Show Me Your Glory

Merciful and Gracious

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When Moses asked to see God's glory, God told him His name. In the Bible, a name tells you who someone really is. God's name is like a portrait of His heart. He wanted Moses to know Him, not just see Him.

God's own words. “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6).

Merciful. Mercy means caring deeply for people who are hurting or guilty, and not giving them the punishment they deserve. God showed mercy when He did not destroy Israel.

Gracious. Grace means giving good gifts to people who have not earned them. God gave Israel a second set of tablets after they broke the first covenant. That was grace.

Longsuffering. This means patient for a very long time. God had been patient with people who had complained, doubted and made a gold calf. He did not give up on them.

Goodness and truth. God's love overflows, and He is faithful. He always keeps His promises. You can count on Him.

Fair and just. God also said He is “by no means clearing the guilty” (Exodus 34:7). God does not pretend sin is fine. He is good, so He cares about what is right.

A song for David. King David sang, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy” (Psalm 103:8).

A prayer for Nehemiah. Hundreds of years later, Nehemiah remembered the golden calf and prayed, “But You are God, Ready to pardon, Gracious and merciful” (Nehemiah 9:17).

A call from Joel. The prophet Joel said, “Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness” (Joel 2:13).

A grumble from Jonah. Jonah did not want God to forgive the city of Nineveh. He complained, “I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger” (Jonah 4:2). Even Jonah knew God's name. He just did not like it!

For everyone. “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy” (Psalm 145:8).

What we learn. God's name is the best news we could hear. When we have messed up, God is still merciful, gracious and patient. He waits for us to come back.

What to do. This week, when you do something wrong, say God's name from Exodus 34:6 and ask Him for mercy.

Exodus 34:6-7 is the most quoted description of God in the Old Testament. Israel learned to pray it back to Him. It became the people's favorite way to describe their God.

The setting. The proclamation comes right after the golden calf. It is God's answer to a hard question: would He still go with a sinful people?

Five words. Rachum (merciful), chanun (gracious), erekh appayim (slow to anger), rav chesed (abounding in steadfast love) and emet (faithfulness).

Rachum. This word is related to rechem, the word for a mother's womb. God's mercy is tender, like a mother's love for her child.

Chesed. This is covenant love: loyal, steady love that keeps its promises even when the other side fails. It is the love that kept Israel after the calf.

Justice too. Verse 7 adds “by no means clearing the guilty.” God's mercy is not weakness. He forgives, but He does not call evil good.

Numbers 14:18. When Israel rebelled again, Moses prayed these same words: “The Lord is longsuffering and abundant in mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression.”

Nehemiah 9:17. After the exile, Israel's leaders confessed the calf and said, “But You are God, Ready to pardon.” The name gave them hope. Their history was full of failure, but God's name had not changed.

The Psalms. Psalm 86:15, 103:8 and 145:8 turn the name into worship.

The prophets. Joel 2:13 uses it to call people to repent. Jonah 4:2 uses it to complain that God forgave Israel's enemies. The same name calls sinners home and shows us that God loves people we might not want Him to love. Grace for ourselves is welcome; grace for our enemies is harder.

A question. How can God forgive iniquity and also not clear the guilty? The Old Testament promises both, and the full answer comes in Jesus.

The answer at the cross. At the cross God punishes sin in Christ and forgives sinners who trust Him. Both halves of the name are kept. Romans 3:26 says God is both “just and the justifier.”

Sovereign mercy. In 33:19 God says, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.” Paul quotes it in Romans 9:15: mercy is God's free gift.

Application. Look up three of the passages above and note what situation drove each writer to quote God's name.

God's Glory in Jesus

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Moses could not see God's face. But the Bible says that one day God's glory would be seen in a person. That person is Jesus.

The Word became flesh. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Grace and truth. Those words sound like God's name in Exodus 34:6, “abounding in goodness and truth.” Jesus is what God's name looks like as a person. When Jesus was kind, patient and truthful, He was showing God's name.

Seeing the Father. Jesus told Philip, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). Moses asked to see God. Philip was looking right at Him. He did not realize it yet.

The unseen God. “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son… He has declared Him” (John 1:18). Jesus shows us who God is.

The image of God. “He is the image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15). An image is a picture you can see. Jesus is the picture of God that we can see.

His shining face. On a mountain, Jesus' “face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (Matthew 17:2). Moses' face reflected God's glory. Jesus' face shone with His own glory. He did not borrow light from anyone.

Brightness of glory. Jesus is “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person” (Hebrews 1:3).

Light in our hearts. God has “shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).

A fading shine. The glory on Moses' face “was passing away” (2 Corinthians 3:7). Jesus' glory never fades. It shines forever.

The veil removed. “When one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away” (2 Corinthians 3:16). Trusting Jesus lets us see God clearly. It is like taking off a blindfold.

Changed to be like Him. “We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

One day face to face. In heaven, God's people “shall see His face” (Revelation 22:4). What Moses could not see, we will see.

What to do. This week, read a story about Jesus in the Gospels and ask what it shows you about what God is like.

Jesus is God's answer to Moses' prayer, “Please, show me Your glory.”

John 1:14-18. John describes Jesus with the words of Exodus 33-34. The Word “dwelt” (Greek eskēnōsen, tabernacled) among us; we “beheld His glory”; He is “full of grace and truth.” Then John adds, “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (1:17).

Grace upon grace. John 1:16 says, “of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.” The gift at Sinai is followed by a greater gift. The law was a gift; Christ is the greater one.

The unseen God made known. John 1:18 answers Exodus 33:20. No one has seen God, but the Son “has declared Him,” that is, made Him known.

John 14:9. Philip's request, “Show us the Father,” echoes Moses. Jesus' answer, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father,” makes Him the full answer.

The image. Colossians 1:15 and Hebrews 1:3 use the language of image and exact imprint. Jesus is not a reflection of God's glory, as Moses was, but its source made visible. Moses shone after meeting God; Jesus shines because He is God.

The Transfiguration. Matthew 17:2 shows Jesus' face shining “like the sun.” Moses, the man whose face once shone, appears with Him (17:3).

2 Corinthians 3. Paul contrasts the fading glory of the old covenant with the lasting glory of the new. Moses' veil hid the fading; the veil over hearts is removed only in Christ (3:14-16).

Unveiled faces. 2 Corinthians 3:18 makes every believer like Moses coming out of the tent: faces uncovered, reflecting the Lord's glory, being changed into His image.

Light from darkness. 2 Corinthians 4:6 joins creation (“light to shine out of darkness”) and new creation (“the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”).

Friends of God. Moses spoke with God “as a man speaks to his friend.” Jesus says to all His disciples, “I have called you friends” (John 15:15).

The final vision. Revelation 22:4 promises, “They shall see His face.” Matthew 5:8 adds that the pure in heart “shall see God.” The story that began in the cleft of the rock ends face to face. Moses himself saw that hope fulfilled when he stood with Jesus on the mountain.

The cross as glory. In John's Gospel, Jesus speaks of the cross as His hour of glory (John 12:23). God's goodness is seen most clearly where Jesus dies for sinners.

Application. Compare Exodus 34:29-35 with 2 Corinthians 3:7-18. List three differences between Moses' glory and the glory believers see in Christ.

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Read each section and answer the questions correctly.