Exodus 34:6–7
The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, “Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty.” (NLT)

I’m following a reading plan this year that is taking me through the Bible in chronological order. It’s been great, and last week, I came up to a staggering moment in Exodus 34.  

In verses 6–7, we see the first time God describes Himself. It’s one of the few places in the entire Bible where God essentially says, “This is what I’m like.” Another fun fact: It’s also one of the most quoted passages in the Bible, by the Bible!

The authors of the Bible circle back to this passage over and over and over again. Over 27 times. Moses and David and Jeremiah and Jonah—they quote it, allude to it, pray it, claim it, and even complain about it. But above all, they believe it.

Surprisingly, God doesn’t use His opening monologue to emphasize all the “omnis”:

• Omnipotent: He’s all-powerful.

• Omniscient: He’s all-knowing.

• Omnipresent: He’s everywhere at once.

And all of those are true. I believe them. They’re the basis of our series, The Top Shelf.

But here’s the point: When God describes Himself, He doesn’t start with how powerful He is, or how He knows everything there is to know, or how He’s been around since before time and space and there’s no one else like Him in the universe.

That’s all true—but when God describes Himself, He starts with His name and His character. He’s compassionate and gracious, He’s slow to anger, He’s abounding in love and faithfulness, and on down the list.

It makes sense. Starting with the “omnis” is kind of like somebody asking about my wife, and then me saying she’s thirty-four years old, five-foot-nine, blonde hair, hazel eyes, fourth of five children…

That’s all true—but if you sat there as I was spouting off facts, my guess is, at some point, you’d interrupt me and ask, “Yes, but what is she like? Tell me about her. What’s her personality? What is she passionate about? What made you fall in love with her? What makes her… her?”

Most of the time, this is how we talk about God. We rattle off a bunch of stuff about God that is true—it’s just not the stuff that makes Him… Him. 

So if all you get out of this teaching series is more facts about God, you’ve missed it. We serve a limitless God, and He wants you to know that He is compassionate and gracious, He’s slow to anger, He’s abounding in love and faithfulness, and He wants you to experience His lavish love.

Friday’s Reflection

Thank God for His character, not just His characteristics. Personalize it and thank Him for all the ways He’s shown you compassion, mercy, faithfulness, love, etc.