SERIES: 20/20: Seeing Truth Clearly
MESSAGE: Hello, I’m God!
SPEAKER: Skip Heitzig
SCRIPTURE: Exodus 34:5-9

MESSAGE SUMMARY
People have written and spoken about God for millennia. It’s what I have done for nearly four decades. But today we get to hear from God Himself as He gives to Moses His own autobiography. Here He introduces Himself by stating His name and His occupation as God. He states His primary character traits, thus framing what our relationship with Him is going to be like. This is a primary passage of Scripture, meaning other biblical authors make reference to it later on in their writings. Let’s find out what God says about Himself.

STUDY GUIDE
Connect Recap Notes: July 12, 2020
Teacher: Skip Heitzig
Teaching: "Hello, I'm God!"
Text: Exodus 34:5-9

Path

People have written and spoken about God for millennia. It's what I have done for nearly four decades. But today we get to hear from God Himself as He gives to Moses His own autobiography. Here He introduces Himself by stating His name and His occupation as God. He states His primary character traits, thus framing what our relationship with Him is going to be like. This is a primary passage of Scripture, meaning other biblical authors make reference to it later on in their writings. Let's find out what God says about Himself.

  1. His Designation (vv. 5-6a)
    1. The Statement of His Name
    2. The Significance of His Name
  2. His Description (vv. 6b-7)
    1. Benevolent Attributes
    2. Bountiful Attributes
    3. Balanced Attributes
Points

His Designation (vv. 5-6a)His Description (vv. 6b-7)Practice

Connect Up: Why is it important to know the characteristics of God? How do they reveal who He is to us personally? Discuss the following important characteristics: God is self-existing (infinite); He never changes (immutable); He has no needs (self-sufficient); God is all-powerful (omnipotent); God is all-knowing (omniscient); God is always everywhere (omnipresent); He is full of perfect, unchanging wisdom (wise); God is infinitely, unchangingly true (faithful); He is infinitely kind and full of good will (good); He is right and perfect in all He does (just); He is compassionate and kind (merciful); God is inclined to spare the guilty (gracious); God loves us infinitely (loving); He is unchangingly perfect (holy); God is infinitely beautiful and great (glorious).

Connect In: Of the above attributes, which ones have impacted you the most? Share a time when God showed Himself to you in a real way through one of His characteristics. When God reminds you of one of His attributes, what is your response? What can happen to our faith when we lose sight of God's character and attributes?

Connect Out: Knowing that God is gracious, longsuffering, merciful, and loving, what does that tell you about what your heart should be toward unbelievers? Take time to pray for your loved ones that need to know the Savior's love.

