Main Idea

God introduced himself by name in the middle of the worst thing Israel ever did, and the first word he used is not the one you would expect. The question isn’t whether you believe in God. It’s which God you’ve been believing in.

Scripture

Exodus 34:5-6

Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,”Discussion Questions:

Exodus 33:19

¹⁹ And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.

Romans 5:8

⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Lamentations 3: 22-23

²² Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
²³ They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.

Discussion Questions

• What does this passage show us about God? (Pay attention to the timing. This is God describing himself right after the golden calf, not before it. What does it mean that compassionate is the first word he chooses?)
• What does it show us about people? Underneath most of our distance from God is one assumption nobody says out loud: there is a better version of me that God would rather meet.
• Where do you hear that assumption in your own head? Rachum comes from the word for womb, and chanun pictures someone stooping down to a person who can’t come up. If that’s true of God, what have you been waiting to fix before you came back
• What will you obey this week? Name one specific way you’ll open the door as you are, not as you should be. The day and the time, not just the intention.
• Who will you tell? Who has been getting ready for years and needs to hear that God moves first?