The Good and Longsuffering God
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Exodus 34:4–9 (NKJV)
4 So he cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. Then Moses rose early in the morning and went up Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him; and he took in his hand the two tablets of stone.
5 Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.
6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”
8 So Moses made haste and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped.
9 Then he said, “If now I have found grace in Your sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray, go among us, even though we are a stiff-necked people; and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us as Your inheritance.”
After Moses had asked God to show him his glory, the glory of the Lord apeared to moses in the cloud and proclaimed the name of the Lord and his attributes.
God when he revealed his glory, he was emphasizing to Moses that what he really wanted Moses and the people of Israel to know is that is was merciful, gracious, long suffering and abounding in Goodness.
In other words, he was revealing that His Mercy, his grace, his long suffering and his goodness was going to be demonstrated upon this people.
We will focus on just two of this attributes of God: Goodness and lonsuffering
God is good to his people
Before we look at God’s goodness to us, we have to acknowedge that God is good to all of his creation.
Psalm 33:5 (NKJV)
5 He loves righteousness and justice; The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
Acts 14:14–17 (NKJV)
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude, crying out
15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them,
16 who in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways.
17 Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”
While still living in ignorance of God and idolatory, God was demontrating his goodness by giving them rain fruitful seasons and filling their hearts with all kinds of food and gladness.
God is doing the same thing today. That is the goodness of God to humanity.
The goal of all this goodness is to lead them to repetance.
Romans 2:3–4 (NKJV)
3 And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?
4 Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
Repentance in of itself is demonstration of God’s goodness.
The realisation that God has been good to you inspite of your disobedient lifestyle should lead you to repentance.
Furthermore the very fact that you are able to repent and receive forgiveness is an act of God’s goodness because God has to grant that to you.
Acts 11:18 “18 When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.””
Hebrews 12:17 “17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.”
Repentance leads to salvation and salvation itself is an act of God’s goodness.
Withouth repentance there is baptsim and remision of sins.
Without repentance there is no outpouring of God’s spirit.
So salvation itslef is an act of God’s goodness.
Those of us who have received salvation, have tested of the goodness of God.
But What we have so far experience, is a mere taste of God’s goodness.
It begins with salvation but it does not end there
Goodness that God has preserved and laid up for his people
Psalms 31:19 “19 Oh, how great is Your goodness, Which You have laid up for those who fear You, Which You have prepared for those who trust in You In the presence of the sons of men!”
This is reffering to God’s people, those who fear him and have put their trust in him.
Where is this goodness laid up? where is it prepared?
It is laid up in the house of the Lord.
Psalm 65:3–4 (NKJV)
3 Iniquities prevail against me; As for our transgressions, You will provide atonement for them.
4 Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple.
A promise to those who will cling to Zion
Jeremiah 31:10–14 (NKJV)
10 “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, And declare it in the isles afar off, and say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, And keep him as a shepherd does his flock.’
11 For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, And ransomed him from the hand of one stronger than he.
12 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, Streaming to the goodness of the Lord For wheat and new wine and oil, For the young of the flock and the herd; Their souls shall be like a well-watered garden, And they shall sorrow no more at all.
13 “Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, And the young men and the old, together; For I will turn their mourning to joy, Will comfort them, And make them rejoice rather than sorrow.
14 I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, And My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.”
Be faithful to God and dwell in his house, and you shall be satisfied with his goodness.
You life will be a testimony of the riches of God’s goodness.
The Longsuffering of God.
The Longsuffering of God.
2 Peter 3:8–15 (NKJV)
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless;
15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you,
God’s longsuffering towards mankind is intedend for salvation.
God’s longsuffering, is God’s virtue of putting up with evil for an extend period of time with the intent of salvation of mankind.
Ezekiel 33:11 “11 Say to them: ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?’”
Misinterpretation of God’s longsuffering
Those on the receiving end.
If they don’t undertsand that God longsuffering is with the intended to give them opportunity to amend their way and get right with God before Judgement comes.
They will assume that God is okay with their lifestyle and infact their propserity is because of this sinful lifestyle.
Psalm 50:16–21 (NKJV)
16 But to the wicked God says: “What right have you to declare My statutes, Or take My covenant in your mouth,
17 Seeing you hate instruction And cast My words behind you?
18 When you saw a thief, you consented with him, And have been a partaker with adulterers.
19 You give your mouth to evil, And your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother; You slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done, and I kept silent; You thought that I was altogether like you; But I will rebuke you, And set them in order before your eyes.
11 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Behold, I will set My face against you for catastrophe and for cutting off all Judah.
12 And I will take the remnant of Judah who have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to dwell there, and they shall all be consumed and fall in the land of Egypt. They shall be consumed by the sword and by famine. They shall die, from the least to the greatest, by the sword and by famine; and they shall be an oath, an astonishment, a curse and a reproach!
13 For I will punish those who dwell in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence,
14 so that none of the remnant of Judah who have gone into the land of Egypt to dwell there shall escape or survive, lest they return to the land of Judah, to which they desire to return and dwell. For none shall return except those who escape.’ ”
15 Then all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to other gods, with all the women who stood by, a great multitude, and all the people who dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying:
16 “As for the word that you have spoken to us in the name of the Lord, we will not listen to you!
17 But we will certainly do whatever has gone out of our own mouth, to burn incense to the queen of heaven and pour out drink offerings to her, as we have done, we and our fathers, our kings and our princes, in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. For then we had plenty of food, were well-off, and saw no trouble.
18 But since we stopped burning incense to the queen of heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have lacked everything and have been consumed by the sword and by famine.”
19 The women also said, “And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did we make cakes for her, to worship her, and pour out drink offerings to her without our husbands’ permission?”
