The revelation of the love of God

Throughout the Bible we hear these marvelous words spoken by many servants of God : "Thy God is merciful, kind, full of grace, quick to forgive, full of love and goodness, slow to anger." words about love and goodness are repeated again and again by great men such as Moses, Jonah, David, the prophets and the apostle Paul (see Exodus 34: 6, Deuteronomy 4:31, Jonah 4: 2, Joel, 2:13, Romans 2: 4).

Some Christians might be surprised to know that Moses spoke of the love and goodness of God. After all, Moses is known as the one who gave the Law, with severe admonitions about obedience to the Law of God. He warned the people that if he refused to walk in justice he would be judged.

Yet Moses also received this great revelation about the goodness and love of the Lord. How did he learn this aspect of the nature of God ? The Lord revealed it to her in the cloud of His presence :

"And the LORD descended into a cloud, and stood by him, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed before him, and cried out : The LORD God, merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in goodness and faithfulness, who keeps his love unto a thousand generations, and forgiveth iniquity, rebellion and sin" (Exodus 34: 5-7).

While preaching his warnings about the judgment, Moses has always remembered this important aspect of the character of God. In fact, Moses urged the people : "In your distress, all these things will happen to you. Then in time you shall return to the LORD your God, and you will hear his voice ; for the LORD your God is a God of mercy, who will not forsake you nor destroy you : he will not forget the covenant of your fathers, that he has sworn to them "(Deuteronomy 4:30 -31).

This is what the Lord tells us about His relationship with us in our failures : "Look at how I have always looked after my children. They have failed again and again. But then they screamed, they stretched out their hands to me. And my heart is touched by the tears of all my children. I am moved with compassion when they come back to me. That is my nature. I am touched when I feel their infirmities."

David Wilkerson