Weekly Sermons

God Reveals His Name

When someone tells you who they are (and shows you), believe them.

“You Israelis are fighting those who love death for Allah like you love life, and who compete among themselves for martyrdom like you flee from death.”                                                                                                                        -A Hamas leader

Up until Thanksgiving time I want to look at a beautiful passage in the book of Exodus in which God tells us who He is, a passage I hope will enrich your prayer life and desire to glorify God in all you do.

Read Exodus 34:1-9

Recap of the Old Testament up until Exodus 34:

Creation, Expectations of Adam and Eve, and Fall.

And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins and clothed them.         -Genesis 3:21

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.                                           -Psalm 32:1

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring her Offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His Heel.”   -Gen. 3:15

The age leading up to the flood.

When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”    -Gen. 9:16-17

The age leading up to the tower of Babel.

The Abrahamic covenant.

And he believed the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness.”                                                    -Genesis 15:6

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.                -Romans 15:4

The Mosaic Covenant/ Law.

The Golden Calf.

He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.     -Heb. 7:25

Oh, that we could get a sense of the importance of living in God’s presence for His glory, the very thing that will set us apart from those who don’t believe.

And He said, “I make all goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you My name “The LORD.” And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”                        -Exodus 33:19

The 7 Central Features of God’s Magnificent Name given in Exodus 34:

Merciful

Gracious

Slow to anger

Abounding in steadfast love (twice)

Faithfulness

Forgiving (the repentant)

By no means clearing the (unrepentant) guilty

Mercy is not getting what your sins DO deserve (judgment); grace is getting what you DON’T deserve (forgiveness and restoration of fellowship with God).

For if you return to the Lord, your brothers and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away His face from you, if you return to Him.                    -2 Chronicles 30:9

They and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey Your commandments. They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that You performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But You are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.             -Nehemiah 9:16-17

And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is this not what I said when I was yet in my country? This is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; FOR I KNEW that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.” -Jonah 4:2