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Intention

To know that the God who passed before Moses on the mountain is the same God we see fully revealed in Christ: full of love, honest about sin, and leaning towards compassion.

Scripture

“The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

– Exodus 34:6–7

Reflection

We live in a world that’s trying to throw off all restraint — that wants to convince us we can sin all we want; that anything goes.

Yet, strangely, we’ve also seen the rise of cancel culture. According to this new moral framework, if you put one foot out of step, your name could be tarred forever, with no hope of redemption.

It’s hard to reconcile these extreme, opposite overreactions in our culture — yet this is the reality of living in a post-Christian world.

Fortunately, God is nothing like our culture. He values both mercy and justice, and he has a way of holding them perfectly together for our eternal good.

Moses discovered this firsthand on the mountain, where God passed before him, proclaiming his name and revealing his glory. Israel had broken the covenant God made with them by worshipping to the golden calf. Distraught over the Israelites’ sin, Moses interceded for them — and God responded with this incredible proclamation about himself.

Consider what God says about himself in Exodus 34:6–7.

The Lord, the Lord. God is repeating himself for emphasis. This is Yahweh defining Yahweh. The I AM who I AM, whom Moses first met in the burning bush.

The compassionate and gracious God. This is the God who heard Israel’s groaning, saw their misery in Egypt, and stepped in to rescue them.

Slow to anger. He bore with Pharaoh ten times. He put up with Israel’s grumbling many more times than that.

Abounding in love and faithfulness. This is the God who kept his covenant promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; who kept every promise he ever made.

Maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. He committed to stick with Israel even after they rebelled. Here in Exodus, he is about to renew the covenant and make new tablets to replace the old ones.

Then comes the line that jars our modern ears:

“Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

After everything else God has said about himself, this one takes us off guard. But it matters more than we realise.

See, God’s mercy is not the same as moral indifference. God doesn’t shrug his shoulders at sin. Forgiveness is real, but so is accountability.

Notice which way God’s character is weighted. There are five mercy statements here and one justice statement. Justice isn’t absent — but the ratio heavily favours mercy. It’s like God is saying that his character leans towards compassion. And it’s on this basis that he renews the covenant with Moses.

Also, don’t miss the contrast in scale. He maintains love to how many? Thousands. He punishes how many generations? Three or four. In the words of James 2:13, mercy triumphs over judgement.

In God’s economy, judgement still matters, and needs to be held in tension with mercy — a tension that God resolved at the cross.

It was on that cross that God judged our sin and gave us mercy. Judgment and mercy were both present that dark day — and mercy triumphed. There, the God who leans towards compassion was fully revealed.

Up on the mountain, Moses saw the back of God. Today, we get to see God’s face in Jesus Christ. As John puts it, “we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Moses got a proclamation. We get a person. What Moses glimpsed, we see fully in Jesus.

Video

Prayer

Father, thank you that you have not left us to guess at your character. On the mountain, you revealed yourself as the God who leans towards compassion. In Christ, you have revealed yourself fully, as mercy embodied, and love incarnate.

Thank you for saving me. Help me to trust your character and proclaim it boldly to a world facing eternal judgment and desperate for your mercy.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Author Bio

Kurt Mahlburg is a husband to Angie, a father, a freelance writer, and a familiar Australian voice on culture and the Christian faith. He is the Senior Editor and a regular columnist at The Daily Declaration.

Kurt’s breakout title, Cross and Culture: Can Jesus Save the West?, explores the social and spiritual challenges facing Western nations and the hope Jesus offers in our crisis.

Prayer Points for Five4Five 2026

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2. Repentance, revival and reformation in Australia and for millions to believe in Jesus Christ. Luke 24:47

3. A Church that grows in extravagant love for God and people. 2 Corinthians 5:14–15

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