MERCY AND GRACE 3

​In Exodus 34:6-7, it is written that as the Lord passed by Moses on Mount Sinai, The Lord proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God[1], merciful[2] and gracious[3], longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”[4][5].
 
This was a favoured and special personal revelation by the Lord God to Moses following the rebelliousness of the people in making the idol of the golden calf their god[6] and the intercession of Moses before God not to destroy the people.[7]
 
Earlier in Exodus 33:19, when Moses requested that Yahweh[8] showed him His glory, Yahweh replied: ““I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim Yahweh’s name before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious[9], and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”[10]
 
Yahweh is a God of justice: “by no means clearing the guilty”. However, Yahweh is also God of justice tempered with mercy, limiting the consequences of the wrongful actions of a wrongdoer continuing to only until the fourth generation of the wrongdoer: “visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
 
As such, I see that Yahwehʼ ĕlôhîym, as Lord God of justice, does not have a predisposition to have the wrongdoer punished without ending or let consequences of and from the wrongdoer’s actions continue forever.
 
For here, the character-glory and goodness of Lord God, Yahwehʼ ĕlôhîym, is revealed as that of the OneThree[11] Being, Who, though, being God of justice, is also God, overwhelmingly predisposed to being “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, ever willing to show mercy to thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin”, and while “no means clearing the guilty”, limits the consequences of the iniquity or wrong to the “fourth generation”[12] of the wrongdoer in mercy, reserving the discretion to show and dispense mercy before the limitation ends.
 
Mercy is not a right to demand on the part of the wrongdoer. Mercy is a sovereign prerogative discretion, will and choice of God, to be shown and given to the wrongdoer:  “I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”
 
An insight to Yahwehʼ ĕlôhîym’s character-source and attitude of this character–glory and goodness, I believe, was specially revealed to the prophet Jeremiah, and recorded as and in the first part of prophetic words to the families of Israel in Jeremiah: “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness[13](mercy) I have drawn you.”[14]
 
These prophetic words revealed Yahwehʼ ĕlôhîym’s[15] character predilection of love towards His people[16]; “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love”.
 
Proceeding from this source-foundation of love, Yahweh ʼĕlôhîym’s desire to show mercy (lovingkindness) to the people, was and is so that they might be drawn to Him, “since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God.”[17]
 
Of this predisposition the record in Malachi 3:6 -7 has this to say: “I, Yahweh, never change. That is why you descendants of Jacob haven’t been destroyed yet. Since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my laws and have not followed them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says Yahweh Tsebaoth.”[18]
 
I submit that the unchangeableness of Yahweh in the words “I, Yahweh, never change” or “ I am the Lord, I change not” specifically refers to this character predisposition as revealed in Jeremiah: “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness[19](mercy) I have drawn you.”
 
The unchangeableness of Yahwehʼ ĕlôhîym cannot be applied to his Essence and Being, for Yahwehʼ ĕlôhîym is the ‘I AM Who I am and WHAT I AM and I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE’, the Everchanging and Unchanging of Exodus 3:14[20].
 
Only with regards to this predisposition to Israel can it be said that Yahwehʼ ĕlôhîym changes not, for in this, Yahwehʼ ĕlôhîym will not change.
 
However, because of Who Christ Jesus is, Yahwehʼ ĕlôhîym changed in Essence and Being, in, through and with the Person of Eternal Son, to make known that in love, the glory and goodness of Lord God, Yahwehʼ ĕlôhîym, abounds not only to Israel, but also to all humanity and the whole of creation.[21]
 
In Christ Jesus, in love, the fullness[22] of the glory and goodness of God, has been, is and will continue to be made known [23]toward all who have sinned and fallen, falling and will fall short of the glory and goodness of God.[24]
 
The writer, in his letter to the Hebrews expressed it like this:
“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”[25]
 
The writer wrote of the throne of God as being the throne of grace, where mercy and grace may be received from and given by God.
 
The danger that many of us face when approaching this throne of grace is that we tend to primarily look to and focus at the benefits and blessings to be received.
 
