Exodus 34:5-7
‘The Lord descended in the cloud…, and proclaimed the name of the Lord…. “The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity…but by no means clearing the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and upon the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation!”‘ Exodus 34:5-7.
In his Institutes I:10:2, Calvin remarks: “Moses…seems to have intended briefly to comprehend whatever may be known of God by man. When he said: ‘The Lord…God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin but Who 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 to the fourth generation!’ (Exodus 34:6-7).
“Here we may observe first, that His Eternity and Self-Existence are declared by His magnificent name…. Secondly, that in the enumeration of His perfections, He is described not as He is in Himself but in relation to us — in order that our acknowledgment of Him may be more a vivid actual impression than empty visionary speculation. Moreover, the perfections thus enumerated are just those which we saw shining in the Heavens and on the Earth — compassion, goodness, mercy, justice, judgment and truth. For power and energy are comprehended under the name Jehovah.”
The cloud’s descending, was the Lord’s descending. The divine presence was intimately though mysteriously united with it — so that it was God manifested to the outward senses as a shadow and pre-intimation of ‘God subsequently manifested in the flesh’…. The Most High descended thus, and accordingly proclaimed in an audible voice His name — that is, the character and perfections denoted thereby.
The Lord made His Shekinah glory to pass before Moses. The Shekinah or Divine Majesty called “I” passed by. The Lord passed by before Moses, and proclaimed: ‘Jehovah, Jehovah! — God, merciful and gracious!’ To this, the name ‘God’ (‘Eel) is subjoined — of which the leading idea is that of strength, might, and potency alias all-sufficient protection to His people and formidableness to their enemies. His mercies are not those of a frail feeble creature like ourselves!
God ‘keeps mercy for thousands.’ To a thousand generations — or at least 60,000 years! He does so, by continually showing it in all its various forms to thousands of sinners in all ages — and to the very end of time. God forgives sins more in number than all the grains of sand on the sea-shores – any one sin of which would be sufficient to cast the entire human race into perdition. And did (Genesis 3:6 and Romans 5:12)! For He visits the iniquity of the fathers unto the third and fourth generation of the wicked — but shows mercy to thousands of generations of those who love Him and keep His Commandments (Exodus 20:5-6) — for at least 60,000 years!
Yes, God is merciful to thousands of generations — from fathers, to descendant children!