20 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the people—the men, the women, and all the people who had given him that answer—saying:
21 “The incense that you burned in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, you and your fathers, your kings and your princes, and the people of the land, did not the Lord remember them, and did it not come into His mind?
22 So the Lord could no longer bear it, because of the evil of your doings and because of the abominations which you committed. Therefore your land is a desolation, an astonishment, a curse, and without an inhabitant, as it is this day.
Those who see God’s longsuffering upon the wicked.
17 You have wearied the Lord with your words; “Yet you say, “In what way have we wearied Him?” In that you say, “Everyone who does evil Is good in the sight of the Lord, And He delights in them,” Or, “Where is the God of justice?”
The proper Understanding of God’s Longsuffering
God being patient with us until we repent,or until we get it right. Until we are the vessels prepared for his wor
12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry,
13 although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
16 However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life.
Paul did not automatically become transfomred to the the vessel ready for the work of the Lord after he was saved.
He took a lot of God’s longsuffering for him to be ready for the ministry and be in the current spiritual stature in Christ Jesus
Paul was an example of God’s longsuffering, in terms of the extent of God’s patience towards him until he go to the state of spirituality fit for such great work of the Lord.
Jesus Christ was longsuffering towards his desciples, He would often say how long shall i bear with you?.
There were many time he was frustrated with their unbelief and lack of undertsanding.
In Matthew 15, and Mark 7, Jesus speaks to the people and says that nothing that enters the mouth will defile them man but what comes out of his is what defiles him. The despiles did not understand. So he was frustrated with them, and said “ are you still without understanding? several other translations have it “ Are you still so dull?”
another example
Mark 8:13–21 (NKJV)
13 And He left them, and getting into the boat again, departed to the other side.
14 Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, and they did not have more than one loaf with them in the boat.
15 Then He charged them, saying, “Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
16 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have no bread.”
17 But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “Why do you reason because you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive nor understand? Is your heart still hardened?
18 Having eyes, do you not see? And having ears, do you not hear? And do you not remember?
19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments did you take up?” They said to Him, “Twelve.”
20 “Also, when I broke the seven for the four thousand, how many large baskets full of fragments did you take up?” And they said, “Seven.”
21 So He said to them, “How is it you do not understand?”
Just few verses prior Jesus had just fed five thousand people with with only seven loaves.
Two chapters prior Jesus had fed the five thousand with five loaves of bread.
Here the descibles are now worried because they did not bring enough bread for the Journey.
As long us there is in our heart an eagerness to grow and change, God will do what it takes to get us there. He will be longsuffering towards us util we get there
Concluding Passage
7 “You are the Lord God, Who chose Abram, And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans, And gave him the name Abraham;
8 You found his heart faithful before You, And made a covenant with him To give the land of the Canaanites, The Hittites, the Amorites, The Perizzites, the Jebusites, And the Girgashites— To give it to his descendants. You have performed Your words, For You are righteous.
9 “You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt, And heard their cry by the Red Sea.
10 You showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, Against all his servants, And against all the people of his land. For You knew that they acted proudly against them. So You made a name for Yourself, as it is this day.
11 And You divided the sea before them, So that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land; And their persecutors You threw into the deep, As a stone into the mighty waters.
12 Moreover You led them by day with a cloudy pillar, And by night with a pillar of fire, To give them light on the road Which they should travel.
13 “You came down also on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven, And gave them just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments.
14 You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws, By the hand of Moses Your servant.
15 You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, And brought them water out of the rock for their thirst, And told them to go in to possess the land Which You had sworn to give them.
16 “But they and our fathers acted proudly, Hardened their necks, And did not heed Your commandments.
17 They refused to obey, And they were not mindful of Your wonders That You did among them. But they hardened their necks, And in their rebellion They appointed a leader To return to their bondage. But You are God, Ready to pardon, Gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, Abundant in kindness, And did not forsake them.
18 “Even when they made a molded calf for themselves, And said, ‘This is your god That brought you up out of Egypt,’ And worked great provocations,
19 Yet in Your manifold mercies You did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day, To lead them on the road; Nor the pillar of fire by night, To show them light, And the way they should go.
20 You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, And did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, And gave them water for their thirst.
21 Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; They lacked nothing; Their clothes did not wear out And their feet did not swell.
22 “Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations, And divided them into districts. So they took possession of the land of Sihon, The land of the king of Heshbon, And the land of Og king of Bashan.
23 You also multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, And brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers To go in and possess.
24 So the people went in And possessed the land; You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, The Canaanites, And gave them into their hands, With their kings And the people of the land, That they might do with them as they wished.
25 And they took strong cities and a rich land, And possessed houses full of all goods, Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves, And fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and grew fat, And delighted themselves in Your great goodness.
26 “Nevertheless they were disobedient And rebelled against You, Cast Your law behind their backs And killed Your prophets, who testified against them To turn them to Yourself; And they worked great provocations.
27 Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies, Who oppressed them; And in the time of their trouble, When they cried to You, You heard from heaven; And according to Your abundant mercies You gave them deliverers who saved them From the hand of their enemies.
28 “But after they had rest, They again did evil before You. Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies, So that they had dominion over them; Yet when they returned and cried out to You, You heard from heaven; And many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,
29 And testified against them, That You might bring them back to Your law. Yet they acted proudly, And did not heed Your commandments, But sinned against Your judgments, ‘Which if a man does, he shall live by them.’ And they shrugged their shoulders, Stiffened their necks, And would not hear.
30 Yet for many years You had patience with them, And testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets. Yet they would not listen; Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
31 Nevertheless in Your great mercy You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them; For You are God, gracious and merciful.