The God on Top of the Mountain

When we use the English word "God," we often think we're all talking about the same thing. But we aren't. Today, when I say “God,” you might think any number of things, depending on your country of birth, language, religion, church experience, background—and, of course, whether or not you have cable.

This brings me to the question at the heart of this plan: Who is God?

Let’s assume for now that there is some kind of an invisible-but-real being who made everything, and for now let’s call this being “God.” If so, what is this God like?

Kind, or cruel?

Close by and involved in my life, or far-off and aloof?

I would argue that how you answer this question will define you.

Here’s a truth that cuts across the whole of the universe: we become like what we worship. Put another way, what you think about God will shape your destiny in life.

But the problem is that much of what we think about God is simply wrong.

The Scripture writers, from Moses to Matthew, just assume we have no idea what God is like. In fact, that a lot of what we think about God is totally off base. For them, the starting point for all theology is the realization that: we don’t know what God is like, but we can learn.

But to learn, we have to go to the source.

In Exodus 33, we get to eavesdrop on a conversation between Moses and God. At one point Moses asks, “Now show me your glory.” God tells him, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord [Yahweh], in your presence.”

So God

has a name.

The next morning, Moses gets up early and climbs to the top of Mount Sinai. Then we read one of the most staggering paragraphs in the entire Bible.

“The Lord [Yahweh] came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord [Yahweh]. And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord [Yahweh], the Lord [Yahweh], 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.’”

This is one of the few places in the entire Bible where God describes himself. Where he essentially says, “This is what I’m like.”

Because of that, it’s quite possibly the most quoted passage in the Bible, by the Bible.

And notice: when God describes himself, he starts with his name. Then he talks about what we call character. He’s compassionate and gracious; he’s slow to anger; he’s abounding in love and faithfulness, and on down the list.

If you’ve spent any time in the church, I’m sure you know John 3v16 like the back of your hand: “For God so loved the world . . .” But oddly enough, little or nothing is said in most churches about Exodus 34v6–7, even though it’s quite possibly the most quoted passage in the Bible, by the Bible.

Let’s change that, shall we?

Over the next few days, we’ll talk about Exodus 34v6–7 line by line. We’ll talk about the original Hebrew, look at a story or two where this passage is quoted by later Scripture writers, fast-forward to Jesus, and even take a step back and think about what who God is means for who we are, and how it has the potential to reshape our lives from the ground up.

Sound like a plan?