“And he passed in front of Moses proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin."
Introduction: When God Tells Us Who He Is
Not only do the heavens declare God’s glory, but God also reveals Himself through His Word. In Exodus 34:6-7, God speaks His own name and character, revealing who He is at the heart of the covenant—at a moment of covenant crisis, not in response to His followers’ faithfulness but to their failures. God, in His abundant grace, reveals who He is when His people need to know Him most.
Context: Sin, Intercession, and the Risk of God’s Presence (Exodus 32–34)
Israel’s Sin at Sinai
Moses met with God on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights, during which God gave him instructions for Israel, including the Law and detailed plans for constructing the Tabernacle. Growing impatient with Moses’ extended absence, Israel begged Aaron for other gods—and Aaron agreed. He fashioned a calf from their gold jewelry, and they worshipped it. Once again, Israel failed to trust God, and as a result, they betrayed their covenant with Him (Exodus 32:1-6)
Judgment and Intercession
God sees their betrayal and declares judgment on them, informing Moses:
“Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation” (Exodus 32:10).
Moses, however, interceded for Israel, reminding God of His covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In response, God relented (Exodus 32:14). But even when God offers forgiveness, sin still has consequences.
God’s Presence at Stake
God offered Israel the land He had earlier promised their fathers, but with one significant caveat: He would not go with them (Exodus 33:1-3). This was bad news for Israel. Broken fellowship always follows sin. Israel knew and understood that God’s presence with them was what set them apart from all the other nations. In sorrow, they repented, and Moses interceded for them once again. Moses found favor with God, and God agreed to go with them to the Promised Land (Exodus 33:4-17).
Moses’ Request for Glory
In response to this turn of events, Moses asked to see God’s glory. Here, glory means God’s character, who He is. God answers Moses by proclaiming His name in an extraordinary way (Exodus 33:18-34:7).
God’s Name: From the Burning Bush to Sinai (Exodus 3 to Exodus 34)
The God of the Covenant
This isn’t the first time Moses asked God to reveal Himself. Earlier, God had appeared to Moses in a burning bush and identified Himself as the “God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.” By identifying Himself with Abraham’s ancestors, God distinguishes Himself from the other gods of that time, the gods worshiped by the surrounding cultures. His reference also makes clear that He is the same God who made a covenant with the patriarchs, beginning with Abraham, over four hundred years earlier.
YHWH — “I AM WHO I AM”
But God didn’t stop there. He also revealed His personal name, YHWH, to Moses and explained it by saying, “I AM WHO I AM.” In this self-revelation, He wasn’t just showing that He exists, but that He is the source of existence itself. He is the self-existent God. Because He has no cause or source and depends on nothing outside of Himself, He is not like us.
The Eternal “I AM”
Not only is God self-existent, but “I AM” also reveals God’s eternality. He is everlasting without beginning or end. Over and over again, Scripture proclaims God’s eternality—as I explore more fully in Do You Not Know? The Tireless God of Isaiah 40:28. Because God is eternal, His promises are certain, His judgments sure, and His presence unchanging.
Jesus and the Name “I AM”
This self-revelation of God as the eternal “I AM” does not end in Exodus. Fast forward to the New Testament, to Jesus’ ministry. He over and over again refers to Himself as “I AM.”
- I am the bread of life (John 6:35)
- I am the light of the world (John 8:12)
- I am the door (John 10:9)
- I am the good shepherd (John 10:11)
- I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25)
- I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6)
- I am the true vine (John 15:1)
In John 8:58, in the middle of a heated debate with Jewish leaders about Abraham, Jesus says,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
By saying “I AM,” Jesus was identifying Himself with the eternal God of Exodus 3:14. The Jewish leaders understood this as Jesus making a direct claim to His divinity, which is why they tried to stone Him.
THE GOD WHO SPOKE TO MOSES IS FULLY REVEALED IN CHRIST.
Exodus 34:6–7a — God Names His Character
With this in view, we return to our focus verse: When Moses asked God to show him His glory, he was asking for greater revelation of who God is. In response, God proclaimed:
This passage becomes a refrain throughout the Old Testament. For example, passages such as Numbers 14:18, Nehemiah 9:17, Joel 2:13, and Psalm 86:15 each restate or echo this description of the LORD, underlining the enduring qualities of compassion, grace, and faithfulness. This repetition demonstrates that God’s character is consistent from beginning to end.
