“They refused to listen, and did not remember Your wondrous deeds which You had performed among them; so they became stubborn and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God of forgiveness, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness; and You did not forsake them. (Nehemiah 9:17)

Forgiveness” as a rending of the Hebrew word “selihah” is only used in Scripture of God’s activity, never of a human activity toward another human. There are words that apply to human forgiveness, but not this one. This is the sole prerogative of the Creator God of the universe (see also Psalm 130:4, Daniel 9:9). The word means “an act in which a mistake or offense is no longer considered or held against another.” The God of the Old Testament, as Nehemiah lays out for us, is described in similar terms as the God of the New Testament—and of course that would be true, for they are one and the same. Dismissing the OT God as a product of medieval scare-mongering has no place in responsible biblical study.

He is not only forgiving, but is also “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.” We have seen these descriptions elsewhere (see Ex 34:7) in slightly different form. We focus here on His character of forgiveness, in part because that is a cornerstone to our evangelical beliefs. At the core, we are sinners separated from God, and what we need most is His forgiveness. David captures this most eloquently when he writes:

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight … (Ps 51:2–4)

It is in God’s very nature to forgive. That was so in the Garden when Adam and Eve questioned His goodness and chose to obey the lie of Satan that they would become like God by eating the forbidden fruit. As God drove them out of the Garden, He did not abandon His character as a forgiving God, but rather preserved the opportunity for His image bearers to fully embrace their need of forgiveness. In fact, the entire Scriptures lead us to see God in His essential character as a forgiving God. The history of Israel is all about experiencing God’s forgiveness. The Law of Moses was based on God providing a method through the sacrifices to bring about His forgiveness, or at the least His temporary stay on judgment, until the perfect sacrifice would come, the Lamb of God. Through Christ we see that character in all its glory.

Lord, thank You for Your immeasurable and infinite forgiveness!