Mercy and Grace; Slow to Anger

Mercy and Grace; Slow to Anger
Words of Faith 3-21-2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy © 2023
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
Faith Fellowship Church - Melbourne, FL
www.faithfellowshipweb.com
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Exodus 34
[5] Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. [6] And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger...

The Lord revealed Himself to Moses proclaiming His Name before him. In doing so, the Lord revealed thirteen attributes of Himself that give us deep insight into the character and nature of God. First, the Lord is Almighty. The Lord Almighty is compassionate and gracious. He is slow to anger.
"Compassionate" here means literally full of compassion or mercy. The mercy of the Lord is not limited in scope or amount, the way it might be with humans. Compassion and mercy are more than just something that the Lord God does or has. He is full of compassion! He is full of mercy! He is not vindictive or arbitrary as some might suggest. Compassion and mercy are who God Almighty is.
The Apostle Paul reveals that God is "the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort" (2 Cor. 1:3). This is a sobering truth; there is no compassion or comfort outside of God Almighty! Any genuine comfort we experience in life is found in God, even if He is anonymous!
The Lord is also gracious. A different Hebrew word here speaks of the extended favor of God. The Lord Almighty is not just compassionate and merciful in a theoretical way. He is also gracious, extending His favor and forgiveness. It is not the nature of God to cling in anger to an offense or stubbornly recall our sin. His purpose in any judgment actually flows out of His love and mercy.
And don't miss this. The Lord Almighty is slow to anger. Two words are used here. The first is to be patient and slow in anger. The second word properly describes the nose or nostril when flared in passion! The image is very vivid, that of rapid breathing related to passionate anger. This description might read, "It takes a long time before the Lord flares His nostrils in anger..." The Lord Almighty is slow in reaching that place of angered passion. He is slow in His breathing. Calm in the face of offense. What a powerful image! The Lord is never one to snap in judgment. He is always breathing easy, even when we have been rebellious.
Don't misunderstand. It is not that the Lord is "easy on sin". He is just big on mercy! The Lord's anger, even when it is in response to an offense of His holiness, is directed at the things that hurt us and damage our relationship with Him and with others. The truth is that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus! Not trouble or persecution, famine or nakedness or danger or sword (Romans 8:35). Even our rebellion cannot prevent the Lord from loving us. It is only with great grief and pain that He exercises judgment. He is full of mercy and grace.
So what does this tell us?
We can rejoice in the knowledge that God is for us! If God is for us who can be against us (Romans 8:31)? He is gracious and very slow to anger toward us. These are God's qualities that He can develop in us through the presence of His Spirit in our lives. We can grow in our compassion toward others. We can have mercy toward people we never thought we could forgive. We can carry the mercy of God in us. We can have the fruit of God's love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). By the presence of God in our lives, we can be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry (James 1:19).

Almighty God, I am awed by Your attributes, the qualities of Your character. Thank You for Your compassion and mercy toward me. Thank You for your patience toward me. Live in me that I may display the fruit of Your Spirit. In Jesus' name.

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© Jeffrey D. Hoy 2023
Dr. Jeffrey D. Hoy - Faith Fellowship Church (EFCA)
2820 Business Center Blvd.
Melbourne, Florida 32940 (321)-259-7200
Jeff.Hoy@faithfellowshipweb.com
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The Words of Faith devotion is published five days a week by E-mail, excluding Federal holidays. Please feel free to forward this devotion to a friend who might be blessed by this devotion. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is quoted from the New International Version (R) of The Holy Bible. Copyright (c) 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Words of Faith (c) 1997, 2023 Jeffrey D. Hoy. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to forward this copyrighted material or use portions of it with appropriate notation of the source for non-profit purposes.