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)

God’s forgiveness does not mean He is a pushover! Jonathan Edwards captured this truth in his famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” His imagery of hell was typical of the Great Awakening in the 1700s in colonial New England and, to some critics today, represented the horrific scare tactics of the Puritan mindset. One cannot help make the connection with such Medieval writings as Dante’s “Inferno,” with its fanciful, detailed pictures of purgatory, hell and eternal suffering. Many relegate such things to be artifacts of past ignorance of the uninformed, or manipulative tools in the hands of a power-hungry institutionalized church to control the masses.

While we may acknowledge excesses and abuses from the past, we must resist the urge to swing the pendulum to the other extreme, which negates God’s seriousness about sin and toward sinners. He holds His image bearers accountable for sin. In today’s passage, this comprehensive self-description presents clearly and unequivocally, “The LORD … will by no means leave the guilty unpunished” (emphasis added). There are enormous consequences to sin.

In context our passage speaks of God’s temporal punishment, namely that our sin has generational consequences. Our behavior affects our children and grandchildren—those who come after us. While thinking Christians debate issues of fairness and contrasting passages (see Deut 24:16, 2 Kings 14:6, 2 Chron 25:4, John 9:3), the fact of the matter is God’s compassion, grace and lovingkindness do not negate His willingness to punish. Even Jesus spoke of eternal consequences in hell and frequently used imagery of fiery punishment.

What then determines whether God forgives or punishes? That is left for other Scriptures to delineate. God is satisfied in His revelation to Moses to simply outline His character. He is all those things rolled into one, as it were, with no inherent contradiction or tension. Moses, upon understanding this, “made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship” (Ex 34:5). In our growing understanding, we want to study, ask hard questions and wrestle with what we find out about God. But above all, our search should lead to humble worship!

Lord, I bow before You and worship You as my LORD and my sovereign God!