PUT A STOP TO IT
Exodus 34:5-7 “Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.’”
Moses is at it again. Another trip up the mountain to meet with God. Last time up, God wrote the Ten Commandments on stone tablets that Moses carried down the mountain. But in his anger he smashed them at the foot of the mountain when he saw the golden calf and the people partying like crazy.
So now Moses is told by God to chisel out two more tablets and bring them up to the top of the mountain by himself. I imagine somewhere along the uphill climb, encumbered and tired, Moses is mumbling to himself wishing he hadn’t smashed the original tablets. When Moses arrives at the top, God descends in a cloud and makes the marvelous pronouncement in our text today. It is a self-description by Yahweh concerning several of His attributes:
Merciful (full of compassion)
Gracious
Long-suffering (patient)
Abounding in Goodness and Truth (abundant in kindness, favor and truth)
Keeping Mercy for Thousands
Forgiving Iniquity, Transgression and Sin (remember this unholy triad from February 10th’s OYB reading?)
The end of our text reveals that although God is merciful, he will visit the iniquity of the fathers to the third and fourth generation. Remember the teaching from February 10th concerning iniquity. It is generational sin and this verse validates that point. The people who chose a golden calf over the One who delivered them from Egyptian bondage will learn that the decisions they make affect a lot of other people, some who are not even born yet. While it may appear that God is unfair by making children pay for the iniquities of their great grandfathers, it is clear when we look at the totality of scripture that the punishment is upon those who “hate” God (Deuteronomy 5:9,10). Thank God there is a remedy for all iniquity and that is the cross (Isaiah 53:5). It doesn’t have to go any further than you. Let’s put a stop to it.