Key Attributes in Exodus 34:6–7a
YHWH
In verse 6, God not once but twice refers to Himself as YHWH.
The LORD, the LORD
This surely reminded Moses of His first encounter with God at the burning bush, where He revealed Himself to Moses as the covenant-keeping God of Israel. Here, He once again seems to be saying, “I AM WHO I AM.” He then reveals Himself more fully.
Compassionate (rachum)
Tender mercy.
God describes Himself as compassionate and merciful. This word is associated with the noun “womb,” evoking a motherly quality — caring for the helpless and dependent. It reminds me of Jesus’ concern for Israel — His desire to protect and save them. He asks them:
“How often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” (Matthew 23:37)
Gracious (channun)
God then names Himself gracious, giving favor liberally; always free, never deserved or earned.
It is God’s grace through faith that saves us (Ephesians 2:8).
Slow to Anger (arek)
God demonstrates long-suffering patience with Israel, delaying their judgment to allow repentance.
God does this for all His people. Peter tells us:
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
Steadfast Love (chesed)
God’s love is steadfast and loyal. His love endures forever.
Faithfulness / Truth (emeth)
He is faithful even when Israel is not.
Paul explains it this way:
“if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (2 Timothy 2:13).
In other words, God cannot be who He is not. He cannot be unreliable because He is reliable. He cannot be untrustworthy because He is trustworthy. And He cannot be unfaithful because He is faithful.
Forgiving (nasa)
Finally, God is forgiving. The Hebrew term nasa means to lift or carry away guilt. God removes sin.
Yet God’s self-description does not end with mercy alone.
God’s Mercy and Justice Held Together
“Yet He Does Not Leave the Guilty Unpunished”
Although this final line is not included in our memorization focus this week, it must not be ignored. Here, the need for a mediator becomes unmistakably clear.
God declares:
“Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
This statement is uncomfortable. It confronts us with a God who neither minimizes sin nor overlooks justice. Yet it is precisely here that God’s mercy and justice are held together without contradiction.
God does not choose between compassion and justice—and we would not want Him to. Made in His image, like the prophet Habakkuk, we demand that evil be addressed, not excused. A God who forgives without justice would not be good; a God who judges without mercy would leave no hope.
God is both compassionate and just. His forgiveness never negates accountability. Sin has real consequences, and those consequences have a ripple effect—through families, communities, and even nations. We do not have to look far to see the truth of this.
This is the tension Israel cannot resolve on its own. God forgives iniquity, yet He does not clear the guilty. God’s justice must be satisfied, and His mercy must be preserved. Moses can intercede, but he cannot remove guilt.
The Cross of Christ is where we see Exodus 34 most clearly. God forgives sin and does not leave the guilty unpunished—because the guilt is borne by Jesus, the innocent Lamb. What justice demands, Christ carries on our behalf.
Throughout Exodus 32–34, Moses stands between a holy God and a sinful people. He intercedes, appeals to God’s covenant, and pleads for mercy—and God listens.
Yet Moses’ role is limited. He can intercede, but he cannot remove guilt. He can secure God’s presence, but he cannot finally reconcile justice and mercy.
Moses points beyond himself to the need for a greater mediator. In Jesus Christ, that need is fulfilled. What Moses could only foreshadow, Christ accomplishes fully—bearing guilt, satisfying justice, and restoring sinners to the presence of God.
Conclusion: Why Exodus 34:6-7 Still Matters
In Exodus 34:-7, God reveals His character precisely when Israel’s actions least warranted His favor. Even after their failure, the breaking of the covenant, and subsequent repentance, God remains present and does not remain silent. Rather, He proclaims His name and clarifies His nature: compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, rich in steadfast love and faithfulness, and unwaveringly just.
God’s character is unchanging. His self-revelation does not depend on what His people do but on who He is. Take heart, my friends. As believers, when we face our own sin, these verses encourage us to approach God with both a repentant heart and confident hope. Our Father’s merciful and just nature invites us to seek restoration and renewal in our relationship with Him.
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