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This is a slippery phrase to translate into English. Another translation gets us a little closer to the original Hebrew: “but who will by no means clear the guilty.”6 The idea here is that Yahweh is forgiving by nature, but at the same time, he’s also just. He doesn’t let the guilty off the hook. There are lots of people who don’t want forgiveness.
And because our society denies that “all have sinned,” it’s forced to blame somebody else for the evils of the world.
When we repent, he’s responds. With mercy. But if we don’t repent, then he’ll only wait for so long before he puts a stop to our rampage.
The hope of the gospel isn’t that Holocaust survivors will stand next to Hitler for eternity or that a victim of domestic abuse will live forever with her husband. The hope is that there will be no Hitlers, no women thrown across the room in anger, no slave traders, no genocidal maniacs, no suicide bombers storming into crowded markets, no Predator drones flying over your house as your five-year-old cowers in fear—nothing and nobody who is openly hostile to the way of Jesus, because God will put an end to evil once and for all.
The last phrase is my favorite part: “to the third and fourth generation.” The ending is a twist, a surprise. And
Sin, at its root, is not trusting God.
We want to make it about temptation and a lack of self-control, and it is. But really, under the facade, it’s about not trusting Yahweh’s character.
Exodus 34v6–7 back to Yahweh.
Moses is calling Yahweh to be Yahweh. To be true to his character. To be forgiving.
Yahweh is a person. He’s God, swimming in mystery we will never understand, but somehow, when we pray, he listens and—you ready to say it again?—responds! He’s interactive and malleable and open to suggestions.
Yahweh is forgiving, but sin is not.
Does God forgive? Constantly. Does he wipe the slate clean and help people start over? All the time. Is there healing in Jesus? Yes.
But we still need to grapple with the weight of sin, because we don’t want to miss out on blessing! We don’t want to stare over the waters of Jordan, right on the cusp of the life God has for us, only to throw it all away and spend years of our life in regret.
Jesus. It’s clear, all throughout the Old Testament, that the entire sacrificial system is temporary. It’s a stopgap until Yahweh comes up with a better way to reconcile his mercy and justice.
The reconciliation of God’s mercy and justice in the death of Jesus is the ultimate expression of God’s character. The tension is finally resolved.
It’s in God’s nature to show mercy and forgive, but it’s also in his nature to deal with sin, and these two parts of God’s person—seemingly at odds for so many years—finally come together on the cross in beautiful harmony.
Artemis and King Agamemnon? The goddess was so angry that she made the king sacrifice his own daughter. But this God—the one true Creator God—he doesn’t demand we give up our children for human sacrifice. Instead, he gives up his Son.
The closing line of Exodus 34 is both hope and a warning. The warning is this: Yahweh will deal with sin in our lives, one way or another.
We might not take sin all that seriously, but he does. To the point of death—literally.
The Scripture writers talk about the fear of Yahweh. This phrase is used all throughout the Bible. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard people explain it away. Saying something like, “Fear doesn’t really mean fear. It means reverence or respect.” That’s funny, because it says fear.
I love my three kids way too much to wink at their sin. To excuse it or ignore it or sweep it under the rug. I want it gone from their life. I want them to grow into all that God created them to be.
I hear people say, “God never punishes his children.” Wait, what? Of course he does! Every good father does. If you’re Yahweh’s child, you can expect his discipline in your life. After all, you’re loved. Deeply loved.
We don’t worship Yahweh to manipulate him into blessing us—to curry his favor or get on his good side. No, he’s compassionate and gracious. We’re already on his good side.
But then Yahweh says something out of left field: “Be careful not to make a covenant with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. Do not worship any other god. For the LORD [Yahweh], whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.”2
But here’s what’s interesting: the text can be translated, “whose name is Jealous”
Yahweh is jealous for his reputation.
What Yahweh wants is a living, breathing people to put his name on display. To show the world what he is like, not only by what we say, but by how we live. That’s what Yahweh is after: a people who are “godly,” who are like the God they worship. A people who are compassionate . . . A people who are gracious . . . A people who are slow to anger . . . A people who are abounding in love and faithfulness . . . And a people who live in the tension of mercy and justice. Wouldn’t that really be something?
