“The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious…”

Who is this chanting Lord, apprising Moses of the self-encomium, “The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7) Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation“ [Exodus 34:6-7]? This is Yahweh Elohim. The I AM. The Creator of the heavens and the earth. The One who is, who was and is to come. The Almighty! Unfortunately, some pastors teach that this One of the Book of Exodus is an angel.

Is the name of God the sound of our breathing?

‘LORD,’ in capitals is the Hebraic יהוה with a transliteration: yehôvâh (pronounced- yeh-ho-vaw’) BDB Definition: Jehovah = “the existing One.” The proper name of the one true God. Unpronounced except with the vowel pointings of {‘ădônây (ad-o-noy’): An emphatic form of ‘âdôn; the Lord (used as a proper name of God only)}.’ Strong’s Definition: (the) self Existent or eternal; Jehovah, Jewish national name of God.’ Origin of this name is from  היהhâyâh (haw-yaw) ‘to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out; to exist, that is, be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary).’

“Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden.”

Êl is the Hebrew word for ‘God’ which is pronounced (ale). It is defined as: ‘strength; as adjective mighty; especially the Almighty (but used also of any deity).’ Moses had impetrated the LORD in the eighteenth verse of the preceding chapter, which reads: “And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory” [Exodus 33:18]. Israelites had beheld the LORD as the pillar of cloud and of the fire. What Moses prayed to behold was the true glorious physical nature of Him. The likeness and the image (of Himself) of which He, at creation (Genesis 1:26), asked to be the prototype in the making of Adam. Moses was desirous to see This Personage who walked the Garden of Eden in the cool of the evening. Moses did not impetrate an angel as this chapter reveals.

God graciously granted him his wish in Exodus 33:19-20 “And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy. 20) And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.” (An angel cannot say this!) Only HIS goodness could be made available to the sinful eyes of mankind. God is so good. The LORD knows that to behold His countenance is to be brought to judgment. Jehovah’s magnanimity, when it comes to showering mercy, is so evident here. His scrupulousness is an unparalleled, parental loving kindness.

Exodus 33:21-23, 21) “And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock: 22) And it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by: 23) And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts: but my face shall not be seen.” The word ‘cover’ is śâkak (saw-kak’) ‘properly to entwine as a screen; by implication to fence in, cover over, (figuratively) protect.’ ‘Hand’ is kaph (kaf): ‘palm, hand, sole, palm of the hand, hollow or flat of the hand.’   How more paternally can one be? God knew that Moses was still existing in the carnality of human sinfulness. Jesus had not yet died for man’s spiritual emancipation. A look at him from His magisterial stance, as Elohim, will not spare even the meekest adjudged moral quality of Moses. Jehovah is the true Protector. It was the same palm that formed Adam and his woman that was made readily available to get entwined adorably around Moses, His servant, prophet and leader of His chosen Israelites by the oath of His divine mouth.

The Hebrew for ‘back side’ is ‘âchôr (aw-khore’): ‘the back side, the rear; backwards; hereafter (of time); behind.’ The word ‘face’ is pânı̂ym (paw-neem’): ‘Plural (but always used as a singular) of an unused noun (פּנה pâneh, (paw-neh’); the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.).’

The LORD would not bring Israel to judgment by throwing the legality of the terms of His gaze at Moses. As pânı̂ym defines, His face turns in only two directions. The direction of evil for a summary sentence; while that of righteousness receives the virginal verdict of “…..Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” [Matthew 25:34]. Rather than give Moses an ominous gaze, the Lord took a walk. He walked His righteous walk away on behalf of Israel, His child. His walk was a promise to show Himself, thereafter, at the appointed time. As long as the physical or spiritual Israel is involved, the LORD of Exodus has walked our righteous walk on our behalf. Amen.

Get born again to to receive eternal bliss from the LORD of Exodus, say, “Dear heavenly Father, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for my sin. I believe that You raised Him from the dead. I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I receive Him now as my Lord and my Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!”   (…to be continued…)

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