THE NATURE OF GOD IN THE PENTATEUCH:

WHY GOD IS NOT AN ANGRY TEENAGER

Drew Dixon
The Pentateuch
April 27, 2010
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Many people are confused about who God is throughout the Bible. They seem to see the

God of the Old Testament as having one nature and the God of the New Testament with another,

as if the God of the Old Testament was going through his middle school years, filled with bouts

of anger only satisfied by bloody sacrifices, and then grew out of puberty in the New Testament

to become a God full of grace and love. Such a description may seem sacrilegious, but such a

view of God is certainly sacrilegious and dishonoring to the God of eternity who has always been

the same gracious, loving, just, and true God. There are hundreds of passages and stories

throughout the Old Testament speaking of God's amazing love and gracious acts for his people,

but the most defining passage is God's self-revelation in Exodus 34:6-7.

This passage forever shaped the theology and the religious lifestyle of the Jewish people.

It has echoes through the rest of the Bible. There are well over forty allusions to this scripture

throughout the Bible as a whole in many different contexts and for many reasons. It is used to

plead for mercy from God (Nu 14:18, 1 Ki 8:30, Ps 51:1), to encourage and exhort the people of

God (Dt 4:31, 2 Ch 30:9, Ne 9:17), and is used in poetry and songs in worship to God (Ps 57:10,

78:38, 103:3). These examples are only a few of the numerous references to God's original

revelation of himself in Exodus 34:6-7. Because this statement is so defining and important it is

necessary to examine it in detail to determine the nature of God. A simple reading of this passage

will make clear the goodness of God; an in depth reading can only make such a great God even

more beautiful.

The context in which Exodus 34:6-7 occurs is important. God speaks this as he is

renewing the covenant he has made with the Israelites. In Exodus 20-23 God describes the terms

of the covenant and in chapter 24 the covenant was confirmed as the people responded, “All the
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words that the LORD has spoken we will do.1” (Ex 24:3) Less than ten chapters later the people

turn from their promise and break the covenant by creating a golden calf and worshiping it (Ex

32:1-6)2. Because of the Israelite's violation of the covenant, God has every right to destroy the

entire nation, which he considers. Not only do the contents of Exodus 34:6-7 speak of God's

goodness, but the very presence of an Exodus 34 at all declares God's goodness! It is astounding

that the story does not conclude in chapter 32 with the destruction of Israel3. God is not a god of

empty words, but his refrain from destroying the Israelites and his renewal of the covenant show

that God is a god who acts on his promises.

This passage is not only monumental because of its contents, but also because it is the

climactic scene in which the LORD passes before Moses, showing and declaring his glory. God is,

in every way, revealing himself to Moses. It is interesting to note, though, that the revelation of

God is primarily oral rather than visual. Prior to this scene the LORD says that Moses “cannot see

[his] face” (Ex 33:20) and that he will “cover [Moses] with [his] hand.” (Ex 33:22) Then, as the

scene begins, a cloud impairs the ability to actually see the LORD (Ex 34:5). It can be concluded,

then, that knowing the LORD has little to do with having seen him with one's eyes, but everything

to do with knowing his character, which is why we shall now delve into God's self-revelation in

Exodus 34:6-7.

The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD... Before

describing himself, God declares his name to Moses. As simple as it may seem, this functions as

1 All scripture quotations are taken from the ESV unless otherwise noted.
2 These actions break at least three of the Ten Commandments which were only the preamble to the Covenant
Code (Ex 20-23). They created the golden calf which violates the command to make no carved images (Ex 20:4).
They worshiped the image they created which violates the command to have no other gods (Ex 20:3). Finally,
Aaron proclaims the name of the LORD amongst all of this which violates the command to not take the name of
the LORD in vain (Ex 20:7).
3 God is, indeed, a god “slow to anger”! This shall be discussed further in the examination of Exodus 34:6-7.
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a dictionary entry in which the word is on one side and the definition on the other. Beginning

with his name, the LORD shows the inseparable nature of the descriptors and himself. How often

has humanity futilely sought grace, mercy, and love, but not the LORD or hypocritically claimed

to represent him, but not acted in his ways!

There is much speculation as to why his name is repeated twice. The Expositor's Bible

Commentary suggests that the repetition emphasizes the unchanging nature of God. The Anchor

Bible has has a few suggestions such as: it is a reference to God's two-fold nature4, it stresses that

the LORD is the only God, or it is the LORD calling upon or summoning himself.

I would like to suggest that the repetition is a reference to God's original disclosure of his

name to Moses in Exodus 3:14, “I AM WHO I AM.” In this initial revelation God spoke his name

twice. God is recalling this event to Moses' mind as he gives further revelation of himself. This

means that another possible understanding of Exodus 34:6 could be “The LORD, I AM...” The

original Covenant Code was prefaced by the statement “I am the LORD...” (Ex 20:2) If this

alternate understanding of Exodus 34:6 is true, then the Covenant Renewal begins with “THE

LORD, I AM...” This inextricably links the two, meaning that God is not making a new covenant,

but rather renewing the original.

After declaring his name (the word), God lists seven attributes of his nature (the

definition). I do not wish to read too much into numbers, but the presence of seven descriptors

can hardly be an accident seeing as how seven is the number that usually represents perfection,

completion, and holiness5.

...a God merciful and gracious... The first two attributes are coupled together and both

4 One “merciful” nature and one “strict” nature. This will be discussed toward the end of the examination of
Exodus 34:6-7.
5 There is more to be said about this after examining all seven attributes.
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describe God's forgiving nature.

