Over the years, my faith has grown in spurts.  But it is growing.   I have long purposed to always-be-a-student in regard to my faith journey.  I worship the God of the Old and New Testaments, and as a Christian, I delight in discovering some new insight that draws me closer to my Creator, my Redeemer, and my Sustainer. Recently, I gained a new understanding of God’s tender mercies towards me.

When I think of love and grace, my mind usually races to 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13. After all, it is in the New Testament that we learn that “God so loved the world…” and witness the love of Christ being poured out upon us.

To many people, the Old Testament appears as a long collection of books focused on judgment, while the New Testament conveys stories about love and grace.

So, imagine my surprise when I read Exodus 34:6-7.

“…the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

I was quite familiar with verse 7. It highlights judgment and curses, illustrating the generational impact of sin within a family. Skeptics often point to this verse, mocking an absent God as vindictive. I have always understood this passage as recognizing human nature and how negative behaviors tend to be passed down through generations. Think of alcoholism and abuse.

That is why I found it puzzling that verse 6, which talks of the Lord’s steadfast love, is followed by verse 7, which speaks of generational curses.

I recently gained new insights into these two verses that offer a clearer and broader perspective.

In Dane Ortlund’s book, “Gentle and Lowly,” the author encourages us to consider the context of Exodus 34:6-7. Our human perspective may see the Old Testament God as one of retribution and judgment (see verse 7). However, in Exodus 34, Ortlund emphatically states, “The bent of God’s heart is mercy.”

The first words God uses to describe Himself in Exodus 34:6 are “merciful and gracious.” Not only that, but He is “slow to anger.” He must be provoked to anger, while His divine mercy is ready to “burst forth at the slightest prick.” “Yahweh needs no provoking to love, only to anger.”

And not only does God abound in steadfast love, but He does so for a thousand generations! That’s Bible talk for forever.

Yet, verse 6 is followed by verse 7, which may be hard to hear at first. God will not be mocked. A spiritual principle is at work—people reap what they sow, and their sins can be passed down from generation to generation. But Ortlund, with all the excitement of discovering a gold mine, shouts, “Notice what God says!” His covenantal love flows down for a thousand generations, far surpassing any sins passed down for only three or four generations. In other words, God’s deepest heart is one of mercy, grace, and patience. 

God’s glory is His goodness. The words He uses to describe Himself are, first, merciful and gracious, abounding in steadfast love.  We should not be surprised to discover that the Psalms are filled with this reminder of God’s tender mercies.

Psalm 25:6. “Remember, O Lord, thy tender mercies and thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old.”

Psalm 40:11. “Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O Lord: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.”

Pslam 103:4. “Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies.”

Pslam 51:1. “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”

Psalm 69:16. “Hear me, O Lord; for thy lovingkindness is good: turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.”

May I never forget that the God of the Bible, both the Old and New Testaments, is a God of tender mercies.