Bible League: Living His Word "The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation."— Numbers 14:18 ESV "Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love" – I found this characterization eight times in the Bible. Its elements are inseparable, like two sides of one coin. God's love is steadfast because He is slow to anger. Conversely, God is slow to anger because His love is steadfast. It's abounding, too. We're not talking about a scrap of His goodness but about an abundant overflow. Love is His most significant feature, and it makes Him patient to a level we can hardly fathom. The characterization appears for the first time in Exodus 34:6, where the Lord makes Himself known to Moses after the Ten Commandments have been given for the second time. The fact that God uses these phrases at this moment proves how true they are. Not long before, Israel had danced around the golden calf, an immense violation of His holiness. The Lord could have terminated His relationship with His people there and then, but He didn't. Instead, He declared Himself to be slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The second time we find the characterization is in today's verse. While the people of Israel are complaining again and deserve God's punishment, Moses reminds the Lord of His own words. Rather than wiping out the people once and for all, God chooses to discuss it with Moses, who holds Him to His word. Apparently, that's what the Lord wants: that we remind Him of His words. I encourage you to read the other places where we read the phrase "slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love." These are Nehemiah 9:17, Psalms 86:15, Psalms 103:8, Psalms 145:8, Joel 2:13, and Jonah 4:2. You will discover that God always gives people the chance to repent. His grace is always there, even amid the grimmest of circumstances. Let me make it personal. If I look back, there have been many moments in my life where my misbehavior would have justified punishment. God could have wiped me out because I deserved it. But He didn't. Rather, He showed how slow He is to anger and how abounding in steadfast love. What is the best way for me to see that? In the person of Jesus Christ, whose love was so abounding that He gave His life to save me. Who, as the greater Moses, pleaded with His heavenly Father to save me from punishment. Who accepted to undergo the full anger of the Lord to set me free. What else can I do than sing with David in Psalm 86:15? "You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness." Hallelujah! By Anton de Vreugd, BLI global staff, the Netherlands Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingJob 21, 22 Job 21 -- Job Says God Will Deal with the Wicked NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Job 22 -- Eliphaz Accuses and Exhorts Job to Repentance NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 10:1-23 Acts 10 -- Cornelius' and Peter's Visions; Peter Preaches to the Gentiles NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.Insight Christ's defeat of the devil in the desert was decisive but not final. Throughout his ministry, Jesus would confront Satan in many forms. Challenge Too often we see temptation as once and for all. In reality, we need to be constantly on guard against the devil's ongoing attacks. Where are you most susceptible to temptation right now? How are you preparing to withstand it? Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Zechariah 14:8 In summer and in winter shall it be.The streams of living water which flow from Jerusalem are not dried up by the parching heats of sultry midsummer any more than they were frozen by the cold winds of blustering winter. Rejoice, O my soul, that thou art spared to testify of the faithfulness of the Lord. The seasons change and thou changest, but thy Lord abides evermore the same, and the streams of his love are as deep, as broad and as full as ever. The heats of business cares and scorching trials make me need the cooling influences of the river of His grace; I may go at once and drink to the full from the inexhaustible fountain, for in summer and in winter it pours forth its flood. The upper springs are never scanty, and blessed be the name of the Lord, the nether springs cannot fail either. Elijah found Cherith dry up, but Jehovah was still the same God of providence. Job said his brethren were like deceitful brooks, but he found his God an overflowing river of consolation. The Nile is the great confidence of Egypt, but its floods are variable; our Lord is evermore the same. By turning the course of the Euphrates, Cyrus took the city of Babylon, but no power, human or infernal, can divert the current of divine grace. The tracks of ancient rivers have been found all dry and desolate, but the streams which take their rise on the mountains of divine sovereignty and infinite love shall ever be full to the brim. Generations melt away, but the course of grace is unaltered. The river of God may sing with greater truth than the brook in the poem-- "Men may come, and men may go, But I go on forever." How happy art thou, my soul, to be led beside such still waters! Never wander to other streams, lest thou hear the Lord's rebuke, "What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt to drink of the muddy river?" Daily Light on the Daily Path Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,Ephesians 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; Matthew 5:44,45 "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, • so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Luke 6:36 "Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Ephesians 5:9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), Titus 3:4-6 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, • He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, • whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, Psalm 145:9 The LORD is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works. Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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