“Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin…” Exodus 34.6-7
There are believers who think of God in a schizophrenic way. The God they know from the New Testament is kind of cool, but the God of the Old Testament is someone you mostly want to avoid! What does that say about Him? Has He evolved over the thousands of years we read about from Genesis to Malachi? Did He grow up over the millennia?
When we think that way we are creating God in man’s image. In case you didn’t realize it, that’s backwards! It is man who is predictably undependable, not God. God’s character is the unattainable standard against which all thoughts, words, deeds and lives are measured. This is an important aspect of His glory.
When Moses asked to have a glimpse of God, to see God’s glory, He told Moses up front that he wasn’t man enough to handle seeing the full Monty of God! This came to be understood as a sure prescription for death! Was Moses suicidal or did he just want to know better the one he was dealing with in the person of God?
When God decided to arrange for Moses to have a peek at Him, what Moses experienced is a compassionate, gracious, patient, unfailingly loving, unflinchingly trustworthy, accepting, forgiving God!
That sounds to me a lot like the God of the New Testament. Here’s why: “Jesus Christ (God) is the same yesterday (the Old Testament) and today (the New Testament) and forever.” (Hebrews 13.8)
Since God doesn’t change we must change our thoughts about Him. That’s one big reason why Jesus came to live and die on earth.
The Grace Link 