Let’s watch grace at work in one of my favorite chapters, Exodus 34. Mark this passage, memorize it if you’re able. This is God in truth, without distortion. This is the LORD (YHWH), the one Jesus taught us to call our Father. Not the caricature held by so many in the church over the centuries.

So Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first. And he rose early in the morning and went up on Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and took in his hand two tablets of stone (4). First, consider the context. This is the second giving of the Ten Commandments. The original divine invitation was for all His redeemed people to gather at the mountain to hear the voice of their Savior. Instead, they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” (Exodus 20:19)

Here we have a type of fear concerning God, but not, biblically speaking, the fear of God that is the beginning of wisdom.

It might have been a reasonable reaction, but not one born of faith based on what He had done for them thus far. Israel subsequently fails in the matter of the golden calf, which is the archetype of idolatry for the people of God. The LORD mercifully atoned for their sin and graciously removed the evil from their midst. He did not destroy them. He gave them another chance.

The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD (5). What is His name? In Hebrew, it is composed of four consonants: YHWH. By the time of Yeshua, the Jews would not pronounce it for fear of defaming His name. To this day, they say Adonai instead.

Lest we miss the cosmic significance of what is going on, verses 6-7 say it again while adding an important detail: The LORD passed before him and proclaimed […]. The God who delivered them from slavery descends on Mt. Sinai. He passes before and speaks directly to Moses. What exactly does He say? What did He want His people to hear?

“The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” […]. Why do we listen to misguided teachers who say He is something other than who He claims to be? Why do we not listen to Him?

Something else is repeated here by God. Based on our study, what might be? Yes! It is chesed, the Hebrew word for grace. It is translated “steadfast love” in the ESV. How does your version translate these verses? “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.”

Now you tell me, is that the image you have of Jehovah God?

How freely and ignorantly we Protestants talk about the old dispensation and mischaracterize God as the stern Lawgiver. The constant repetition of that caricature leads one to believe that the one they are set free from is God Himself, not Satan. You are liberated from the old deity with an angry face who unreasonably requires you to keep every stipulation and regulation.

Jehovah is a transliteration of YHWH into Latin (Y=J, W=V). It is a linguistic hybrid that uses the vowel pointings of the Hebrew word for ‘Master,’ Adonai. There is nothing inherently wrong with the word, unless, as it has for so many, it becomes the parody I am highlighting. He is Jehovah, the severe Judge who gives a law that cannot be kept, in order to punish those who disobey. Again, this demonic distortion is one that is taught. It is not something you would find by reading the entirety of the Hebrew Scriptures for yourself.

If there is any place in all the Bible where you see a God who is patient, kind, and compassionate, it is in the Old Testament, the Bible of Jesus and his earliest followers. It is in His dealings with Israel. He is a God who literally bends over backwards for His covenant people, urging, beckoning, calling, waiting for them to turn around, repent, and come back to Him.

YHWH, or Jehovah, if you prefer, is faithful.

God is faithful, but all too often His people are not. They are stubborn, slow to listen and learn, inclined to drift, and sometimes just downright hard-hearted. Does that sound familiar? Those of us in the new covenant ought to be able to relate because Israel holds up a mirror in which we see ourselves (1 Cor 10:6). Of course, our Father says, […] “I will by no means clear the guilty” (34:7). Sin has wages. But His justice is perfectly balanced with His mercy. And His desire and intention is to: forgive iniquity and transgression and sin.

I am trying to lay a biblical foundation for you. I want you to know what God’s grace truly is so you will not frustrate it in your life. I want your heart to be like David’s, as described in Psalm 63:1-4.

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power  and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.

If I am doing my job as a teacher, you can now see grace in verse 3, no matter your translation. And you are closer to achieving the goal of this study: to know our Father as Jesus did, so that we can be the kind of witnesses he expects his disciples to be.