Longsuffering

Read: Exodus 34 5-7
Listen: Exodus 34

…slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…” Exodus 34:6

God continues describing himself to Moses. “…slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness…” (Exodus 34:6). The King James Version of the Bible translates the original Hebrew with the word longsuffering in the place of slow to anger. In Hebrew, longsuffering (slow to anger) literally meant “long of nose.” The word for anger in ancient Hebrew is “hot nose” or “red nose.” This immediately suggests the image of a red face, nostrils steaming. However, God is “long of nose,” meaning it takes a long time for his anger to find expression. His longsuffering nature leaves a lot of time for repentance. It gives people an opportunity to turn to him to ask for forgiveness before they experience the justice of God. Even in anger, he abounds with love. God is faithful and longs for his people to be reconciled to him.

Our experiences with human anger can easily distort our understanding of God’s anger. Human anger is often characterized by losing control. Feelings take over, and people become unpredictable. We can all remember a time when anger damaged our relationships or self-image. Anger often results in a loss of trust in others or ourselves. But God’s anger is not like human anger. It doesn’t explode or lose control. It is not unpredictable or inconsistent. We can trust God to be compassionate and gracious before we experience his wrath. His ultimate desire is to reconcile us to him. He is faithful and repeatedly extends mercy before we suffer the consequences of our sins. As we’ll learn tomorrow, his anger is directly tied to his compassion and the need for justice.

TODAY: Listen to the Ada Bible Worship Team sing “I Believe.” Thank God for his faithfulness and longsuffering nature. Worship him for his abounding love that created a path for our reconciliation and redemption.

JESUS IN THE OLD TESTAMENT:

Read Psalm 45. Highlight anything that points to Jesus.