“The LORD—the LORD is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin.
But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 34:6-7)
This is one of the most famous passages in the Old Testament and is constantly repeated throughout it.
Why? Because it shows the Lord’s character.
It’s easy to look at some of the stories in Exodus and the other books of the Old Testament and to see God as a God of wrath.
There is some truth to that. God hates sin and he will punish it.
After all, can a good God love sin? Can a just God leave sin unpunished?
But God is also “compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth.”
Have you ever noticed that for all the times that God judges people, he always tells his people about it first?
He did that with Abraham (Genesis 18).
He did that with Moses. (Exodus 32).
Why tell them? Simply so that they could observe God’s justice?
No, he told them so that they could intercede. And both of them did.
In both cases, justice still came. The unrepentant were judged.
But in both cases, people were saved because of Abraham and Moses.
God will judge evil. But he would much rather show mercy than judge.
That’s why he sent Jesus. Jesus paid the price for our sin so that God could show us mercy.
So like Moses, let us boldly draw near to God with unveiled faces.
We don’t need to fear his judgment and wrath as we approach him.
Instead, as we draw near to him, by his grace, God transforms us more and more into the likeness of his Son. (2 Corinthians 3:12, 18)
Moment to Moment (Bible blog) 