{"id":4074,"date":"2019-10-23T18:52:41","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T18:52:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wpmu.azurewebsites.net\/nlt\/?p=4074"},"modified":"2021-12-08T09:21:26","modified_gmt":"2021-12-08T09:21:26","slug":"the-character-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/2019\/10\/23\/the-character-of-god\/","title":{"rendered":"The Character of God"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Note from the <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tyndale.com\/\/p\/christian-basics-bible-nlt\/9781496413567\">Christian Basics Bible<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Then the\u00a0Lord\u00a0came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he called out his own name, Yahweh. The\u00a0Lord\u00a0passed in front of Moses, calling out, &#8216;Yahweh!\u00a0The\u00a0Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.'&#8221; Exodus 34:5-6, NLT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/10\/MtSinai-1024x484.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4075\" width=\"512\" height=\"242\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/10\/MtSinai-1024x484.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/10\/MtSinai-300x142.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/10\/MtSinai-768x363.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/10\/MtSinai-1536x727.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/10\/MtSinai.jpg 1687w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>While people often say that the God of the Old Testament seems so different from the God of the New Testament, nothing could be further from the truth. We probably already associate Jesus with compassion, but here in Exodus 32\u201334 is a story that clearly declares how God revealed himself as the God of compassion in Old Testament times too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Moses was up on Mount Sinai, Aaron had made a gold calf, which Israel worshiped in a wild party (Exodus 32:1-8). God was rightly angry with them (though his anger is not like our anger; it is the right and just response of a holy God to wickedness). They had broken a fundamental aspect of the covenant\u2014to have no gods other than him\u2014and so deserved his judgment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2018\/11\/StumpSmall-1024x670.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3176\" width=\"376\" height=\"246\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2018\/11\/StumpSmall-1024x670.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2018\/11\/StumpSmall-300x196.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2018\/11\/StumpSmall-768x503.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2018\/11\/StumpSmall.jpg 1250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 376px) 100vw, 376px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet even here we see God\u2019s compassion, mercy, and patience. In swift response to Moses\u2019 prayer, God forgave them (32:14), and when he called Moses up Sinai once again, he showed him what he was really like: \u201cYahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin\u201d (34:6-7)\u2014a revelation that utterly transformed Moses (34:29-35).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/10\/ChristianBasicsExplore3-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-4076\" width=\"359\" height=\"269\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/10\/ChristianBasicsExplore3-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/10\/ChristianBasicsExplore3-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/10\/ChristianBasicsExplore3-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/10\/ChristianBasicsExplore3-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2019\/10\/ChristianBasicsExplore3-2048x1536.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 359px) 100vw, 359px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>This absolute conviction that God was compassionate and merciful, always patient with his people, became an underlying theme of the Old Testament (e.g., 2 Chronicles 30:9; Nehemiah 9:17; Psalm 86:15; 103:8-18; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.paperturn-view.com\/?pid=MTM13462\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.paperturn-view.com\/?pid=MTM13462&amp;get_=cover&amp;h=300\" alt=\"Christian Basics Bible Sampler\" \/><\/a><figcaption>Look Inside the <br><em>Christian Basics Bible<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Note from the Christian Basics Bible &#8220;Then the\u00a0Lord\u00a0came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and he called out his own name, Yahweh. The\u00a0Lord\u00a0passed in front of Moses, calling out, &#8216;Yahweh!\u00a0The\u00a0Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.&#8217;&#8221; Exodus 34:5-6, NLT. While [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15,17,44,45,52],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4074"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5756,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4074\/revisions\/5756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com\/nlt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- LIVE: wpmu3.northcentralus.cloudapp.azure.com/nlt//wp-json/wp/v2/posts/4074 -->