Exodus 34:4-9 (ESV)
So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone. The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. 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. And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.”
Devotional Meditation
This is the true climax of the Exodus story.
Not the revelation that Yahweh is powerful, though he is.
Not the revelation that Yahweh is holy, though he is.
But the revelation that Yahweh is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
When Yahweh declares his name twice to Moses it is as if he is putting an exclamation point on it. It is as if he is saying, “I am Yahweh--and here is exactly what that means!”
Yahweh’s mercy and grace and his steadfast love are at the core of who he is--who he has revealed himself to be. Yahweh is a God who forgives. Who makes his favor to shine upon a people who would otherwise sit in darkness. Who covers the sin of even the most stiff-necked of people and pardons their iniquity so that he can dwell in their midst. So that his power and his holiness are a comfort to his people and not a source of terror.
Jesus is the Son who comes in the Father’s name. In Yahweh’s name. To reveal the full depth of what that name means. That is why, as the hour of Jesus’ suffering and death approaches, he prays: “Father, glorify your name.” (Jn. 12:28) Jesus has come in the name of Yahweh to manifest the fullness of Yahweh’s name--his mercy, grace, love, faithfulness, patience, and forgiveness. The cross is the explanation point at the end of Yahweh’s name. The fullest revelation of his character. You can’t know who God truly is except through the Son who bears his name--who glorifies his name--who demonstrates the true meaning of his name.
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” (Jn. 1:12)