Then the LORD passed by in front of [Moses] 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; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.” (Exodus 34:6–7)

A personal relationship was developing, upon which Moses hazards a request: “I pray You, show me Your glory!” To this request, God responded, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion” (Ex 33:19). So much “theology” is wrapped up in this statement, but we focus on His compassion and grace.

So God set Moses in “the cleft of the rock” and allowed him to see God’s back but not His face (Ex 33:22-23). Our visual limitation in picturing this should not spoil the point: God was going to show Himself to Moses in a moderated but unprecedented way—a full and complete vision of God no mere human could handle (Ex 33:20).

So Moses was instructed to create a new set of tablets; he ascended Mt. Sinai again and “called upon the name of the LORD” (Ex 34:1, 5). What God had previewed for him now took place: “The LORD passed by in front of Him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious.” Keep in mind, at this point God had not yet exacted punishment on those who engaged in idolatry among the people of Israel. The reality of His promise to Moses of going with them into the Promised Land had not yet materialized. But at this juncture, God took Moses into His confidence to reveal what kind of God He is. To present-day ears, this may seem academic, but Moses’ quest in life was to continually discover the answer to the question he had asked God at the burning bush: “They may say to me, ‘What is His name?’ What shall I say to them?” (Ex 3:13). The thrust of the question was this: “What kind of name or character is this God you want us to follow, Moses?” Very possibly the question Moses imagined of the others was in reality his question: What kind of God are you?

Like Moses, the believer’s life today is a journey of discovering what kind of God is the one he serves. Paul phrased it “that I may know Him” (Phil 3:10). Peter wrote, “…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). He is a compassionate and gracious God.

Lord, I want to know You, Your compassion and Your grace.