The consequence is, we eventually lose focus and tend to forget that the whole purpose of approaching the throne is for the building of a better relationship with the Person Who sits on the throne. It is the encounter and interaction of the parties at the site of the throne of grace that is of utmost importance and value. The throne of grace is primarily another locus where all parties may ‘will’[26], to grow in the knowledge of each other into and towards the communion and union oneness with and into one another.
 
Authentic grace one to another is a sovereign discretion of will and choice given by a person to another.
 
As such, at the throne of grace, I also see opportunities for, and, interflows of grace between God and humankind, in, through and with the man Christ Jesus, Incarnate Son, God with us, towards growing to fruition union and communion in oneness, between God and us.
 
I continue with my musings.


[1] the Lord יְהֹוָה – YAHWEH  God אֱלֹהִים - ʼĕlôhîym

[2] רַחוּם adjective compassionate See Strong’s H7349 רַחוּם rachûwm, rakh-oom'; from root H7355; compassionate:—full of compassion, merciful.; 'אֲרַחֵֽם – arachem –I will have mercy or pity See pealim.com. From root רָחַם râcham. raw-kham Strong’s H7355 translated interchangeably as pity, compassion and mercy

[3] חַנּוּן channûwn, khan-noon'Strong’s H2587 חַנּוּן adjective gracious, only used as an attribute of God; from Strong’s H2603 חָנַן chânan, khaw-nan'; gracious

[4] NKJV

[5] Please refer to background events before this proclamation from Exodus 31:18 to Exodus 34:5. With reference to the tablets of the testimony please also refer to WYC translation. See also Strong’s H5715 and H5707 in Blue Letter Bible

[6] See Exodus 32

[7] See Exodus 33:12-19

[8] the Lord יְהֹוָה – YAHWEH  

[9] Strong’s H2603 חָנַן chânan, khaw-nan'; gracious

[10] Exodus 33:19 World English Bible Note that the Septuagint translates this Hebrew word as the Greek ἔλεος éleos: of uncertain affinity; compassion (human or divine, especially active):—(+ tender) mercy.

[11] Please refer to my earlier post on Genesis Revisited (1) at www.theleaventable.org on the Lord יְהֹוָה – YAHWEH  God אֱלֹהִים - ʼĕlôhîym.

[12] Exodus 34:6

[13] (See Blue letter BiJereMiah 31:3ble Strong’s H2617 translated 149 times as mercy and only 30 times as lovingkindness) See also GNV translation: “The Lord hath appeared unto me of old, say they: Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with mercy I have drawn thee.” This Hebrew word H2617 חֶסֶד cheçed, kheh'-sed; from H2616 is also translated in the Septuagint as as the Greek ἔλεος éleos: of uncertain affinity; compassion (human or divine, especially active):—(+ tender) mercy

[14] Jeremiah 31:3 NKJV please see Jeremiah 31:4-6

[15] the Lord יְהֹוָה – YAHWEH  God אֱלֹהִים - ʼĕlôhîym

[16] See Jeremiah 30-31

[17] AMP Romans 3:23

[18] Names of God Bible

[19] (See Blue letter Bible Strong’s H2617 translated 149 times as mercy and only 30 times as lovingkindness) See also GNV translation: “The Lord hath appeared unto me of old, say they: Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with mercy I have drawn thee.” This Hebrew word H2617 חֶסֶד cheçed, kheh'-sed; from H2616 is also translated in the Septuagint as as the Greek ἔλεος éleos: of uncertain affinity; compassion (human or divine, especially active):—(+ tender) mercy

[20] See Amplified Bible

[21] Colossians 1:20. “For in Him was all fullness pleased to dwell.” Revised Geneva Translation. Colossians 2:6 “For in him all the fullness of the Deity dwells bodily” World English Bible
 Note that the word ‘heaven’ which is found in many translation is actually ‘heavens’ plural “οὐρανοῖς” in the Greek is plural, as in Matthew 6:1 and 6:6 and the phrase “kingdom of heaven” found in Matthew’s gospel.

[22] Colossians 1:19 “

[23] Revelations 1:4,8, 11, 17, 21:6, 22:13

[24] Colossians 1:20, 26-27

[25] Hebrews 4:14-16 English Standard Version (ESV)

[26] exercise their will respectively