimed,
“Adonai, Adonai, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness and truth, showing mercy to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means leaving the guilty unpunished, but bringing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:5-7 TLV)
God opened Himself up to Moses. His self-revelation was so foundational that it became one of Israel’s central creeds. To emphasize how much this encounter was the source of the meditations of future generations, I thought I’d share scriptures where this seminal self-disclosure is reiterated and celebrated. My purpose is to accentuate how important these attributes are to lovers of God. Please take some time and consider them. Note the number of places where the Lord’s compassion, grace, lovingkindness, truth/faithfulness, forgiveness, and justice are emphasized.
‘Adonai is slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression. Still, He does not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations.’ Forgive now the guiltiness of this people in accordance with the greatness of Your lovingkindness, just as You have pardoned this people from Egypt until now!” (Numbers 14:18-19 TLV)
But You are a God of forgiveness, merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love. Therefore You did not abandon them… Nevertheless, in Your great compassion, You did not put an end to them or abandon them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God. (Nehemiah 9:17b, 31 TLV)
You, my Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, full of love and truth. (Psalm 86:15 TLV)
Adonai is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and plentiful in mercy. … As a father has compassion on his children, so Adonai has compassion on those who fear Him. (Psalm 103:8, 13 TLV)
Adonai is gracious and righteous— yes, our God is compassionate. (Psalm 116:5 TLV)
Adonai is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and great in lovingkindness. Adonai is good to all. He has compassion on all His creatures. (Psalm 145:8-9 TLV)
… turn to Adonai, your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abundant in mercy, and relenting about the calamity due. (Joel 2:13b TLV)
I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and full of kindness, and relenting over calamity. (Jonah 4:2b TLV)
Adonai is slow to anger and great in power, but He will by no means acquit the guilty. Adonai’s way is with a whirlwind or with a storm wind, clouds are the dust of His feet. (Nahum 1:3 TLV)
In John 1:14 it is written that grace and truth come through the Messiah Yeshua. That is recognized by many to be a reference to the realities revealed to Moses. The Messiah incarnated all of these wonderful characteristics. He said that if we beheld Him, we were seeing the Father.
He who has seen Me has seen the Father…. The words I say to you, I do not speak on My own; but the Father dwelling in Me does His works. (John 14:9b, 10b TLV)
Yeshua did what He saw His Father doing. When we consider what He said and did, we are contemplating the fleshing out of what God proclaimed to Moses in response to Moses’ passionate spiritual hunger.
Moses cried out, “Show me Your glory.” God directed that man to the revelation of His goodness.
So He said, “I will cause all My goodness to pass before you, and call out the Name of Adonai before you. I will be gracious toward whom I will be gracious, and I will show mercy on whom I will be merciful.” (Exodus 33:19 TLV)
Moses memorialized God’s answer. He resonated with Yahweh’s goodness. Please pray that the LORD would give you a heart that would respond to what God loves about Himself.
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarsson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Sat 8 April-2023 17th of Nisan, 5783 Parashat Pesach
Ex 34:1-26 Nu 28:19-25 Ez 37:1-14 Song of Songs 1-8 Eph 5:25-33