This first word, merciful, is also rendered compassionate in some translations. The

Hebrew word used here is the word rahum. This word has the same root as the Hebrew word

rehem which means womb. This word brings to mind a mother who loves her child, carried the

child in her womb as it grew, and nursed the child in its youth. Similarly, God loves Israel having

“carried” them to Egypt where they grew (Ex 1:7) and having fed them in the wilderness on the

way to Sinai (Ex 16:4, 17:6). The same word is used in Deuteronomy 30:3 which says that “the

Lord your God will...have compassion on you, and he will gather you again from all the

peoples...” as a mother hen gathers her baby chicks to protect them (Mt 23:37). Compassion like

this exists because of a relationship, which contrasts it with the next word.

The second word, gracious, does not presuppose a relationship. This word, the Hebrew

word hannun, has the connotation of a stronger party being merciful to a lesser party. This is the

word that would be used of a judge who has cleared the charges of a defendant; God is a judge

who has cleared his people (Col 2:14). Because this “grace” is given outside of a relationship, it

is given for no reason except for the good nature of the judge. Thus, grace is a free gift. God

demonstrates this grace in the sacrificial system he sets up in Leviticus: “I have given it for you

on the altar to make atonement for your souls” (Lev 17:11). The sacrificial system is not a list of

actions one may take in order to be justified before God. It is, instead, God graciously providing

atonement for his people (Jn 1:29).

...slow to anger... The third attribute is a Hebrew idiom. The expression we understand as

“he became angry” is literally “his nose became hot.” When God is described as “slow to anger”

it literally says that he has a “lengthened nose.” If God's anger were fire to be breathed out of his
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nose, then this description says that the fire takes longer to be breathed, therefore his anger cools

before people are consumed. God displays this characteristic in his patience with Moses as he

calls him to Egypt (Ex 3-4) and in his pause before destroying the nation of Israel in Exodus 32.

...and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness... The fourth and fifth attributes are

also coupled together and describe God's fidelity.

The Hebrew word translated “steadfast love” is the word hesed. Clark has said that this

word “cannot be adequately translated into English. The truth of this is illustrated by the many

translations it is given. The ESV and NRSV translate it “steadfast love,” the NASB translates it

“lovingkindess,” and the NLT translates it “unfailing love.” All of these seem to be good

translations, but none are complete. The English word “love” is too ambiguous by itself, so a

qualifier is added such as “steadfast” or “unfailing.”

Hesed is different from the first two words which have been discussed. While rahum

results from a relationship and hannun does not presuppose a relationship, hesed seeks to create

and bind relationships. Of the three words, hesed is the most repeated through the Old Testament.

According to Clark, the word hesed is founded in deep and enduring commitments. While this

word is used to describe both people and God, it is used most in describing God and therefore is

primarily a characteristic of God that people are expected to emulate. The human relationship

this word is used to describe most is marriage (Ho 2:19), undoubtedly because marriage is a

covenant relationship in which the two parties are bound to one another forever (Gen 2:24). This

word is probably the most important found in the Exodus 34:6-7 description of God and is

therefore found at the center of the seven attributes listed in these verses.

The following word, faithfulness, gives further description to God's steadfast love. Moses
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speaks of God's faithfulness in his exhortation to the Israelite people: “[The LORD] will not leave

you...” (Deu 4:31). God's steadfast love and faithfulness gave Israel hope and the psalmist

confidence as he wrote, “your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.”

(Ps 26:3)

...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. At first glance the sixth

and seventh descriptions seem to contradict. How can God keep steadfast love and forgive, but

not clear the guilty? This verse describes a divine tension in God6. God is a god of forgiveness

and justice; he is a god of grace and truth (Jn 1:14).

The sixth attribute of God is his forgiveness to the thousands. As stated earlier, I do not

wish to read too much into numbers. But, it is interesting that, six being a number representing

fallen mankind, the first six attributes of God describe his benevolent interactions with humanity.

If the list were to stop here then God would be in perfect relationship with mankind, but he

would be no greater than mankind. It is the seventh attribute, seven being a number representing

perfect, holy, completion, that describes God's holiness and his opposition to man's sin.

A concern of this final attribute is the phrase “visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the

children.” At first glance this seems unjust. However, this verse clearly does not say that God

punishes children for their parent's sin because Deuteronomy 24:16 says that “children [shall not]

be put to death because of their fathers.” The key to understanding this verse is the Hebrew word

paqad, which is translated “visiting.” God does not lay the sins of the parents on the children, as

the NLT translates, nor does he count the sin of the parents against the children. The children are

6 The “two-fold nature” of God which The Anchor Bible mentioned.

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merely visited by the iniquities of their parents. The correct understanding of this verse is that

children will be affected by the consequences of their parent's sins. An example of this is in

Numbers 14 when the people of Israel reject the promised land and therefore spend 40 years

wandering in the wilderness. As that generation wandered so did their children, though the

children had not rebelled. The ultimate example of this is when Adam and Eve were banished

from the garden, therefore forcing their children to live outside of it as well. Though children

suffer the effects of their parent's sins, they are not counted as guilty for them.

The final observance is in the numbers of people contained in these two attributes. While

the effects of sin last “to the third and the fourth generation,” God's steadfast love is kept for

“thousands.” These two numbers are meant to be seen in contrast to one another, therefore

displaying God's goodness to his people.

These seven attributes are the words God has used to describe himself. God has been

compassionate, gracious, patient, loving, faithful, and forgiving from the beginning. These

benevolent descriptions are not new, but have always described the God of the Bible. The

seventh attribute, his holiness and wrath toward sin, has also always been true. God is still just as

he deals with man. The divine tension seen in these traits is part of God's nature and all of them,

both his love and his justice, are summed up in the image of the cross. In that one picture, that

one act, God has perfectly displayed his love, given his grace, and satisfied his wrath. Jesus

Christ is the perfect image of the God (Col 1:15) who is described in Exodus 34:6-7. Amen!

Word Count: 2466

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