Thinking About God's Character

The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself. His prophet Moses asked Him to show him the glory of God. “Please, show me your glory” (Exodus 33:18). God replied “. . . ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.’ But he said, ‘You cannot see my face; for no man shall see me, and live’” (Exodus 33:19,20).

Exodus 34 records what God revealed to Moses. “Now the LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, 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’” (vv. 5-7).

God had earlier spoken the Ten Commandments, which explain that God’s punishments are for those who hate Him. “For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love me and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:5,6).

David, the king of Israel, praised God in these words: “The LORD executes righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed. He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the children of Israel. The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will he keep his anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear him” (Psalm 103:6-13).

Jesus, in his life, showed the character of God and is the pattern for all who wish to please God. 
To learn more about what is in the Bible, read it for yourself with the help of a free Bible Reading Guide and Planner. Copies may be requested by email using the link provided on this Web Site.

(Quotations are from the New King James version of the Bible)