And the Word became flesh and [tabernacle] among us, full of grace (Greek charitas equivalent here to Hebrew ḥesed) and truth (Greek alētheias = Hebrew ′ emet) … John 1:14a
A peace had settled down upon the scene at the mountain; Moses had successfully interceded for the people, and judgement was carried out, the consequences for rebellion. YHWH commands Moses to cut two more tablets to replace the ones he broke, indicating that the broken covenant will now be restored. The scene reminds us of Chapter 19 with the divine warning to stay away from the mountain, but on closer look, we see that things are different. In Chapter 19 we have the preparations for a public Theophany; here it is a private affair between YHWH and Moses. Moses ascends the mountain, and YHWH descends in a cloud. YHWH is now about to fulfill the promise He made; He will now pass by Moses, proclaiming His name, and showing him as much glory as his mortal frame could stand.
Back at the burning bush theophany YHWH revealed His special covenantal name “YHWH,” called the “tetragrammaton” (the four letters), to Moses and instructed him to reveal this to the people. Just looking at the etymology of the word, we said it was the stative “to be,” translated as “I am what I am,” and could be understood as a future, “I will be what I will be,” that is, I will be what I show Myself to be through my redemptive acts. Now, after delivering His people, YHWH gives much more explanation of what His name means, all in the context of His Glory passing by Moses.
The repetition of the tetragrammaton “YHWH YHWH” is supreme divine eloquence designed to create a most sobering effect on the soul. Moses is now locked in to the passing Theophany, and hears, “a God (Heb. ′ēl) of compassion (Heb. raḥûm) and grace (Heb. ḥannûm). The alliteration of these two words is highly poetic, making them a pair. The first is a cognate of the Hebrew word for “womb” (Heb. reḥem) associating YHWH with the compassion of a mother for her child. The second speaks of the gracious demeanor and attitude toward humanity. He is slow to anger, and abounding in loving kindness/mercy (Heb. ḥesed), and faithfulness (Heb. ′ emet). These two words form a word pair we find throughout Scripture critical to our understanding of covenant.
At this point it is instructive to compare this passage with its parallel in the Decalogue (Ex. 20:5ff).
For I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God, inflicting punishment for their ancestors’ wickedness on the children of those who hate me, down to the third and fourth generation; but showing love [Heb. ḥesed] down to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.
(Ex. 20:5f.)
The Lord, the Lord, a God gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in love [Heb. ḥesed] and fidelity, continuing his love [Heb. ḥesed] for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin; yet not declaring the guilty guiltless, but bringing punishment for their parents’ wickedness on children and children’s children to the third and fourth generation!
(Ex. 34:6f.)
Notice how the Decalogue begins with YHWH’s self-identification as a jealous God inflicting punishment on those who hate Him and showing love to those who love Him. In contrast, YHWH begins with the self-identification as gracious and merciful, abounding in love (Heb. ḥesed), and this ḥesed theme is expanded with the added caveat of YHWH’s forgiveness of wickedness (Heb. ‵āwȏn), rebellion (Heb. peša‵), and sin (Heb. ḥatt′â). These three Hebrew words cover the whole spectrum of sin. The point of the comparison is this; the great rebellion, as bad as it was, served to demonstrate the deep nature of YHWH’s covenantal ḥesed toward His people. The word ′ emet (faithfulness), paired with ḥesed, means reliability in contrast to Israel’s infidelity.
The sheer weight of the glory of this encounter and the revelation of YHWH’s compassion, mercy, love, faithfulness, and forgiving nature existing in tension with His fierce judgement of sin caused Moses to fall to the ground and worship. He finds himself in a state of consciousness of the Holy, beyond where his natural interior powers of reason, emotion, and imagination could take him. It is a place where the troubles of the world are resolved. Still, his passion for his people breaks through with one last plea for them in spite of the fact that this was resolved in his last intercession.
Now this revelation pertains not only for Israel in this historical moment, but for the whole human race. Indeed, Israel represents every man, every woman, and this narrative sets the stage for the whole of redemptive history as pertaining to God’s unmerited grace working in every human soul, and God’s just punishment. To this we refer back to the last chapter when YHWH showed mercy to Moses when he asked to see YHWH’s glory, “I will be gracious (Heb. ḥānan, cf. ḥannûm above) to who I will be gracious, and show mercy (Heb. rāḥam, cf. raḥûm above) on whom I show mercy (Exodus 33:19). So Augustine:
What did he here teach us but that as death is the just due of the clay of the first man, it belongs to the mercy of God and not to the merits of man that anyone is saved. And … therein there is no injustice with God, because he is not unjust either in forgiving or in exacting the penalty. Mercy is free where just vengeance could be taken. From this it is more clearly shown what a great benefit is conferred on the one who is delivered from a just penalty and freely justified, while another, equally guilty, is punished without injustice on the part of the avenger.
St. Augustine, Letter 186
Before this, all we can do is fall with our face to the ground before the mysterium tremendum of YHWH like Moses did.
Takeaway: YHWH passes by Moses and declares His name, that is, His divine nature and character, and through Moses, to us.
Questions:
- What do all these Hebrew words mean to you personally as you read this post?
- Have you ever “fell on your face” and worshipped YHWH like Moses did before the paradox’ of His Divine majesty?
- In what ways do you see Jesus Christ here in this critical text?
Resources Used:
ACCS, Exodus, p. 149
Cassuto, U. A Commentary on the Book of Exodus.
Durham, Exodus in WBC