Chapter 2

In order to search the fathomless nature and character of God, we must turn to the Scripture, in which He has revealed things concerning Himself. We studied about God's MERCY and His GRACE in chapter one. There is another aspect of God's Being that is yet above both mercy and grace. That is LOVE.

You never find the Scripture saying, "God is mercy". But you do find it written, "God is love". We hear a great deal about God's love, and we should. The Bible says God IS love. Now, let's qualify that. Love (emotion and affection as humans commonly think of it) is not God, but God is love. Again, not love as humans think of it. The love that God is, is infinitely greater than the human concept of love. The greatness of God's love is spotlighted by the Scripture which says: "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us:...". Since Scripture says God is love, it seems certain that love is the wellspring of all of the other aspects of His Being and Person.

But let's pursue our study on His mercy. Exodus 34:1-7: "And the Lord said unto Moses, Hew thee out two tables of stone, like unto the first and I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables, which you broke. And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning into Mount Sinai, and present thyself there to Me in the top of the Mount".

Moses went up on Mount Sinai to ask God for mercy, because Israel had sinned a great sin of idolatry, viz., the golden calf. God said, "No man shall come up with you, neither let any man be seen through all the Mount, neither let the flocks nor the herds feed before that Mount. And he hewed two tables of stone, like unto the first, and Moses rose up early in the morning, and went up into Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone. And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the Name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, MERCIFUL..."

Note that God Almighty, Personally introduced Himself to Moses. He began by telling him about His Nature. He said, the LORD, the LORD God, merciful, (note that Merciful was #1!) "...gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty. Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and the fourth genreation."

Let us now observe in more detail, what God's word teaches about His mercy. Turning to Psalms 136:1 we should note that God devoted a whole chapter in the Bible to His Own statements about His mercy. We should see that God's mercy is completely independent from the way that people look at things. Notice that every verse concludes by saying: "For His mercy endures forever." Twenty six times He repeats the statement.

"Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever." God indicates that His mercy is the reason that men ought to thank God. All men, sinners and saints alike can do that, because His mercy endures forever. "Oh give thanks unto the God of gods, for His mercy endureth forever. Oh, give thanks unto the Lord of lords, for His mercy endureth forever." Then the Lord began to expound upon the subject. "To Him Who alone doeth great wonders. For His mercy endureth forever."

That's why God does great wonders. It's because His mercy endures forever. This chapter is not talking about grace, the subject here is mercy. Verse 5. "To Him that by wisdom made the heavens, for His mercy endureth forever." Somebody says, "Why did God create all of the things in the heavens, and in the earth, and in the sea?" The Bible says that it's because His mercy endures forever.

"To Him that stretched out the earth above the waters, for His mercy endureth forever. To Him that made great lights, for His mercy endureth forever. The sun to rule by day, for His mercy endureth forever. The moon and the stars to rule by night, for His mercy endureth forever." But satan has deceived people during the ages of time, to vitiate God's mercy by seducing them to worship the moon and the stars, and to say that they evolved.

Verse 10: "To Him that smote Egypt in their firstborn, for His mercy endureth forever." Now if you had been an Egyptian in those days-- But remember this is not about grace, it is about mercy. The Bible insists that it was because His mercy endures forever. Understand something: had God not delivered Israel out of Egypt, there would have been no salvation for mankind. The Egyptians were already 'ripe' for judgment. They would stand before the Great White Throne anyway. So God executed judgment on them early in time, because His mercy endures forever. He wanted to bring redemption to mankind, and He wouldn't permit anything disrupt His purpose. He had made a covenant of blessing with Abraham, and his seed. The exodus from Egypt was a vital part of that covenant, according to Genesis 15:16.

When the people of Israel offended God by creating a golden calf, God would not abandon His purpose. He said to Moses, I'll destroy them; I'll make of you a greater nation than them. Yet, in spite of their grievous sin, God's purpose of redemption for mankind proceeded.

So He smote the first born of Egypt, for His mercy endures forever. "And brought out Israel from among them, for His mercy endureth forever. With a strong hand, with a stretched out arm, for His mercy endureth forever. To Him which divided the Red Sea into parts, for His mercy endureth forever."

We should realize this: God did not divide the Red Sea because of Israel's faith. They cried out in fear. Even Moses cried unto the Lord. Yet God had already told them that He was going to deliver them. The Bible, in Psalms 106:6 says that they provoked Him at the Red Sea. Yet because His mercy endures forever He delivered them anyhow. Thank God, thank God, thank God. Can you say amen? Praise God.

Verse 14. "And made Israel to pass through the midst of it for His mercy endureth forever. But overthrew Pharaoh in the Red Sea, for His mercy endureth forever." You see, Pharaoh and his hosts had already opposed God, and thus, His purposes of Redemption. If God did not keep His promise to Abraham to bring his descendants again to Canaan, His integrity would have been vitiated, and the fact that God cannot lie would have been voided.

"To Him which led His people through the wilderness, for His mercy endureth forever." It is eleven days journey from Sinai to Canaan, but God led Israel through the wilderness for a special reason. The Bible carefully records that God said He would lead them that way, lest they should encounter war with the Philistines. So His mercy caused Him to lead them through the desert. His mercy really does endure forever. How tenderly His mercy sought to protect them.

Israel didn't know God's thoughts; they were just glad to get out of Egypt. They weren't trained in war, they were a bunch of former slaves. God did not want them to be discouraged, or think of returning to Egypt, so He led them in such a way as to avoid war, at that time.

And I rather believe that there are times when God leads us today in certain ways, because His mercy endures forever. Praise God, HIS MERCY ENDURES FOREVER. Thank God. Sometimes I have wondered why certain things I experienced when I was first saved happened the way they did. But now I'd be willing to say His mercy endures forever. I went through some things because His mercy endures forever, and a He gave a whole lot of grace with it, may I add. Praise God forever.

"To Him which smote great kings, for His mercy endureth forever." Perhaps someone says: "Now wait a minute. You mean that God was exercising mercy when He smote those great kings?" Yeah! Let me tell you why. Because those kings were kings of the giants! They were an aberration of the human race. They were satan's special agents to defeat God's purpose. Before the Flood in Noah's days, similar giants were so wicked and lawless, they so corrupted human society that God sent the Flood to purge the earth from them. The giants in the land of Canaan were another eruption of giant humanoids.

According to Genesis chapter six, the giants were the offspring of fallen angels and human women. Since Jesus had to come through the "Seed of the woman", satan attempted to defile humanity so that He couldn't come. Therefore, God destroyed them during the Flood, and afterwards out of Canaan. He used not only Israel to destroy them, but also the descendants of Esau and of the Amonites.

When it says they were great kings, they were not only great politically, but they were great in stature. They ruled in cities where the walls were so high that the spies returned to Moses and said that the cities of Canaan were walled up to heaven.

"And slew famous kings, for His mercy endureth forever. Sihon, king of the Amorites, for His mercy endureth forever. And Og, the king of Bashan, for His mercy endureth forever." The Scripture in Deuteronomy 3:11 records that Og, the king of Bashan, had an iron bedstead that was nine cubits long: a minimum of about 13.5 feet long!