DETAILED NOTES
July 12, 2020
Skip Heitzig
"Hello, I'm God!"
Exodus 34:5-9

  1. Introduction
    1. To get to know someone, you can do a couple of things
      1. Ask others about the person
      2. Ask the person directly
    2. The best way to get to know God is to go directly to God and hear what He says about Himself
      1. Often we get secondhand knowledge of God from authors and musicians
      2. Best to ask God directly, as Moses did in Exodus 34
      3. Moses asked God to show him His glory
      4. Instead of an appearance, God gave Moses a list of attributes
    3. Moses went up the mountain, but God still had to come down to meet with him
      1. No matter how high we reach, God must still condescend to make contact with us
      2. Jesus is the prime example of this
    4. Exodus 34 is an important passage in the Old Testament, often quoted and referenced (see Numbers 14; Deuteronomy 5; 1 Kings 3; Nehemiah 9; Psalm 103; 145; Jeremiah 32; Lamentations 3; Daniel 9; Nahum 3)
  2. His Designation (vv. 5-6a)
    1. The Statement of His Name
      1. God answered Moses by proclaiming His name, "The Lord, the Lord God" (v. 6)
      2. Hebrew: "Yahweh, Yahweh El"
      3. God repeated His name to emphasize His person and power
      4. He was assuring Moses He was the same God as at the burning bush (see Exodus 3:14)
    2. The Significance of His Name
      1. I Am is the first-person form of the Hebrew verb hayah, meaning "to be"
        1. Yahweh is the third-person form of hayah
        2. That means Yahweh is the self-existent one: "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14)
        3. God is the only noncontingent being
      2. The name also refers to God's eternal nature
        1. El is a generic word for God, a Semitic term for gods in general
        2. Yahweh is specific, meaning "I Am"
          1. Yahweh is self-existent, dependent on nothing and no one
          2. Yahweh is eternal and active, identifying God's character and authority
        3. God is always in the present, involved with the world: "I Am," never "I Was" or "I Used to Be"
        4. Yahweh is transliterated as YHWH
          1. "Lord" in all capitals in the Bible refers specifically to YHWH
          2. The Hebrews didn't want to abuse God's name, so they inserted Adonai, or Lord
      3. God's name is connected to His reputation, character, and authority
  3. His Description (vv. 6b-7)
    1. In God's self-description are three categories of attributes
    2. Benevolent Attributes
      1. God is merciful (also translated compassionate)
        1. The Hebrew root for merciful refers to a mother's womb
        2. Describes the relationship between a parent and child
        3. Refers to a superior being's feelings toward a helpless one
      2. God is gracious
        1. Term used to describe Him thirteen times in the Old Testament
        2. God's favor for us is a result of His grace
        3. Theme of grace is prominent throughout the Bible
          1. It's almost always used with God as the subject
          2. God was gracious to Jacob, making him prosperous (see Genesis 33:11)
          3. David prayed that God would be gracious to his dying son (see 2 Samuel 12:22)
        4. "Christianity is distinct from all other religions because it is a message of grace…. Without grace, Christianity is nothing" —Charles Ryrie
        5. God treats us well because of His grace, not because we are strong or deserving
        6. Justice is what you deserve; mercy is not getting what you deserve; grace is getting what you don't deserve
      3. God is long-suffering (slow to anger)
        1. It takes time for Him to get angry
        2. His anger is grounded in His holy, perfect character
        3. One day, He will judge everyone justly, but He's not in a hurry
        4. God is "longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9)
    3. Bountiful Attributes
      1. Abounding in goodness: God is good all the time
        1. Hebrew word for goodness is chesed
        2. Often translated as loving-kindness or mercy
        3. In human terms, refers to loyalty
        4. Applied to God's character, it refers to His constant, unchanging love
      2. Abounding in truth: God is firm, certain, reliable, and dependable
        1. We can depend on God's character, promises, and warnings
        2. Jesus said, "My words will by no means pass away" (Matthew 24:35)
    4. Balanced Attributes
      1. "Keeping mercy for thousands" (v. 7)
        1. God loves the world and forgives the transgression of sin
        2. Same word, chesed, used for God's mercy
        3. The implication is "for thousands of generations"
      2. "By no means clearing the guilty" (v. 7)
        1. God is merciful and delights in forgiveness, but He cannot annul justice
        2. God doesn't forgive unrepentant sinners; He provides forgiveness in Jesus Christ
      3. "Visiting the iniquity…" (v. 7)
        1. God won't punish children for their parents' sins
        2. Ezekiel 18 makes it clear that we are each responsible for our own relationship with God
        3. However, God won't erase the natural consequences of sin
          1. Many children and grandchildren experience the consequences of sin
          2. That may last for several generations, but God's mercy extends to thousands of generations
  4. His Expectation (vv. 8-9)
    1. Moses worshiped God in response to God's character
    2. We should worship God based on who He is, as Moses did
    3. Good theology is the foundation for true worship
Figures referenced: Charles Ryrie

Hebrew words: Adonai, chesed, hayah, Yahweh

Cross references: Genesis 33:11; Exodus 3:14; Numbers 14; Deuteronomy 5; 2 Samuel 12:22; 1 Kings 3; Nehemiah 9; Psalm 103; 145; Jeremiah 32; Lamentations 3; Ezekiel 18; Daniel 9; Nahum 3; Matthew 24:35; 2 Peter 3:9

Topic: God's attributes

Keywords: compassion, compassionate, generational sin, God's name, goodness, grace, gracious, I Am, long-suffering, loving-kindness, merciful, mercy, self-existent, truth, worship

Topic: God's attributes

Keywords: compassion, compassionate, generational sin, God's name, goodness, grace, gracious, I Am, long-suffering, loving-kindness, merciful, mercy, self-existent, truth, worship


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