On Mount Sinai, God defined his holy name with goodness.
Holy means good. That is one of the most important things you need to understand about God’s holiness (and we’ve been digging into this for several weeks: post one, two). So, let’s look further at how the Bible links God’s holiness and goodness.
God’s signature on Mount Sinai
In the Old Testament, Mount Sinai is probably the most significant revelation of God’s holiness. There God gave his holy Law on tablets of stone. There he revealed how to construct the holy tabernacle and how to set Aaron and his sons and the Levites apart as holy priests to make holy sacrifices so that sinful people could become a holy nation. There he revealed his holy glory in clouds, lightning, thunder, earthquake, and fire. There he spoke so that Israel could hear his holy voice.
And there on top of holy Mount Sinai, Moses asked to see even more of the holy God. What God then revealed to Moses is crucial for all who want to understand God’s holiness. God told Moses he would answer his prayer in part. God said he would make his holy glory pass before Moses, and he would reveal his name to him. That meant he would reveal his identity.
Here is how that scene unfolded:
“Moses said, ‘Please show me your glory.’
“And he [God] said, ‘I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name “The LORD”’” (Exodus 33:18–19).
Notice two crucial things.
First, when God agreed to reveal more of his glory to Moses, God said he would reveal “all my goodness.” God’s holy glory is especially his goodness.
God’s holy name
Second, what accompanies this revelation of God’s goodness is his revelation of his name. In the Bible a person’s name is not simply a label to use when you want to address someone. Name meant identity. Name meant self. Name meant who you are. So, when God said he would reveal his name to Moses, he was saying he would enable Moses to know more of his holy character and ways.
Elsewhere God told the prophet Ezekiel, “Thus says the Lord GOD: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name” (Ezekiel 36:22).
Elsewhere God instructed Moses that the priests must be careful that they “not profane my holy name: I am the LORD” (Leviticus 22:2).
God’s name defined
Now we’re ready to read what happened next, and it’s awesome, as God reveals his goodness and his name:
“The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.’” (Exodus 34:5–7)
God defines his holy name—he fills his name with its holy meaning—by describing himself as “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin” (vv. 6–7).
God knows himself and knows what holiness is, and it is goodness: mercy, grace, patience, steadfast love, faithfulness, forgiveness. Holy means good.
When you praise him
When you praise God for his mercy, you are praising his holy name.
When you praise God for his grace, you are praising his holy name.
When you praise God for his patience, you are praising his holy name.
When you praise God for his steadfast love, you are praising his holy name.
When you praise God for his faithfulness, you are praising his holy name.
When you praise God for his forgiveness, you are praising his holy name.
Our way and God’s way
Our way: We may be indifferent or complacent about how God defines his name.
God’s way: God loves his name and its meaning. He loves who he is.
As for the end of verse 7, which speaks of God’s justice, stay tuned, for in a few weeks we will look at the relationship between his goodness and justice. Until then, we have much more to see about the relationship between God’s holiness and kindness.